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.

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!

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!

2016

Well, I am two weeks late with this post. 2016 has started off well. I actually haven't been posting because I have actually been doing things! It feels pretty good. I have been thinking a lot about goal setting. I usually try to set some sort of resolutions every year, but rarely do they stick. I really want this year to be different. I want to say that I going to get in shape and actually get in shape. Or say that I am going to do laundry every day and actually do that laundry. So far, I am off to a pretty good start in the workout department. I have been slacking on the laundry. There definitely is a difference between making a resolution and setting a goal. I am trying to do a better job of setting concrete goals rather than vague resolutions.
 So what makes a goal? I remember talking a lot of about this in my Strategic Management class. Companies that succeed have a clear mission or goal. What are the characteristics of a clear goal? According to Dave Ramsey, who I love listening to driving to and from work, a good goal is specific, personal, measurable, attainable and in writing. What does that look like? For our family, one of the goals this year is to completely fund our emergency fund of 6 months of expenses. That meets the specific requirement. It is personal because it directly affects our family's well-being so it puts internal pressure on us to get it done. It is measurable because we have an exact number that we are trying to reach. It is an attainable number that we can save for and we have set a realistic time frame for reaching that goal. Lastly, it is in writing and both myself and Scott see it on daily basis. For me in writing also means a visual chart. I love to check stuff off or to color things in so I made a little thermometer chart to color in as we get closer to the goal. That for me has been the kicker for staying focussed really pushing me to save and work hard on finishing.
I am trying to translate this to my physical goals. I want to be in better shape next January than I am now. I don't really care about losing weight but I know that I could be stronger. I am still struggling with how I want to define this goal. Right now, the best metric I have is how many times a week I do something physically active. I am shooting for 4 times a week right now. To motivate me and give a visual reminder, I am coloring in the days on the monthly view of my planner. Each day that I do a workout of some kind I color that day in my planner. It gives me an overview of how active that month. I like seeing the all the days that are colored in and letting the blank days be that little kick in the pants to get me going. When I look down and see a lot of blanks days it stops me from getting complacent. I am hoping that building these little reminders into my routine will motivate me stick with my goals this year and make some progress.

Is 2016 off to a good start for you? Do you make goals/resolutions each year? What keeps to you motivated?

Christmas Blues

Merry Christmas! Sorry for the radio silence. We have been busy, busy with get togethers and being lazy bums. The post Christmas blues have set in. If you haven't noticed by now, I have a bit of an existential, angsty streak. Usually, I channel it into gloomy music and chocolate consumption but now I have blog so it is funneled here. Like I have said before, I love the Christmas season, however, I don't particularly care for Christmas day. I am remember as I kid, wondering why everyone seemed to be happier and more excited about Christmas day than me. The excitement from ripping opening packages seemed to dissipate much quicker from my soul than it did for my siblings. It used to bug me but as I grew and matured, I just assumed that it was a part of my personality and kind of brushed it off. So what if I don't get that excited on Christmas morning? I have a ton of fun leading up to it and I can be happy with that. It wasn't till this year after listening to the first two parts of this teaching series did I really come to grip with my melancholy nature. The lectures are on Ecclesiastes, which is like the Intro to Philosophy book of the Bible. It deals with the meaningless nature of life. (Sorry that I am a creating a downer here, hang with me.) I can't really explain it so I really have to suggest that you listen to it. I finally have a peace about being a little down on Christmas day. The hype is fun and I love getting into the spirit but in the end it is ok to be a little sad. If you ever feel like you can't "enjoy" life like everyone around you, I highly recommend you listen to all five parts. It will be a breath of fresh air to your soul. 

Sorry for the tangential rant. 

Merry (blue) Christmas! 

Over the Weekend: Chilly

(via pinterest)

Baby, it's cold outside, finally! I wore a sweater this weekend and it was glorious. So, Christmas is this Friday. My brain is reeling a little. It feels like we look forward to holidays like Christmas all year and then they just sneak up on us right at the last minute. Weren't we just stuffing ourselves full of Thanksgiving dinner last week? I am attempting to soak up every last bit of the season that can. I made some progress on my #christmas checklist. 

1. Pick out and decorate tree. Check!
2. Take a family Christmas photo
3. Watch White Christmas. Check!
4. Find a good Advent Bible reading plan for our calendar
5. Send out Christmas cards. Check!

Maybe I knock out the rest in the next few days. 

Have a great week!

Friday Wrap Up

One week till Christmas! The weather has been so warm lately that it doesn't really feel like Christmas at all. Dumb, El Nino. I think I have worn a jacket once this month. It has thrown me for a loop.
Well, here are a few things that are going on this week.

1. Star Wars. Duh. I am pretty excited though. I don't know when I will be able to see it. Movie going and babies don't mesh well but I am super excited about all the hype. It looks pretty incredible.

2. I actually made a BIG dent in my housework to do list this week. Like, I folded ALL of the laundry. I couldn't have done without the help of my trusty podcasts.

3. We have had a few setbacks in the napping department but I think we have overcome a hurdle. It seems like the little guy was getting hungry! He has been eating solids for a little over a week and I think it was the ticket to stretching the naps back out. Hopefully, the trend will hold.

Have great weekend!