One Hundred Days Without Pop

I can't even BELIEVE I just typed that. 

I have actually gone 100 days without pop(you say soda, I say pop...), as of last Wednesday, which means now I am at about 105 days.

I am seriously in shock because there's no way I thought I could do that... Like ever... 

No seriously, like ever-ever.
I know it sounds silly or like no big deal to people who don't get it, if you don't drink pop, just substitute your drink of choice/whatever habit you think you can't break and look at it from that point of view. My first goal was to make it for one week and then I just kept making another goal from there...
One week, thirty days, 45 days, until the next holiday, etc. until I got to 100 days.
Before I got to 100 days I told myself that once I made it there I would let myself have a Dr.Pepper(my drink of choice) and then only have them on occasion after that. I still haven't had one though.
I'm not even going to lie though, I have fantasized regularly about diving head first into a giant pool of Dr. Pepper. Naked.

For me, it's not like the desire to drink pop has gone away, it really hasn't and I don't think it will really.
It has lessened and obviously I know now that I can do it, but it still SOUNDS good.
You know how people will stop drinking diet coke or whatever and then they will be like;
"I never even wanted another one and now it's been 3 years...." Gag.
Yeah.... No. That's not me.
So I already drank a good amount of water anyway and I have just started drinking a lot more now.
I also make Crystal Light Peach Mango Green Tea because water just gets old all the time.
My new favorite and the reason I think I can go a while longer without drinking pop, is because of this, above.
THIS is what I have been missing, the fizzy carbonation and now I have it again in these La Croix drinks, they are just sparkling water with natural flavors and carbonation. Yum. Perfect.

So yeah, I am pretty proud of myself.
Usually I think I am going to try something like this and I last a week... maybe a little more, maybe less.
I always say that I have no will power and that I can't stick to anything... Because I usually can't...
But I just did.
My goal here wasn't to stop drinking pop forever, but to cut way back and to cut it out completely for a while because I thought that was necessary for me to be able to start having it only on occasion or as more of a "treat".
Before this I was not drinking it daily, maybe every other day to every few days, and just one a day when I did.
Now I would feel okay with myself if I did have a Dr. Pepper, i really would, but I think I am just going to hold out until I feel like I can't any longer, and I am just not there quite yet.

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Now I am thinking about what else I can do or not do for the next 100 days... I am thinking seriously on this. I have a little more confidence in myself than before now.
Have you cut out something or started doing something daily instead,  like this before?
Broke a tough habit or added a new healthier/better one?
I'm gonna think on this one...




Happy Monday to you!

A Tiny Step In The Right Direction

Hey there.
Happy Friday and an even happier weekend to you.
I am so, so ready for the weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice and there are a couple of little projects I am hoping to start.
Seriously though, is anyone ever not ready for the weekend?

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So today I was looking at my calendar, writing in the crazy amount of things we have going on in May and then I started counting up how many days it had been since Easter.
It has been 27 days since Easter.
Twenty-seven.
And you know what else?
It has now been 27 days since I have had a pop(you say soda, I say pop), the last one was on Easter Sunday.
No Dr. Pepper(my favorite), no Diet Coke, no fountain drink with the perfect little pebble ice from the gas station, no going through the drive-thru for a pop during the work day...
Nothing. Not even one sip.
That is huge for me... HUGE.
I decided I was going to go one week and then when I actually did that, I decided I would go two weeks, then I wanted to try for 21 days and then I'd let myself have one.
Well, 21 days passed and I decided I wanted to try for 30.
Now I am just a few days away from 30 and I'm super surprised and impressed with myself if you want to know the truth.

I didn't drink pop every day, but just too much, maybe every other day on average.
And I'm not going to lie, I love it. Love the taste of an ice cold Dr. Pepper, especially from McDonald's.
I am not at all thinking this will be a permanent thing, I am cutting back and to do that I decided to cut it out completely for a while because it was the best way for me.
So what have I been doing?
I have been drinking LOTS and LOTS of water. I already drank a pretty good amount of water anyway, but I have really increased my water intake by quite a bit.
I don't need lemon in my water but I do like it, it's got to be cold and it has to have a lot of ice in it.
The last few weeks I have been able to really tell a difference when I am drinking the amount of water that I know I SHOULD be... I just feel better over all.
I think- and I hope- that one small change will cause another small change...
And I will be able to make some small changes and just keep making them... and hopefully stick with them. That's the plan anyway.

So if there is something you are trying to do that you struggle with... Something you want to quit or cut back on, or even start doing.... I am telling you, if I can cut pop out for almost 30 days now, you can do it.
You can. I seriously have zero willpower, you can so do this.
I keep texting my sister to tell her how many days it has been since I have had a pop... And I remind her that I have to brag on myself because I usually fail at everything I try to do(when it comes to diet, exercise, etc). Sad, but true. Very true.

art by Zachary Smith via Dribble 

So I am good right now with just taking one teeny tiny step in the right direction,.
I think slow and manageable is much more realistic for me rather than drastic changes that leave one miserable and feeling deprived of pretty much everything all at once.
I think and I hope that is what works best for me.

If anyone has any advice, ideas, etc. to share I would love to hear it! I am also looking for recommendations for books(blogs, websites, etc)on making lasting change, breaking habits, changing your diet, etc. There are just so many millions of books out there, I would much rather get a suggestion from someone because just looking at Amazon is seriously overwhelming to me. Ughhh.

