Morning Writing with Coffee and The Jewel Fairy is Coming Today!

Permission to use this photo from Cher Odum @ ChertheArt

Day #3 of making more of an effort to connect with myself.  This is working out nicely.  Today I actually woke up way earlier than usual since my husband was making too much noise getting his bike gear ready so he could cycle to work.  Then the birds outside my window were just way too loud with their singing for me to go back to sleep.  So, here I am....up early enough to soak in the morning.  
Slowly.  Quietly.  Coffee next to me.  
Sunshine coming in my window (yep, that's right...we have sunshine in Portland today).  A promise of a great day.  


Gratitude and Goals


Thankful for:

• Being up early enough to write
• Having an e-mail from a dear friend waiting for this morning
• Friendships that challenge, encourage, and inspire me to be better in all areas of my life...athlete, wife, mother, friend, professional.  Finding friends like this is such a gift.  
• Last day of 1st grade for my oldest.  I'm putting together an informal after school party.  The Jewel Fairy is even going to visit.  My oldest daughter is starting to think that I am the Jewel Fairy.  ME!  What?!  Hmmph!  I have to put an end to that.  Maybe I'll do the jewel fairy dance with them and have a neighbor put the little gems under the tree this time.  I'm not ready for this tradition to end.  
• Friends coming over for dinner.
• A small house that is easier to clean and makes me get rid of clutter/junk/"things" that we don't need.  It helps me live simply.
• Flowers.  I love flowers.  I love buying flowers for my home, having potted flowers during the summer, and seeing all the color that they bring to my world.  
• Running.  Running.  Running.  Running really does help keep life balanced, centered....SIMPLE.  
• Coffee.  Mornings are just better with coffee.  I didn't start drinking coffee until after my third kid but now I enjoy a cup or two every morning.  Such a treat.  
• My husband being my best friend and someone that has similar goals and wants the same things out of life.  I'm also thankful that he sees my job as a SAHM equally as important as his job if not more so.  He has always made it clear to the kids that together, we make this life and earn money for our family. 
• My treadmill. Again, not ideal training but necessary for me for part of the week.  And it works so well lately.  My kids sat on garage floor/driveway and painted birdhouses for Father's Day yesterday while I ran my 9 miles.  They painted and together, we chatted and enjoyed the afternoon.  
• Race photos to show me how completely awful my form can be.  Not always but definitely enough to make me KNOW that I'm not going to be very efficient if I don't make some improvements.  
• My kid journal time and nature time with my kids the other day.  Not every day will be like that but it was a nice reminder.  And thanks for those of you who shared the airplane mode tip for my phone so that I can use the camera but not get notifications!  This will help me truly unplug. 
• Being on the Nuun Hood To Coast team this summer.  I'm really looking forward to this opportunity.   
• 20 miler on Saturday and I get to run part of it with a friend!  
• My July 4th marathon is coming up so quickly...excited!  

Goals for Today:

• To make this short so I can get my daughter up and make this last morning of school an AWESOME one!  
• Be Smart with my body and really listen to it.  I DON'T want to end up injured again so I might be switching my 1k repeats with a slower easy run and then do the repeats tomorrow. This depends on how my left leg/groin feel.  They feel okay but I can tell that they are a bit tired and I've been slacking on the strength training, rolling, etc.
• STRENGTH training, CORE WORK and things like icing, rolling, massage...these things are so so so easy for me to put to the back burner when things are going good.  But they are the most important for me to keep up if I want to keep feeling good.  I need to take time for them daily.  
• Enjoy the sunshine and jump on the trampoline with my kids this morning.  
• Spend 15 minutes or so where I just read, chat, cuddle with my younger kids WITHOUT getting distracted with other things.  Yes, 15 min is short but if I know the day is going to be busy with getting stuff done, 15 minutes of solid focused time goes a long long way.  
• Get my daughter up Right NOW!

Happy Wednesday!  Happy Last Week of School for those of you on our schedule around here.  

Do you do anything to celebrate the last day of school?

What is a goal you have for today or this week?  Any goal...big, small..?  Flossing?  Trimming your toe nails?  Running?  Cuddling with your kid?  Getting all dolled up for a date night?  

Amanda