A day on maternity leave

I thought you might be wondering what happens on maternity leave.

Then I realized I was wondering what was happening on maternity leave. It's been 2 months! This time is just flying by!

My pregnant self had these amazing visions of getting so much accomplished while at home on maternity leave. Three months to just sit at home?! Sounds like a dream come true. Little did I know, it would take FOREVER to get ANYTHING done while on maternity leave.

So to prove to myself that I was actually accomplishing something throughout the day I decided to log one day. This was last Friday:

2 am: feeding, dad put to sleep
5 am: feeding, mom put to sleep
7:30 am: feeding mom and baby fall asleep on recliner
8 am: dad leaves for work
9 am: mom and baby wake up for another feeding
9:15 am: baby falls asleep on couch, mom works out
9:40 am: baby wakes up during work out, diaper change, go for walk outside take Max and Ranger
10:40 am: back from walk, another feeding
Mom wonders when she'll have time to make lunch
11 am: baby won't fall asleep, wear baby in Moby wrap and begin making lunch. Turn on podcast
11:20 am: baby is asleep, carefully transition baby into crib, shut door,  continue with lunch
12:18 pm: dad finally home for lunch, baby wakes up (of course!)
12:19 pm: mom inhales lunch because baby is crying and must be hungry
12:20 pm: mom goes to feed baby, not hungry, so tries 5 s's
12:30 pm: baby falls asleep
12:35 pm: baby is up
12:45 pm: tries 5 s' s doesn't work. Burps baby, dad eats lunch alone while mom is attempting all this.
12:50 pm: baby falls asleep

Whisper around the lunch table and try to have a conversation...didn't really work out.
1:30 pm: hubby leaves for work, baby still sleeping
1:33 pm: try to move dishes to sink, too loud!
Log on to computer. Need to be sure baby's doctor is covered by our insurance. Computer wants to update! Lovely! Don't they know These are precious minutes!

At this point I stopped taking a log of the day. If I remember correctly I did make some calls and pay some medical bills. But I also had a really hard time getting MJ to nap throughout the afternoon. 

Which means the rest of my day looked like this-

He loves being held like this. I hear it's a colic baby thing....

I'll try to log again this week just for some self satisfaction! Only 4 more weeks to be productive.

Grits,

Lara Casey

Remember January 2013? Ya, me neither...

That month I posted a blog post titled 'Making Things Happen' (Part 1 found here, Part 2 here). I also started a pinterest board with inspirational words and photos to help me throughout the year. 

Following the wedding, honeymoon, and now the pregnancy I haven't visited this goal setting exercise much. 
However, I did come away with my 2013 vision which is: There is no right time to do the right thing.  Translation: JUST DO IT! I can confidently say this stuck with me, subconsciously, throughout the year and I've done a lot of "good for me" things that I am proud of and less of those things I'm not so proud of.

I'm writing today to share more about Lara Casey. I stumbled across her blog and just fell in love. It might have been a Holy Spirit moment she is a true positive influence in my life.

Things I love about Lara:

1. She is a spiritual woman who has a relationship with God...As she wrote throughout the years her blog began with her struggles in business and personal life. Her blog has since transitioned and she is constantly quoting the Bible, confident in her business and thriving in her personal life. The power of blogging!
2. She runs a magazine out of her home - her staff works upstairs and her garage turns into a loading dock once a month. See her office tour here
3. She never gives up: Read about how she wanted a URL that was used by another company and with persistence...I won't tell the end of the story. Be inspired here
4. She gardens here
5. She is all about motivation, organization and Making Things Happen! <-- that's a link to her very own conference in North Carolina...can I please attend?!?! It is VERY pricey because they only accept 70 participants. So TONS of one-on-one time with a personal life/business couch! 
6. She doesn't blog daily or even weekly - in October she posted 4 blog posts. I'm striving for once a week and beat myself up when I don't do it.  (Her posts are VERY long so I'm sure they take more than a few hours to write)
7. You can surround yourself with all things Lara Casey and motivation by visiting her shop full of FREE downloads and printables and some inexpensive luxurious prints such as:

This is the backdrop on my office computer
You can download one of her many desktop backgrounds on her website

"Done is Better than Perfect" as mentioned in previous blog posts, this is my new mantra. I am VERY productive with this saying in the back of my head. I was married in February and kept putting off changing my name. I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep my middle name or my madian name. I was stressed about the cost of all the paper work and the time I would spend away from work standing in line in a lovely government office. I finally bit the bullet and did my research. In the end, it's free to change you name (In your lifetime you get 10 free social security cards!). The office was incredibly efficient! With touch screen check-in and over 20 'tellers' I was in and out in 20 minutes. And in the end I got the name I wanted. I guess that was Done and Perfect. I'm extra thankful it's done before tax season and our son is born.

In closing I encourage you to do Lara's CHALLENGE. Step 1 in her challenge guides you through picking 3 action items for the day - just three things you want to get done. And then the three steps it will take you to get those done. I thought I could change my name in three steps and in one day, but that didn't happen. However I was able to JUST DO IT!

This week I'm on part 2: Where am I in control?

