Motivational Monday: Creating a Morning Routine You Love

I struggled for 2 years to create a morning routine that motivated me and made me feel good. In the past six months, I have cultivated a routine that has been great for my mental state. 

1. I spend time with my husband while he is getting ready for the day.

This usually means I stay in bed after our super early 5 AM alarm and just chat when he is getting dressed. Recently, I have added feeding Lexi into this part of my morning. Since she now requires two medications twice a day, it is easiest to catch her when she wakes up with our alarm.

2. I eat a really good breakfast.

I love breakfast and always have. Scrambled eggs are my favorite and last fall, I started adding hashbrowns with onions and peppers to my breakfast. I usually eat some fruit too, or a save it for a snack later in the morning.

3. I take some personal time.

After breakfast, I do four things that don't take too long to do, but I love doing them. 

I journal. I have been keeping a one-sentence a day journal and a gratitude journal for the past 6 months and I really love it. 

I pray. I use my Every Day with Mary devotional and spend about 5 minutes reading the scripture and reflection and praying.

I enrich my mind. I struggle with foreign languages, but I really want to learn one, so I use the Duolingo app to study German.

I meditate. This is a newer one, but right now, I am using the Simple Habit app to meditate for about 5 minutes every day.

4. I walk or go to water aerobics.

I am on Day 47 of my 100 days to Destin trek and I love walking. I feel better and more energized through the day if I get the walking done. 

5. I get ready for the day.

I take a shower, do my makeup, hair and get dressed. 

6. I do a Tidy20.

A YouTuber created the Tidy20 and I love it. I take 20 minutes and just tidy the house.

And then I'm done and it is usually about 9:30

Do you take time for yourself in the morning? What is your favorite self-indulgent habit?

 

Instagrams I am Loving: June 2018

I love Instagram. Facebook is too full of weird recipes and videos and memes, but I can sit and watch Insta-stories and scroll Instagram all day if I let myself!

So here are some of my favorites...

1. @livingwithlandyn: I am not into the same stuff that Landyn is. But, her Insta-stories are fun and real...and there are a lot of them and Landyn lives in Nashville, so it is fun to see where she is shopping.

2. @southernatheart: Nikki is another local for me, but I love her because she is another genuine Instagrammer. She is positive and shares the real things she does...like take her kids to school in legit pjs.

3. @msjennafischer: Jenna Fischer, aka Pam from the Office, uses her Insta-stories to complain about working out and then delight in deliveries she gets while she is working out. I totally relate and love that a celebrity hates working out like the rest of us.

What are your favorites? Share below!

Update: Flourish June 2018

June has not been a productive month...but I have moved along on my 18 for 2018 and 36 while I'm 36 lists.

Let's check in...

I am moving along on numbers 1 (write daily), 2 (learn German), 3 (Use a daily gratitude journal), 4 (use a daily one-sentence journal), 7 (daily devotional), 8 (read 60 books), 12 (send updates to friends and family), and 15 (work out 2-3 times per week).

I am blogging more regularly (5. Make a go of my blog).

I am making significant progress on #6 (become a travel agent) and #16 (remodel bathroom).

I have adjusted # 14 (Complete 2 Whole30s) to my 100 Days to Destin challenge.

I have completed #9 (Buy a shed) and #11 (Create my perfect planner).

I am making minimal progress on #10 (Adopt!) and #17 (New bedroom carpeting) and #18 (New kitchen flooring) are on hold until the bathroom is done...but we have the funds reserved for those.

#13 will happen in August...

So, my 18 for 2018 is going well!

As of the end of June 2018, I have completed #1 (Buy a New Purse), #6 (Have Septic Tank Serviced), #8 (Have Dryer Vent Cleaned), #9 (New Living Room Curtains), #15 (Update Dish Rags), #20 (New Mattresses), and #26 (Go to Dermatologist).

Items in Progress #5 (Purge and Organize Entire House), #7 (Meditate Daily), #12 (Take Chris to Visit Owen), #14 (Celebrate and Decorate for Small Holidays), #16 (Be Better at Sending Birthday Cards), #17 (File Monthly), #18 (Wash Car Monthly), #23 (Gallery Wall in Hallway), #24 (Mask Thursdays), #25 (Go to 4 Concerts/Plays and 2 Community Theater Plays), #28 (Text a Friend Every Day), #29 (Maintain Whole30 Lifestyle), #31 (Take More Baths), #32 (Weekly Power Hours), #33 (Organize Recipes), #34 (Digital Declutter) and #36 (Visit Florence 3 times).

It seems my 36 while I'm 36 is going better than I realized!!!


This year and these projects have given me a sense of direction that I have been lacking for a long time...it is really amazing what a list of goals like this can do!

Have you tried 18 for 2018? Do you have a list of goals? Share some below!

Kitchen Tip Wednesday: Tidy Your Pantry Every Week

Do you ever organize a cabinet and forget about it?

Me too.

But recently, I have been setting aside 5-15 minutes every week to just tidy up my pantry and most used cabinets and it has helped so much!!!

It is so much easier to make grocery lists when I can glance in the pantry and see what we have. It is also so much easier to put away food storage containers when they are not all jumbled up and falling out of the cabinet when you open it.

