Conquering the Beast

I haven't written in a while because life has honestly just been really hard. No one really likes to read a blog about all my hard things, and I blog to process emotions. But whatever. You can't just skim over hard things, right? Feel your feels! So I felt my feels. Ready for some good news?

Anyway, in the past couple of months life has gotten better here in Washington. I got a cool job as an art instructor and a marketing coordinator at Museo Art Academy in Issaquah. Matt likes his job but he is working hard to move up so he can fulfill his dream of running a high-end fishing lodge. I love my calling in Young Women and I have made some friends in the ward. I'm learning how to sew clothes. My Etsy shop has kinda waned because #motivation but it'll be back sometime, I'm sure. We got another car which has helped immensely. My mental/emotional state is much better now that I have friends/a calling/my dream job. Life is still stressful, but things are definitely looking up and I know one day we'll look back on 2015 with gratitude at what it taught us.

For some reason, when I decided to lose weight so I could get pregnant, I was on this crazy pumped up kick and I just got it done. I wasn't really sad about it all...I was motivated. My motivation has waned since we moved here. But somehow I've managed to lose another 8ish lbs since we moved without much work on my part. I do yoga once a week sometimes and I walk the dogs, but I haven't really been running, using my FitBit or even counting calories. I guess the healthy lifestyle has become a bit more ingrained and it takes less work to eat less food, which was my big problem.

I'm officially down 45 lbs, which I can't believe. All of my long-term supporters will remember that last October, I vowed to lose 70 lbs by January 1, 2016!!! OMG how thankful I am that God has given me the motivation to lose 45. But another 25 isn't happening in the next two weeks haha. I'm grateful for where I've come to, especially considering the year we've had, and the last 25 will just have to come in their own time. My goal is to just not gain it all back. 

To anyone reading this who feels like they're staring down a beast, please know from my own personal witness that you can do hard things. You can meet a seemingly insurmountable foe, look it straight in the eyes and say, "I can conquer you. And I will." And then just go out and do it. You can do hard things. If I can lose 45 lbs in 14 months, you can face your beast, too. It'll take a lot of self-reflection, humility, humor, prayer and work. And often, the beast is yourself. But you can do it.

Cheers to 45 lbs. I celebrated with Chipotle haha.