10 Changes to Adopt for a Great Year

New Year, Same Rut

It’s the new year, time for a fresh start. This sounds great in theory, but I’m currently feeling like I’m stuck in such a rut, and it’s hard to decide where to start when there are so many things I’d like to change. I’ve found that as a stay at home mom, it’s especially easy to end up stuck in a rut. When I’m not getting out of the house regularly, I’m usually scrolling through Zulily’s daily deals on my iPad, third day hair in messy ponytail, wearing sweatpants I found on the floor. This is not a pretty picture, but let’s be real y’all. Even if “getting out of the house” just looks like running out to Walmart for milk and bread, I still feel so much better when I’m out and getting things accomplished. Ruts have been happening for me way more than I’d care to admit, and this year, I’m setting out to fix that.

Here are my goals for 2016:

Better sleep. It all starts here folks. When you don’t get enough sleep or you aren’t sleeping well, things don’t get accomplished. Simple as that. On the worst days, I come home and nap and barely do a thing between morning drop off and afternoon pick up. This does not do good things to my ego. Better sleep = better days. What I’m changing: 11:00 is bed time. Not lay in bed and surf the internet time, real bed time. I’m also tracking my sleep with my new Fitbit Flex. On really rough nights when I can’t get to sleep, Tylenol is a major help. I’m usually restless 17-20 times per night, but after taking two regular Tylenol before bed just once, the next three nights I was restless 7, 3, and 0 times. Getting a good night of sleep made subsequent nights that much better!

Self care. I am important, and so are you. I love being a mommy, and I think about my daughter way more than I think about myself, but if I don’t take care of myself and I’m at the end of my rope, I can’t be the mom I want to be. I can’t be the mom she NEEDS me to be. What I’m changing: What ever gives you life, do that. For me, it’s showers, makeup, jewelry, and nice nails. No more three day hair. Even when I feel too busy to do anything for myself, I’m making the time. I’m getting up early enough to do my makeup before waking Reagan. Even if all I’m wearing is some yoga pants and a plain tee, I’m still grabbing at least one piece of jewelry before I walk out the door. Reagan and I do our nails together. We bond, and when I look at my nails it makes me want to take care of myself. Everyone wins.

Financial management.  I haven’t been the best at saving, and it’s caused me a lot of undue worrying and stress. As someone with anxiety, stress here spills over to all aspects of life. What I’m changing: I’m using budgeting printables from Pinterest to put it all out on paper. Before I buy anything, no matter how small, I’m praying about it and really considering if this purchase is necessary in this moment. Intentional spending is crucial. When I let myself buy without thinking, not only do I usually regret it, but I end up tempted to do it again. Even when I’m in a financially stable place, spending without thinking is wasteful and leads to stress.

Better risks. I have an etsy shop made with nothing in it. There are so many ideas of written down but haven’t actually made yet. I have tons of projects planned that I want to post about. Photo shoots, recipes, crafts, trips, products and books to share. I know all about taking risks. Hitting the snooze button just once more and still trying to get there on time, not studying enough and still trying to ace the test, just one more cupcake but maybe it won’t go to my hips if I exercise enough. Sure, I take risks every day, but are they the right ones? What I’m changing: I’m going out on stable limbs. If it’s not beneficial (ex. all the things I just admitted to doing), I just need to save my time and energy for the risks that are worthwhile. This year I will be building my business, blogging regularly, doing fun things I would normally be tempted to skip, taking a few classes on hobbies I’ve been wanting to try (Craftsy!), and other things outside my comfort zone that will enrich my life.

Less procrastination. I have the terrible habit of putting off everything from class assignments to getting out of bed until the very last minute. This is one of my biggest stressors and yet I haven’t changed, until now. What I’m changing: I’m praying over how I spend my time. God wants me to use the time I’ve been blessed with wisely. Talking with Him keeps things in perspective and makes me want to be intentional about how I spend my time. Less time wasted means less stress and more time doing the things that matter, and that sounds like a wonderful change for me.

