Blog Archives
I Forgot My Blog’s Birthday!
Considering I still have trouble sorting out what day of the week it is, I guess it’s no surprise I recently forgot one special date on the calendar. LauraLovesFitness.com turned nine years old last week!
I use each blog birthday as a chance to reflect on some highlights during the past year. Needless to say, nothing looks the same as it did at this time last July. However, before the start of a year many of us can’t wait to leave behind, the last half of 2019 provided some truly memorable experiences. I’ll always consider it a successful cross-this-off-the-bucket-list year. So, here are the top three memorable moments in since last summer in chronological order:
And… last but certainly not least..
Now, as we continue to push through a challenging and downright scary 2020, I am more thankful than ever to my readers and followers for your ongoing support. I hope my sporadic, yet candid posts during these past months have offered a few minutes of distraction during otherwise monotonous or difficult days. I look forward to better days ahead for all is us and to the times we can once again truly have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Keep On Keepin’ On…
Three of nine albums made during quarantine….so far!
On this Workout Wednesday, we’ve reached the middle of May and day number who-knows-what in this fight against COVID-19. States around the country are starting to re-open, but things here in New York City remain the same. As the monotony continues, I thought I’d share one thing that’s helped maintain my mental health in addition to my near-daily power walks through Central Park: Snapfish.
I don’t know about you, but while I’ve loved the simplicity of taking pictures on my iPhones for the past several years, I hate the fact those photos usually end up in a sea of disorganization on my laptop. So, I decided to tackle the tedious task of creating some actual “old-school” albums to be placed on a bookshelf. While I still have plenty to tackle, I’ve used Snapfish.com to slowly assemble memories from various vacations; four Avon39 Walks; highlights from last year’s NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix along with images captures during the 15 weeks of prep time leading up to the main event; and finally, two year-in-review compilations for 2014 and 2015. (James and I met in 2014, so I thought that was a happy place to start.) It’s been wonderful to receive the finished products in the mail, sit with a big glass of wine and re-live some happy memories. (Bonus: Snapfish has been offering great deals on albums and other photo creations almost daily since these quarantine days began.)
If there’s a creative project you’ve kept on the back burner because of all the normal chaos of life, maybe now’s the time to give it a whirl. Working on a crafty project can also provide a feeling of accomplishment on days when much of life has stood still. Speaking of getting things done, one of my besties texted me earlier this week to say she felt unproductive because the “only” things she got done that day were laundry, bills and some other paperwork. I reminded her completing any kind of chore on days when many of us would like to just pull the covers over our head and stay in bed is something to feel good about. Whether you get one or five things crossed off your to-do list today, give yourself the kudos you deserve. Things are hard right now, and we can only do our best each day we’re lucky enough to start anew.
If you’ve worked on a project that’s given you some joy during these challenging times, I’d love to hear about it! In the meantime, stay safe, soak up the warmer temperatures that are starting to creep into this otherwise unprecedented spring and do the best you can to stick with your plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Pardon the Interruption….
If you’ve been stopping by here for awhile, you know I sometimes stray from my usual themes. This happens to be one of those Motivation Mondays.
Over the weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about one of the biggest challenges I’ve struggled with since turning the “Big 4-0” a few years ago: saying goodbye.
There are the goodbyes we say to our loved ones. Some will suffer from drawn-out illnesses of the body or the mind that we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies. Others are taken too young and too tragically to ever fully comprehend or find any semblance of “closure.” Then there are the goodbyes we say to certain places that meant so much for so long. For me, that goodbye became a reality at the end of last week. That’s when a demolition team reduced the place my parents and I called home for 37 years to rubble in a matter of hours. Even though we knew the tear-down was coming, I was overwhelmed by the sense of finality once it happened.
It’s amazing how the heart and mind can find so much comfort in stone, brick and siding. Of course, it’s not the materials that make a house special. It’s the memories created within those sturdy walls with help from countless friends and family members who walked through the doors throughout the decades. Those special times are what made the house a beautiful home. Here are just a few of those beautiful moments for which I will be forever grateful:
- More than 30 Christmases
- Learning how to swing a bat and throw a baseball thanks to the guidance of my Dad and my beloved Nonno on the front lawn while Nonna sat with a watchful eye under a shady tree.
- Learning how to make passatini and other cooking adventures with Mom.
- Giggling with Grandma Julia while we were supposedly napping during her visits from Florida for the holidays.
- Getting rid of the training wheels and learning how to ride my bicycle in the driveway, with help from my “big brother” Robbie.
- Running through the sprinklers to stay cool on summer days with my childhood gal pals, who are now my lifelong friends.
- BBQs in the backyard and bocce matches on the front lawn.
As the list of memories grew in my mind, I realized that’s where they’ll live forever. (We also happen to have fun reminders of so many happy occasions thanks to the dozens of old photo albums that now live in my parents’ new home!) This is why I’m able to type the last words of this post with a smile on my face. Because saying goodbye doesn’t erase the past. It just helps accentuate when a new chapter can begin. And new chapters are the perfect time to re-commit the heart and soul to make the most of each and every day on this never-ending journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
*Please note, I intentionally left a photo out of this week’s post to emphasize the fact that sometimes the best place to find an image that can help the heart feel better is in the mind.
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