Week 7: possibly some scrapbooking progress while being sick :)

So I haven't updated. Sorry, this apparently happens to me during week 4 and 5....and 6!! haha! But I am still working on lots of things! I've done water aerobic exercises about 8 times the last 2 weeks, I've create an argyle wall in Brynlie's future big girl room, planned activity days, tackled (with no success) potty training, gotten sick twice, stayed current with my gratitude journal, been in Wee Care at wee hours of the night for croup, stayed current with Downton Abby (with Travis), worked a lot on hypnobirthing (with Travis), hosted my brother twice and my parents twice (4 different occasions), and spent a few evenings down at their house!!! Just to name the out of the ordinary stuff...

(This is me at 28 weeks, way sick with the stomach flu. And below is Trav laying on the kitchen floor because he was even more sick, playing with Brynlie who had just barely stopped throwing up herself! funfun!)

But my main goal was to FEEL healthy. I know week 4 was similar, but the last 2 weeks I've really focused on exercise and really feeling the health. (apart of colds and the stomach flu). I guess what I mean is I have made good food and exercise choices. AND to top it off I DON'T have high blood pressure...during my pregnancy with Brynlie my blood pressure started to act up around this time. Hopefully it will continue to be fine! (PRAY!)

So this next week will be yet another week mostly hanging out at home. Joy. I am not a home body person and love to be out of the house for a little bit each day. So does Brynlie, especially after the last couple of weeks. By the time Trav comes home we are both at our whits end to leave and see new scenery!! But, nonetheless, that's what the next week has in store due to our colds.

(Brynlie likes getting outside, but snow it NOT her thing...this year.)

But I have a plan!

My goal to week 7 is my scrapbook. With the holidays I've taken a LOT of picture but never had the time or devotion to do anything about them once they were taken. So this week is simply to work on scrapbooking. I have journaling to do, pictures to choose and then print, and then add everything into the scrapbook. I'm not going to make any specific goal amount to accomplish. There's just too much pressure in that. Scrapbooking for me is a productive thing to do but it's also a FUN thing to do and it can easily turn not fun when I'm hurrying through it. There's no need to be 100% caught up by the end of this week (but that would be nice), but I know if I do a small amount each day I'll get a lot done!

Wish me luck!

Week 4: Water or no water?

Alright folks, no worries, I'm still working on my week 4's goal. What is it, you ask!? It's to be a little more healthier, specifically with working out.

The last few weeks working out has gotten harder for me. We have a (very) simple stationary bike at home and it's always been my default but lately it just kills my sciatic nerve for days and weeks afterwards. Anyway, to make a long story short I've decided that water aerobis might just be the way to go for me for the next few months.

So week 4's goal was to go to at least 3 water aerobics classes at the Clearfield Aquatic Center. They actually have serveral choices of classes. I started on Tuesday since the gym was closed until then. Tuesday night I got all dressed, got all psyched to go (by myself and in the cold, brr..), got the $5.50 it costs, got Brynlie and Travis all ready to survive without me ;), drove there, opened the door and waited at the front desk. And I waited, waited and waited until I had to go to the bathroom! haha! Hey, I'm pregnant, give me a break! But there was no one there. 5 cars, including mine, in the parking lot were probably owned by the 5 cleaning people I ran into as I helped myself to the ladies room. They all just smiled at me, welcoming me to the gym. Yet....I'm pretty sure the gym was closed. I was so bummed especially when I doubled checked the schedule and it really says that they were going to be open Tuesday night.

But, I get an E for effort, right!?

Then, I thought about going to the "open plunge" or the regular swim today and swimming with in the deep end with Brynlie in her floaty. It would be at least a half decent workout and it sounded fun. So today I woke up all mentally ready to take us two swimming to find that the "open plunge" doesn't open until 3:30pm today - which wouldn't work with our plans tonight. Bummer!

Because I was so planning on it last night and this morning, I feel like I  get another E for effort.

