Well, I hope you are all enjoying your 2016 so far. I’ve decided it’s going to be a very good year!
I’ve been doing some soul searching and reevaluating of my life lately and it’s been a very good thing. 😉 I’ve told you guys many, many times before that I am a VERY “busy body” kind of person. I love to set goals, push myself, accomplish a lot and just go go go go go! It is so energizing and satisfying to me. I’m also a busy mom of six kids with a lot that needs to get done every day!
However, in my recent “soul searching” I’ve decided that I do entirely too much! I think I push myself way too hard, expect too much out of myself, run myself into the ground and completely wear myself out! I think sometimes we can get too caught up in life, caught up with getting everything done, become way too busy and forget that we’re supposed to cut ourselves some slack and just sit back and enjoy life sometimes too!
So, the past couple of weeks I’ve done just that. First and foremost, I’ve been making my sleep a priority! I’ve been getting around 8 hours of sleep or sometimes MORE most nights and I feel fabulous. I realized that my chronic sleep deprivation was seriously ruining my life; my health and all other aspects. I cannot tell y’all the difference in how much better I feel. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to skimping on sleep ever again. I know it is vital to get adequate sleep so our bodies can heal and our brains can rest. It is so important!
I’ve also been spending more time just living; playing with the kids, hanging out with Kev, reading, strengthening my spiritual life (praying, reading scriptures, reading uplifting stories, etc.) and just relaxing and having FUN! I didn’t realize how “out of whack” my life had become until I started slowing down and relaxing a bit. Once I slowed down, I realized that I hardly ever played, relaxed or just SAT. I discovered that sitting, playing and relaxing are vital to happiness, health and balance in life.
So, I’ve been trying to focus on the things that really matter in life; my kids, my husband, my health, my faith and FUN! I know that the house will always be in need of some type of cleaning, the laundry is never really done, the to-do list will probably always get longer and there will always be a whole lotta things that I want to get done! BUT, do they really matter? Usually, the answer is “not really.” Soooo, I’ve been letting a lot of things go and a lot of things slide and it’s been fabulous.
I’ve also been chillin’ on my workouts as of late. I started running again and I can’t tell you how good it feels! I injured my foot THREE months ago and haven’t been able to run since. I was seriously starting to wonder if my foot would ever heal!!??! But, my foot has felt great lately, so I decided it was time to start running again.
I’ve gone on two very short runs this week (just over a 1.5 miles each time) and it’s been fabulous! I haven’t worried about speed at all. I’ve just been running for the exercise, endorphins and just because I CAN! I’ve been so happy that my foot hasn’t hurt at all too! I plan on keeping my runs short (under 3 miles) for the next few months and then I might ramp it up a bit.
BUT, I decided that FOR NOW, I don’t want to be a long distance runner. I want my workouts to be practical, fun and livable. That’s a little hard for me because once I start running, it’s so natural for my brain to be like, “Oh, let’s run a little more, let’s run a little faster, farther, let’s sign up for ALL the races, let’s train for a Half, let’s go go go go go!”
I’ve been trying to tell myself, “No, let’s just run.” “Let’s just run a little bit here and there and take it nice and easy and find a nice balance in life.” CHIIIIIIIILLLLLL OUUUUUUT. It’s been very good for me.
I did take a couple of selfies on my runs this week….
The one on the left, I took while I was actually running. Soooo, the one on the right, I decided to stop and take a non-blurry pic!
Guys, I’m not a lover of running in the snow and cold, but MAN, it is sooooo good for my overall health; mental and physical! Even though I’ve only been running for like 15 minutes at a time, I come home energized, refreshed, happy and just GOOD. I love it. Our bodies were meant to be used and worked and the outside air is so cleansing. LOVE IT!
I’ve been rounding out my workouts with a little bit of weight training, short bursts of cardio (HIIT) and a little bit of Yoga. It’s working great for me right now.
I’ve also been really simplifying my healthy eating! I haven’t had any set “rules” for myself; I’ve just been trying to eat well and not eat a lot. I’m not counting calories, counting carbs, cutting out sugar, etc. I’ve just been mindful and practical and GUESS WHAT, I’ve been losing weight and I feel great!
I’m sure down the road I’ll follow specific diet plans again and/or set some lofty goals, but for NOW, this is working for me. In fact, I love it.
I’ve also been simplifying dinner time ’round here. I’ve been trying to cook things that are simple and easy and I haven’t been obsessing about it being 100% perfectly healthy. Again, practical and doable is KEY.
I made spaghetti for dinner one night. It’s quick and easy to make and all my kids love it! Usually I’ll make spaghetti squash for Kev and I, but this time I thought, “Nah, I’m going to keep it simple!” Sooo, I just had a small portion of noodles and a larger portion of broccoli and topped everything with sauce. Easy, simple and yummy.
Another night I made homemade chili and bread sticks. It sounds complicated, but the recipe was easy. I had a small bowl of chili AND a breadstick! I would have liked to have had THREE bread sticks, but I just had one.
