Thank you Spark Friends /My Goal Reward

Hi Spark Friends

Wow, this has been a whirl wind week for me. I first want to say to all of you who wished me a happy birthday and for my friends who sent a goodie and for all the friends who congratulated me on meeting my goal weight THANK YOU so very much for your thoughtfulness! It meant a lot to me and I am so blessed to have so many wonderful spark friends in my life who take the time to show they care. I was so touched by all the kind words, the wonderful goodies and the thoughtful comments sent to me. I have tried so hard to thank everyone personally and then I went out of town and so I lost track of where I was in my thank you's and so I may have thanked some of you twice or missed some of you completely. If I did please know it was not intentional and that I am very grateful for each and every word and/or goodie sent to me! They all meant so much to me. I feel so honored to have heard from so many wonderful friends! Thank You ALL so very much!!!

Well, my goal was to be in shape by my 50th birthday and I did it. I am just adjusting to my new body and now adjusting to becoming 50. I know a lot of women either don't tell their age at this stage or tell a white lie by giving a younger age when asked. But, I am proud to be 50 because I feel like I have learned so much over the years and now I can use my life experience without the fear of what "others" may think. At 50 we don't care about that stuff anymore.lol Also, I do not feel 50. I think I will always be a toys r us kid because I still feel much younger inside.LOL I think age is just a number and we are what we feel. I have learned to like who I am in these past 10 months while changing over to a healthy lifestyle. So much has come with losing weight. All positive!!

A lot of my spark friends have asked me how I was going to reward myself now that I reached my goal. I had not really thought about it. I was so busy trying to reach my goal I never thought past it much. Now that I am here and I know we should never reward ourselves with food because it should not be used like that. Food is fuel, period! I needed to find a way to reward myself for reaching my goal. So, here is what I did.

My BFF who is also my 1st cousin has been in Alaska for the last 11 months while her husband teaches there. So, I had not seen her since beginning my spark people journey. We talk everyday so she knew about what I was doing and she has seen some pictures of me during my journey, but we have not seen each other since I lost weight. Well, she arrived back in Michigan where their permanent home is last week. On Saturday night my hubby through a barbecue/party for my birthday. It was awesome. Complete with everyone wearing Sponge Bob party hats!LOL It was a lot of fun. My cousin was not here which I thought was strange being a milestone birthday. (we never miss anything for each other) I learned that she did not come because she had talked to my hubby and they thought I'd enjoy a trip to see her after my birthday and my husband has also said I needed to treat myself to something for reaching my goal. . Normally, I would say oh I have this to do or that to do, always putting off things for just me. But, when my hubby suggested I go see her, I thought to myself, hmmmmm I do have a reward coming to myself for reaching my goal and that would be an awesome one for me because I always love seeing her and I had missed her these last 11 months so I threw a bag together and went very spur of the moment on Monday. I drove up in her drive way and her first words were Oh My God Look at You!!! You did it and I am so proud of you! Then I got the biggest hug.

We had a great visit. We went shopping and I bought some new clothes and I got my hair cut while I was there. She has been tiny for many years. I was the big one. However, she knows exactly and first hand what I went through to get here and what it was like to be overweight and unhealthy because about 18 years ago she reached her goal weight. She was heavy when she was younger and made her choice to live a healthy lifestyle over 18 years ago and did it and has maintained it ever since. So it meant a lot to both of us that I lost the weight. So I wanted to share my reward experience with my spark friends because I was asked by so many friends what I was going to do for myself. So here is me enjoying my reward. I am on the right.......

I could not have reached my goal without all of my spark friends who were here for me with all the support, encouragement, tips, the occasional kick in the behind and the wonderful friendships that have been extended to me. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being here for me. I appreciate you all very much.

I plan on seeing each and every one of you reach your goals too. I so want all of you to be healthy and happy with who you are and proud of yourselves for grabbing what it is we all reach for here, a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body. You DESERVE it and I can tell you first hand if you want it and are willing to invest the time in you, you can have it!! Clearly you want it and you have made the choice to go for it because you are here. So, throw away all the excuses, get over those hurdles, find a way around the temptations, reach inside yourself and pull out your will power and get moving towards your goal too. You CAN and WILL do it! ! You are soooo worth the time and effort it takes to accomplish this.

I am and will continue rooting for you all and will be here cheering you on. Thank you again so very much for being the special people that you are!