Most of the time, it only takes me 5 minutes to tidy up the cabinets...and I know it saves me more than 5 minutes a week!

Try it!

Do you hate organizing cabinets? Have you tried maintaining the organization? Share below!

Going to the Beach: Dinner Planning and Meal Ideas

Our beach trip is approaching quickly and I am starting to get dinner ideas together for our group!

We like to do a mix of eating out for dinner and eating in. We have found that we can make amazing meals at our beach house for a fraction of the cost of eating out. Even if we spend more on groceries than we would typically spend, it is worth it.

Here is a sample Dinner Menu for our week long beach vacation....

Arrival Night: Taco Bar
We like to do this because it is quick and fun. We get ground beef for the tacos, seasonings, various taco shells, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, chips, queso and more!

Night Two: Surf 'n Turf, baked potatoes, roasted veggies, salad
This one is fun! We always pick up small steaks at the grocery store and then head over to the seafood market and look for something we either have never tried or something we love to pair with the steak.

Night Three: Visit a local restaurant
Who doesn't love a local restaurant! Check yelp for ratings.

Night Four: Shrimp Boil with peel and eat shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and clams if they are available
This is the most fun! You dump a seasoning, like Old Bay, in boiling water and cook the corn and the potatoes. Then, when they are pretty much done, add in the shrimp and wait until they turn pink. Serve it up in a large bowl with some bowls for the peels scattered around the table and you have a party! Oh and lots of napkins!

Night Five: Visit a local restaurant

Night Six: Pizza Delivery and Leftovers
We usually have some leftovers, so we finish up the week with those leftovers and a couple of pizzas to round out the meal.

As we get closer, I will share the exact menus and grocery lists we will be using!

What are your favorite beach trip meals? Share below!

Housewife Life: June 2018 Update

What a month...

It has been a month full of ups and downs, which has left me with a lot of things up in the air. On a recent Happier in Hollywood podcast (episode 58), the hosts were discussing how one of them is a project person who likes to stay busy and I can definitely relate to that tendency.

However, I also feel like I am one complication away from being overwhelmed.

Lexi
Two weeks ago, my 18 1/2 year old cat suddenly went blind, which led to the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (she has lost 40% of her kidney function) and high blood pressure. That is in addition to her hyperthyroidism that was diagnosed two years ago.

Now, she gets a high blood pressure pill twice a day and a transdermal ear gel twice a day for her hyperthyroidism. She stays under the bed a lot and is not always using the litter box.

We know that our time with her is limited, so we are preparing ourselves to say goodbye.

Chris 
The day after I rushed a suddenly blind Lexi to the vet, I rushed across town to take Chris to urgent care because he had been having spells of becoming lightheaded and the spell that day scared him. Urgent care assured us it was probably an inner ear situation and advised us to go to our primary care doctor.

We saw her last week and she gave us a course of action and if things don't improve in two weeks, we have to call her back.

Bathroom Remodel
We were moving...we had a contractor and a quote and then when Lexi went blind, we were hesitant to move forward. The bathroom is off of the bedroom where she feels most comfortable. We have put that off a few weeks, but its still lingering over my head.

Being a Housewife
I am doing well!!! But it takes a lot of willpower to keep up the cleaning routine.

I got a job!!!
I don't want to say much more than that right now, but I will be working from home as an independent contractor. I start training soon, as I just sent my paperwork back to the owner of the company.

Even though I have wanted this for a long time, I am still a bit anxious about how to work it into my life. You know how it is...any big life change can be a little anxiety producing.

100 Days to Destin
This has been an amazing challenge for myself. I need to work more on the food aspects of it, but I love walking or going to water aerobics every day.

Are you one complication away from being overwhelmed? Do you like to stay busy or do you need a more calm life? What is something good that happened to you this month? Share in the comments!

Going to the Beach: Lunch Planning and Ideas

Our beach trip is 60something days away, and I am thinking about what we are going to eat for lunch.

Lunch should be as fuss free as possible. If we are out sightseeing, I like to take that as an opportunity to check out the local restaurant options. As a bonus, lunch menus tend to be a bit more budget friendly.

But when we are doing a full on beach day, I like to have a platter of sandwich ingredients ready so all I have to do is pull it out of the refrigerator and everyone can make their own custom sandwich.

Here is a sample lunch menu for our beach days...
Sandwiches (choice of ham, turkey or chicken) with cheese (choice of Swiss or cheddar) on bread or rolls.
Toppings: Lettuce, Tomatoes, Pickles, Mustard, Mayo
Chips
Cookies
Fruit
Veggies

Another tip I love to use at the beach is to either buy and prep a bunch of fruit and veggies so it is ready for meals or snacks or I like to buy the produce that is cut in the store. Its a little pricier, but sometimes, its worth it.

For cookies, I usually bring homemade cookie dough already portioned or I like to buy childhood favorites at the grocery store.

Something new I want to do this year is add in a cold pasta salad and a cold broccoli salad instead of a chips for a quick side dish.

Here are some recipes I want to try.

Tropical Quinoa Salad

Pesto Pasta Salad

Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

The Best Broccoli Salad

To see what we are planning to eat, drink and do in Destin, follow me on Pinterest!