So, did you totally have a wild New Year's Eve? Did you ring in the New Year's Day with a killer Thursday? I hope you did something you loved or were with those you love to celebrate an end and a beginning! I always loved NYE when I was younger, with our annual take-out dinner of Chinese and endless hours long UNO tournaments, silly stringing the trees outside and exploding confetti poppers and swinging noise makers. But the past few years that has unavoidably stopped and it's sad. Instead things are quite and the family and friends aren't together anymore.
This year my mom and I watched some old home videos (talk about adorable, funny, AND embarrassing!). I love watching them though; it's so weird to see yourself as a little kid in the 1990s opening Christmas presents and standing on stage at a mall doing a beauty pageant in all my little girl shyness! After that, I went to bed like usual, woke-up at 10:30pm due to random fireworks, woke-up again at 12:19am, but went right back to sleep.
However, I did start the New Year right with PANCAKES for breakfast and a good morning workout. That was good 😉 Plus, having a sunny and bright January first, time to do some blog work, cook a few new recipes, and relax was pretty good too. Now it's Friday and with this first Finisher of the year, I hope you find some inspiration in one (or many) of these articles to start this beautiful new year off strong! XOXO
SS Posts from the week:
Monday: A Lovely Little Christmas
Tuesday: Apple Gingerbread Muffins
Wednesday: Dear Me, In 2015
Blog Posts and Links I loved this week:
Life, Mind, Body, Spirit:
+ How To Stop Caring About What Other People Think About Your Body
Good and wise words. Own your awesomeness!
+ The Two Phases Of My Recovery
Open, honest, and beautifully written.
+ 3 Signs You Are Ready To Make A Change
We are all talking about changes right now.
It's about the big picture, not the one fallen tree.
+ No Coloring Books For My Kids, Thank You Very Much
Let creativity shine!
+ 14 Productivity And Happiness Blogs To Read This Year
Some of these are my favorites!
+ 8 Self-Sabotaging Lies To Stop Telling Yourself
Perfect for going into the new year!
+ Resolution Regardless, Keep These 7 Things In Mind For 2015
Love this!
Fitness:
+ The Most FITspiring Stories Of 2014
Just look at all that amazing inspiration!
+ Balance In Life & Lifting: Is It Possible?
It's hard to always be in the middle.
Food:
+ 10 Gluten-Free And Vegan Soup Recipes
Soup season is still going strong! (And I have yet to make any!)
+ Fab 20 Vegan Blogs To Follow
I am so flattered to be one of them!
+ Budget-Friendly Low Glycemic Foods
And they're all delicious!
+ 5 Superfoods To Include In 2015
Even though superfoods aren't "real", these are all GREAT foods to include in your diet!
+ Top 10 Healthy Eating Tips For 2015
All real things you should already be doing!
+ Healthy Drinks That Combat Depression And Anxiety
Drink the good stuff!
Health:
If you follow some "diet" to a T, there is always flaws. Just eat REAL food and the right way for your body and you're good to go!
+ Health Benefits Of Fermented Foods
O Sauerkraut, I love you!
+ 10 Winter Skincare Tips
Take care of your first line of defense!
Tips for thriving and thriving the condition!
Blogging, Social Media, Tech & Photography:
+ 185 Powerful Verbs That Will Make Your Resume Awesome
Or just make all your writing awesome! I love words!
What's your definition of a good blog?
+ You Need A Content Calender For Your Blog
I want to get a bit more organized with my posts this year.
+ What Is Blogging With An "Authentic" Voice?
Are you being authentic?
+ Your Digital Marketing Goals For 2015
Things you should definitely have done!
+ 31 Days Of Writing Prompts For January
You know I love these posts every month...even though I've never used them!
+ How To Participate In A Twitter Chat
This will be helpful! I actually kinda love Twitter chats!
All good stuff!
Other:
+ 9 Bad Habits You Need To Break
It will help you accomplish all those goals you have!
+ How To Write A Thank You Note
Make them meaningful!
+ NITK's New Years Resolutions Do's + Don'ts
This is a great post on making good resolutions!
+ The Most Beautiful College Campuses In 2015
Well that's a bummer 😛
+ 32 Books That Will Actually Change Your Life
Gotta add some of these to the list!
+ 35 Resources To Help You Get Organized
Organized lives are then best lives 😉
Favorite Pins:
(Follow me on Pinterest – RebeccaGF666)
Chicken & Brown Rice Soup. A soup for the soul
Ghanaian Nkatenkwan (Cashew-Peanut Stew). Doesn't this look fabulous!
Grilled Salmon Kebabs. So simple...and I'm really craving some salmon!
Browned Cauliflower, Mache, and Red Quinoa Salad. Beautiful! I am loving everything cauliflower right now!
Lentil Curry Bowls with Cilantro Cashew Sauce. Yea, I could have this everyday!
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken. Finally a super healthy take AND it's dairy-free
Cinnamon Maple Pecan Granola. Look at those clusters!
Mango White Bean Smoothie. This is just so cool and creative! Imagine the creaminess!
A few things I loved about my week or am grateful for:
+ My Old Navy Moccasin Slippers 🙂
+ Some cool expanding opportunities for me professionally that have popped up.
+ Even though it has been getting colder, the sun had finally been poking through and shining more! (They show snow tomorrow!)
