Garbage in, garbage out...

Well, with spring slowly approaching, yes very slowly, worse than snail pace, it's about time to do some spring cleaning. Now, I am not just talking about cleaning out your closet and getting rid of stuff you don't need, even though that it super important and I already did it this year!  Yes, I know it feels sooo good to get rid of stuff you don't need anymore and donate to those in need. Well, today I am talking about our influences.  What are we feeding our minds?  Who are we associating with?  What is our environment like?  Well, today I am going to touch on what are we feeding our minds?

Well, I have never been the type of person that watches the news, reads the newspaper or a lot of magazines.  It's not that I don't care about what goes on in the world, but I always hated how I felt after reading or watching certain things.  As we all know, the news is filled with negative, horrible, scary stories.  They hardly ever touch on the positive things in the world.  I like to think I have a big heart so I would always feel so sad and depressed after watching the news, and so I immediately thought I am not going to do this anymore.  I mean who really wants to hear about young kids and families dying in a car crash or randomly getting murdered, etc.... Well, family, friends, co-workers, have always come up to me over the years asking, "have you heard about THIS..??", my answer is always "no, I have not".  They proceed to tell me and I sometimes feel ignorant for not knowing, and guilty that I should keep up with the news a little more, ya know?  And then I think, if we are constantly filling our minds with

what is wrong and terrible in the world, then our minds are forced to only traffic in the negative, and then we proceed to worry and be fearful.  Well, I don't like living that way!

When I was reading the Compound Effect, there was a chapter on influences and Darren Hardy touches on this.  He finally made me not feel bad about not watching the news, because he is a hater as well!  I finally did not feel alone!  He encourages us to go on a media diet.  Basically weed out all of the negative stuff that basically just leaves you depressed and unmotivated, and add in all of the inspiring, wonderful beautiful, incredible things that DO happen in this world.  Because there really is a lot of GOOD that happens, and we often miss it because the media tends to focus on the negative.  We basically have to search for the positive stuff, kinda sad isn't it?  Well, start your search!  Think about what matters to you, what you want to know about, and subscribe to those instead!

I like what he says in chapter 5, "controlling what our brains consume is especially difficult because so much of what we take in is unconscious...we need an extra level of vigilance to prevent our brains from absorbing irrelevant, counterproductive or downright destructive input".  ahhhh so true!

I am sure a lot of us have unconscious habits and routines, especially when it comes to reading and watching the news, we probably don't think twice of it because its what we are used to, or what we grew up doing.  Not just the news, anything, music, TV shows, books, etc. I am definitely guilty of it! But do you really like the feeling you're left with afterwards? Probably not.  

I think it's important to look and see what we are feeding our minds.  Is it something that we can learn from, grow as a person, feel optimistic, positive, feel better on the inside, help us shine a light to others...or does it leave us feeling sad, lonely, depressed, pessimistic, negative, plain unhappy?  I know what I need to cut out...what garbage can you get rid of? Do some SPRING CLEANING!!! 

February Recap

Well, I have been a little behind on my blogging as my personal life has been a bit hectic!  I still wanted to reflect on February as February was a great, busy month!  I was out of town for half of the month, so I feel like it was a bit crazy.  It was an amazing month, as I got to visit Joe in Dallas, and spend a good amount of time there.  However, my routine was thrown off so it was hard sticking to some of my daily goals I set for myself at times.  Some of the things I can cross off my list are.

47. Learn how to braid my hair

Alright, you probably cant tell that well in the picture but I taught myself how to do the fish tail braid.  Yes, I am sure manyyyy people can already do this, but I never took the time to learn!  It really wasn't too bad!  I still want to learn other braids, but this was a good start!

45. Play 20 Questions

When I was in Dallas, Joe and I had a lot of great conversations, as always.  We can talk about anything and everything, so he was the perfect person to complete this goal for the year.  Even if you know someone really well, there is always something new to learn!  Some questions I remember us asking were, what super power would you choose, if you got another tattoo what would it be, if you died tomorrow what would you do today, whats your biggest fear, your biggest goal, etc... it was fun to ask silly and serious questions, and we both learned a lot about each other!

