My Job Nearly Crushed My Spirit

I wrote and deleted many different titles for this post. I landed on this one because it feels the least hyperbolic. 

When I finally had time to go to therapy this summer, my therapist literally said, "I hope the past five years have not crushed your spirit or your sense of self." 

Now that I'm through it, I can see what he's talking about. If someone said to me: "I have two children who are two years apart," I would say, "That's hard." If that same person added, "And I'm a full-time working mother," I might say, "Wow, that's really hard!" And if she then went on to say, "And I was the founder and CEO of a start-up during the first 5-7 years of my children's lives," I might respond with, "What?!?"

But that's exactly what I did. 

I underestimated how hard it was going to be, and I committed to doing too much, too fast, with too few staff members. 

Luckily, I'm still standing, with my spirit and my sense of self still in tact. Phew! And the school we have built is incredible. There is so much love, care, inclusiveness, passion, and commitment to children.

I have done regular work with a leadership coach for the past two years to understand how to better prioritize and streamline what I take on and when. I have also worked with her to develop routines and habits that help keep my bucket full so that I can show up better to do the hard work. 

I'm now making time and space for regular therapy so that I can process what the therapist calls the "trauma" of the past five years, as well as the trauma of my childhood. I put trauma in quotes because I see others going through much more significant trauma (that isn't self-inflicted) on a daily basis. I don't take the word lightly. But, at the same time, understanding my own experiences as trauma is part of what will help me heal from it. 

I'm so grateful for the journey I am on and am so happy to be back in this space with time to write about it! Connecting with each of you is such a gift. 

I hope you are doing well! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: April

I knew March was going to be crazy, and it was! But it was also a lot of fun. 

I found myself getting into a depressed place by the end of it, and it was helpful to step back and realize the sadness was simply coming from the fact that I way over-extended myself during the month and didn't have anything to do with my actual life. So helpful! 

So, April, here we come! How is it that a fourth of the year is already gone? I'm grateful for this monthly practice of spending some quiet time by myself checking in and making sure I'm living the kind of life I want to live. 

My Monthly Summit idea has not been working. This month it fell on the same night as a date night. I decided to change it to recur on the 28th of every month, which means I'll have some leeway to move it by a couple days, if needed. 

So what is in store for this month? 

• I just sent out the invite for our recurring Saturday Supper. I created a sub-group within our larger neighborhood Nextdoor group for families with children born between 2009-2015 (that's two years older and two years younger than my children). So I was able to invite those folks as well. It's really cute that Henry has been begging us to have a Saturday Supper. He loves having people over! I switched the format to potluck so I don't have to stress about how many people are coming and getting the food right. If more people come, then more food shows up! 
• I scheduled my monthly self-care rituals: pedicure and cheap massage at the massage school. 
• I am working on scheduling a tennis date with a friend from work. That will mean that I have one evening self-care thing a week, which sounds just right. 
• The big thing that is happening this month is my 40th birthday Fantastic Family Fun Fest! We are going camping in Houston with friends. Can't wait! 

I don't want to forget about our Family Goals for the year:

• Go on 4 day trips
• Eliminate credit card debt and save up for a hot tub!
• Go camping at least two times
• Go to at least two performances
• Play tennis at least six times
• Host at least 10 gatherings
• Plant at least 100 trees
• Go on 3 awesome trips
• Volunteer as a family at least three times

I don't want to have to cram them in at the end of the year like I did last year. We'll be going camping this month, having another gathering, and we volunteered and planted trees in March. Seems like we are doing okay! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: March

I'm not sure where February went! Poof! Where did the time go? 

Matt and I had our monthly date night. Then I traveled to Phoenix for a work conference. Then it was Henry's birthday weekend. No wonder the month passed so quickly! 

March is shaping up to be even crazier. We are hosting so many people at our school for SXSWedu. Then it's two weeks of Spring Break, but Matt is working as a photographer for SXSW. Matt's family is also coming for a visit. It's going to be a busy month! 