+ I've had some really great cooking success in the kitchen this week! 2015 is going to be a yummy one!
So tell me:
+ What are your New Year's Eve traditions? What did you do the first day of 2015?
+ Do you ever watch your old home movies? I love putting them on and making commentary, hahaha!
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karissa
What a great round up of awesome posts. Thanks for sharing them! Thank you for linking up on Motivational Monday, hope you will join us again!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks!
Sharon Rowe
Just popping over from How To Get Organized At Home and wanted to say thank you for sharing a great post:)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks.
Linda @ Veganosity
Thank you for including my BBQ pulled jackfruit sandwich Rebecca! I've been out of town for a few days and needed to disconnect. You can imagine how happy I was to see this as I was catching up on my favorite blogs.
Great links, as usual! Congrats for being included in the best vegan blogs post!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
You're so welcome Linda! I seriously LOVE that sandwich 😉
XOXO
Deryn @ Running on Real Food
Thanks so much for including my post! I love your round-ups, so many great reads 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you so much Deryn 🙂 XOXO
Emily @ Zen & Spice
Thanks for including my link girl!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Welcome 🙂
Nikki Vergakes
mm that cashew stew looks delish, I love thai influence on food. And I had a greaatt new years! Hope for the best for you in 2015!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right? The flavors are incredible!
Thank you! I hope you do as well! XOXO
Michele @ paleorunningmomma
Today's been a busy day for me but I'm looking forward to kicking back on my couch now and reading some of these articles. I also love watching old home movies, both of my sister and me and now of my own kids! It's amazing how you forget all the little things as a parent. All those videos are to be cherished 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yes they are! We should probably look into getting those tapes put on to DVDs for safety, but we are always nervous something will happen during the process!
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
Happy new year, lady! I went out for dinner on New Year's Eve and played Cards Against Humanity. It was really fun! New year's day was really lazy, and I was completely okay with that. As usual, I am excited to make my way through all these links!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Happy New Year Genevieve! XOXO
Well that sounds fun! (I've only ever "half" played cards against humanity once! I think!
Have fun reading dear friend! XOXO
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West
NYE with your Momma sounds fabulous! I had a low-key one here in San Francisco with my hubby, which was just what we needed after a fun and eventful cross-country trip to Florida last week. Happy Friday! 🙂 Great reads.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Nice calm nights are always good to have! As long as you spent it happy, that's all one can ask for! XOXO
Jesica @rUnladylike
Happy happy new year!!! What an amazing post. This is chock full of so much great content I'll be reading (and cooking) for days!!! Thanks so much for including my most FITspiring stories from 2014. There are SO many amazing people doing things that keep me inspired every day. I hope your 2015 is a great year! xoxo
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks my friend! It was such a great post for people to read going into the new year! Cheers!
Heather @ Housewife Glamour
Ha, I can't remember the last time I even went to bed before 10:30 p.m.! I'm not knocking it... that's for sure. I wish I could turn off earlier. Glad to hear you kicked off the New Year with things you wanted to do. I did the same thing. Thanks so much for linking up! Enjoy the weekend 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, I wish I could stay up later sometimes! I just can't hold my eyes open! But come morning and I'll get up as early as I can!
Happy New Year Heather XOXO
Clare @ fitting it all in
Happy New Year dear ! xoxo
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Happy New Year Clare!
Alanna
If I'm home for NYE (which I was this year) we just do appetizers and maybe some games, then continue to watch TV specials until the ball drops - SO exciting over here. The first thing I did in 2015 was eat a hot bowl of oats - duh. Have a great weekend!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
But that sounds perfect to me! Just taking it easy and doing what you love 😉 And waking up and eating more of what you love 😉
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit
I think old home movies and a pancake breakfast sounds like the perfect New Years! Although I know what you mean about missing the silly sleepy NYEs of years past. I remember lots of movies, games, silly string, and having to be woken up again for the ball dropping. Luckily where I lived it dropped on TV at 11pm (since I was on CST) so then I could go to bed haha.
This year was just me in my apartment getting blogging work done and going to bed long before midnight 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Next year Natalie, we will get together and throw a NYE bash! With a build-you-own Pancake "Bar" 😉
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes
I just don't know how you do it every week Rebecca. Seriously. You must spend all week reading reading and reading. I am in awe. As usual, I have like twelve open tabs to click through to now.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Well I'm always glad to hear my rounding-up is benefiting someone, haha!
Emily @My Healthyish Life
We watched home movies last night! So many school concerts and random dance recitals. Very embarrassing but funny and cute. Thanks for a great round-up, as always 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It's SOOOO funny! My mom had this video of me eating tiny bits of cheese for like 30 minutes (as like a 6 month old).....what a life!
Annmarie
I just tried to lick the computer looking at all those amazing food pictures...YUM!!!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Hahaha, no shame there 😉
Farrah
I'm completely messed up on days and totally thought I'd read this over the weekend already when I saw the "Friday Finisher" title (said supposed "weekend" being the last couple days). D: So out of it, but hooray for mid-week holidays/days off!
I love all these links! <3 That one about not caring what other people think was an especially great read. :]
...I'm gonna have to try extra hard not to procrastinate this weekend on studying. 😡
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, we are all still in that dreamy state of the holiday haze!
I knew you would like that one!
I send you good vibes for studying! That is NOT fun! XOXO