Take Care of YOU!

Work.

Husband.

Kids.

House.

Commute.

Volunteer work.

Kid’s School Stuff.

Blog.

Friends.

Podcast.

I have a few things going on and sometimes it all makes me want to pull my hair out! BUT there is one thing that I am starting to put at the top of the list…ME! I’ve never been good at putting myself ahead of anything, but I am working on that.

There are many different ways that I am putting myself first and trying to take care of ME!

1) Actually take my lunch break. – Now mind you I am usually blogging (ahem) but I am not focusing on work WORK and I am getting better about checking my work email while on lunch. (Full disclosure: I have taken no less than 3 calls in the 20 minutes I have been writing this! FAIL!)

2) Eat healthy. – Being back on Paleo (mostly) has made me feel so much better! I know that it doesn’t always show (sorry for the meltdown this week, honey!) but I feel healthier. I am really proud of myself for NOT eating some of the breakfast pastries that were sitting in the kitchen this morning when I forgot my breakfast! 🙂 BONUS: I am down 8lbs in less than 3 weeks since fully committing to being back on Paleo!

Cauliflower and Bacon…need I say more?

3) Go to bed at an acceptable hour. – This one is hard because here is my day. My alarm goes off at 5am M-F so that I can get up, showered, and dressed before getting the kids up at 6 and out the door by 6:30. I then sit in traffic until between 7:30-8am where I work until 4pm and sit in traffic for another hour before picking the kiddos up from 2 different locations (ASP and day care). We finally walk in the door around by 5:30-6:00pm where we scrounge up some dinner. I REALLY try to get something in the crock pot a few times a week, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen…or we really need to go grocery shopping and my 2 yo eats Funyuns, applesauce, and grits for dinner! The kids finally get into bed by 8pm so in order to get a good night’s sleep I need to be in bed no later than 10, which doesn’t leave much time for fun things like crafting and watching tv!

I have to wrangle my blanket from her some days

4) Schedule friend time/exercise. – I recently started scheduling time with my best friend every week were we take her precious Great Pyrenees for a walk at the park for an hour. This is one of my favorite times of the week because I get fresh air, exercise, and some girl time! Also, I get puppy snuggles!! This week we even snuck into the dog park for a few minutes to let him run and there were these 2 ADORABLE bulldogs!! I wanted to snatch them up!

Jessica and Thumper

Jessica, Thumper and Me on our weekly walk!

 

5) Say NO! – When I start to feel overwhelmed I just start saying no to things! Unfortunately it is starting to be the laundry that I am saying no to and that just leads to stinky socks for everyone. I am going to work on this.

So that is what I am working on to take care of myself. If I do not take time for ME then I will be useless to everyone in my work life and my personal life. I will try to update in a few weeks on how this is working out for me 🙂

I love my family!! Pardon the old picture…we need to get someone to take new ones for us.