10. Monthly Fitness Challenge

I got all the way to 40 pushups, with no girl pushups the whole month!  I may have missed some of the days over the weekends, but then I would do two sets on Monday.  So yea, not perfect, but I made it through each day and got to 40!  I need to keep doing this because pushups are truly such a good workout.  Back to basics y'all! (can ya tell I was just in Texas?)

13. Bake something every month

I baked these for Joe for Valentines Day because he loved them over Christmas.  These rae not mine as I forgot to take a picture, but i used waffle pretzels, with a combination of hershey kisses, reese cups, peanut m&m's and peanut butter m&m's.  They were all pink for V-Day :)

Well, yes this month was busy but I followed my budget, read my devo every morning-for the most part as I missed some days on the weekends, I sent an encouraging text each day, and did my daily stretches.  After this month, I realized it is so easy to fall out of a routine and soooo hard to get back into one!  I am the type of person that needs a routine or else I will drift off course.  Getting back from vaca has been harder than I thought with trying to get back into my routine.  I feel like you need a vacation from your vacation, as I felt exhausted the first few days after getting back.  Well, now its time to get down to business and remember why I started this journey this year.  I want to live a fulfilling life!  I want to make some progress and profound transformation.  I do not want to let another year go by without accomplishing my goals.  Sometimes that means hard work and time dedicated to that.  I can't keep sitting back and watching days go by without accomplishing anything and saying "I'll do that tomorrow".

I had a nice vacation, but now I am back in reality and I need to remember what I read in Compound Effect, about setting a routine and replacing bad habits with new, rewarding habits.  So I am going to go do some yoga right now and refocus my mind and energy into something positive.  I will envision my life and the direction that I want to go in.  :) 

Quarter of a Century...

That's right, I turned the big 25 a week from today!  25 years young baby!  I had an amazing birthday as I got to get out of this cold weather and spend it with my boyfriend in Dallas!  He planned a lot of special things for me and it was truly one of the best birthdays I have ever had!  I do love birthdays, even though that means we are turning one year older, but I like to think we are just getting wiser!  For real though, I love that birthday's bring people together!  Think about all of the birthday parties and gatherings you've been to, whether it be for yourself or for others.  It usually brings loved ones together, and even reconnecting with people you have not seen in awhile, or making a new friend.  There is usually great people, food, dessert, gifts, singing, possibly some dancing, jokes, stories, laughter and most importantly love.  Birthdays SHOULD be celebrated!  It's a celebration of life!  Even though we didn't do much to be brought into this world, we are still here, alive, breathing, and it is one day out of the year to truly dedicate and celebrate that. 

Well, this birthday has made me think more than usual.  It was the first birthday I really wasn't looking forward to.  I mean I was looking forward to where I was going and what I was doing for my birthday (way more than others), but for some reason I was not too excited about 25.  Not because its "old", because it's not old by any means!  It may be in my own head but I feel like I haven't met the society standards that most people have met at 25.  It can be easy and BAD to compare your walk of life with others, but it just seems like most people my age already have their stuff figured out, ya know?  Or at least they do a good job of pretending!  I tend to get down on myself because I don't really have my life figured out- well, when do we ever, but I feel like I am late to the game with figuring out what my passions and goals are.  I mean I just finally graduated college at 24, while most people from my class graduated three years ago.  I am just now figuring out what I want to do while others are already pursuing and fulfilling their dreams and passions.  I get down on myself because I don't own or have a place of my own, I don't have a thriving, prospering career, I am no where near ready to start a family, my savings account should be bigger, and my future has so many un-knowns right now! BLAH! 

I tend to go through these waves of depressing and self-doubt cycles.  I dwell on the past and my unknown future and since I am not satisfied, I get down on myself and stuck in this depressing state of mind.  I then have no motivation to do anything to change it-I just keep thinking well this is as good as its going to get because you're not good enough to change and succeed.  It's actually quite annoying and I am tired of it!  Especially because this year is all about SELF TRANSFORMATION and improvement, so I need to fight off these negative thoughts and cease the day! So, I should STOP being so down on myself and comparing my walk of life to others.  It is MY walk of life after all, and it is not supposed to be perfect or like anyone else's.  I may be behind the game in some aspects, but then again, not really! I have already accomplished and experienced a lot in life, stuff that people will never experience in a lifetime and I am only 25. I need to think about those things instead of dwelling on everything I haven't done in life.  Because in all reality, I have a whole lifetime ahead of me to fulfill all of my dreams and goals!  I am no where near being behind!

