I’d see them every morning. Two women with fit bodies dressed for the weather, pumping their arms as they briskly walked down Monroe Landing Road.

Each day, I’d wave to KIM SMITH and her daughter SAMANTHA. One day, I rolled down the car window and gave them each a note asking if I could interview them. I wanted to know why they were out in all weather.

I learned that Kim set a personal goal back on January 1 to lose 110 pounds this year. To date, she has lost 82 pounds with 33 more to go.

Samantha, a home-educated student, wants to stay fit but she doesn’t have traditional PE classes. She goes along every morning. “We walk seven miles a day, six days a week,” Kim said. “That’s only 100 minutes out of the 1,440 we have each day.”

The two have met many of their Penn Cove neighbors. Some folks watch for them and wait to wave back as they go by.

Both women watch their calories. They know what to eat and what to avoid.

“My focus is more on maintenance than on the weight loss itself,” Kim noted. “Taking off pounds is pretty easy. You have something specific to accomplish. Maintenance, however, is for the rest of your life.”

At 52, Kim has what many women want but don’t have, the motivation to get fit. If there is an ounce of flab on her, I couldn’t see it. She claims she sleeps better and that her overall quality of life has improved 100 percent.

Life takes interesting turns, Kim observed. “When I got out of the Navy, I thought I might open a restaurant, but God had other plans. Becoming a stay-at-home mom at 37 would be my new career. I wasn’t emotionally prepared for the shift from working outside of the house to staying home all day, so I started packing on the pounds.

“Now that Samantha is almost 16 and only has one more year at home before starting college, it’s time to look to the future again.” Samantha wants to be a journalist and newspaper copy editor.

Kim said, “I’m going to let the Lord lead me. He will guide me right to what He has in store for me in the new year. I plan to keep walking and will add strength training to keep those unwanted pounds from ever returning.”

Oh, Happy Day!

Oak Harbor will soon have a fine arts gallery!

The Garry Oak Gallery will be located in the Old Town Mall and is being remodeled to meet an Oct. 1 opening date with the Grand Opening on Oct. 11.

This new Whidbey Artists Cooperative Gallery was organized and brought to life by Jeanne Valdez, Margaret Livermore and Joan Brosnahan. They have gathered a wide variety of artistic talent so the gallery will offer 2-D and 3-D art pieces in a variety of media and styles. At this time, artists in glass, watercolor, oil, acrylic, mixed media, fiber, jewelry, photography, ceramics, encaustics, monotype and hand-pulled prints have committed to joining the gallery. Additional 3-D representation is still being sought. For further information about the gallery, contact Valdez at artClady@comcast.net.

Wake up your space

You probably know BRENDA MARTI, a 1982 Oak Harbor High School graduate, former Coupeville business owner and shopkeeper at 720-1 S.E. Pioneer Way for four years.

I really admire women who raise their children while running a business. We don’t always appreciate how hard it is. Brenda works with hundreds of vendors and keeps track of stock, while I can’t find a store receipt to return a lipstick.

She wants everyone to come to the fall open house presented by her store and six other merchants Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11, 12 and 13.

You are sure to find something to wake up a living room or bath, from contemporary and country to traditional. She will visit your home to help with event planning and decorating services and has a convenient wedding registry.

Next time the girls get together, have an “Evening at the Porch.” The hostess for the evening receives discounts on merchandise. Call her at 279-9430.

A part of military life

Families move every few years and it is sad to leave your home and new friends behind. What if the family has a horse?

Last March, horse owner VALERIE VAN DER VEER launched a Web site (MilitaryStables.com) with contact information for 70 different on-base stables. Averaging about 2,000 hits per month, Van der Veer said the page is gathering great reviews from military horse owners.

The daughter of a Navy Chief and the spouse of an Air Force Colonel knows how difficult it can be to find a stable when relocating. She has owned horses since 1973 and ridden trails in Utah, jumped horses in Hawaii, played polo in Rhode Island and soon plans to foxhunt from her Shaw AFB home near Sumter, S.C.

The Web site hopes to include shipping contacts. Sometimes a trailer just won’t get the job done.

Military families shouldn’t have to give up their horses. Visit MilitaryStables.com.

Keep your stories coming. I’ll see you again next Wednesday, Sept. 17. Call 675-6611 or write to lifeonwhidbey@yahoo.com.