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Friday, February 26, 2016

Small Change, Big Difference

When I found out I was pregnant, one of the first things that crossed mind, after I got through all of the jitters and excitement, was "I will never get to sleep in again." I love to sleep. I love to sleep in. In college, I was in bed by 11 pm consistently. I have never pulled an all-nighter. When I stayed up late, I HAD to sleep in or I felt like the world would end. I hate feeling groggy and sleep deprived. All I want is to get my nice eight hours every night, please and thank you.
Having children wrecks all of that. It is up and down for the first few months. The middle of the night feedings were not as horrible as the 5 am wake up calls. I never could get back into a deep sleep after those early morning feedings. By the grace of God, we had the little man sleeping through the night around four months. That was a major blessing. Even though he sleeps all night, he is a not a late sleeper. He wakes up around 6:30 am-7:00 am every morning. The crazy thing is, I actually feel less tired than before I had him.
 I had always read that if you go to bed at roughly the same time and wake up at roughly the same time, that your body would feel less tired. Of course, College Student Joanna brushed that off. Saturdays are for waking up slowly! Then Post-Grad Joanna just continued in her set ways. Netflix binge on a Friday night? Don't mind if I do. However, Parent Joanna is all about getting to bed early and waking up early. That 6:30 am wake up call is no longer a point of dread. I actually am starting to wake up naturally around that time. It gives me a few extra minutes to drink my coffee and still get dressed presentably for work. Getting up early is one those life milestones that signal adulthood. It is so atypical from my past behavior but it has made such a big difference in how I feel. One little thing, waking up at 6:30 am and being ok with that, has completely changed by day. My how the tides have turned.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Living

I sat down to write this post and then kind of forgot what I wanted to say.  It seems to be a trend lately. February has been an interesting month so far. We've had weather whiplash. One week it feels like Spring the next week Winter is happening in full blast. We had some big downs in the parenting department. How do you get a kid who just learned how to stand up to lay down and take a nap?! I was very worried that the days of good napping were gone. Thankfully, we have gotten through four sleep sessions without any issues and last night he didn't wake up pitching a fit. YEAH! The productivity train is still rolling, which is amazing. Work has been going well. Life in general has been good but I feel like there is disturbance underneath the surface. I have been doing a lot of thinking. Not just "what do I need to do right now" or "what should I make for dinner" type of thinking but pondering and wrestling. I am grappling with a lot of bigger questions. Those questions that define and shape a person's life. I am not doubting my faith or having a crisis of conscience. It is more like trying to really hone in and flesh out the overarching principles that I believe. How the big questions look when they are worked in day to day living. I highly value logical consistency. I have my dad to thank for that. It used to be so infuriating as a tween and early teen to talk to him about stuff. He would push back against all of my arguments and didn't cut me any slack. I desperately just wanted to win a debate. Of course, when you're thirteen and fourteen and you're concept the world and logic is so limited you are not going to construct winning arguments. Having that pressure to not just spout off nonsense and actually think through what I was saying, has proven invaluable. It taught me to think critically and to reason rather than just go with the feeling of the moment. It does make life difficult sometimes and has lead to this season of internal debates. Does anyone out there have days when they wish they were less self-aware? Sometimes, I just want to give in and just float in a sea mindlessness, which usually equals scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram for way too long. All of that to say, life is good but I feel uneasy and I have a feeling that it won't subside for a while.

On a much happier note, here are somethings that have caught my attention lately:

This post about hair care. I am day 2 of overhauling my hair washing routine. Wish me luck!

I am in love with A Color Story. It is an amazing photo editing tool. I used one of the free filters on the photo above.

I have started doing some preliminary searches for new swimwear. I don't know how my old stuff will fit since it is all pre-baby. Albion Fit has some really cute ones with lots of coverage. The workout gear looks amazing, as well.

Speaking of working out, if you follow me on Pinterest, you may have seen a lot of pins from Pumps & Iron. I am really enjoying her workouts. They are usually short, which is great for doing during nap times, and do not require a lot of equipment. I did one earlier today and my legs were dying!

That's is what is going on around here. I think I am going to shoot for a once a week update. Small goals equals small victories. Hopefully, that will help me keep up the momentum.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Productivity

I did not mean to go this long without posting, but it has been good. I can honestly say that this last month has been the most productive month of my life. This may be the closest I have come to feeling like an "adult" ever. Back in the beginning of January, I was reading a post on What I Wore, where she mentioned her 2 minute resolution. The idea is if you can do it in 2 minutes just do it. Do not put it off, to do say that you will come back to it later, to do pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Just do it. This little 2 minute rule really kickstarted my brain. I like I have said before, I am messy, but this month I have managed to wrangle in the mess like never before. Nike had it right all along. Just do it. While everything is not spotless or Pinterest worthy, I feel so much better about the state of our life. I have never felt less overwhelmed but having accomplished more. It's very weird.
I am hoping to get back into a better routine of posting. I do enjoy it and I want to work it back into my schedule. It may just not be the right season for it. We shall see. I love that saying that I keep seeing floating around the Internet. You can do it all just not all at once. I have to keep that in mind as a reminder as I prioritize my time.

Until next time!