Day 28 - What a difference a year makes

I hate this picture. I look so fat in it. Not that I didn't know I wasn't skinny, but my face and arms look so big. I have extra chin, which isn't cute when you have no neck like I do.





This was Christmas 2009. 2009 was not a good year for Krista. It was emotionally draining, and a lot of trying to figure myself out and where I wanted to go in my life. This was the year I was truly alone. Despite the yo-yo that my ex was trying to keep me on, towards the end of the year I was really ready to move on and make the best life I could. By the end of 2009, I'd recently met the rebound guy, and things were starting to turn around.

Enter Christmas, 2010. While I am still not the size I want to be, I am working my way down. The great thing is in this picture, you can see by my face alone how much is gone. And I have some nice curves developing again.

2010 was the year of Krista. The year I finally made life what it should have been all along. I had been living with my grandparents for awhile, trying to pick up the pieces, emotionally and financially, that the ex had left behind. In January, I started seriously looking to move out. I could have gotten an apartment, but something started in me that I wanted a home. Someplace that was really mine. That I didn't have to share with anyone (except for the boy of course), and no one could over rule my decorating decisions.

So, I looked. Granted, as a single parent with no financial support coming in, I was limited in what I could afford. I had my heart set on a two story condo right across the street from my son's friend, Jacob. It was a good location, hidden back so I had privacy, but pretty small. Not that I needed much, since I had to start all over with nothing. The price was right, right school district, and close to the rest of my family. Just as I was almost ready to make the offer, my realtor did one final search and found a few more locations, just to check and make sure I was making the right decision. And then I found my house.

So, I bought it. Not that it was that easy, but you know how that goes. Rebound guy went away, which was fine, as Geoff and I were talking pretty much daily at that point. I had great friends, and a good job. My boss gave us a 2 month gym membership and that's when I started losing the weight.

I felt better about myself than I had in years. I had a house, then I got a dog. And I did it myself.

I started doing more volunteer efforts through my job, and gave back to the community. It's a good feeling to know you're helping some one who needs it. Then Geoff came in June, and things got even better. I fell back in love all over again. I took two trips to New Hampshire, and really took the time to be me, 100 percent. I had a crappy car which was on its way to the car grave and I bought my very first new car ever. I found an amazing support system on a website called Loving From a Distance, which is all about long distance relationships, and made some pretty amazing new friends there too.

2010 turned out to be the year that I became the Krista I'd always wanted to be. Even through the bad times, because no one is happy all of the time, I realized how blessed I was, and how far I had come in succeeding. It's still early, but I'm finding 2011 is just a continuation of the life I've always dreamed of. Seriously, what a difference a year makes.