What was the most delicious meal you ate this year?

This year I have not been focusing on my foodie tendencies because I have been focusing on making healthy lifestyle changes. So I will say that Shakeology is the most delicious meal I have had this year.  I have had Shakeology for breakfast almost every day for three months.  I feel so much healthier now that I am starting my day with a nutritional boost.  I am not trying to be a BeachBody commercial either.  I am just so far away from focusing on food that I can’t even remember a fancy meal I had this year.  I have some memorable meals.  Jake took me to a nice restaurant in OBX for my birthday and the girls were precious. Jake and I went to the Homestead for our anniversary and Jake had to buy pants and borrow a jacket to eat in the dinning room, but the food was meh.  I gained three pounds after a Burket family meal at Olive Garden celebrating an award I got at work.  I enjoyed Thanksgiving because the whole Burket family came together and it was very nice, Sary lead us in singing her “We are Thankful” grace and Piper said Amen.

When you were most grateful?

I was most grateful when Piper graduated from Occupational Therapy.  It has been two years since she was born.  When she was born I was so scared.  The whole world looked strange to me.  I no longer trusted the comfort of my own dreams for my family.  The future was unpredictable.  I was so frightened that she might die or be physically disabled.  She grew stronger every day and came home in March before her due date and was healthy, no malformations, no brain bleeds.  She still had a challenge with coordinating her suck swallow breath but hey she could swallow.

I started her in Early Intervention right away.  She was evaluated in May.  She automatically qualified because she was born so early.  We were assigned an Occupational Therapist.  The first focus was on her suck swallow breath coordination.  It was immediate.  The advice of the OT worked wonders she was able to do it if she wasn’t distracted before the next OT visit two weeks later.

A year later at her evaluation in May we had overcome many obstacles her sensory seeking behavior was normalizing.  Her torticollis was not that bad.  She was walking and learning to talk.  We continued the therapy and added a couple goals around speech.  She had just started Day Care in April and I was not sure how she would adjust.  We had a couple months of slow progress she was sick a lot she was prescribed a preventative nebulizer treatment.  As soon as she was healthy again she burst forth all sorts of new words and abilities.

We worked on her neck and before I knew it when the OT asked me what my concerns were I didn’t have any.  A year and a half after she was born and poof like that, no more concerns.  I said “let’s keep an eye on her neck” so we scheduled our next appointment for two months later. (Not two weeks two months.) We met the OT in October and Piper was doing great. No more OT for now, we did not decline services we are still in early intervention but there are no immediate concerns.  I am so grateful to Lorna and her wonderful skills and patience. I am so grateful to God for his plans.

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” New International Version (NIV)

Examen 2012

A blog prompt for every day in December to help me examine the progress I have made in my Heart Mind Body Soul

When were you most grateful?
What was the most delicious meal you ate?
Where did you visit this year?
What was the best book you read?
What were your favorite songs?
When did you celebrate?
What astonished you?
Where did you spend your money?
What was your favorite blog post...that you read or wrote?
When did you take the easy way?
Who has been your teacher this year - officially or unofficially?
What rocked your world, changed your life, shifted the ground beneath your feet?
Most bizarre conversation of your year: script it. Use pseudonyms if necessary.
What cracked you up?
Where'd you find the best cup of coffee (or tea, or wine, or beverage of your choice?)
When did you struggle?
What’s the most whimsical/spontaneous/ridiculous thing you did?
When did you see God at work?
When were you the angriest?
What’s been the best decision you made this year?
Who came into your life in 2012?
What did you learn?
What gifts did you give? What gifts did you receive?
Meme of the year: post a picture.
What did you make?
Where did you spend the most time?
Who surprised you?
What did you give up?
If the year 2012 had a hashtag, what would it be?
Where were you on January 1, 2012?
What’s one thing you’re committing to in 2013?