But I did spend a whole hour dancing with Just Dance on the Wii, silently praying it wouldn't make my sciatic nerve pain worse. I actually got a pretty good workout - that's how out of shape I am - and my hip-area doesn't neccessarily feel better or a whole lot worse. So yay!

Tuesday I did go grocery shopping and bought a lot of healthy food and got excited again about making some yummy dinners. Which I did make healthy dinners a few times this week! Which made for healthy lunches. (I LOVE leftovers!) I also picked up some protein powder. I am a fan of protien drinks. And, other thing, last night I didn't have any treats/sweets/desserts, which after a yummy Christmas and New Year's is a big deal!

So yay, healthier food choices this week!

Tomorrow (IF the gym is actually open! haha), I'm going to the deep water aerobis class since Trav is home. So maybe three times really is the charm! :)

establishing an Attitude of Gratitude

I just thought I'd share a little more detail about this gratitude week! First, here is the super cute orange book that is all organized for holding a LOT of gratitude! It's small, too, which makes it's extra sweet. It's about the size of my hand.

I decided to be very non-traditional and start this gratitude journal on the 23rd of December! I couldn't wait any longer to start! Plus it felt fun to be a little unique to not start on January 1st! I write at the end of each day and date it, but here I've just quickly listed what I've written the last few days in one big list! Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am grateful to my parents for teaching me of my divine worth.
I am grateful to learn that Travis is a lot more of a Christmas fan than I ever realized! (LOVES Christmas lights and Christmas music. EXTREMELY loves it. So funny to have spent 6 Christmas's together and just this year am I realizing the depth of his Christmas passion!)
I am grateful for fun plans to look forward to.
I am grateful for a sweet, kind, smart, and happy baby girl!
I am grateful for toothbrushes! I feel so refreshed after brushing!
I am grateful for how much fun I had shopping for family's gifts this year!
I am grateful for Christmas. I am also grateful it's over so I can put away all my decorations. It's a breath of fresh year to not feel so cluttered and "full"!
 I am grateful for Travis's heartfelt belly laugh!! haha! It's one of those mood changing, addicting, got to laugh with him kind of laughs!! Love it!

It's neat today to be in the middle of my day and naturally paying attention to what I am grateful for in this perfectly normal, wonderful day!

Gratitude in week 3!

Hi! So I just wanted to review for you and me what I've been up to on this blog for the last 3 weeks.

I am on an 8 week journey to become a little more "Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous"!!! Um, ya! It's going to be amazing! Do you know the author Connie E. Sokol? Well she is faithful. She is fit. She is also fabulous! And she wrote a freaking amazing book about how to become all those things! In 8 weeks! She's LDS and her program involves letting Heavenly Father in on all you're doing and allowing HIM to mold you into something a little more faithful, fit, and fabulous!

According to Connie, there are 8 areas we find stress in if those areas are not doing 80% or better. For example, motherhood, finances, relationships, fitness, and organization. But, man, that's a lot of areas to be doing great at, hence why we women can get overwhelmed with all our responsibilities! Therefore, one of Connie's points is something that President Faust once said, "have it sequentially." That is, timing. So she created a program with one goal in all these areas (plus 2 more) one week at a time. She talks about how we could probably handle more than one goal a week, but only for "like 2 weeks" until life happens and you begin to say, "pass the pan of brownies."

With Christmas this week, I had to set a goal for this week that was doable along with the holidays. This week, every night before I go to bed I've written a few things that I am grateful for! It's been fun! I hope to continue as often as I can throughout this new year!

What worked?

Acknowledging that I can't expect myself to accomplish some great goal along with all that comes with celebrating Christmas and playing with family!

What didn't work?

It's a small goal. I can't wait to do something a little more productive. But I am! It's just hard to choose to accomplish something small.

What will I do differently?

