Progress

You may have noticed the new blog design and with it a “health” section. I’ve been working on defining how healthy living looks within my daily life and I’m hoping to share more on that here.

Over the past several years, I’ve based most of my food choices on convenience and comfort. I had a minor health scare in October 2013 and have been working ever since to be more intentional about the lifestyle choices that I make.

Some of the changes I’ve implemented include:

+ Eating a more plant-based diet. When I do eat meat I try to keep it organic and local. I don’t always eat this way when I am outside of the home or with friends on weekends. Did I drink wine and eat cake for my birthday this weekend? You betcha. My new mantra (via a motivational friend) is, progress not perfection. sayitwithmenow.

+ Moving more via walks with the dogs, work outs with Jake and yoga on my lunch breaks. Also, my parents surprised me with a gorgeous bike for my birthday that I plan on putting to good use!

+ Drinking lots of H2O. Water with lemon, water with fresh mint and fruit, water with a splash of green tea. Water, water, water all day every day!

+ Using less toxic chemicals. I’ve traded out my makeup, personal care and home cleaning products for non-toxic alternatives. Stay tuned for a post on my favorite products!

These changes haven’t all taken place at once and some have been easier than others. I plan on writing more health related posts and will be transparent about what works for me. I hope that you’ll join me on this journey!

New Month Resolution

Download and print this word art for free here.

Can you believe it's already the last day of February? For me, the beginning of a new month signifies a chance to start fresh. March also just happens to be my birthday month. Another passing year brings with it a chance for reflection and self improvement.

In honor of my birthday month, I'm creating a new month resolution: To live with intention and purpose.

Since I'm no longer working outside of the house, being intentional with how I spend my time is crucial. With so many balls in the air, it's easy for the day to get away from me. I've been known to get stuck on (read obsess over) one task for too long -- leaving me with little time to finish the rest.

Beyond  being intentional with work, I often need a reminder to set aside time for life. A nice dinner with my husband, a walk with the dog, time to decompress and enjoy life. It's weird, but I feel like I need to schedule these things to make sure that they happen.

Time management... I guess it's not my greatest strength. I'd love to improve on this without having to live by a rigid schedule. That's why I'm hoping you'll share what works best for you.




What keeps you centered and on track? Feel free to share your resolution or goals for the new month in the comments.

When Life Gives You Lemons

 

... make lemonade. Or one of my favorites via my sister (circa 1998), stuff them in your bra. 

Whatever you choose to do with your lemons, the point is making something sweet out of something sour. It often takes me a little while of sucking on sour lemons to recognize the potential for something sweet. This weekend, I made some proverbial lemonade. 

It snowed in Charlotte for the first time in 2 years on Saturday. It just happened to start blizzarding while my mom and I were on the road, headed out for a nice afternoon. In the South, we don't handle snow very well. There aren't enough plows, they don't typically salt the roads and people just generally aren't used to driving in the stuff. So, to be safe we changed our plans and headed home.

On our way back into my parent's neighborhood we saw a group of very excited children sledding during the snow storm. Remember, these are kids that go years without seeing/playing in the snow. Their joy was contagious. 

Instead of sulking about our change of plans, I put on the Pandora holiday station and my mom and I baked Christmas cut outs and whipped up some hot cocoa. We made our own white Christmas in the middle of February.

 

Life threw us a small lemon, and we were able to squeeze out a bit of lemonade. Fast forward to the next day, and making lemonade didn't come quite as easy. 

My sister (and her family) and my parents are both currently house hunting. We went to visit prospective houses for each of them. Both are lucky enough to be looking at total dream homes.

My parents and my sister and brother-in-law work very hard and are generous people. They've earned the excitement that surrounds picking out their future homes and will undoubtedly make all who enter feel warm and welcomed.

There was something sour though, about returning to our humble abode after touring such big beautiful houses. It wasn't quite jealousy, because I feel genuine happiness for my family members. It was more a mixture of self doubt combined with a laser beam focus on all of the things that I'd like to change about our home.

I'd love to say that this was a fleeting feeling, but that would be a lie. So, the quote below is just as much of a reminder for myself as I hope it will be for you.

Sometimes (read most of the time) we don't have everything that we desire. I'm making an effort to remember that pining over high ceilings and hard wood floors pales in comparison to what many others might have on their hearts and minds right now. 

When I try to look for the sweet, I notice that this home we've made for ourselves ain't so bad after all. The living room has really gorgeous morning light and there's a big ol' bathtub for me to soak away all of my troubles. 

In reality, our house was once something we could have only dreamed of. The best part, we made our house into a home together.

Do you ever struggle with comparing yourself to others? 

What helps you snap out of it and become more aware of the sweet stuff in your life?

Your Soul

I'm back from vacation! The sun and the sea did my body good and I'm feeling ready to tackle life.