I will update next week after the 30 day mark.

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

On Self-Doubt & Busting Out The Paint Brushes

The other day Charlotte and I were home alone and she was painting, like she often does 

when the mood strikes her. She gets out everything she needs and just starts. 

there's no thinking about what exactly she's going to do, not questioning if it's a good idea... 

or even whether or not she is a great painter. She just likes to paint.

So she does. 

I decided that maybe I felt like painting too,  so I grabbed my sketch book and the 

water colors and painted at the little table next right next to her.

Suddenly I remembered that I actually like painting, just for the fun of it, with no expectations or end 

result in mind. Then I realized that the reason I probably don't do it that much is because I don't think I am very good at it. And then I realized it really doesn't matter though either way.

I love drawing and doodling and always have been a doodler/drawer.

That's just who I am.

So there.

I think it feels good to try different things or the things you have kind of forgotten that you enjoyed, whether or not you think you are any good at it. And whether or not you even keep what you are working on or throw it away when you are done. I know it's kind of a cliche, but it really is the process and enjoying the activity, whatever it may be, while you are doing it.

There are things I know I never try because I think I wouldn't be any good at it... I mean, it's

not really even a conscience thought but just a little something in the way back of my mind.

Do you do that, too?

Since we re-painted the living room there is one wall that is empty and it's the perfect spot for something big. I need a  b i g  canvas/print/something and I haven't seen anything that size, that I like, that is in my price range, so I think I am just going to make my own art to put there.

I am still trying to figure out what eaxctly, but I will... I have a few ideas.

And if I don't love it... or I mess up then I will just fix it or cover it with something else... 

I know I will figure something out. I was thinking about all of this- about creativity and what I love to do, what I am scared to do without totally realizing I am scared to do it, why I doubt myself, 

what makes me happy and how positive it is to spend my time creating.

And then I remembered that quote by Sylvia Plath that I love, because it's so true.

And then I realized I absolutely do not want to spend my days in self-doubt and I don't want 

my kids to, either. And that is why I am taking action(my one little word for 2015) and trying new things and doing the things I want to do instead of wishing I could or telling myself that "some day" I will.

The hard part is actually stopping the negative self-talk and doubting though.

Right?

Is there any area in your life where you need to let go of the self-doubt?

Or that without realizing it, you have let that little nagging voice of doubt keep you 

from trying something you want to try?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

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Taking Action + Slow Sundays

Action. 
That's the word I chose for this year.
{I talked more about that here}
I went back and forth between intention/intentional and action... and back and forth some more before I landed on action and stayed there.
Intentional would have worked too because they have similar meanings to me but action felt right.

Let me explain why.
One of what I consider my biggest flaws(just one!) is my lack of action, or inaction when it comes
to all the things I want to do... And not just do, But do/learn/make/build/go/accomplish/experience.
I often feel like there are so many things in my head that I want to do that it just becomes overwhelming
and I don't do them... or I start them and don't finish them.
Often before I get started on something I talk myself out of it by telling myself why it won't work, why I will never get there and how I will probably not follow-through anyway, so why even start?
Geeez.... great attitude there, Amy. I know, I know.

Enter: Slow Sundays.

This is just one teeny tiny thing in a list of a million things that I want to start doing and this one is really important to me.

We are not great over here about family dinners, which is something we always did growing up.

When I lived at home my mom fixed dinner every night and we all ate together at the dinner table.

Because of work schedules and habits we have never been great at this and it's something I want to change at home.

So we will work on the dinner thing for sure and have also started Slow Sunday breakfasts, which we have really been trying to do for a while now.

Weekends are sometimes easier, so Sunday or even Saturday breakfasts, are very do-able for us.

There is more time, less rush and there is time to prepare, clean up and enjoy a big meal without rushing to clean up, have showers, do homework/study spelling words, etc. that we have during the typical school week.

I am excited to try some new breakfast casserole recipes and homemade cinnamon rolls is on my long list of things to try.

The kids love breakfast food and I think I will be getting far fewer complaints than at dinner time, which is a huge motivator for me. 

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This is just one of the many things on my never-ending list of things I want to change in the new 

year and continue to work on.

You will hear me talk a lot about my one little word this year- how I am doing, what it means to me and what areas of my life need the most work and how this one little word applies to these areas.

It is already the last day of January and I am feeling pretty good about this month, often I am disappointed in myself and the lack of progress I have made at this point, or disgusted that I have already completely lost all momentum and don't even remember what in the hell my word for the year is supposed to be.

Is there something you are currently working on? Any big or little goals or things on your mental to-do list? How was January for you?

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 

A Tiny Little Make-Over

This little place of mine will be under construction for a few more days while I am working away on it.
And when I say work, it's really just me following a whole lot of directions that are like another language altogether to me.
And I hate directions in general, I never really follow them until I have exhausted everything else.
Honestly, I feel like punching my computer when I am trying to figure this stuff out.
Sad, but true.
So just go ahead and enjoy that sweet little pink house here that I am in love with.
I will be sitting here cussing to myself and drinking margaritas and dreaming of throwing my laptop at the wall.

My plan is to be back here bright and early Monday morning with it all finished and pretty.
Until then.