It can be difficult at times to live in the social media world that we live in.  We see and hear about everyones success and accomplishments whether it be in their careers, love life, family, weight loss, fitness, etc.  Instead of taking it as encouragement, we sometimes take it as a little overwhelming because others are accomplishing things we haven't yet.  If you don't struggle with that then great, but at times, not all the time, I can.  So I am trying to remember that this is my life and I am the only one who can take responsibility for it and the choices I've made.  I vow to make the most of it and be grateful for the life I have been given!  So cheers to being 25!  It's going to be one hell of a ride this year and I can't wait to see where it takes me!  Here are some pictures I wanted to share from some birthdays over the years!

Joe and I before going to the Rascal Flatts concert this year in Oklahoma!

My birthday last year with the family.  We got a little silly!

Co-workers from the Boathouse Restaurant made me feel super loved back in my management days! :)

Hats and sashes should be required at all birthdays! :) Shoutout to my boo K-lowe!

I turned 21 in Spain and made new friends and life long memories here!

Throwback to 2006 when my cousin Josh brought the first grandbaby into the world for the Brader's, and it brought the whole family together!!  Literally, there was over 30 people waiting for Bella to be born!

Throwback to our sweet 16!

So yes, birthdays are fun and worth being celebrated.  It was fun to reflect on some of my birthdays and birthdays of  loved ones!  What are some of your favorite birthday memories?

Getting to know ME

Do you ever feel like you don't really know yourself?  I mean, we are with ourselves all the time, we can't escape from ourself, so we should know who the heck we are right?  It may just be me, but sometimes I feel like I don't really know who I am, like what makes me tick. I mean I know who I am, I'm Kelly freaking Brader, but more of what I like, don't like, love and hate, what interests me, my fears, doubts, passions, dreams, embarrassing stories, my favorites, my least favorites, random things like that.  It may have to do with being the youngest in the family.  I had so many people to look up to so I just kind of did what they did, and followed their footsteps, not really getting to know what I like or want to do.  Now, that was no one's fault but mine, I am not throwing blame or anything, just talking writing it out, trying to understand myself ya know?  I also would much rather listen to other people talk then talk about myself.  I just find others interesting, I don't really find myself interesting.  I hear myself think all day, I don't want to hear myself talk too!  But, I have to remember that other people do find me interesting (I think? ha) and I need to have a little more confidence in myself and remember that things I say are worth being said.   That is how we build relationships after all.

This post sparked because a couple of days ago I met with some people about a potential job opportunity.  To break the ice we all had to go around and say our name and say something embarrassing/weird about ourself.  I am sure we have all played those games before... I immediately start sweating, face hot, because I can not think of anything!  For people that know me, I am a pretty silly, weird person, so I should of had a whole list to ramble off right?  But I couldn't think of anything cool and of course, I said something stupid that still makes me mad that I said! haha then I was asked the question, tell us anything we should know about you.  Now, that is a broad question and I told them all that came to mind and I hope I redeemed myself after the icebreaker.  Time will tell!

Now, I have gotten to know myself a lot better the past four months as I have started this journey of self-transformation.  It has been a fun adventure, and I have realized that I am worth getting to know.  I am not too shabby after all, and I kind of like myself. :)  I saw this post around Valentines Day on the Tone It Up website and I thought I would participate and get to know me a little better.  I encourage anyone else to do this as well.  You can even come up with your own and do it with a friend or your significant other.  I am sure you will learn something you didn't know, or really think of about yourself and it can be fun to do it with someone else, I sure plan on it!  Well, here's a little about me!

