A Valentine For Yourself


 
On this day of love, let’s celebrate the love we have for ourselves! This is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Do this by making a list of things that you have accomplished that at one point you thought were hard.

Thinking about this I have a lot of accomplishments I never consider on a day to day basis. We are a pretty amazing species when we stop and look at what we can do.

Here is my list:

I became a mom: This is something I was so scared of. The whole time I carried Ben I prayed every night I would be a good mom. I prayed I would be able to handle a little human. I prayed I wouldn’t mess my kid up because I had no idea what I was doing. Well that kid is 10 months old and he’s loving and happy and an all-around great kid.

Becoming a certified Yoga teacher: There are days I still can’t believe I accomplished this. I am that person who is terrified of speaking in front of a room of people and would never raise my hand to volunteer as a demonstrator at an event, yet I signed on to not only talk to a room of people, but teach them how to move their bodies in a way that will enhance their lives. This is HUGE for me.

Becoming a leader: This one can be taken differently by different people, but to me, it is an accomplishment. I always felt like the follower in life with a million ideas. I never seem to know what to do to implement my own ideas, so I would just do what others do. Now I understand how to be a leader and to follow my own lead and dreams. I know my own worth. This makes me feel so very accomplished.

Getting up every day: This may sound silly, but when dealing with depression and all the things, this can be hard. You want so hard to get up and be a happy person, but you don’t feel that way and staying in bed sounds like a better idea. It is an accomplishment to me every day when I choose to live my life verses sleep it away. When winter is over, those feelings die down and it’s easier, but when full on winter is here, this is an everyday struggle.

There are so many other things I can list here. Our accomplishments are all around us. We just need to recognize them. I hope you take a moment today to check in with yourself. Pat yourself on the back and keep on keeping on my friend! You are loved when you love yourself.

Namaste <3


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A cute little rambling about stress



It's Tuesday night and we have gotten some weather today... ya know the white stuff with some ice mixed in? Yeah that weather. I am sitting here after putting the baby to bed drinking a glass of wine and eating popcorn. Dinner of champions right there!

It was a long day for a Tuesday. Snow and ice always stresses me out. You just never know how the roads are going to be. Driving with a baby is also a new stressor in my life. I now have to watch everyone around me and mentally tell them to "stay back" and "slow down!" and all the things that you internally (or maybe externally) yell at other cars.

The point of all that complaining is I need to get back to regularly doing yoga and other things that tackle stress and my well-being. This popcorn and wine ain't doing it! I work at a gym, per se, but I don't get much time to actually use it. Since giving birth to Ben my whole body is out of wack, and I just last week got the magical idea of going to the chiropractor. It's been WAY too long!

Well between them cancelling me last week and the weather today, I am now scheduled for NEXT week to get in. I keep telling myself that once I go and get aligned everything else will fall into place. Maybe it's just an excuse, but I am quite set on that excuse to do nothing about my fitness and stress relief until then.

I am honestly holding myself to the promise that once I have seen the chiropractor and get myself put back together, I will start moving my body again. It's pretty frightening. To imagine a year ago how much more I was working out and moving my body and I was 6 months pregnant with Ben! Now he is 10 months old. He will be a year in 2 months (My math isn't wrong here, Ben was 5 weeks early).

It's time to get myself in working order and lower my stress. Next week will be the week I do something for me.

Do you like to exercise to release stress? If not what is your stress relief?

Namaste




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Yes.. I've Jumped on the Marie Kondo Train

I know everyone is talking about Marie Kondo... again. When her book came out in 2012 there was a lot of buzz about her tidying up methods, especially in the blogging world. As with anything that comes out there was lots of love and lots of hate it seems for the methods. It seemed to have died down until recently when Netflix released Tidying up with Marie Kondo.

I knew nothing about it (I seem to live under a rock) until I started seeing meme's on Facebook like this one:


This made me laugh.. 1. because I am a huge thrifter and 2. it's so true! People will be going through stuff and getting rid of things after watching the series and I want to be ready. #sorrynotsorry.

After the initial laugh, I realized I also need to go through my house and declutter and organize. We are planning to buy a house this year and I really don't want to move all the things that don't bring me joy.

I also realized I am a box person.. meaning I basically create clutter by putting things in boxes rather than either finding a home for it or just getting rid of it. As we speak there are 3 small boxes lined up along the wall next to my bed with "stuff" in them. The stuff is defined by random things that I don't know what else to do with. (I will post a photo of these boxes. Stay tuned!

Just by writing this post, I have realized how much I really need to go through all of this stuff and get rid of it.

