Illustration Friday: Breakfast

(click to enlarge)

Food for thought...

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Well, it's been forever since I participated in Illustration Friday, and I'm slipping this one in with just a day to spare. When I saw the topic "Breakfast" for this week, I knew I wanted to play along, and I'm glad I was able to. I've been wanting to experiment with combining photography with my cartoon work for a while now, so this topic gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that. The yummy breakfast in the photo is the "small" one egg, one meat combo with a side of gravy from Kitty's Cafe in Magnolia Texas. I am a huge fan of breakfast - always have been, and Kitty's serves up some of the very best I've ever had. Hubby and I are there almost every Thursday morning enjoying the great homey ambience found in small town diners...and yes, enjoying the incredible food. (it's a nice break from my wheat toast and yogurt that I have every other day of the week) But don't worry about its effect on my 50 by Fifty diet - Hubby and I split everything, so it's not as bad as it may look :o) (I'm still as 'committed' to the diet as ever!)

So, are you a breakfast person? Do you frequent any local dives that dish up awesome early morning fare? I'd love to hear about it...

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It's so good to be blogging again - many thanks for not giving up on me :o)  I have some shopkeeping news to share very soon as well as the bunny calendar design for August, which I am coming close to finishing. Here's just a tiny preview of one element of the August design...

I hope you commit yourself to having a wonderful rest of the week and weekend! Many blessings for stopping by for a visit!

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"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

2 Chronicles 16:9

50 by Fifty: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Boy, have I been putting off this post! In case you're new to 50 by Fifty, I gave myself a challenge to lose 50 pounds in a year (average 1 pound per week)...by my 50th birthday to be exact. I started on my 49th birthday in March and got off to a good start. I lost 10.6 pounds in about 10 or 11 weeks. Then May hit. From mid May until now we celebrated (insert 'with food') 5 family birthdays, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, and 4th of July, plus a lot of just life in between. Although I was still careful *in general* about what I ate, I abandoned keeping a journal of my meals and their points values.

I suppose it could have been worse. I only gained back 2.2 pounds (I'm at 8.4 pounds lost overall), but I lost almost 2 months of progress - 1 step forward, 2 steps back. This is the point typically in my past weight loss attempts where I would just give up...especially if I was paying money for a weight loss program. So, unless I want this to end up like SO many other past attempts, I HAVE to keep going. And for me, that means writing down everything I eat and of course making better choices. Exercise is another must, but I could do an entire blog on just exercise excuses!

I am truly not beating myself up over this setback. I have certainly done that in the past. I am recognizing it as a natural part of the process, especially when you have made the determination that this is not a diet, but a lifestyle change. These celebrations will go on...life will get crazy and unpredictable...but if I learn a bit more after each challenge and apply those lessons, then I'll keep making progress. It may be a slow, but that's OK...I didn't get this way overnight...

If you are on a similar journey and have hit a wall or fallen way back, I just want to encourage you (and myself) to not give up. See the setback as a learning tool and launch forward from that point equipped with new insights and renewed determination.

I'll let you know next week how it's going. Thank you for coming back by to check in on me. Knowing you are there cheering me on has been a true blessing! Have a glorious weekend and enjoy these all too fleeting days of Summer!

"So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up."

Galatians 6:9

Celebrate Freedom!

I had started a lengthy post to catch you up on all that's been going on, but realized I would not be able to finish it this morning (more stuff to do), but I'm tired of seeing our photo on the blog every day - SO, here's a good old July image to break things up and bring a you a bit of summertime...  I hope you have picnics, sweet family time, and freedom celebrations in store this weekend! I will be back very soon to let you know what's been going on, where I'm at with 50 by Fifty, and a host of other topics - and I also have lots more visiting to do too since I've met so many new folks from Where Bloggers Create - and I will...

 Thanks for still coming by friends - and thank You Lord for Freedom!!! 

"...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

2 Corinthians 3:17