Another night I made homemade pizza (another meal that is simple and all the kids enjoy!) A lot of times when I make pizza, I’ll make one for me on a Flatout or have something entirely different instead, but this time I just had two small slices of pizza (topped with a ton of veggies), a salad on the side and called it good. Easy and simple. When I make homemade pizza, I make a recipe that’s supposed to be for one large pizza, but I stretch the dough into two large pizzas. It seems to be plenty of dough for the pizzas and we end of eating less of it!
I’m just going to keep thinking of dinnertime this way; simple, easy, practical. I may tighten it up again and get a little more gourmet in the future, but FOR NOW, this is perfect.
My breakfasts have also been simple. I might have eggs with or without veggies or cheese, oatmeal, protein pancakes, eggs on toast; whatever sounds good. I’ve also been having either a protein shake or Green Smoothie almost every day and it’s been great too. It’s such an easy way to get in lots of leafy greens and good stuff!
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As far as the fun stuff in our lives go….we went to a fun New Year’s Eve party at my parent’s house. We had lots of yummy food….
I made the Seven Layer Dip in the left corner. Everything was so good!
We also enjoyed a nice slideshow of old pictures that my brother put together…
That picture on the top that you see is a picture of some of my ancestors swimming in the Great Salt Lake!! We were loving their swimsuits and were trying to decide if they swam while wearing socks or not? Ha.
We ended the evening singing Auld Lang Syne with everyone. This may sound like a very tame and maybe even a little bit of a boring party, but I loved every second. This party is so sentimental to me and I love my family so much! I realize that my parents and aunts and uncles are all getting older and I cherish any time I get to spend with them!
I also got my New Year’s kiss from my sweetie…
Ha ha, that looks like a pretty wussy New Year’s kiss!!! We actually took a picture of a legit kiss, but MAN it was so cheesy. I decided not to share it with the world, lol. I loved this picture so much though because of my dad’s expression in the background. It brought me right back to my teenage years!
We also went to a fun belated Neighborhood Christmas party last night that we loved! We go to this party every year (we always do it in January!) and it’s so much fun. We laugh and laugh and laugh all night long.
Here we are getting ready to leave…
We also do a White Elephant gift exchange each year and it is the best! Kev and I brought a Wax Vac…
Who knew they even made these things??!? I found it at Ross for $3. Score.
THIS is what we brought home as our gift…
Bwahahahahaha! Isn’t that classic? If you look closely, you might recognize the faces in the photo. I think “Kev” looks a little bit like Andre the Giant, lol.
It’s ironic that we picked that as our gift! Our neighbors have a fun time superimposing various pictures of other neighbors on some of the gifts. One of our neighbors brought a Star Wars car sun shade thing and modge podged a few of our neighbor’s faces among the Star Wars cast. Another neighbor brought a Wonder Woman apron with a picture of one of our other neighbor’s heads attached to it. Too funny.
We had a great time! I’m so grateful for wonderful friends and neighbors. 😉
Well I think that’s enough talking for today. I will end this by sharing a dang cute picture of a dang cute baby and doggie.
He is a chocolate chip lover like me. 😉 He grabbed that bag of chocolate chips out of the pantry and I laughed so hard watching him try to get chocolate chips out and watching the dog try to snag a few. Love these two!
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!
A lot of times I try to make 2 versions of a meal to make it as healthy as possible for me, but sometimes, I agree, just much simpler to eat what the kids are eating and load up on the veggies. Great idea !
I know I make 2 versions of a meal a lot too! It’s been nice to simplify things a bit lately.
Hi Melanie, I just found your blog today but I already feel part of it! Your posts are written like a friend talking to you on the phone. Bookmarking now, so happy to have found it.
Awww,thank you so much! I’m so happy you found my little blog!
Fabulous advice on slowing down and cutting back to enjoy life more!
I agree with dylanm above. Reading your posts is exactly like talking to a friend. Thanks for the happy lift to my day!
Thanks so much Deborah!! <3 <3 <3
Sounds like you are doing wonderfully, and oh so happy, by stepping things back a bit.
Thanks Abby! It really is helping me so much!
Ah, simple would be nice. Sounds like you’re focusing on the right things. I’ve been trying to focus on getting more sleep, and – with one of the kids planning on leaving the house next year – spending more time enjoying family.
But just before I read this, I went through my running calendar and wrote down at least eight events I want to train for. Aggh! I could feel my blood pressure rise right away. Maybe taking it easy on that score is something else that is needed in my life!
I know I’m always evaluating things and trying to balance things out. Life is crazy and I always need to remind myself to slow down, breathe and simplify!
Simple sounds perfect to me. There is so much pressure out there to get things done but it’s nice to appreciate life and slow down a bit.
Looks like a wonderful NYE. Happy 2016!
I’ve really been enjoying simplifying things around here! It’s really changed my perspective on just about everything. 😉
Mel we really should chat. So many things you’ve said here have been going through my head. As recent as yesterday. We’ve got this thing called life. Right?
Have a great weekend!
I know Jill! Life is crazy and I learn so much every day; for better or worse! Ha ha!
So true Mel. We must make time in our days to just be.!
We can always find things to chase and fret over in life.
The real enjoyment is in the experience of experiencing life.
Even 20 minutes a day to consider all the wonderful people and things we already have.
It can give you a natural high for the rest of your day. 🙂
I totally agree! It’s amazing what just 20 minutes can do for the psyche.