Success Rituals

I do a lot of reading online while I nurse Corbin. It's not that I wouldn't rather be doing something productive, but for those 10-15 minute stints, I am captive to my chair. And every now and then, in the middle of all those random blogs, photos, and Facebook updates, I find something that makes me sit back and say "hmmm".

And today that little gem was something called Success Rituals. Now, I don't know the specifics on what the person who created this little idea meant... but I know what I am going to take it as: little rituals that I will do every day to lead me to be a successful person.

My definition of success is going to be very simple for right now... because I live a complicated enough life! But these are the daily rituals that I am adding to my life, and the lives of my little boys... and I encourage you to think of a few little Success Rituals that will make you happier, healthier, and more "you"!

1. I will drink 20oz of water when I wake up... on an empty stomach. I have been reading how poorly we hydrate and how inefficient our bodies are when they don't have enough water to do what they need to do.

2. I will start the day off with a good breakfast, or at least one that isn't laden with sugar. This will make it easier to keep up a healthy trend rather than begin with a "Welp, I screwed the diet at breakfast, why not make a day of it" attitude.

4. I will work out several times a week, at the gym. I am bound and determined to be healthier.. check out this picture of me only 10 years ago... I *will* be this girl again soon!

5. I will do educational activities with my boys daily! This will include field trips, art projects, and NO TV! Yep... we will turn the tv off from 12 to 6 every day. I am not above letting him watch tv... but we need to do things other than be couch potatoes!

6. I will get offline. Haha... you can stop laughing... I will unplug also... and dedicate only an hour a day to my online antics. As well as nursing time... somethings won't change. ;o)

Move to MILFdom

Long story not so long... I am gonna be sexy. And my goal is to be there by Christmas!

Thanks to the recommendation of a good friend, I will be getting my groove on with Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser fame and doing the 30 Day Shred! Basically, it's 25 minute workouts that you do every day for 30 days. She says that you can lose up to 20 lbs in this time frame... but I am expecting those 20lbs to come off slowly and I have about 20 weeks to get there!

I found out that those that Shred are called Shredheads... and I plan on being one myself! I did take "Before" pictures... but those aren't going to be posted just yet... I am not real excited about them, so I will wait until I have a progress pic to compare them to. :o) I also took all my measurements so that I can see how many inches I am down. I am not a big girl... at least in my own head... but I am a little annoyed that I could be on that show "More to Love"... so I am making a change!!

30 Day Difference.

So, as I was falling asleep last night, I started talking to myself. Outloud. I actually do this alot... but I pretend I am talking to my hubby, so he doesn't commit me to the looney bin. Anyway, the topic of discussion last night was that I feel like my brain is turning to mush... I need stimulation and I need to do things.

And then I fell asleep. I thought about it more in Dreamland, and again this morning. I realized a few things. First... I live "plugged in". I am probably on my computer more than the average person is in their car, or working, or eating... and I am usually pretty proud of this fact. But I also realized that I haven't gone grocery shopping in a month. We've eaten... but it's things we whip up or we buy 1 meals worth of stuff. Then I thought about how in only 5 short months, we will have another little guy (or gal) around here demanding attention and how I am going to be feeling so deprived and having no idea who I am anymore.

But, while none of this seems like major issues... I hate the fact that if I were to get a "Stay At Home Wife" grade... I'd likely get a D+. I am not even going to add in here that I am a Mom to a busy toddler... that part I'd ace... but the housekeeping, meal making, laundry doing side of me is really lacking. But ask me what happened last week on House or send me an email and I will be all over it!

So... it is with this that I am making a change. I am committing to a 30 Day Difference. I don't make New Year's Resolutions... but I am gonna take this time to reconnect with who I am... and UNPLUG! I am making the choice to spend 1 hour or less online every day. I will be caught up on laundry. I will have a plan. I will play with Bug. And most importantly... when this baby is ready to make it's appearance... I won't have to quit my online world cold turkey... I am sure I can manage an hour there as well!

I'll be posting here daily as part of my daily hour... letting you know what I have accomplished and how I am feeling. I am hoping this really makes a difference in my priorities and my perspective!

Keeping House and a Command Center...

I will be the first to admit... a very common phrase out of my mouth is "Please excuse my house." I am trying to change that this year. I started off the new year by emptying my living room completely and steam cleaning carpets. Next came a deep clean of my furniture and a weeding though of Ryan's toys. And then I tackled the kitchen. Then the laundry room. Those rooms are the majority of the "livable" portions of our house... so now I am feeling better about actually living in them!

I am wanting to be someone that can do lots of things because she has the time to do it... and because there is nothing at her house to do... no rooms needing a cleaning, no piles of laundry begging to be washed and folded. A girl can dream, can't she?

But my next project is going to be a family command center. A place for our family calendar, hooks for diaper bags and purses, hanging bins for mail to go out, and I think a bulletin board for coupons, tickets, and menu's... I am a very visual person, so I need to be able to see all of this at a glance... and I need the hubs to see it too... so a pocket calendar just isn't cutting it...

Have you done this in your own homes or have an idea for one? My goal is to have this up by Sunday! Watch for pictures!

Earth Day... from a Non-Conservative Conservative...

Today is Earth Day... and I normally don't care... I mean, I am the person who uses things because we have them, sees plastic bags as a convienence, and doesn't care too much that the only things that end up in my recycling bin are the boxes that don't fit in the regular trash.

But this year is kind of different, not really sure why though. Maybe it's the fact that I am a mom this year, and I am worried about what the world will be like when Ryan gets bigger... or maybe it's because we are living on one salary now... who knows... but in any event, we are making some big changes around our home.

For starters, Ryan is now officially a cloth-diapered baby! Before you freak out and say "Lady, you are crazy," let me explain... these aren't your average burp cloth type cloth diapers... no sir- these are state of the art cloth diapers... we chose Fuzzibunz... go ahead.. giggle. :o)

These things are pretty awesome... no diaper pins, no funky covers to try to wiggle him into. It is shaped like a disposable, but you wash them in the washer... and no dunking in the toilet, Grandma! Couldn't be easier... well... unless you were trashing them... but at least I won't be running to Walmart in the middle of the night for more 'sposies...

I have a few other goals for this year to be more "earth friendly...

- I am giving homemade/handmade gifts in 2008... this is as close as I can get to start getting people to realizing that commercial processes and items are lacking in creativity and full of waste... I am not sure this is really that "earth friendly" (maybe 'reduce'?)... but at least it's fun!

-I am not buying any gift wrap in 2008! Not one roll of wrapping paper... I have to use what I have (reuse) or find someway creative to wrap things (recycle).

-1 day of laundry a week... right now we do laundry every day... so our loads are mispurposed... with a goal of 1 day of laundry, we can get rid of all the extra crap clothes that we are washing just to have a full load so we can wash some socks for work tomorrow.

-Organic... never thought I'd do this (well.. never thought I'd do cloth diapers either) but I am doing my best to buy organic produce (especially for Ryan- I make his babyfood)... less pesticides.

What are you doing for the earth in 2008?