JUNE BOOM! Week 1

This month Chris and I decided to set some goals for ourselves and we decided June would be called JUNE BOOM! Our goals are:

1. Stick to our diet - Which just means eat healthier and not out at restaurants!

2. Exercise regularly

3. Journal regularly

4. FINISH A BOOK - We both made the goal at the beginning of the year to finish 25 books by 2014 and it hasn't been going very well for either of us!

5. Finish a knitting project - This one is just for me. I started to learn how to knit while I was pregnant and I got the basics down, I just haven't had the chance to actually try and knit something that I can use yet.

So, it is now the end of week 1 of JUNE BOOM! and I am feeling amazing! I started mediating every day just for 5 minutes at a time. I find it so challenging to just clear my mind, it's something that I have always struggled with, but it definitely has gotten easier over the week. Tomorrow I will start doing it for 10 minutes so we will see how that goes!

I also have been sticking to the exercise goal which is pretty hard with a tiny baby always needing me! In the morning when she has her first nap I make sure I meditate and then do some yoga. If I feel like I have extra time I will do some strength training or pilates before I take a quick shower. Once she wakes up I wont have time to do any of that stuff so sometimes it does feel a little rushed. Im just glad I get to do anything at all! It feels so nice to use my body like that again after my long pregnancy. Also, Chris and I have been taking power walks in the park when he gets home from work with the baby. Its a great way for us to get outside and move our bodies while also getting a chance to talk about our days and just be together.

As for our diet, we did very well this week. We ate tons of salads and fruits and managed to eat all of our produce for the week as well as all of our leftovers! Success!

I have made some progress on my book that I am reading but I did not get to write in my journal or knit at all this week...Guess we can't win them all!

I will be posting about JUNE BOOM! Every Sunday evening this month..

I hope every one had an awesome weekend!

Do you have any goals set for yourself this month or this season? How do you try to stay healthy?

Motherhood - And getting back on my feet!

On April 15 our little baby girl Harmony May was born. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced as well as the most difficult and rewarding! My husband was the most amazing partner through it all and I couldn't be more grateful for all of his help and support. He was with me and the baby at home for the first month and so we went through the highs and the lows together all day every day for 4 weeks and it was intense! (Thanks for putting up with these hormones babe ;])

It has now been a little over 7 weeks since she was born and I'm finally starting to get the hang of this stay at home mom thing. I am determined to get a routine established so I can start doing some more things for me! The more she grows the more she wants to be stimulated and so it is very hard to get much accomplished throughout the day. I want to start making this blog more of a priority so hopefully I can stick to it. 

With my new life brings all kinds of new ideas and goals for myself. I would like to use the time I do get for me being productive with creative projects and crafts. I will be using this blog to share my ideas, projects, and thoughts on motherhood. I am thrilled about being a stay at home mom and raising this beautiful baby girl. We are so blessed! I couldn't be happier or more in love with her, my husband, and this life I get to live!

Lovely Sunday

What a wondeful and productive day it has been! I started my day with some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and decided I want to drink it every day! It is so yummy, refreshing, and healthy.
Then I made a smoothie for Chris and myself to enjoy while breakfast was cooking.
I used: blueberry juice, 2 whole bananas, some frozen strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, vanilla yogurt, and some honey. It was very sweet and my husband loved it :). I used to work at a smoothie shop so I dont really have measurements for these ingredients as I eyeball it most of the time, but I know that  I use about 10 oz of juice if I am making enough for 2 people. If I want it to be thick I will use more frozen fruit and if I want it thin, I use a little less and put more fresh fruit in....its all up to you!

My husband made me a breakfast burrito (I ended up eating 2 of them!) Just some of his special scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon. Simple and filling!

Yesterday was our baby shower and we had a great time. We had around 40 guests and it was so much fun to see family and friends mingle. We were showered with so much generosity it was amazing! Little Harmony already has more clothes than her daddy does (which is pretty impressive, daddy has TONS of clothes :-P) I feel so grateful that our families are so excited for her arrival, it makes it all the more exciting for me. 
We had a lot of cleaning and organizing to take care of in order to fit all of this new stuff so we worked on that while we cooked a pot roast. We got the recipe here and it turned out so good! We will definitely be making it again. We got a really nice dutch oven from Chris' parents for our wedding and it has been a lot of fun learning to use it and finding new recipes. 
Now that the day is coming to an end I feel so accomplished and ready to relax! Only 3 weeks left of working and then I can really let my nesting instincts fly!!! 
Happy Sunday everyone!!!

Update - Pregnancy

I am now almost 33 weeks pregnant and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the ups and downs I have experienced so far.

