a new year update
I thought it was about time for a new year update. I’ve been meaning to write one since the new year began, but It’s been a slow start. We were passing around a bug that might have been the flu between Christmas and New Year’s, in addition to some various other yuckies. In my mind, I wanted to be ready to start the New Year fresh and with a vengeance. But instead I felt, kinda defeated. I’ve never been much of one for New Year’s resolutions. But in recent years, I have set goals. I still like to do that, and think it is productive. But I also think that goals are good to set throughout the year. This new year brought about a shift in my perspective. I can’t quite put my finger on why or how it came about. Maybe it is just the fact that it is another new year.
On Sunday, I completed my thirty fifth trip around the sun. Which sounds weird to say out loud. I know 35 isn’t old. I really can’t complain about this age and where I am in life. I haven’t been this happy in a long time, actually. But somehow it just seems odd that I could possibly be 35 already. Like, I was just 25, a second ago! Birthdays are weird like that to me. Anyway, I decided that because it is officially a new year for me now, it was as good a time as any to share some of my goals and shifts.
This year, it’s gonna be more about me. Selfish? Maybe. But for the past 7 years or so, I have been pregnant, breastfeeding, and just generally busy raising kids. I am of course still busy raising those little darlings. And it took me a while to come to peace with the fact that during that season, I might just not get as much time to myself as I wanted, and that that was OK. Because it was only a season. An ever so short season, that makes my heart ache that it’s already over. On the up side, I can now take a little more time for self care. And I think if I do that, I will be a better mother and wife and friend.
My first focus I decided on was my health. I love yoga and adding that back into my routine 2 years ago did wonders for my mood, energy, and overall health. But I had a hard time even thinking about committing to any type of diet since having my kids. Pre-kids, I played with vegetarianism, veganism, and occasional cleanses. I’m not so much concerned about my weight like I was in my twenties, but more so about how I look and feel. And after the holidays, I felt like crap.
After getting sick on New Year’s Day, I really could barely get out of bed, let alone think about drinking. We love our wine around here, and there is always plenty of it around the holidays. So a few days passed and then my fever turned into a nasty head cold and I just wanted to feel better. So I continued on with my no drinking plan. Finally, I turned a corner with being sick and started to feel like my old self again. I decided since I already wasn’t drinking, I might as well continue on and see what other level of health I could reach. I just felt like my body could really use a good, solid detox. I put out a little survey on my Instagram Stories, asking people for any good cleanse recommendations. My friend Amy of WundaBar Pilates told me about one of her favorites, Clean. When I looked into it, I realized it was actually the same one I had done before too, almost exactly 5 years ago, after my first born has stopped breastfeeding and before I got pregnant with my daughter. I remembered loving how it made me feel.
So since I like to share with you guys my favorite things, I reached out to the Clean Program team to see if they would be willing to send me a cleanse package, so I could share my experience with you guys. I am sharing tidbits on my stories throughout the 21 day process, but I will also share the final results with you at the end!
The second area of self care I decided I was really ready for, was my skincare. Since my struggle with eczema started a few years ago, I put my struggle with acne breakouts on the back burner. My skin is just so sensitive, and trying to figure out what I was allergic to was a complicated enough puzzle, without adding in trying to navigate skincare products for my face. But my friend Mika [@mikaperry] was always talking about how much she loved her esthetician, so I finally reached out to her to book an appointment. I met with Emme Diane a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by her knowledge. A lot of what she was telling me made sense to me, and was consistent with some of the research I have done on healthy/safe beauty products. [There is SO much misinformation out there, it’s truly maddening!] The best part for me was that she was familiar with the preservative I am most allergic to [methylisothiazolinone] and does not use it in any of her products! Anyway, I am super excited to be working with her to see if I can finally get the clear skin I have always dreamed of. I will keep you guys posted on my results with Emme too!
The third area of focus that has taken the back burner for many years is reading. I used to really enjoy reading all sorts of books, pre-kids, but after I had my first, I found it nearly impossible. I just couldn’t find the time to read more than a couple of pages, and then the newborn fog would make it so as I couldn’t even remember what I had just read! It was really frustrating to me. I tried to get back into reading a few times over the years, but at some point I just decided that it was something that was ok to let go of for the time being, because I could always go back to it later. So this year is my later. I am going to try to read some books this year! I’m not going to set a specific number or anything. Even if I just finish one I will be happy haha. But just to get some under my belt.
Tell me all your recent favorite books to read in the comments!
My hope is that these three things I am doing for myself will help center me, and bring be a better sence of balance in our busy lives. None of the other duties of daily mom life will go away. There will never be enough time to do it all. Laundry and dishes and pickups and dropoffs will still have to be done. But I think if I can focus on these small acts of self care, it can bring me a bit more joy. It may mean there will be less time on my phone, fewer blog posts written, or whatever it is to make a little time for myself. And those things I let go of will be ok without my attention for a while.
