NEW THINGS COMING AND THE REASON BEHIND IT ALL

We were at the highest point on Maui.  It was sooooooo beautiful.  You could see the big island from here.

(Me feeling so relaxed, enjoying dinner & heading to a Hawaiian theater to learn more about the Hawaiian people)

As many of you already know I was fortunate enough to get to spend a month in Maui with my Rugrats (and my sister and nephew) this summer.  It was a time of MAJOR decompression.  The stresses of my "reality" back here on the mainland dripped away a little each day until I almost forgot what being stressed out felt like.  I was determined to not lose this feeling when I returned home.  I just knew there had to be a way to keep this feeling.  I kept saying "I want to figure out how to bring my ALOHA back home with me."

So sitting on the Lanai looking out at the ocean and feeling like one of the most blessed people on this earth....I started thinking.......  Is it just the scenery?  Is it the yummy Mai Tai's?......Is is just the fact that I am on "vacation"?  Is it that I doing only "what has to be done for work"?

Sure all of those things contributed to it.....no doubt about it.  BUT it was more than that.  I am fortunate enough to live on a lake at home......the scenery here is beautiful (not palm trees in Maui but when I take the time to slow down and look at the view I can't complain)....The Mai Tai's...they were great, but I can make them at home if I wanted.  Vacation?  Sure that helps, but I've been on plenty where I felt I needed to come home and take a vacation from my vacation.  OBVIOUSLY doing less work was helpful but there has to be a way to manage that better.

So I made a game plan.  A plan to simplify.  I realized less can be more.  I started to take a look around and see what stresses me and figure out what I can do to change it.  Some physical things some mental things.

Then a friend of mine, Nan, at LBD Diaries and I decided that we were going to work on this together.  We had already been working on our weight loss journey together and found our e-mail support to be so helpful so we figured why not support each other in other areas.

THEN we decided to take it a step further and incorporate it into our blog posts.  This would not only help us but help others.  We can't be the only ones who struggle with being organized, keeping romance in our marriages, dealing with Rugrats, and the need to cut the clutter.  We also want to work on our finances, budgeting, menu planning, housekeeping schedule and scheduling time to for ourselves and with our spouses.

While in Maui I learned from some locals the true meaning of the word Aloha.  I'm determined to keep mine and I'd love nothing more than to share it.  I'm so looking forward to working with Nan and doing just that.

More on this to come, but I am just so excited about it that I had to share!

Ciao Bellas~

Momma