What Will You Say Well Yes! to in 2018?

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In December, I read a blog post by Tim Urban that stuck with me for weeks. The Tail End on Wait But Why gives a sobering pictorial representation of how few of our favorite things are left waiting for us in the remaining years of our life. Using images of footballs stacked in large blocks representing Super Bowls past and future, Urban laments there might only be 60 more of these the big games left for him. And at his current rate of eating one pizza per month, he likely has about 700 more to go. For me, my mind turned to travel. I try to visit at least one new country a year. Since the average lifespan of a US woman is 78 years, I might hope to travel to 78 countries total. I am 44, so that means I might have 34 countries left.

How many countries does that leave you?

The part that really struck me was what this means about spending quality time with my kids and parents. Many of my best childhood memories are of travelling with family. On the road, we are more present with each other than we are in everyday life. We eat every meal together without activities, homework, and computers distracting us. I am fortunate that my parents and I still travel together. My parents are around 70 years old. If I am lucky, I may have 10 more trips with them.

We spent many of our childhood vacations taking road trips around the west coast where I grew up. Then as a teen I road-tripped through New England with my grandparents. My own parents raised me with an appreciation for exploring our country, which is something I’ve imparted to my own boys. My oldest son is going into high school next year. That means there are four more years of winter and spring school vacations for travel. So I really want to make travelling with them a priority while we still have time under the same roof.

Have you heard about the goal of 50 before 50? The concept is to see all 50 states before you reach the age of 50. I realized that I only have six years left to reach that goal. I have visited 36 states, so that leaves 14 states to see in the next six years.

How many states does that leave you?

Of course, this all assumes that we will live healthy lives, able to travel and enjoy each other for years to come. Last year, I had the pleasure of discovering Well Yes!® Soup. They are delicious soups that are made with lots of wholesome foods like sweet potatoes and whole grains but without antibiotics and artificial flavorings.

Well Yes! Soups have been a wonderfully convenient addition to my family’s staple eats. These Soups in the Right Direction® are made help to say yes to the most important parts of our lives–traveling with family.

I have been replacing my workday fast-food habit with these healthful soups. I am quite obsessed with the Black Bean with Red Quinoa Soup and bring it in my lunch bag most days. It has 17 grams of protein- almost half of what I need in the day and it is vegetarian, a lifestyle change I try to embrace often.

Since I have been bringing my yummy soups to work and am so excited about them, many of my work family have also started to eat them for lunch. Here are our favorites: You know my favorite, Jenny loves her vegetarian Italian Vegetables with Farro Soup, Vanessa likes the Minestrone with Kale Soup and Ann alternates the Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice Soup with the Sweet Potato Corn Chowder.

This year I am going to put my energy into holding on to what I learned.  I am going to take trips with the people who are the most important to me.

Here are my plans for saying yes in 2018:

• We are going to ski at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire in January.
• In February, we will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate my great-grandmother’s 103rd birthday. My son wants to see the Grand Canyon, so we will be sure to see it, hopefully with snow on it!
• In February, my we will travel to California to spend time with my parents and finally see Harry Potter at Universal Studios.
• In April, my family will meet my parents in Washington DC to honor my recently deceased grandfather at Arlington National Cemetery. On our way home we will road trip to two of the states I have yet to visit, North Carolina and West Virginia
• And finally, cruises are one of my family’s favorite ways to travel. I have heard from many people that Alaskan cruises are a trip of a lifetime, so I booked one for the summer of 2019!

I am so excited for this year of yes! What things that are important to you will you say yes to this year?

To help make 2018 a year of yes for you, Well Yes! is giving away $500. Don’t forget to enter the #WellYes2018 Sweepstakes in the widget below for a chance to win up to a $500 Visa gift card! It’s as easy as clicking, logging in, and sharing your Moment of Yes story! If you win, think of all the ways you can use the prizing to achieve your Moment of Yes!

#WellYes2018 #Sweepstakes (1/15 to 2/16)

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