This is the first post in what I hope becomes a regular monthly wrap up of things that made me smile in the  month just gone.  The bush fires we have had in Australia, made me think of this. I’ve been so worried about the fires, the people who have lost their homes,  and the huge loss there has been to wildlife. I have been  finding  the need to focus on what is positive and great in my life and in particular those things that make me smile. Most of the things that make me smile are the simple, everyday things, that many may not even notice. No longer do I need big things or big events in my life to make me happy.

I always think that  a smile, whether from yourself or given to you, lifts your mood and makes you feel better. There is so much that is positive in my life and around me that I would love to share. Welcome to the first in my Monthly Smiles series. I hope there is something here to make you smile also.

January Smiles

My Birthday: I received so many lovely messages from family and friends. Big thanks to everyone. This amazing icecream birthday cake was very unexpected.  The photo isn’t very good at all, but we were in such a hurry to take it, so we could get the cake into the freezer. That day was 44 degrees here, and the cake had to travel 25k to home, so just getting it here was a huge mission. It was so very yum! We all know there is no calories in birthday cake, right? So no need at all to feel guilty.

New plants: I went to a succulent sale and of course, couldn’t resist. There were succulents there that I didn’t have so bought some home. This is a regular sale held by a grower but I don’t usually manage to get there as I work on weekends. I’ve now either repotted them or placed them in the garden. After the extremely hot days we’ve had this summer, I plan to bring in more drought tolerant plants.

Veggies picked: picking veggies from the garden always makes me smile. The last week in January, saw the first zucchini and first two tomatoes appear.

Blogiversaries: Next Phase In Fitness celebrated its ninth blogiversary and my book review blog,  Best Bookish Blog celebrated its first. I posted at the time, that nine years ago, I would never have imagined this blog would be still going strong, nine years later.
Best Bookish Blog had been in my mind for a long while and I finally bit the bullet and launched it to celebrate my birthday in 2019. On reflection,  I feel very proud of these  blogs that bring me great joy.

Scottish Vic conference: This was a virtual genealogy conference originating from Scotland. Just like an ‘attend in person’ conference but online. The time difference meant it was an all-nighter, and being virtual, I could attend in my PJs. Virtual conferences are becoming more common in genealogy, and it makes me so happy that they are. I find it difficult to attend many of the conferences that interest me so, attending online is perfect for me.

52 Ancestors : The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is on my genealogy blog Tracking Down The Family. The idea is to write one post about an ancestor every week in 2020. I’m really enjoying collating my research information and writing the posts. Each post is quite time consuming, so I am going have to be super organised for an entire year. That could be the challenge for me! But I am loving it so far and really enjoying  connecting with geneabloggers all over the world who are also participating in the challenge.

Maxines challenge: the first challenge for 2020 started in mid January. I’m really  happy to have it back as it helps to give me focus. I really need that focus at the moment, as I have a knee injury that is causing me a few problems. I’m able to work around it by modifying the exercises that cause me problems. I’m seeing a sports physio who has given me extra exercises to strengthen the muscles up around my knee. I haven’t been able to ride the bike for a while, but this week I’m able to start back on the spin bike for just 15 minutes with no resistance. Being able to pedal again also makes me smile, and I can see that it won’t be long at all until I’m pedalling on the rail trail again.

 

 

  ©Copyright. All rights reserved nextphaseinfitness.com