More exercise. I work and attend college from home. I’m a stay at home mom. I’m not out and about often, and I have reason to sit at my computer basically all day. The last couple years of this have equated into less and less time moving. Virtually no exercise has taken a huge toll on my health and my self esteem. What I’m changing: I’m getting up and getting moving! I’m using my Fitbit Flex to track my steps and starting out with a 10k step daily goal. I just started last week and I already feel SO MUCH BETTER. Walking is easy and I know I can stick to that. I’m not going to set myself up for failure by trying to commit to something intense when I’m not ready for that. I sneak walking in all the time throughout my day. Everyone has time for this! I walk while the microwave is counting down, while I’m brushing my teeth, when I’ve been sitting at my desk for a while I hop up and walk for a few minutes. I walk in place, outside, around the house. My Fitbit Flex keeps track of my steps, and I love that all I have to do is look at my wrist to find out where I stand with my goals. It’s exactly the motivation I need to keep moving all day. My friends and I also use the Fitbit app to challenge each other and that works wonders as well.

Good nutrition. I feel pressed for time 24/7 from stress and procrastinating too much which leaves me with very little time. It’s much easier to reach for a quick fix with poor nutritional value when I’m busy than to take the time to fix a healthy meal. I’ve let this business be my vice for far too long. What I’m changing: I’m making better eating choices. It is faster to grab something at home than to hit the drive thru, no matter what I try to tell myself. I don’t NEED that coffee while I’m running errands, I can just fix a much healthier one at home and bring it with me. And when I don’t feel like cooking my lunch, I can grab an organic Lean Cuisine instead of unhealthy alternatives and have a much healthier lunch that I love in the same amount of time. I’m also giving this one to God. When I talk to him about my choices and think of my body as the wonderful gift from Him that it is, it makes me want to treat myself better. Correct portion sizes, fresh fruits and veggies, and unprocessed protein are delicious fuel. I will not limit or restrict myself, I’m simply making better choices and changing my perspective. I’m tracking my calories in the Fitbit app so I know where I stand with the calories I’m taking in. I’m also drinking Plexus Slim and taking the Plexus Xfactor multivitamin daily.

More time outside. When I’m sitting in front of my computer working and studying, or cleaning and organizing the house, or the million other things I feel like I need to do NOW, I don’t take the time to get outside and get fresh air. This is so unhealthy!! What I’m changing: Every single day that weather permits, I’m going outside for a minimum of 15 minutes. Sunshine and vitamin D and taking the time to stop and enjoy this beautiful world He created does me so much good, and it is important that I make time for this. It is such a mood lifter!

Tidy living. When I’m feeling super exhausted, it’s hard to motivate myself to tackle the clutter in my house. Then I look around at the mess that’s already taking over and I feel that much more exhausted because I don’t know where to begin, and so the cycle continues. What I’m changing: Every morning, I’m starting a load of laundry. Even if I don’t do any laundry for the rest of the day, at least I know we’ll have some clean clothes ready to go. It doesn’t have to take up my entire day to make a difference. I’m also taking 15 minutes to take on the clutter. I pick a room, grab a trash bag or bins for organizing, and set the timer on my phone. 15 minutes of intense cleaning gets so much more done than sitting on the couch stressing about everything I need to do and the lack of time I have to accomplish it all!

