That Free Time

My husband tells me often that I can take anytime I need for myself. I can take the class, brunch with friends or anything I desire. I end up doing is sitting at home with my son. I find a good book to read to him. I just take the miracle of him all in. I know that he is not my mommy time but I still find comfort in him. When we are home for days alone I don't get overly excited when we go our separate ways because I can let him amaze me each minute. That is my quality time alone. He is such a reflection of me that it can scare me.

I do understand that I have to make the time for myself. Take a day off. Date myself again. I don't care for going to the movies but maybe sushi lunch. Spa time to just enjoy breathing. I will try in 2016 to do it more. I will add it to my goals for my own health. My sanity was testing in 2015 but I think I am reclaiming it in 2016. More of enjoying the moments. More of not stressing what I cannot change. More for ME. As I am writing this the tears are flowing because I still feel lost. I feel lost in all the world but if I declare the best for me and my family then it all makes sense. That is what I will tell myself. that is what I will say this is all about. It is all about happiness.

If you are a mom that has gotten lost in it all you can always make a change. You can always take time for YOU. Take a walk. Get a pedicure. Write down your dreams. Read that book. You can! You will! Now go enjoy TIME.

Riddle Me This...

When you have writers block it feels so painful......

I will live to fight again....

Power Mornings

One of the traits of successful people is getting up early in the morning. They set the alarm or internal clock goes off for them to jump start the day. They don't just jump out of bed and start moving towards the stresses of the day but they create the space they need to be all they desire to be for that day. Now I wake up earlier than the time I need to just to be sure if I am moving slow I will still make my destination on time. I didn't think of waking up earlier to create the mental space I need so I can tackle any of the issues that come my way. I am not even sure what the ritual would be.

I started reading "Productive Positive and Happy : Start Getting The Most Out of Your Life In 21 Days or Less" by Jacob Reimer. The first thing he mentions in chapter one is creating a morning ritual. I will see how this goes. I will do what needs to get done to have the changes I want in my life. It is funny that a ritual can change the perspective of the day. Right now I just pray and stay silent until I am at work. 

Do you have any rituals? 

Does your day start off better because you carve out time for you and the things that nourish you?

Let's see how this will go for me.

The Dream

The one thing that we all discuss when we think about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is Dream Big. Yes his "I Have a Dream" speech resounds with us all. He saw something better than the current situation. It is easy especially now to get distracted with all the things going on around us. The media, community events, world events and more can make us what to crawl into a hole and not come out but that isn't living. In the mist of it all we have to strive for our dreams. It is not all about where we are but where we are going. The legacy we leave behind to strive for the better.

Our ancestors have given a lot for us. Now is not the time to give up. If we give up then our children don't have the drive or passion to move forward to greatness. My dreams are great and will be here sooner than I know. Health is a stepping stone but a dream that is obtainable. The junk food, eating late and sweets is an option. We can do it! We will live better this year. The dream is real. The walk is determined by the little things that we do.

Peace and Blessings.

Staying on top of health

Trying to make sure that my family doesn't get a cold this winter. That is a fun task because I don't keep them home all day long with me. The thought of all the preventative items I could give them is too long to even share on this post. So what to do? How do you keep safe from the common cold.

These items are what I am trying out
taking multivitamins
fiber chews
orange juice
apple a day
taking off outside clothes when we get home
washing hands often
rubbing eucalyptus oil on our chest and neck

I hoping these simple common tactics will help us stay secure on top of wrapping up when we go out in the elements. I know once I am sick the world doesn't stop so I try my best to keep from going down for any reason. Hopefully this will keep us going so we can enjoy the beauty of winter in good health.

FOCUS

A lot of people are discussing the word for the year. I never ever said a word for the year but I thought it was not going to hurt to try this year. I started out writing out what I want and my goals for 2016. Once I looked at my page dump the thing that I noticed is I needed to really buckle down to get the things I want done. I can't be distracted or in my emotions all year or nothing will get done. So FOCUS stuck with me. I want to be focused and intentional to not just talk about the things I want but to see each project through to completion. Not saying that things won't come up. Life will always happen it is how I react to it and let it change my course. I don't want to change my course.

The things I have for myself include
meal planning
organization
family time
friend time
me time
3 community projects

I know I can do it. It will take determination. It will take preparation. It will take FOCUS.

Healthy Lifestyle Say What!

Healthy eating habits is something that most families strive to obtain. Eating those healthy greens and cutting out the junk food. It is so easy to say than do when you were not brought up with these habits. Most of the time it is the wife/mother that decides that it is time for the CHANGE. Either your husband is with you or tells your upfront that he isn't doing it. Ugh.

My husband is one of those that wants things that smell and taste great. Of course it is nothing wrong with that but some healthy foods don't have a taste. For example Tofu. He also has a sweet tooth so if it isn't a snack he is looking at me like I am crazy. Then we have my son who is only 2 so his desire for certain foods are just that. He is in love with apple sauce, raisin bread, fruit snacks and juice. That is to my advantage but he also enjoys pasta (noodles he calls them) and pizza. One week he asked for pizza everyday. He will only eat cheese or pepperoni pizza. Anything else he is going to take the toppings off. So I am surrounded by guys that make me look for creative ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle. When starting out it is not always going to taste great or look awesome because I am learning. That is just part of my problem.

I have done a couple of clean eating challenges and my husband will tell me I will eat it if it looks good. What? My son is the same way. So I have been surprised a couple of times when I did it and they enjoyed some of the recipes. The issue with the two I did is that it called for a lot of tomatoes. Well now I have acid reflex and tomatoes don't go well with that. Thanks son! Everything in moderation. So I continue to search for a balance for us all.

The one thing that I have been able to get my husband to stick to is smoothies. He doesn't like mine and the last smoothie cleanse I did on my own I got very sick. I don't know if it was the recipe or what but my body wasn't having it. So he makes the smoothies. He pulled out our moms nutribullet and has been on it. For our son I take some of the smoothie and add it to his juice. This way the color is not green and he can enjoy it. This is one way that we are getting our daily greens. Fruit is not easy for us to eat but it does create a better balance.

Now to get him to try the veggie pasta. He looked at me like NO when we were in the store and I almost put it in the basket. So the struggle is real. In time I plan to get another new habit incorporated in the family.

The struggle continues...

Wanting Better Starts

I always put a lot of pressure on myself in all the aspects of my life. The bad thing is that when I get frustrated, hurt or depressed that motivation goes. I no longer continue the path that I know I want to be one. I stopped writing, traveling, and being my best. So with a new year comes resolutions to be better than before. 

Instead of pressuring myself to do it all today or now I am doing a goal a week. I think that pacing myself will only help me be the better me that I can for the family. 

So the journey starts