What are my goals? 

I want to enjoy the month, not just survive it. I need to figure out what that looks like. I might take the boys on some kind of trip while Matt is working SXSW. Or I might plan adventures around town? Nothing is really resonating with me yet. I'm just sad that we aren't going on vacation together as a family like we normally do. But I need to get over it and turn it into something fun! 

I'll have to keep thinking....

In the meantime, my Monthly Summit was less of a thing this time around. I kind of forgot about it and played cards with Matt and then watched some Netflix before finally remembering and then sitting down to write four birthday cards and order one present. 

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Monthly Summit Idea

I was just listening to Kelsey and Chris's description of their annual financial summit, and it gave me the idea for a Monthly Summit.

On the 31st of each month, I'm going to spend two hours (~8pm-10pm) on the following activities:

• Writing my Reflection & Rejuvenation post
• Writing birthday cards for the upcoming month
• Planning any goals for the upcoming month

I need to do this at work, too! I don't think I want to mix the personal with the professional on this one. I think I need to send time at work that day looking at the upcoming month and making plans. I think it would a really rejuvenating experience for me each month!

For updates in between blog posts, check out Instagram! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: June

Wow. We are officially getting to the middle of the year. How did that happen? 

I'm feeling good about our summer plans. I'm looking forward to three weeks of vacation time with my boys! 

I'm not going to set any specific goals for the month, beyond just enjoying myself and my family! 

Here are my regular goals for the year:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. I'm still consistently running, even though I still never want to. With regard to yoga, I'm going to try switching to doing two sun salutations a day. In the fall, I really do want to start going to a class.
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way. I'm doing much better! Salads for lunch! Smoothies for breakfast! However, I am back to eating too much junk food during the day. Mainly cookies! I need to get back to tracking my healthy eating goals. I can eat dessert on Saturday and Sunday and then once during the week. I need to track this every day instead of just weekly like I'm doing now. 
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I'm continuing to do guided medication using the Insight Timer app. I love it! I do need to work on my gratitude practice. I think first thing in the morning in the shower would be my best time. 
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. It's been really hard, but I'm stopping by at least 8:30pm most nights. This is a must!

Here were my specific goals for the month:

• Make our deck much more comfortable and inviting for the summer. We are working on this as our savings allow! 
• Build a cut flower garden, following the advice in this book. We got a quote for this and will move forward as our savings allow! 
• Take Tate to get genetic testing to see if he needs a prescription of folic acid like Henry does. We took him; we are just waiting for the results! 
• Plant non-invasive, clumping bamboo in our yard to create more privacy against the two-story house that is being built. Done! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: May

This is the time of year when I just hang on to my seat for dear life with regard to my job. 

I'm realizing more and more than I have to maintain equilibrium in my life to 1) enjoy life 2) be a good mother and partner 3) be effective at my job. So I'm working really hard toward my goals for 2017 that relate to equilibrium:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. I'm consistently running, even though I never want to...Yoga is still a struggle. 
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way. I'm doing much better! Salads for lunch! Smoothies for breakfast!   
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I'm continuing to do guided medication using the Insight Timer app. I love it! I do need to work on my gratitude practice. I think first thing in the morning in the shower would be my best time. 
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. It's been really hard, but I'm stopping by at least 8:30pm most nights. This is a must! 

As far as my other yearly goals go: 

1. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week. I thought I found a therapist on Breakthrough (I'm going to do it over the computer for more convenience), but she is all full! I'm still meeting with my leadership coach regularly, and I love it. 
2. Take a pottery class. Later in the year...
3. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year. Hosted another one this month! Will get one scheduled for next month right now...oh, wait. We have to host a lot of other stuff this month: a swim party for a school raffle winner, one or two end-of-year class parties, and a party for the children I'm tutoring. Okay, that's enough hosting for May! 
4. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses. We are not doing this! I hate when we fall out of the habit. When I'm not doing something that I want to be doing, I try to make a plan for it by specifying the day and the time. I'm going to do this while I'm brushing my teeth each night instead of looking at Facebook. 
5. Restore our house each night. Better! 
6. Go on a retreat by myself. Later in the year...
7. Go on a trip with Matt. Later in the year...