Even now I can be a little more proud of accomplish SOMETHING that I've specifically said I would. I got to keep pressing forward! It's the 3 week mark - that's where I started loosing steam to keep going! NOT this time!! It takes time and effort to be specific about what goal your going to concentrate on every week - it's hard because I'm not used it yet, it's not a habit.

That's okay! I'm excited to work on creating little weekly goals and accomplishing them!

Is it Thursday already! Ooops!!

So, what happened to my daily updates!!? I guess I got into a "bad" rhythm with last weekend. Then it was hard to get back into the daily-update-rhythm when I had my brother staying with us for a few shorts days! I have one younger brother who is in college and during his breaks he's nice enough to invite himself up and hang out for a few days! It was a blast (as always) and we actually got a lot of Christmas shopping done. So have I or have I not been working on the daily goals I mentioned in my last post? ...mmm....Well I haven't disregarded them all together... :)

Monday: It was suppose to be a day about Brynlie and focusing on her and enjoying motherhood in general. Well, this particular day we hardly had time to eat and she had to come with me here and there. So, very sadly, business got in the way. I was super nice to her :) and she was super super good, but there was no sit down-one-on-one-you-have-my-FULL-attention time. :( We just have days like that sometimes despite what I plan to have happen.

Tuesday: I was suppose to serve Trav and focus a little more on him. This day I actually took time to research some extra special activities I could do with Brynlie... Perhaps I was feeling guilty about how it all went down yesterday (despite my own desires). I came up with some fun things to spend some unique quality time with her! So I mentally checked half of Monday's goal off my mind.

I also came up with a fun idea how I could "serve" Travis. Travis is all about sports. He knows the ins and outs of whatever is currently happening in sports. I, on the other hand, am quite clueless. It's not a particular interest of mine (knowing who was traded to what team and who is hurt and who is losing/winning lately), I'd kinda rather paint or ...clean. :) I like watching Jazz games and even really enjoy watching the 4th quarter of the Jazz games. Travis, knowing I'm not really in "the know", doesn't really talk "sports" with me (unlike my brother who talks my ear off about what's going on in sports). But when my brother talks my ear off, I don't really mind because what he's telling me (and with his enthusiasm) it is kinda interesting. Plus, I can talk his ear off about painting and crafts without even knowing it too. So we are even! :) But Trav, I always talk to him about what's going on with crafting, Brynlie, shopping, or cleaning, whether or not it's really an interest of his. ANYWAY, so I spent the afternoon asking Robby (my brother) to tell me all that's going on in sports and that way I can kind of surprise Trav and know some things that he's really interested in. It was a good idea until that evening when I brought one of the "facts" up to Trav and I couldn't keep a straight face! In fact, within a minute, I had Robby and Trav laughing AT me and my attempts to know and be interested! I still kinda want to try to be a little more in "the know" but I don't think Trav really minds that I don't read ESPN every day like he does!! haha!

Oh and I did some laudry. Well, Trav helped me finished what I started on the laundry. (Again, having Robby staying with us and playing with him just through us off our routine)

Wednesday: I was suppose to create a grocery list using the ads. Surprisely, I DID IT!!! Yep! I ended up waking up an hour before Brynlie and Robby did, so I read my scriptures, ate, and MADE a GROCERY LIST! I was pretty proud! Have I used it yet!? No time to grocery shop yet...but I have plans to tomorrow!!

Thursday: I was suppose to do a "house" project today. And I really have! SUCCESS, again! I cleaned out my corner in my room. That nightstand area is hard for ME to keep organized. It just fills with important yet random things that don't have any other place other than the nightstand. So I organized it again. I have a plan to help fix this constant problem, but it costs a few dollars so I've been waiting it out....we shall see.

Oh, and I did do some laundry!! YAY!

So what worked? KNOWING what I was suppose to be working on! Having TIME in my day to actually do it. Having MEANINGFUL things to do that I care about.

What didn't work? Being way too busy and physically unable to do EVERYTHING I would like to. -You know how that goes!? :) Not having our "normal" routine to work with.

