2022 – Loving My Littles

8 ways to chase away the Monday blues

It has been the most stereotypical Monday morning.

My 3 year old peed his bed. My 18 month old had a horrible poop explosion. I spilled my coffee all over our couch. It’s pouring rain. The world is going crazy with awful, unimaginable things. I woke up in a panic from a nightmare at 5am. Liam has run into the bedroom and slammed the door announcing “me grumpy!” Twice.

We’ve just been bombarded by things all morning, and it’s not even 8:30am! It’s tempting to just give up and have a lazy, movie marathon day. Or, we can take a little while to reset our day, and try to reclaim the day.

The “ducky pond” we love near our house that’s normally little has completely flooded the surrounding area in the last 24 hours. We’ve gotten a lot of rain!

These are some of my favorite ways to do that:

-get outside. Spend some time in the sun. If it’s raining, get outside anyway! Fresh air (and a change of scenery) is amazing for resetting moods!

-drink a extra cup of coffee or tea. This is very calming to me, and actually sitting down to enjoy a hot beverage is relaxing!

-read your Bible. I’m catching up on my chapters from Numbers that I missed this weekend.

-Watch the rain from the window. It’s oddly calming to watch the rain drops roll down the window.

-Get some exercise. This is so important and a great way to start the day over! Get those endorphins and the blood pumping through your body!

-Journal a prayer and/or some things your grateful for.

– Read a book for 20 minutes! (Leave a comment and let me know if you want a suggestion! )

-Call or text a friend. It could be something simple. “I was thinking about you!” Or something more involved like getting together. It’s about taking the focus off of you and your bad day, and brightening someone else’s!

We are headed out for a run (in the rain!) in a few minutes, and then we are going to work on doing some of these to help continue to reset our day!

Love,

Becca

Favorite things // v. 2

1. Hapiu rain suits for toddlers!

These are game changers for getting outside with toddlers, especially living in the PNW, where it rains at least 5+ months of the year. They’re awesome even on days it isn’t raining, keeping clothes safe from mud! It’s taken the excuse of bad weather away, so we are getting out every day!

2. Pretty coffee mugs.

I’ve replaced a few coffee mugs we had that were chipped/cracked, and it’s made me pretty happy! Theyre bright and happy, and this is my favorite shape for a coffee mug! Oversized, but still feels great in your hand! (This one is cute, and these ones are so pretty!)

3. Hand cream and mosturizer.

I know, a little weird. But I haven’t used either of those things much before. But this winter my skin has been so dry and looking awful. (My hands looked so old.) so I grabbed a big bottle of lotion at Costco, and it’s made a huge difference in how my skin looks and feels. I’m hooked. But I am looking for a more nontoxic option and very open to suggestions! (I would love to hear your favorite brands in a comment!)

4. Reading actual books.

When I was nannying before I had kids, I got into the habit of reading books in the Libby app on my iPad. And I love it! I don’t have to run another errand to pick up books, or get them back on time. We also live in a very tiny apartment, it’s been helpful to not have a ton of books to store. (I can’t wait to have a bigger space so that we can have our books out of storage, though!) But I have pulled out a couple books that were gifts, and it has been really nice to have the physical books. I really missed it. So hoping to read a better mix of both physical and ebooks this year.

5. Lists I can check off

I know goals, or New Years resolutions aren’t for everyone. I thrive with clear goals, to-do lists, progress checklists, etc. so I love the opportunity to set new (attainable) goals for myself, and see progress as I work towards them. At the beginning of January I made a progress chart with 52 weeks for my goal of running 15 miles a week, and it’s very exciting to fill my milage at the end of the week. It’s small, but helps my mindset and productivity!

6. Decluttering and organizing.

I started picking one space every day to declutter or organize the week after Christmas and it made a huge difference! It was so nice to clear out some clutter, clean little used spaces out, and just refresh our home. I’m trying to keep up with picking 2 or 3 spaces a week, to keep on top of it, and it’s been a huge help! Visual clutter stresses me out, so staying on top of keeping our surfaces and storage is key to less stress and a happier mama!

7. Paring down Instagram

Social media was becoming overwhelming. So I started unfollowing a bunch of accounts that I was no longer interested in, and making space for the people I actually wanted to see in my feed. It’s been a lot quieter, and I’m enjoying the app much more now instead of endlessly scrolling past stuff I honestly don’t care about!

8. Easy dinners

I’ve been trying to find a few simple dinners that are easy for busy days, and my favorite right now is rotisserie chicken (I grab a couple every time we go to Costco, debone them, and throw it in the freezer chopped so it’s easy to grab.) and a bag of prepared veggies/noodles/teriyaki sauce. (Our Fred Meyer has this in the bagged salad aisle. It’s quick, relatively healthy, and takes about 20 minutes to cook up.

What are some things you’ve been loving lately?

