SammiJo Thankyou for this update. :) Yes your whole life DID change ... all for the better! And just think, this is only the beginning! Pat [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 68 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,740 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $952 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 58 [B]Seconds:[/B] 13

Wonderful post and then your followup Sammi .. Loved it! I am learning so much from so many here - awesome inspiration :) J xo [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 4/4/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 2 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 57 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $20.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2

oh, sammi jo.....that is a great Before and After!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing that How's the pool...warming up yet? We're having records lows here....still waiting for the ocean to warm up.....lol [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 15 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 605 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $102 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 2 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

I used the Search function to go back and look for my very first post here at SSC, and this was it! I quit at midnight on New Year's Eve, but didn't find/join this site until the 8th of January. I read a bunch of posts that first day, and then posted for the first time on the 9th. WOW, it's so cool that so many aspects of my life DID change! - I now follow up most meals with a card game or a computer game or a visit to this website! - I now follow up intimacy with more intimacy! :) - I now deal with problems by just dealing with them. - I now celebrate good times with a nice reward, paid for with all that extra cash I'm not spending on my addiction. - I will now deal with grief by spending time with family or in prayer. - I'm now much more productive at work! - I now pay attention to the road when I drive! - I now can talk on the phone for as long as I want without having to go outside with the cordless. - I now enjoy my morning coffee outside in the fresh air. My whole life DID change... all for the better! :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 95 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,853 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $285 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 43 [B]Seconds:[/B] 41

oops, forgot to show my Quit Meter! I'm celebrating my 40 days. =D [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 40 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,229 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $120 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 5 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 46

WOW!!! I just read this post that I wrote when I was only EIGHT days into my quit! EIGHT! Wooooohoooo, I am SO glad that feels like SO long ago now! =D What a hoot it was to see that something *I* posted got bumped! I feel so special! :) :) :) [img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/sammijofl/lastpuff.jpg[/img]

Earlier today I was trying to explain this to a co-worker and she was totally not getting it, but then again, she's a non-smoker and always has been so I guess she wouldn't. (Duh) Anyway, I have been a smoker for my ENTIRE ADULT LIFE. Other than the short two times that I quit, I have NEVER coped with the ups and downs of life without nicotine - and - throughout my whole entire adult life I have... - always followed up every meal with a smoke; - always followed up intimacy with a smoke; - always dealt with problems by stopping whatever I was doing to smoke; - always celebrated good times with a smoke; - always dealt with grief with extra tar and nicotine; - always punctuated my workday with smoke-breaks; - always smoked when I drove; - always smoked during (non-work-related) phone calls; - always smoked when drinking coffee. That�s a lot of alwayses. Alwayses that will now be transformed into Nevers. Suddenly, overnight, I have changed the way I do just about everything. And guess what. There ain�t no patch for coping with that. BUT I don't want every aspect of my life to be experienced through a haze of smelly smoke anymore. I don't want every decision I make to be influenced by whether I'll be free to smoke or not. [b]I want to experience life without all the nonproductive, health-endangering, frowned-upon-by-most-of-the-rest-of-the-world smoke-breaks taking up so much of my day![/b] It takes me about 7 minutes to smoke one of my (former brand of) cigarettes... at 30 a day, that's 210 minutes - THREE AND A HALF HOURS - out of every single day that I've been totally wasting while suckin' smoke! Oh, sure, I always rationalized it, "We were talking shop the whole time," or "I took work with me outside," but c'mon, I know deep inside the real truth - the vast majority of that time was wasted. Gone. I'm not doing that anymore. I can be one really stubborn woman, and this time I'm gonna use that stubbornness to get me through a TOTAL life overhaul. Sorry for going on so long, but I figured at least someone HERE will get what I'm sayin'! :) Thank you for all the support here, I love having a place to vent! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 8 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 265 [B

Oh MY GOd! That so could have been me talking!! (I wouldn't have said it so great), but it is exactly my life! Good for you for realizing it!! And thank-you, I really needed to read that today. Cheers, Sous

Great post, SammiJo! And it's our choice to make the life change positive! Thanks for writing! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 12/31/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 9 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 99 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $17.37 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 26

Just wanted to bump this for NIKNAK "don't be afraid of a new life"!!! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 40 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,033 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $190 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55