I also have a problem with clothes. Most of my clothes don't fit since having the baby. Do I just get rid of everything pre-baby? Do I hold on until I lose the baby weight? Like seriously none of it brings me joy right now because of obvious reasons, but dude it's like 90% of my wardrobe. That just sounds expensive.

I am going to have to think about that one. I will however probably try the folding methods due to having no space in my drawers. I am hoping this will at least create more space and I will be able to find what I am looking for.

We BADLY need to work on our paper clutter. We have stuff everywhere. It is time to sort and shred. This actually brings me anxiety. There is SO much and it is mostly because R doesn't like to get rid of any record of anything, Some things I understand keeping, but a brochure from your bank from 20 years ago probably doesn't need to be kept?

Anywho, I think I am going to try this out. I am going to at lease sort and fold my clothes and get rid of the boxes of "stuff". That is something I have put off WAY to long!

I also want to remind myself to thank my house more. It is a good house. It deserves some love!

I will check back soon with my progress!

Have you tried the KonMari methods?

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2019: February Goals and Mantras



It has been awhile since I have blogged some of my goals. February seems like a good month to start it up again. I also picked a word for my year. I haven't really blogged so I hadn't mentioned that.

2019's word is evolve. I picked this word because it represents my current self becoming my best self. I am evolving everyday and it is a great word to focus on.

Goals I have for this month are pretty simple:

Self - Love: February is a month for love so why not love on yourself?  You need to love yourself before you can properly love another. I am getting better at this, but it will always be an ongoing goal for me.

Journal: I bought a new journal this year and I really love it. I have written pretty regularly so I need to keep it up.

Blog: I love to write. The journal helps with this, but I need to come here and scratch that itch as well. I love community and writing here helps me build that.

Find a hobby: I need something new to do to help me get out of my current rut. Not sure what that will be yet, but I wold love to hear your ideas!

Nothing too deep here, but I have decided to keep my goals light and fun this year. We already live in a hard and stressful world, why make our lives like that too with difficult goals?

Some mantras that have been a part of my everyday life are all about becoming and staying true to myself. I am loving these:




What are your goals for February?

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How a week can change your life

This post has been a long one coming. Blogging has really taken a backseat in my life while I sort through the remains of the the person I was even 6 months ago. Sounds a little dramatic, I know, but I am definitely not the same person I was 6 months ago.

One week back in September really changed my outlook on life and shaped me into a different mindset. I am not sure yet if that can be categorized as a good thing or a bad thing yet, but I want to believe it was mostly good. and

The week of September 10th 2018, 3 major things happened. First, I went into work on Monday and quit my job. It was something that I needed for my own sanity and self care. 2nd I quit pumping/breastfeeding Ben. It was not bringing me any kind of joy and Ben was frustrated so I just stopped. And the last thing that happened, the one thing that is still laying heavy on my heart is the disappearance of my cat Rick.

A lot of change happened at once and it made me feel relief and major stress. I wasn't sure what to do next. I anticipated I would spend more time with Ben and bond with him. I did do those things, but I knew something was missing. I still needed that purpose in life outside of being a mom. I wanted a job. I wanted something to do with my time other then just be a mom.

Some people may call that selfish, and I am sorry if you feel that way, but this was the best choice for me. I didn't really have a plan, but I just started applying for jobs. After about a month of being without a job I was hired. I had no child care plan or anything for Ben. I just prayed that if it was meant to be, it would be.

I have been with my new company for almost 4 months. It has been a learning experience. Ben goes to a home daycare 5 days a week and it is great for him. He interacts with 3 other kids in his age bracket and it has been so rewarding.

I have finally given myself the credit I deserve with my skills. I applied for a job I wouldn't have even considered a year ago. I am the marketing director for my local YMCA and it is amazing. I deserved this job years ago when I doubted myself and only applied for admin positions.

At some point through all of the change, I also felt a little closer to my spiritual self. I was able to meditate and clear my head and feel a little more put together. I completed my Reiki 1 certification and currently am working on Reiki 2. I have found some wonderful teachers to help me on this spiritual journey I'm on.

Ben is a few days away from being 10 months old and he is thriving. He is a happy, spunky little boy. He loves to laugh and blow raspberries and is know for making all the kids at his daycare growl with him. He is saying momma, dadda, and baba. He is just about crawling, but has a mean army crawl. He and Grace have come to a truce and will spend time together without a fight.

This is the year me and R will buy our first home together. We have rented our home the whole time we have lived together and with the expanding of our family when Ben came, it is time for a bigger space.

We plan to take our first family vacation this year. All the kids and grandparents if they want to join us.

2019 is going to be a year of big growth and love. Both for myself as an individual and as a family unit.

I can't wait to share it with you!

So tell me, what big changes have you had in your life recently?


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