1. What is your favorite indulgence?
     A glass or two of red wine
2. What is your favorite cocktail?
     Bloody Mary!  The spicier the better
3. The clothing item you cannot live without?
     Any of my Lululemon Wunder Under pants
4. Your favorite workout song?
     Oh boy, this is tough. I'm running more now and I like Greyhound by Swedish House          Mafia for my long runs!
5. What is your favorite way to sweat?
     Another tough one..see I'm bad at making decisions, I do know this about myself!     Currently, I'd say Yoga-Vinyasa 
6. Your favorite new band?
     Bastille
7. Your favorite color?
     GREEN
8. Where did you grow up?
     Columbus, O-H-I-O :) Go bucks!
9. What is your favorite TV show?
     Psych
10. Any embarrassing accidents?
     I do have an answer to this!  Well, this past fourth of July, my brother Noah, his girlfriend at the time, now wife, Simone and I went to hang out with Simone's sister, Lili, and her husband Andy at Andy's parents house.  There was a ton of people there and it was the first time I was meeting any of them.  Well, it was a nice day out and we had a competitive volleyball game, guys vs. girls.  Girls were of course winning :)  Anyways after a few hours in, sweat dripping, heart pumping, the volleyball gets spiked right in front of me so I quickly bend down to stop if from hitting the ground and I feel a big RIP in my shorts.  Yes, my linen shorts completely split right down the middle of my shorts, for everyone to see what was under them.  I froze for a minute in disbelief and then Lili quickly grabbed me and we ran through a crowd of people to get inside and find me a new pair of shorts. haha I of course was laughing the entire time, but my cheeks were definitely red.  The cheeks on my FACE that is! :)
11. What was your first job?
      I was a gift wrapper at Buckle when I was 15.  The 40% off employee discount made it worth it!
12. What was the name of your first pet?
      Bailey....RIP pup.
13. What's the one thing your refuse to share?
     It used to be food, haha, but now I guess my phone?  I don't like it when people take it from me and mess with it.  Kids included, haha.

14. If you had to move to another country, where would you go?

     Hmmm, I would move to New Zealand.

15. What is your favorite confidence booster?

     A good, sweaty workout.  It leaves me feeling good about myself, and overall more confident.

16. How fast can you say the alphabet?

     3.13 seconds-yep I timed it.

17. If you were a jungle animal, what would you be?

     A black panther

18. Waffles or pancakes?

     Pancakes!

19. Skiing or snowboarding?

     Boarding, dude.

20. Your best piece dating advice?

       Oh boy, I feel like I could write a book on this topic.  I guess, think about who you are with.  Don't just imagine your life with that person.  Imagine your life without them.  If you can't possibly imagine life without them, then hold on to them tight and fight for them.  If you can easily imagine your life without them, then be fair to them and let them go so you both can find your happy ever after.

21. The one item you always have on you?

      Chapstick!  

22. Favorite weekend indulgence?

      Going to a concert!  I love love love live music.

23. Best pickup line?

       Here are a couple of my favorites that always make me chuckle.

      Are you religious?  Because you're the answer to all my prayers

      I seem to have lost my number...can I have yours?

     Are you from Tennessee?... Because you're the only ten I see! 

24. If you were a food what would you be?

      An avocado!  They are green, my favorite color, and they are just pretty cool and versatile! :)  Plus, it could be fun to get mashed up for Guacamole too! :)

25. Think of your life as a movie ~ what’s the title?

      Transforming a New Me-- that was probably too easy.

Well, that little exersice helped me learn a little bit about myself, and I hope you all enjoyed it and go on and answer them yourself.  20 questions is always fun to play with your significant other, come up with your own!  I plan on doing it tonight! 

     

Looking Inward...

Well, being the week of Valentine's Day has made me think a little bit about love and relationships, as cliche as that may sound.  First, I will say I have never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day, as I think it is just a Hallmark Holiday to rack in more money.  Plus, I think it is important to show love to your significant other all year round.  But hey, it can be nice to get a card and romantic date on this day, right ladies?

Anyways, I was thinking back about when I was in middle school I went to this girls weekend retreat for church.  I remember one of the nights we talked about dating and marriage.  One of the activities we did consisted of us writing a list of all of the qualities we want in our future husband.  I am sure many girls have done this type of "Man of Our Dreams" exercise in their journals.  I think it is a great thing to do because it helps remind us to never settle and to remember the important qualities we want and need in a mate.

However, I recently got a new perspective on this little activity after reading The Compound Effect.  Hardy made a good point about the Law of Attraction.  A lot of times when we make goals, or lists such as this, we tend to think "Ok, what do I need to do to achieve this, or what do I need to do to find this perfect person?".  We should be asking, "Who do I need to become to achieve this?  Who do I need to become to attract this amazing man or woman?"  We need to look inward.  If we want this amazing person to come along in our life and if we want to keep them in our life, then we most likely need to do some inward looking at ourselves and see who we need to be to attract this special person, and then do the work to become that person or improve in certain areas.