Pregnancy has been the most intense experience I have ever been through in my life. It is not only physically tiring but emotionally as well. Of course, I knew going into this that it was going to be hard but I never knew/imagined it would be like this.
In the beginning, I was an emotional wreck. My hormones were uncontrollable and I was not the most pleasant person to be around. I was also extremely exhausted and was going to sleep every night at 7:30! The first ultrasound we went to where she actually looked like a tiny baby was so amazing. I couldn't stop myself from crying and getting emotional but, it still didn't really seem real to me. The first trimester was a blur and I went back and forth from being happy to actually second guessing our decision of having a child.
The second trimester was a lot different. I started to get my energy back and my hormones started to balance out a little more (thank heavens!). We found out we were having a little girl and then we were able to start calling her by her name: Harmony. That was about 14 weeks ago now but, it feels like eons ! Always talking about her, "When Harmony is here...." or "Harmony is going to love this..." etc.. the anticipation just grows and grows every day!
I started to notice that I was becoming more and more nurturing and maternal. When I started my journey I was just a 23 year old who fell in love and wanted to start a family but I still had the notion that I could party and hang with friends, still do what I wanted (to a certain extent!) As the months have gone by, I have given up most of my friends and all of my bad habits and I don't feel 23 anymore at all! At least, I don't relate to any 23 year old I know/knew.
My husband and I have grown so close that I couldn't imagine spending any time apart from him at all. He is now my best friend and the one I go to for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. The bond that has grown between us because of Harmony is incomparable to anything I have ever felt with any man, or person for that matter. I now look at children in a different way and I look at myself in a different way. I want to be the best mom/wife/person I can be. I want to be a role model for my children and I want to be someone my husband can always turn to and count on. This personal growth is really amazing considering where I came from - self loathing and self destruction. I knew pregnancy would change my life but I didn't think I would truly become a woman over the course of just 8 months.
Now that I am in my third trimester and my pregnancy is coming to an end I feel I have come full circle. From going through periods of fear and uncertainty to being so excited and ready for this miracle, I feel SO grateful that I was given this opportunity to become who I was supposed to be. I feel lucky that my relationship with my husband has grown into what it has and that I have had him for support this entire time. I also feel anticipation and excitement to meet my little girl who I love so much already and to grow up even more and watch her grow as well.
I hear a lot of women say that they hate being pregnant, and I went through that same feeling for a while, but I just cant honestly say I feel that way when it has done so much for me! It hasn't been easy - it can be downright painful/uncomfortable most of the time - but I wouldn't feel so proud of myself if it were easy!

All mothers should love themselves for creating a miracle and being a serious ass kicker!!!

My favorite weather

Ah, the rain...I wish it rained like this every day. I am always in such a good mood on days like this and it frustrates me that I live in a place where it's sunny almost year round! Maybe someday we can relocate to a more damp climate, but until then I just have to enjoy this while it lasts!

Lincoln

Chris and I went to see Lincoln on Sunday afternoon and I was so impressed with the entire movie. Not only was Daniel Day-Lewis outstanding (of course!), but it was truly entertaining and inspiring throughout. The costumes, the scenery, the acting...BRAVO! I felt it was appropriate that we saw it when we did since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was yesterday as well as Inauguration Day! Lincoln was such a great man, so much so that he was a legend before he even left this earth. I felt the movie did an outstanding job portraying how awe-inspiring he was and how powerful it must have been to even be in his presence. He was the kind of man that would do anything to accomplish what he felt was necessary and just. He wasn't afraid of public opinion or what may happen to him, he only cared about the rights of man and equality in this country. In the end of the film I was so saddened by his assassination. Even though I knew it was coming the entire time, I couldn't help but think of what America would be like if that wouldn't have happened and I was wishing so badly that it didn't.

Thinking about his tragic end and what it meant, Martin Luther King comes to mind. How terrible that these great men are taken from this world when they are only doing what is right. I think Obama is a perfect figure to be sworn in on this day because he also moves and inspires people and he is not afraid of what people may think about his views. I am proud that he is our president because he too wants to fight for the rights of all people (all races, homosexuals, women) and is not afraid to speak on his ideals. I will definitely be showing this movie to my children and I cant wait to teach them more about these motivational people in our history!

January is moving right along

I decided that for the new year I would start making this blog more personal. My husband Christopher and I are starting a family and expecting our first daughter in a few months so I would like this blog to serve as a place that we can keep our memories in one place.
One of our New Years Resolutions this year is to read 25 books in 2013 (about 2 a month). We have both found it difficult to find the time to sit and get any reading done but when we do it is SO worth it. I just finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I really enjoyed it. It was a fairly quick read with so many life lessons packed into it! I have read 2 of his books before (Veronika Decides to Die and Eleven Minutes) and I always walk away from his stories feeling so good inside, so I probably will be reading more of his books this year! Christopher is reading one of my personal favorites Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger, but he has an even harder time finding time to read since he is always taking such good care of me!

Another New Years Res. is to start cooking more and finally using those recipes I keep pinning on Pinterest! Last night we made chicken enchiladas and I'm SO proud of myself!!! (This iPhone pic does NOT do them justice!)



The salsa was the best part! Tomatillos, jalapeño, and poblano...delicious!

There are so many positive things happening I just can't wait to see what else 2013 brings!

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist