A Kick in the Butt…

Well, I haven’t posted on here in so long that I forgot how to login!  Pitiful right? Sorry if you previously signed up hoping for new and exciting content and were let down! But I’ve made a promise to myself and my readers to do better.  To be better.  I am committing to posting at least weekly for the next six weeks and then hopefully even more frequently!  I look forward to sharing my favorite recipes, books, and moments with you all.   

Today I am writing to be honest and ask for forgiveness for not being active and to just let you know that I’ve been struggling.  Being a mom, a wife, an employee, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a neighbor, and all the other roles is wearing this girl out lately!  I have been on this sort of quest to get back to myself.  I’ve been trying to make more frequent contact with friends through the phone and email. I’ve been trying to get outside more and fuel my body better and to know when to say, “I just can’t anymore.” and “This is good enough.” 

I have always been a slight perfectionist…I get it honest from my mama and I’m easily third generation.  Thank you, Grandpa. The weird thing is I’m only a perfectionist about certain things, and I don’t necessarily look at it as being a perfectionist I look at it as wanting to do something and do it well.  I’ve never understood doing things just for the sake of doing them, but slowly I’m learning that done is done and done is good enough sometimes. 

I’m working on reading and journaling for me.  My journaling has consisted of just writing notes and things I’m wondering about, but I’ve really enjoyed it.  It’s not much and sometimes it’s not even full sentences, but it’s something for me.  I’ve been doing it for about a month now and don’t even have three full pages.  This is a very low stress activity for me, but it’s the start of my self-care.  I’ve also been reading again.  I haven’t been reading in the traditional sense, but I’ve been using audio books on the Libby app like crazy.   I’m currently reading Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis and The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  Both of these are books I’ve wanted to read for a while now and the use of audio books is making it happen.  Over the past three and a half months I’ve read Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Megnusson, The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin, (I’ve reread) The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, To Hell with the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke, Get Out of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis, and I started to reread The More of Less by Joshua Becker.  That’s 6 completed books and 3 more partially completed in 3.5 months!  That might not seem like a number that blows anyone away, but it’s something I enjoy and it wasn’t possible for me to sit down and read a traditional book with all of my other responsibilities. 

I plan to share more about these books, life lately and a few new favorite recipes soon.  These things are all self-care for me right now.  Writing this article is for me.  Last week my family traveled to Florida for Spring Break, and I’ve always wanted to take the day off after a vacation and this time I actually did it!  So, today I am technically “off work,” but I have spent about 4 hours this morning getting caught up and prepping for the week ahead.  I have crossed 10 things off my to-do list of 16 items and some of these things were things that I’m thrilled to have done, but none of them have brought me the joy that logging into this blog and typing this has done.  I will see you more often!  Do you have any current forms of self-care or is there something that you’re longing to do and just haven’t made time for?  Tell me what it is in the comments or in a quick email.  I’d love to brainstorm ideas to make life easier and more fulfilling.