I think relationships are the best when they come out of nowhere, when you least except them.  Often times when you aren't even looking for one.  The time when you are just focusing on yourself and the things going on in your life and then BAM, God places someone amazing in your life when you least expect it.  You know, HIS timing.  It's not forced or rushed, it just comes along naturally.

I feel like the past couple of years I have been focusing on myself and trying to be a better person in general.  Of course, it's a daily battle and we always have ways to improve ourselves.  Well, I made my list of who I need and want to be for my significant other.  Several pages actually. I think relationships in the past did not work out for me because I was probably too focused on who the other person was or wasn't, and I was not looking enough at who I needed to be for the other person. I think no matter where we are in life, single, dating, in a serious relationship, married, it's never too late to look inward and make a list of who we need to be.  Instead of trying to fix and change others, why don't we look inward at ourselves and take the steps to make ourselves a better person.  When we shower others with love, positiveness, encouragement, when we are giving, sweet, kind, generous, joyful, etc. we are bound to get those in return.  Maybe not overnight, but in time we will.  It's the Law of Attraction.  

I'll share two of my pages with you all. (I apologize for my handwriting-at the time I did not know I'd be sharing this publicly). I encourage you to make your own list.  Keep it somewhere that you will see it often, as a reminder to be the best version of yourself.

"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon...must inevitably come to pass"

-Paul J Meyer

The Compound Effect

The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS.

I finished my book of the month, and I could probably write a WHOLE book on how it has helped change my life.   I know that sounds drastic, but it has really put a whole new perspective and viewpoint on life.   If you want to improve any part of your life, your income, job, relationships, health, attitude, fitness, etc, then this book is for you.  It will give you simple, basic, but effective tools to accomplish your goals.

Hardy takes you back to the basics, ya know, of hard work and not expecting magical results to appear without working for it.  Basically, what you put into life is what you get out of it.   Or another way to put it is “you get in life what you tolerate”.  You get in life what you accept and expect you are worthy of.  I realized that I wasn’t expecting great things in life because I didn’t believe myself to be great.  Which is a daily mental battle, but I won’t go into that now.

The Compound Effect’s Principle is: Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = A RADICAL DIFFERENCE.

One thing I have always majorly struggled with is consistency.  That’s because I wanted those FAST instant results and when I wasn’t getting it, I quit.  I thought “well, it’ll never work, I’ll never be like HER or I’ll never be able to achieve THAT,  I am just not that special”.  Well, how lame of me to think so low of myself!   Through reading this book I have learned how valuable consistency really is!  Change will happen, and it may happen slowly and that’s okay.  It’s better that way, it’s meant to work like that. 

The book really helped me learn how to set my goals the proper way so you can make them a reality instead of just a fantasy.  Hardy makes you look at your choices, habits, your momentum, and your influences.  I learned a lot about myself; who I was, who I am now, and who I want to be.

Since this year is all about change and setting goals for myself, this was the perfect book to start the year off.  I already set my goals, but I wasn't quite sure how to take the steps to achieve them.  This book has set me in the right direction.  I feel like I've gained some practical knowledge on how to achieve them.  Hardy is huge on tracking...track everything you want to change or accomplish.  One of my goals is following a budget, so I track every penny I spend in a little pocket journal.  Like I said before, it has helped me become aware.  Awareness is huge.  Most of us live life in the motions and we aren't even aware of what or why we do things.  So yea, becoming aware of my actions has helped me make better choices which ultimately leads to better habits which creates a better routine in life.

I could go on forever, and I will most likely post more things about what I learned, but another day.  I encourage everyone who is ready for a radical change in their life to read this book.  It will help you become AWARE of your daily choices, behaviors, and habits and how they truly effect you in the long run.  I took notes on each chapter and I’ve already gone back through them.

Anyways, yay for reading!  Do you have any must-reads that you would recommend?  I’m reading at least one book a month and I am open to suggestions J

January Reflection

First month is down.  I've TOTALLY transformed.., I already met every single goal I wanted to.  Yep all 52, JUST like that.  So I should probably stop writing and shut the blog down since I DID it! yep. did it all.  I am awesome.  Simply an amazing! ......catching the sarcasm yet...?  Gosh I hope so!!

