Baby Steps

My morning scene(the end of my morning quiet time, it is dark when I get up). Journal, pen, coffee.

In order for bigger change to occur(eventually) I have decided that I have to start making small changes every single day... One day they will all add up to something bigger...but he beginning always requires baby steps, somewhere to start.

I have started making changes to my morning routine, I am forming new habits sloooowly, in order to replace old ones. I don't think you can wake up one day and decide that everything in your life is wrong and you need to change everything this second in order to be happy and at peace.
Eh...maybe some people can, I don't know...But that would not work for me. It has to be slower and more deliberate or I think you immediately fall back into old routines and habits. You have to look at things and decide what is working and what isn't and WHY. What you can immediately change, what you can start working on and long + short-term goals.

So in the name of Making Lasting Changes and Baby Steps, here is what I am doing in the mornings...
*Waking up at least an hour before the kids.
*Writing first
*Not looking at social media(or email or anything else) until I do some writing
* Setting intentions for the day...What I want today to look like, what I don't want it to look like and how I can best get there.

^ This last small step seems pretty simple and kinda silly... But I think it might make the biggest difference in my days. Planning, thinking, setting intentions and remembering that I decide what today looks like is big for me. Other people and things do not decide the outcome of my days, I do.

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Happy Monday, Hope it is a great week for you!

A Lazy + Productive Kinda Weekend

This past weekend was a good one... a favorite weekend of mine this Winter probably, now that I think
about it.
Weekends are good for different reasons and "productive" in different ways.
And it was productive - But probably not in the way you're thinking.
I didn't get much done around the house... And by "not mcuh" I actually mean nothing.
Ummmm... There are still about 5 loads of laundry to do.
I didn't mop the kitchen floor(again) although it really needs it. BAD. So if you come to my house and into
my kitchen, just don't look down. Thanks.
I didn't go through the cubbies and stacks of school papers that are beyond overflowing, we didn't sell a single Girl Scout cookie...
And I could care less.

What did I do?
+ I slept in.
+ I had slow coffee Saturday and Sunday morning...no hurry or rush and nowhere to be... I just     enjoyed it over cartoons and some reading + music listening on the couch.
+ I hung out with Stanley(the dog formerly known as Choo-Choo) a lot.
+ I took a little walk around the neighborhood with the kids(in our pajamas) Saturday morning when  we woke up to about 7-8 inches of snow. It was a perfectly beautiful snow that we couldn't get  enough of!
+ I went to bed early one night and the other night I went out to dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday  and had an awesome meal + a fun night out with some friends I don't see very often.

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It was good and relaxing + fulfilling in just the way you need sometimes, especially when things are feeling busy and crazy in your head and on your calendar both.
I think it's so good to have these weekends every once in a while, where you barely get out of your pajamas(the best!)...
The kind where you are actually kind of mentally ready for what Monday and the week ahead has in store for you.
How was your weekend? What did you do/not do this weekend?

Hope you have a good Monday and a great week!