3 things I learned from Running in 2021

I began running March 25, 2021. My first “run” took 21 minutes, and included only 6 minutes of active running. And it was brutal. Lungs burning, couldn’t catch my breath. Muscles hurting I didn’t even know I had.

I had thought it couldn’t be that bad, I had walked a mile or two every day for the last couple years. How hard could it be to learn to run?

It was hard. Getting myself and both kids out the door, appropriately dressed, slathered in sunscreen was hard. Making time for a run/shower on busy days was hard. Talking myself into getting out there even though I was tired and sore was hard.

But I did it. That’s the first thing I learned:

1. I can do hard things.

And after a while, it isn’t quite as hard. It’s still a challange making time some days, and talking myself into going out in the rain and cold. But I’ve realized that the hard is 100% worth it.

2. My body feels better when I exercise regularly.

It isn’t a new concept, but after being committed to this for the last 10 months, I have seen how much better I feel (physically and mentally.) when I am getting out to exercise regularly.

3. My mental health is effected by exercising.

While I started running because I was feeling really off postpartum and wanting to lose some weight, one of the more surprising results was seeing a difference in how I was doing mentally. It’s been a great tool when I am dealing with anxiety, and has been a big stress reliever this year. Getting out to do something physically hard that engages a my mind at the same time, (I like to listen to podcasts while I run.) has become one of my favorite things!

I am looking forward to continue running in 2022, and working towards some new goals!

What is your favorite way to get out to exercise? Is there anything you’ve learned through it over the last year or two?

With love,

Becca

Reflections and Challanges

I love January. The way the calander offers a chance for newness. The opportunity to make some goals, and spend some time reflecting on the past year. Setting intentions, and creating a plan for the next year. Whether those goals are attained and go well, or unforeseen circumstances change them, I love taking the time to reflect on growing and learning in the new year.

As 2021 has been winding down, the word that keeps coming to mind when I am thinking about 2022 is Challange. I said it in the post I wrote on my birthday earlier in December, I am looking for a challange, goals to work towards and the drive to keep growing and learning. So this is my list of goals for 2022. They’re not huge or revolutionary. Some are health related, some are going to greatly reduce stress! (Dealing with the photo problem! I’m a huge picture taker, and the thousands of photos are becoming a bigger problem by the day!)

I’m really excited to start working on these, and the opportunity to grow and learn through them in 2022!

⁃ Read 22 intentional books

⁃ Run 12 minute miles. (Pushing double stroller.)

⁃ Learn and incorporate a strengthening workout into my routine.

⁃ Clean up our diet even more.

⁃ Dispose of the paper clutter in our home.

⁃ Organize our digital photos.

⁃ Run 15 miles a week. So at least 780 total in 2022.

⁃ Actively work on cultivating some friendships.

What are some goals you’re seeing in the new year?

Love,

Becca

22 reading challange // 2022

I’ve always been a very avid reader. I was the kid who got in trouble for reading long into the night. My poor eyesite is actually accredited to laying on one side while reading with my flashlight as a child. (That’s why one eye is doubly as bad as the other.)

I’ve done reading challenges (with Goodreads) since 2014, with anywhere from 150 to 35 books, depending on what stage of life I was in! All that to say, I love to read. This year I did pretty in number, around 45 books, and while I’m happy I read, and it was nice to keep my mind engaged, the quality and content was mostly “fluffy” type reads. Mindless stuff I could fit in while my kiddos napped.

In 2022, I’m looking for a challange, and I’d like learn some things. Focusing a little more on quality and content, over numbers for my list.

So this is my 2022 reading challange. I picked 22 because it is catchy, while also a nice number of challenging works, but leaving some wiggle room for recommendations and other books that catch my fancy.

A couple of these are rereads, but ones I thought were worth the extra time, and I’d like to spend more time getting into them.

2022 reading challange!

These are a mix of memoir, nonfiction, self help, and a couple fiction titles I’ve been meaning to read for a while.

1. The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin

2. Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday, by Valerie Woerner

3. Share your Stuff, I’ll go First, by Laura Tremaine

4. Declutter like a mother, by Allie Casazza

5. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

6. When Breath becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi

7. Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

8. Lillian Boxfish takes a Walk, by Kathleen Rooney

9. Welcome Home, by Myquillyn Smith

10. Landslide, by Susan Conley

11. How to Talk so Little Kids will Listen, by Joanna Faber and Julie King

12. Mrs Mike by Benedict freedman and Nancy freedman

13. Hillbilly Elegy by J.d. Vance

14. Worthy by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher

15. Uninvited by Luda TerKeurst

16. The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

17. Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

18. The Flirtation Experiment by Phylicia Masonheimer

19. The Next Right Thing, by Emily p. Freeman

20. Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagasaki

21. Cozy Minimalist home, by Myquillyn Smith

22. The Lazy Genius Kitchen by Kendra Adachi

I’d love to hear about your reading life, lists and any challenges your considering in 2022!

Love,

Becca