Choosing JOY. This is my word for 2016. I prayed for God to show me what I needed to focus on this year. I asked Him to give me a word that could be my mantra. I was cooking dinner and listening to the Christian music station, and a song came on that really struck home with me and made me think of joy. I have a beautiful necklace with the words Choose Joy on the front, and it’s always been a sentiment I loved. When I stopped to think about how I’d been feeling lately, I realized that I had NOT been choosing joy. I’ve been letting the negativity of situations cloud out the good parts of my day, and it was stealing my joy. My biggest mission this year is to change that. What I’m changing: I’m putting my focus on the bright side of everything. When my daughter is pressing on my last nerve and I’m about to lose it – how blessed I am to have this issue. I have a child that I love, I am a wonderful mother, and I am so blessed that I have an independent little girl that I get to work through these issues with. When I’m feeling exhausted and worn out – I’m so lucky to have this body that has never failed me, and a bed to go rest in, and a warm home to protect me so that I can get some much needed rest without worry. In pretty much any situation, there is a way to choose joy over upset. And when you make a conscious decision to pick joy, it changes your outlook on everything for the better. I could use more joy and positivity. I can’t wait to see how my life changes this year because of these new choices. I hope this inspires you to have a wonderful 2016 and choose joy!

xoxo,

Katie

When You're Feeling Stressed About The Bible

I've been working extra hard on making time to build a real relationship with the Lord lately. Not just to be faithful and obedient, but really knowing Him and letting Him into every part of my life. It is not always easy. How do you know what God wants from you when he's not standing there face to face talking you through it? How do you know you're interpreting His word correctly? How do you even really get involved in His word and not just read it but know it in your heart?

I finally got around to watching a class from the Influence Network last night that came out last month. I know, I'm slacking! It was Women Who Read the Word 2.0 by Jess Connolly. If you need to be inspired to read your Bible or you don't know where to start, I highly recommend this class! (There is also a part one to this class, that Jess teaches as well, and both of these are still available as past classes! The first is called How To: Just Get in God's Word.)

So I watched the class last night and now I'm feeling inspired to really get into His word and eat it up and know it and know Him. BUT. How do I soak it up? How do I comprehend it? Because I can sit down and read it and when we're talking about genealogy or names or places, I'm totally lost. I can read it ten times over and still not know it. Also, reading the Bible raises a lot of questions for me. I do better when I read a Christian life book with bits of scripture that pertain to something I can relate to or the season I'm at in life. It can get so discouraging and I hate to say it, but I've never read the whole Bible and there is SO MUCH that I just don't know.

Regardless of all that I got up this morning with renewed conviction that it was time for me to try again. I usually read from a book or devotional or the YouVersion Bible app and then look up the key verses in my physical Bible. Last week I downloaded She Reads Truth and I decided to try their Bible in a Year and The Gospel devotionals. (Both of which are available for free in their app!)

I am so glad I started off with these. God knew exactly what I was needing and He delivered in His perfect timing. I started off with the Bible in a Year. Instead of going by the actual date and starting off with September's readings, I went back to January. Some people might do fine starting in the middle of the year, but I really needed to see things from the beginning and have a good foundation to start on in understanding the Bible as a whole. The first day's readings are from Genesis and John. It helps that I've read through Genesis multiple times, so it wasn't too hard to get into. 

Next, I did the first day of The Gospel. The entire thing was powerful, but the best takeaway from it was this: "The mystery of the Gospel does nothing to negate its truth." Oh my goodness!! It is so big a concept that it is beyond our full understanding. The greatest Bible scholars in the world still have more to learn. It is not our job to know everything. God has that under control. Just because it is beyond my understanding DOES NOT mean that it is beyond His Godly power!

That takes a huge load off my shoulders. I want to know Him and be close to Him and use His word to glorify Him. I do not need to know everything the Bible says fully understand it to do that. I can lean on Him. He wants us to lean on Him. I don't know about y'all, but I am much more comfortable knowing that. The more I know from the Bible, the better. But I have the God given grace of not having to have my head wrapped around every single concept just to know Him, love Him, and walk with Him. That brings me divine relief. I hope it makes you want to jump into His word with less pressure too.

xoxo,

Was All Stress Created Equal?

Hi y'all!!

If it wasn't already apparent, I took a hiatus from Mama Made a Blog for the last few months. At first I kept meaning to post and meaning to post, and adding more and more to my to do list so of course I kept putting it off.