• I am in control in my car (is it clean? do I take care of it? do I have road rage?)
• I am in control at my home desk (is it clear and organized? Does it help me function? Here is where I pay bills, if I find myself behind on bills I know where the real mess is)
• I am in control at my office desk (is it organized? If I am out of the office can someone find what they are looking for? Does it help my efficiency at work?)
• I am in control in my bedroom -NOT LIKE THAT! (are my clothes in proper dressers and closets? How will I function in bed with a baby? Do I really need 10 books on my nightstand?!)
• I am in control of my e-mail inbox, my facebook, twitter and blogs (Is this a bunch of digital clutter? Am I distracted? What can I unsubscribe from or unfollow to help me spend time away from the screen? What can I start following that will help motivate me to be the Best Version of Myself?)

I'm using the Lara's FREE eBook found here to guide my journey. I've written and highlighted all over this workbook like it's a university final exam. I highly encourage you to at least read through step one - it WILL help you. 

If you haven't clicked on any of the links above you are doing yourself a disservice. Come on! Try something before the end of the year! If it works, make it your New Year's resolution!

High Heels!

Motivated

This month starts the beginning of something good.  Better than my best...





Thanks to Michelle at The Vintage Apple
for the pinterest pin embed tutorial!



High Heels!

I had a bad day

I had a bad day yesterday.  A total GRITS day.  It actually started the night before, I went to bed mad.  I went to bed mad because I needed to tell J something and I was putting it off.  Communication is our #1 priority, but for some reason I decided that this thing was really hard to say.

Then I woke up and every little thing was irritating me!  My hubby bought me a bottle of pinapple, orange and mango juice.  He said he had one and it was delicious and he wanted me to have one on my way to work. (sweet right?) I looked at the Nutritional Facts and was furious!  49g of sugar?!  How dare you give this to me!  See? Rediculously mad.

By the end of the day at work I had chewed off all my nails.  Now I have stubs.  I'm so sad!  My nails were perfect for my wedding.  I kept them long for months!  And this one day...I lose them all.

Everything was going wrong yesterday.  The bank lost the checks I ordered, so they are sending me more.  My student loan payment went through, so I have no money.  I texted J telling him I was in a bad mood and having a bad day.  His reply was that he was having a bad day too.  We vented a little to each other over text, but when I got home I lost it. 

This poor guy.  His life is so simple, his faith is so strong.  I feel like the biggest disappointment in his life.  Even though the night before, the day before yesterday he said out of the blue: "I'm just so lucky to have you".  Which of course I questioned: "what do you mean?"  "But what exactly did you mean?"  "Is this coming from something?"  "Why did you say that?"  Poor guy is going to learn to keep his mouth shut and I'll never hear those words again.  :(

See? A not good day.  So after we yell and scream and miss 6:30 mass (grr).  I tell him what I was holding back, which was nothing in the big picture of things.  We end up talking things out and get back to what IS important.  Remember this?  Remember Making Things Happen in 2013?  My motivation being: There is no right time to do the right thing. - always do the right thing Well I took that to heart too much and began stressing myself out on all the things I need to get done in order for life to be good.  Not perfect, just good.  But J reminded me that it's not worth it if it leads to such stress.  Obviously what I think is 'good', isn't.  It's stressing me out.  If God wanted me to have that 'good life' I think I need, it wouldn't be so hard to acheive.  But God only asks for what we have.  So I have everything I need to fulfill God's plan.  Ah ha!  I am not trying to fulfill God's plan.  I'm trying to fulfill MINE.  And that's why it is so stressful!  Because I don't know what I want/need.  I just need to let go and Let God.  Thank God for my husband!

I totally believe in Holy Spirit moments and following that conversation, the Holy Spirit checked in today.  Every morning on Facebook I am greeted by my favorite nun from college.  And every morning I read her reflection.  Today she said:

"Today's readings offer to us a reminder - following the law of God leads to life. Following God's will for ourselves and for our world leads to life in abundance. And what does that mean? This particular Gospel passage comes after the Beatitudes and before Jesus' explanation of going beyond the external practices. To put it simply, to love. God, who is Love itself, calls us to participate in the very life of God, which is to love.  Let us, then, strive to live by the law of love - today and each day."

 Now I'm on fire with letting go and letting God.  I couldn't help but revisit my Making Thing Happen 2013 Pinterest board and run across a few more pInspirational pins. 

In case you missed the Making Things Happen moment, visit LaraCasey and she'll guide you along.  There are a lot of pinterest boards dedicated to their 2013 Making Things Happen mission.  I found it so inspiring that many pins mentioned God.  According to the media (I try not to listen to), God is dead.  But there are children of God alive in this world.  If anything, THAT gave me courage to keep on keeping on. As Robert Frost says:

  Peace be with you,

Pleasure in Pallets

Everyday I'm driving down my country road and I see pallets thrown on the side of the road.  I don't know if I should stop and pick them up or if I should introduce the land owners to a little known website called Pinterest.  You know you've seen TONS of pallet crafts on pinterest.

Today's post is inspired by a pin I saw today and couldn't click "like" fast enough!!

Great website that leads to inspiration such as...

Pallet Shelves

Pallet Wall Art

Pallet Magazine Rack!

Pallet Garden

Pallet Wall (Are you kidding me!?!)

My favorite, never seen this before: Hanging Chair made from Pallet wood!!

So whether you buy the pallet, ask for donated pallets from warehouses or "find" them on the side of the road I hope you have fun with pallets!!

High Heels!