Well, all jokes aside, I knew this month would be challenging as I was trying to break old habits, routines, behaviors, attitudes, and replace them with new, better, fulfilling ones!  I have always been more of a free spirit.  You know, the ones who aren't obsessed with planning out every little detail of their day and life and living by their planners.  I have always been more go with the flow, take each day as it comes.  I have always loved that about myself, but I have realized that I need to balance that out a bit and develop more of a daily routine so that I won't let the day go to waste, watch the years go by and my dreams never become a reality, ya know, staying up in the clouds...

Several of my goals had daily tasks that I wanted to accomplish, as well as weekly, and monthly goals. Here is how I did this month.

Waking up early.  Failed miserably.  My goal was to wake up around 6:15am Monday-Friday.  I probably got up early 7 days.... why do I love the snooze button so much?

I did read the devotional every day, usually in the morning.  They are short and sweet, very sweet.

I sent an encouraging text/email daily.  Usually a text.  I have really enjoyed this!  I can tell people have appreciated it because many people said "wow I really needed that today, thank you!".  It's cool how those things work.  I encourage everyone to do it.  

I did journal three things to be grateful for, usually at night before bed so I could reflect on the day.  I probably missed 7 days of doing this.  I don't want to miss anymore because I think this a great habit to develop.  We, or I, can tend to focus on all the things that aren't going right and its refreshing to take a moment to reflect on all the things we have to be grateful for.  The list is never ending!!

As far as church..I went once this month...

I did memorize a bible verse, or small passage each week.  I chose: 

Philippians 4:4-8

Proverbs 3:5-6

Ephesians 5:15

James 1:12

Stretch it out!  Oh boy I forgot how flexible I am NOT. It's been great stretching and I have been trying to stretch either when I wake up or before bed, or both!  I did miss a few days but I already feel less tight!

I reached out to someone each week that I have not talked with in awhile.  It was fun reconnecting with  people :)

I read my first book of the year.  The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.  Life changing.  I'll blog about this book another day :)

I did a craft, with some inspiration from Pinterest.  I made a wedding gift for my brother and his wife.  It is a year of dates.  I made an envelope for each month and inside each envelope I came up with a date for them to do.  Most of them had props and gift cards to go along with the date.  I tried to get creative and think of things they enjoy doing.  They are supposed to open each envelope at the beginning of the month and then choose when they will do the date.  Married couples never should stop dating each other :) 

I played my monthly board game with two of my favorite little girls :) LIFE

Did I bake something? Yes.  Was it successful? NOPE.  haha I was wanting to make vegan chocolate chip cookies because my mom is vegan, and I like them!  I have an excellent recipe book filled with vegan recipes and I couldn't find it so I chose one off the internet.  I followed it exactly...and got CRAP results.  They turned to like super flat, thin pancakes.  I think it was the egg replacer I used... oh well, my mom and I had a good laugh about it haha.  February will be better! 

Monthly wellness challenge: I gave up Coffee.  The first few days were a little rough, no headaches really just a little tired.  But then I felt great!  I am at Starbucks now, February 1st, still drinking tea :) I think you should give it a try and see if you can do it!  I know what you're thinking...Never think you can't do something.  You can.

Monthly fitness challenge.  PLANK challenge.  I for some reason thought this would be an easy one... but no!  The first 15 days aren't so bad...but once you have to hold a plank for 3 minutes straight, I struggled.  By day 30 it's 5 minutes.  I have not mastered 5 minutes but I did do the plank every day and I held it as long as I could.  I will get to 5 minutes by the end of the year though! 

I put together a budget and a fancy excel spreadsheet so I can track all of my expenses.  I have gotten in the habit of carrying a pocket journal with me so I can write down everything I spend.  This may seem silly since we have online banking.  However, writing it down has helped me become AWARE of what I spend and knowing that I have to write it down in my journal has stopped me from spending things I normally would have bought.  One of the many tools I learned from reading Compound Effect.  Well, I followed my budget and stayed under my goal!  Yay!

So that was January!  How was everyone else's January?  Are you sticking to your resolutions?  Just remember, the only person holding you back is YOU.  You are a strong, smart, passionate, worthy, individual and you have the power to make the most out of your life.  It is YOUR life.

 Start today, not tomorrow!

Cheers to February!