The Toy Box Years: Square One No Longer Exists!

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

I was getting ready to do my usual morning post on my FB fitness page - Mission "Slim-Possible". I like to post something fun and inspirational and share my continuing journey to getting fit. This the inspirational post I was going to share today.

This hit me hard. Reading this made me think.....2 years ago was when I started my journey. I've had huge successes, huge set-backs, weight losses, weight gains....and I've started over again more times than I can count.

But each time I started over, I wasn't the same person that I started as.......

This person started off at the heaviest I had ever been......a little over 170 pounds. This person couldn't make it up the stairs in the gym without having to catch her breath at the top. This person couldn't make it through 30-minutes on the elliptical without having to stop and breathe. This person's highest level on the elliptical was the lowest setting possible. This person couldn't handle 5lb free weights, do a plank, do a roundhouse kick, do a crunch of any kind.

But slowly, I gained strength, stamina and confidence.

I got stronger......I hit milestones.....I lost the weight and got in shape.

But then My Marine came home from deployment and real life kicked in.....and with that came the cycle of "taking a break" and "starting over". The weight would creep back on, then off, then on again. But I NEVER hit that highest weight again.

I realized though, that when I started over, I was never in that beginning stage. I may have lost a little in my strength and stamina, but I recovered quickly. It didn't take me as long to get into that groove again. And no matter how many times I begin again, I noticed that:

The stairs are still easy.
I can hold the planks are longer.
I now can get through a 45-55 minute workout, slowing down just for water breaks.
Those songs on my elliptical playlist used to be my "hard" workout are now my cool-down.
I'm now lifting 4-5x more than my original start.

My point is this......no matter how many "breaks" you take, when you start back up again, you are never "back to the beginning". You are so much further along than you are when you started. You ARE stronger. You ARE fitter. You KNOW what you're capable of.

Start again as many times as you need. But keep starting and know that no matter how many times you begin again, you're not beginning for the first time.

And if that's not progress, then I don't know what is!