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Sparked
to Go For It! Sunday, April 09, 2017 185 comments I login to Spark every morning for my daily dose of motivation. I especially like the list of new blogs. Those are the people from all around the world who are sparking right along with me at that very moment. However, yesterday was the o... Read more One hundred years ago today Thursday, April 06, 2017 49 comments The USA entered World War I and 2 babies were born hundreds of miles apart. One was the son of immigrants. One was the descendant of a family that had lived here for centuries. It was a time of great upheaval. Europe was ruled by ... Read more The Crisscross Effect - My checkbook balance and my scale display Friday, March 31, 2017 142 comments Both are just numbers. Both give me a snapshot of a particular moment in time. Neither one defines me as a person, but I cannot dismiss either one as irrelevant. Both give me important information that I ignore at my peril. Both num... Read more The "Crisscross Effect" - Connecting Goals in Different Areas of Life Friday, March 24, 2017 172 comments At first glance these two photos do not appear to have anything in common. But they are indeed both personal challenges that Spark principles are helping me to conquer. Both are examples of testing the limit of my ability. My house is on a... Read more Thank You Kelliebean - my personal motivator of the day Saturday, March 11, 2017 40 comments I woke up with negative thoughts. The wind was howling creating a wind chill of 24 degrees. That is NOT how this weather wimp wanted to do a 5k training run this morning. I truly would have bailed except for my daily Spark login and read... Read more A Most Important Message for the Young and Future Generations Wednesday, March 08, 2017 196 comments If you are overweight, do not fall for the hype to lose the weight quickly! There is a dark side to following that path. Through the weight loss/regain chronicles of celebrities, reality TV shows, statistics of the general population... Read more Why spending time on Spark is different and more worthwhile than Facebook Friday, March 03, 2017 77 comments " I have legitimate conversations with others about weight loss, health issues, the ups and downs of the journey. And for this - I have become stronger, I have become more motivated, I have become a better me!" I didn’t write that. I read i... Read more What to do when things don't go as planned? Tuesday, February 28, 2017 175 comments Turn to the best resource Spark has to offer - the Spark People! I always turn to the blogs first, especially the blogs of the "helpers" Something there always gives me my daily dose of motivation. Yes, there are lots of useful resou... Read more A Different View of Functional Fitness Friday, February 24, 2017 43 comments Some years ago my daughter Jeannie (Hayburner1969) gave me a set of dumbbells for Christmas. My mother was in her eighties and not only needed a walker but also could not raise her arms above her head. That meant she needed help getting dress... Read more What can we learn from our Spark friends? Tuesday, February 21, 2017 35 comments How to SUCCEED with their encouragement! I woke up 3 hours late lacking motivation. Maybe I’ll just read or putter around the house. Oh, why not check in with those who understand how this program works. And I read: “I Succeed W... Read more Any Sparkers near Munich? Saturday, February 18, 2017 41 comments Pianist Sparker Hayburner1969 makes her European debut on March 3rd as part of a 3 day International Concert Series. www.gasteig.de/veranstal tungen/mein-pianoforte-pia nomarathon-internationaler -meisteramateure.html,v47088... Read more I Know You Love Me - It's OK to Skip the Chocolate Saturday, February 11, 2017 215 comments It wasn't always this way. Feb 14, 1964 my boyfriend of 8 months brought me the biggest box of candy I had ever seen. It was a HUGE valentine box, 2 feet wide. I even knew how much it cost because I passed that "homemade chocolate" candy sho... Read more "Hold on until Rescued" - Strength and Endurance Monday, February 06, 2017 69 comments It was 1964 and I was a high school senior. It was the first year our school participated in the President's Physical Fitness challenge. It seems that statistics showed we were getting "soft" or maybe it was another attempt for us to keep up w... Read more "To Have and Have Not" - Finding an Unexpected Spark Lesson Monday, January 30, 2017 156 comments I spent most of Saturday at a high school swim meet. It was the conference championship and I had a connection to two of the schools. Two of my grandchildren are students at school 'A' and one more is a graduate One of my grandkids is... Read more Going the extra mile for the team - the 5% challenge team Tuesday, January 24, 2017 72 comments Although I like being active, running, walking, any kind of movement, I can settle into a rut. Spark always gives me a boost, sometimes even a needed kick in the pants. So, after 8 years here I joined my very first 5% challenge. I've se... Read more The Streak I'm Most Proud of and What I’m Most Grateful for Wednesday, January 18, 2017 173 comments Today is the 1000th day straight that I have logged into Spark. It's also DH's 72nd birthday. How appropriate that they should coincide. I begin every day with a cup of coffee that Joe made for me, just as he has done every morning for ne... Read more Challenge, Who needs a challenge? Oops, I guess I do! Friday, January 13, 2017 181 comments Challenges are a big part of the spark world. We get invitations when we first join, on the start page, in email, through team activities or even through the posts of friends. In 8 years I think I've done 3. 30 days of fiber - check, I'm... Read more Following advice (or not) sometimes depends on the source Wednesday, January 11, 2017 40 comments My daughter, who recognized that I needed to make some changes, gave me a food scale for Christmas a decade ago. Eh, who needs it! I eat healthy food Then she gave me a set of dumbbells. Eh, who needs those! Look how fit I am. ... Read more "Off to See the Wizard" - Following the Spark Road Sunday, January 08, 2017 222 comments It may not be made of yellow bricks and it doesn't end at the Land of Oz, but it is a path well worth following. There are general directions posted. There are guidelines for nutrition and calorie ranges, tracking tools, and articles to re... Read more The Road not Taken...The Pie not Eaten Wednesday, January 04, 2017 194 comments With apologies to Robert Frost who poetically described: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,. And sorry I could not travel both" I'm thinking about the 2 roads I have traveled. One was smooth sailing with lots of billboards for all ... Read more The Comfort of a Comforter Tuesday, January 03, 2017 42 comments During this holiday we had a full house one night which required getting out some extra blankets from the plastic storage bags in the closet. After everyone left I was preparing to pack things away when suddenly this triggered some memori... Read more What Would Grandma Think of My Excuses? Monday, January 02, 2017 28 comments I always find motivation by logging into Spark. Sometimes it hits close to home. My DD#1 Hayburner1969 is BACK to Spark after 15 months of going it alone! Her blog this morning was a nice surprise that got me thinking too. "It'... Read more What the World Needs Now is... Sunday, January 01, 2017 33 comments I posted my status about taking our 6 grandkids to a photo session to recreate a 2004 picture. This is NOT it, but on the walk back to our cars... Read more
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