Congratulations!  So worth toughing it out. This will be a great year!

Hope you are doing something very special,

Robin

Thank you!! It feels great!! The shackles are gone!! 

Hi Robin! Nice to hear from you!! Hope you are well.  

Thanks for the kind words.  I'm hoping the year will be great as well! 

Hey Julie!

I was checking "favorites" and decided to click on Bravehearts.  Didn't know you guys were still conversing!  I really miss you guys.  The whole COVID thing is a mind blower, huh?  And now the election.  I've been working since the shutdown ended in April, and so is my husband.  We're all healthy.  Our son has been going to high school virtually since March.  They get to go back one day a week at the end of the month.  He got to play varsity tennis in a mask, that was very weird, but no COVID.  My brother lives in the NYC area, and I swear they are all still mad as heck.  Don't blame them.  I did contact Robin and Andrea by email, since I knew they were in NY/NJ, just to check that they were ok.  They were fine.

Yep, I was like you...EVERY SINGLE FEELING made me want to smoke.  Happy feelings, anxious feelings, bad feelings. Impatient feelings were really tough.  And I was the prime example of someone who quit earlier for 9 months, blew it, and was totally discouraged for years.  I had fleeting thoughts about smoking during the shutdown, but they were very quick.  Not so much a crave.  God, I do not miss that.

Write back and say hello...let me know how you're doing.  I'm a little worried about this winter and getting through until probably April.  No skiing at all, which is what we do in winter.  We spend every weekend there (and if I don't go, I have the house to myself, which I really miss.)  We've also had the worst wildfire in the history of Colorado, so the air is pretty bad.  It's been a wild ride this year, and I thought 2019 was wild!

Jean

Hey Jean!  So happy to hear from you!!  We are hanging in there, IL is up and down with Covid--I think our governor has done a pretty good job trying to keep us safe but there are plenty who disagree.  Sad that it's become such a political thing.  We're in the same county as Chicago but when you look at the positivity rate for just my town, we're only at like 1%.  My son started 6th grade this year (junior high here) and is in person 100%.  Lilly is a sophomore and her school JUST moved to a hyrbrid model (half the alphabet in the am, the other half in the pm, alternating days) though several teachers are teaching from home so in some classes it's just kids sitting at a desk zooming.  She's doing really well without being in school so we decided to just let her continue to work from home, and thankfully she was able to have an abbreviated swim season.  It was weird, but it worked.   Bottom line both kids are happy and healthy!

Husband has been working from home since March--that hasn't been great but it's nowhere near what it was like when he lost his job just after I quit smoking!  Glad we have a big enough house for me to have my own space when I need it.  And very glad he has a job.  Scary times for so many around the country--counting my blessings every night. 

Watching the nightly news now and they're updating the fires in CO...I can't believe how awful they are.  I hope you're not in any danger.  My sister lives near Sacramento and the air quality there in August was just horrible.  Please write back to let me know how you're doing!

Had a another great non-smoking milestone a couple of weeks ago--my best friend came in for a week from Michigan.  I haven't seen her since before I quit and she still smokes.  I was able to sit outside with her while she smoked and never once felt the desire to smoke with her--that was huge!  I was so happy to finally see her but at the same time so nervous that it would be a horrible visit just smelling it on her.  I think maybe enough time has passed, finally.  Will be 2 years in 2 1/2 weeks!

Please say hi to Robin and Andrea next time you touch base with them!!

Jules

Congratulations Julie!!!

Amazing job on this treacherous, emotional rollercoaster. Longer life, renewed lungs, more money, better skin, no more ball and chain etc etc ...

Well done!

Hope everyone else in our group is safe and well!

In celebration   ,

Robin xo

So good to “ see” you, Robin!! You will forever be a part of my quit story!