And finally I had one of those defining moments when you gain clarity over what you're supposed to do - and I knew I just needed a break. I needed to downsize my to do list, and anything that was less than necessary needed to come off.

It is so easy to want to do more and more and more, and continue to add to our calendars and our to do lists. Haven't we heard of quality over quantity? You can make it to every single event on your social calendar, bake goodies for every organization and person who asks you to, and give your time to numerous other outlets and activities, but does any of that matter if you can't enjoy it?

I'll give you a hint, the short answer is no! :)

So, I stopped blogging for a while, and I got through the rest of the Spring semester, got through a nursing simulation and test, decided to take another year before finishing nursing classes, found out my little was wait-listed for preschool (it's a need-based program at the local public school, and she scored very high on her testing, so that was a blessing even though I want for there to be enough room in the class for her), Reagan turned 4, and we had the whole summer off together until I started the Fall semester this past week.

So clearly my to do list wasn't actually lacking ;)

That being said, I've been taking lots of classes on the Influence Network, reading some books just because I want to, and spending time with Reagan and loving on myself as well as Jesus.

Sometimes when we really feel like we need a break, what we really need to do is give ourselves one. I don't mean the kind of break you take when you have it all finished and your to do list is completed. Let me tell you, that time will not come. There will always be something you can put before your own rest and rejuvenation. 

Did you know that all stress has the same effect on your body? That's right, even good stress like blogging has the same effect as those things I need to get done that I don't want to because they're both adding to the amount of stress I'm feeling. A stress response is a stress response. It doesn't matter if it's wedding planning or cramming for your final exam. You might enjoy one more than the other (I hope!) but you're still going to experience your body's reaction to stress.

I'm currently reading The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst, because I still need tons of help prioritizing and saying yes to the right things. So far so good, but I'll write a full review when I'm done. Until then has anyone else read it? Have you had any times that you felt the need to pull back and say no, even to activities that you loved?

xoxo,

Katie

Book Review: If I Stay

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Some books are easy reads. Perfect for beach days, relaxing and not doing too much heavy thinking. This is NOT one of those books!

If I Stay is an amazing and eloquently written book about a girl whose life is turned upside down by a car accident. She is essentially stuck in an out-of-body state watching everything happen around her over the course of the next day. From the time immediately following the accident, to her stay in the ICU, to the visitors who come to be with her, you follow her torturous inner battle with the decision to stay or leave this earth and the loved ones she has left.

This book rocked my world for a number of reasons. For starters, Forman wrote a completely riveting story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the start. It is so hard to put down, I just wanted to read it in one sitting so I could find out what happened next and what decision she would ultimately make. The end definitely left a few questions, so it is sure to make readers ready to run out and buy the second book immediately. All signs of an amazing read!

When I was 19, my boyfriend was in a car accident and passed away from his injuries 6 days later. During this time I was with him or at least at the hospital almost the entire time. I was even at the scene of the accident when it happened. If you have lost a loved one, especially in such a traumatic way, you know what a life altering experience that is. It has been almost 5 years now, and sometimes when I’m really thinking about him a lot and missing him even more than usual, I just long to feel something significant. This book took me back with such intense emotion. It was so hard to read. I didn’t want to, but sometimes I had to make myself take a break. Gayle Forman did an incredible job capturing the entire ICU experience from the perspective of someone who does not frequent hospitals.

Even though it was an extremely emotional book to read, I think if you have experienced this kind of loss it’s therapeutic in a way. Having a chance to think through and process emotions, rather than bury them and let them build up, is important in any stage of grieving.

I highly suggest this book to anyone. It is a brilliant book even if you have never experienced anything like this in your life. You will be captivated from the very beginning with a perfect mix of suspense and substance. If you have been through this kind of tragic loss, I firmly believe If I Stay has something to offer you too.

 

Let me know what you think of If I Stay in the comments!

xoxo,

Katie

PS. This post contains an affiliate link and I will receive a small compensation if you purchase through it, but this has no influence over my decision to share this book or my opinion of it. :)