What will I do differently? Well, excepting that I might be busy tomorrow - for example - and setting an appropriate goal or changing the goal throughout the week. Flexibility.

I really might try this week's plan again. Maybe change up Wednesday's and Friday's goal. We shall see!

Week 1 is DONE! :)

Goal for week 1: show my husband extra love by doing extra acts of service throughout the week.

What worked?

Sorry I didn't update about how yesterday went. But both yesterday and today were fine. Small and spontaneous things tend to be both of our favorites. (He has no clue that I've been doing this all week, but he just seems more pleased and touch when I do small and simple things for him. Which works, right!? ha ha!)

What didn't work?

The weekend was hard. I remembered (mostly) to think and do some kind of service for trav, but we were so so busy that it was hard to do any "extra" service. Which is bad to say that I felt I was too busy for service. But I did serve him, just not huge things, which is totally fine. It's all about your heart and taking time (even a small amount) to focus and others' needs.

What will I do differently?

1. I don't want to plan on doing too much during the weekends (as far as these weekly goals are concerned).

2. Also, I'm going to change things up a little bit for this next week. I'm going to try having a different goal per day for this week. Keep things interesting.

Sneak peak for next week:
Monday-chapter "Joy in Motherhood" from Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous! and laundry!
Tuesday-chapter "Healthy Connections" from Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous! (do something extra special for Travis)
Wednesday-Create a grocery LIST while looking at the weekly ads. (Just something I got to get back in the habit of doing!)
Thursday-House project (because I love "house projects" and have a lot of them!) and laundry! (We need to two days for laundry!)

Friday-Read my pregnancy/birthing book

This sounds like a lot of things to do when I read this whole list. But when I read one day at a time and really think about it, it's just one thing per day except for the laundry days which isn't too big of a deal. Plus, I just didn't plan anything for the weekend. I like it. I'm learning. We shall see how interesting and (most important) how success this week will be.

But to wrap up week 1 I'd say it went REALLY well. Not perfect, but I wasn't excepting it to be perfect. The main reason I feel like it went really well is because I learned a lot in the process. I can see that if I keep doing this for the 8 weeks as the author of Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous suggests, I'll accomplish two things: I'll progress in the areas of my goals (obviously), but I will also learn HOW to set and ACCOMPLISH goals. I have accomplished some things in my life, but setting a specific goal and staying focused successfully until it's 100% finished isn't really something I've mastered, ya know!? I kinda like to dabble in all different things, ha ha!

Thanks for reading! This is fun, which is kinda the point! (along with everything else I've talked about!:)

Have a B-E-A-utiful night! :) (or day, or whatever time it is to you!)

Week 1: "small acts matter big" on Day 5

Any other mother out there recognize that slogan!? (Sprout...) lol Brynlie LOVES Barney!

Goal: to show a little extra love for my husband by doing extra service for him.

(Yesterday) what worked?
I just did little things yesterday. Like we watched a movie last night and he wanted popcorn but was seated and comfortable on the coach and so I jumped up and made it for him with a smile. He was soo grateful! I also remembered to turn on our heated blanket on our bed hours before we went to bed so that it would be warm. He was excited about that too! It almost seemed like he appreciated these small and immediate acts of service more than my big planned ones. Maybe it's easier to be a good receiver of small acts of service cuz they bring less guilt.

What didn't work?
I had no plan. I just prayed and hoped some opportunities would present themselves. Slightly stressful to leave it up to fate, but once again, it always works out! :)

What would I do differently?
Today (because I'm documenting a day late) I want to try doing some small things throughout the whole day. That's going to be my plan. I want to slow down a little today and just observe what he is doing and what little things I can help him out with. I'm excited because, again, I think he might appreciate those or just enjoy receiving those acts of service better! I actually don't blame him! :)

YAY! Have a fabulous Saturday!

Love,
Rach

PS Would you guys agree? That its easier to be a good receiver of small acts of service. I