I've got a big announcement to share with you all this week. It's something I've been working towards for a while now. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited for the adventure ahead.

The quote above has always helped me to center myself. Even though I have loads of outside support, the real courage comes from within.

As a thank you for all of the encouragement click here for a free printable of the photo above.

Under the Weather

Writing this post from bed on my ipad. A pretty ugly stomach bug has been having its way with me for the past day and a half. One of the worst I've ever had. Trying to remind myself that this too shall pass and I'm looking to my yogi tea for some inspiration.

We are heading out of town on vacation soon, so I'm hoping that this doesn't find its way to my husband.

Seems like this has really been going around - so wash your hands and keep your distance from sickos like me.

The Glorification of Busy

via

When I read this quote a while back, it implanted itself in my mind and I've come to recognize that there's something deeper here. Busy has a positive connotation in our culture. If someone is busy, they must be in high demand, important -- wanted.

I think if we question what we have on our plates, most of us would find that we have unnecessary tasks on our to-do list. I know that I do. This got me thinking about what impact being busy has on our lives. The key areas for me:

Friendships: On more than a few occasions I've said to a friend, "Sorry I haven't called. I've been so busy!" as if that lets me off of the hook. In all honesty, I think there's a subconscious part of me that equates being busy with being successful. I've always cared a little too much about what others think of me, old friends especially.

Family: I know that when I'm overwhelmed it's my family that feels the brunt of it. Particularly, my mom and Jake. I tend to lash out at the people I feel safest with. They're the ones that I know will love me through it. I'm making an effort to get better at this. Besides adjusting my attitude, I have to recognize that there are unnecessary stressors in my life. It is irresponsible to take on more than we are meant to handle. Furthermore, It's hard to have real and intimate moments with the people that you love when you're always thinking about the next place that you have to be.

Personal growth: I think keeping busy bars me from taking an honest look at my life and the person that I am. I'm most introspective when I am alone and things are quiet. When I'm rushing from point A to B, there's not much time to sit with my thoughts. I think that's one of the reasons that I am drawn to writing/blogging -- it forces me to take time to sit and reflect. I've found that writing helps me to be more intentional with the way that I live.

Time is not a renewable resource, we only have so much of it. I'm challenging myself to be more selective about the things that I sign up for or the events that I have to be at.

Rather than rush from place-to-place and task-to-task I want to make a phone call to someone important to me, spend quality one-on-one time with my husband, or even (gasp) have some quiet time alone.

Do you look at being busy as a positive? Are you able to say no to unnecessary tasks? 

I'd love to hear more about how you find balance.

The Power

Some words of encouragement to round out the week from "The Wizard of Oz" (the film that gave way to the name of this here blog).

I've been holding myself back from working on a few areas of my life that could use my attention. Playing the excuses game as to why I can't move forward with something that means a lot to me - when the truth is, I possess everything I need to take the leap. 

Sometimes we create unneccesary road blocks. I think we fear how strong and capable we actually are. I'm working on getting out of my head and moving towards what I want to accomplish.

Do you ever have trouble getting out of your own way?



Time to Readjust

I started my day off in a less than ideal fashion. I was tired from a disagreement that Jake and I had last night. We stayed up late talking and I went to bed feeling pretty drained.

I chose to wake up earlier than normal to get a jump on the day ahead. I gave myself plenty of time to get ready and to take a nice long shower. By the time I headed out the door I was feeling in control.

That is, until I got on the highway and sat in stand-still traffic, which resulted in my lateness to work. The elevator was broken in my parking garage (laaaate). Lunchtime rolled around and I realized I had left my lunch in the car (I park a few blocks away from my office).

At this point I started feeling sorry for myself. Tell me you know the feeling. "Today sucks" is what I told my sorry little self. It was noon and I was already resigned to the fact that the entire day was shot. I've heard the old adage about not letting yesterday take up too much of today -- but what about letting a few insignificant events in the morning determine your outlook for the rest of the day.

I wanted so badly for the day to be different, and that's kind of where it clicked. The day can be different. A lot of stuff is totally out of our control, but the way that we react to those happenings is actually a choice that we are given.
We do have a say.

My brain tends to laser focus on the negative. Thinking positively and handling conflict in a healthy way is something that I have to continuously work on, it does not come natural to me. But, there is hope for me yet. You see, I married a very patient and understanding man - and I consciously work on my attitude. It's all about readjusting. It's knowing that even if you just snapped at someone you love, or overreacted to something small, you still have a choice to move forward with a fresh attitude. The day, or project, or trip, or night out doesn't have to be wasted on negativity.

One of the many reasons I love having a blog, I get to preach and blabber on about things that I really need to learn how to do myself. Thanks for letting me vent.

Do you have any methods for turning that frown upside down?