Things that weren't on my list but I did anyway:

• Went camping with the Upper Elementary

In terms of May, let's see. 

• Make our deck much more comfortable and inviting for the summer. 
• Build a cut flower garden, following the advice in this book.
• Take Tate to get genetic testing to see if he needs a prescription of folic acid like Henry does. 
• Plant non-invasive, clumping bamboo in our yard to create more privacy against the two-story house that is being built. 

I'm going to stop there because I do not want to overwhelm myself. 

Wishing you a happy and healthy May! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: April

A fourth of the year is behind us! I do not take that lightly. I feel so grateful to be alive and to have the life I have. I don't want to waste any of the time I have on this Earth. I know I sound cheesy, but I'm being sincere! 

By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy. At various points this month, I was up at a 9. At other times, I was down at a 6. Probably, overall, I averaged about a 7.5.

Here are the things I'm trying to do toward the above goal this year:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. Running = I don't want to get up to look at my tracker, but I swear I'm doing well! Yoga = 0%. Still not fitting this in. Still want to fit it in. I think I'm going to look for a buddy so I have more accountability on this one. 
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way. Okay (except for vacation). I need to get back in my salad habit. I haven't had much time for meal prep on Sundays. 
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I've been doing a guided body scan meditation almost every night!
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. It's been hard to do this, but I'm working on it!
5. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week. There therapist I wanted ended up not having any room for new patients. I'm back on the search! 
6. Take a pottery class. Later in the year...
7. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year. Yep! Did it on a Saturday instead this time.
8. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses. We have fallen out of this habit. April, we are coming for you! I need to think of a specific time and place to do this, otherwise I won't. I should do it while I'm brushing my teeth every night. 
9. Restore our house each night. Better! 
10. Go on a retreat by myself. Later in the year...
11. Go on a trip with Matt. Later in the year...

Here's how I did on my February-specific goals? Well, I never posted them on our giant kitchen whiteboard, which means I totally forgot what they were. [insert self-compassion]

I'll bump these to April and add a couple more:

• Schedule a dentist appointment
• Plan our summer (I'm traveling to Ohio for a four-week Montessori training)
• Organize the entire kitchen
• Plan our summer vacation ideas
• Plant our garden

In terms of our family goals, I booked us tickets to see a theater production! I also need to schedule our next Saturday Supper. 

I'm excited about what April has in store.

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: March

Two months down. Ten to go. It's strange to keep a pulse on the year and feel how quickly it passes. 

March! I'm excited for you. I have a 1.5-week break during March. More time with the boys. 

By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy. I'm still at about an 8 toward this goal right now! Not too shabby.

Here are the things I'm trying to do toward the above goal this year:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. Running = 80% of my goal this month. Not too shabby. Yoga = 0%. I'm having a hard time fitting this one in because of #4 (see below). I can't finish my work before I need to go to yoga, which would then necessitate working late into the evening, which I haven't wanted to do. 
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way. Yes! This month wasn't as good as last month, but I did start eating salads for lunch, which is really exciting to me.  I need to recommit to not eating snacks at school. 
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I meditated 64% of the days in February (I use the Insight Timer app).
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. It's been more like 8:30pm this month, but I'm trying!
5. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week. I took steps toward finding a therapist this month! 
6. Take a pottery class. Later in the year...
7. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year. Yep! Hosted one in February and have already planned one for March.
8. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses. We have categorized all our expenses so far!
9. Restore our house each night. Better! 
10. Go on a retreat by myself. Later in the year...
11. Go on a trip with Matt. Later in the year...

Here's how I did on my February-specific goals:

• Getting our taxes done: Yes!
• Organize our office desk: Yes! I got these organizers from IKEA
• Organize the boys' bathroom (now that everything has a place in our house, I want to go back through one area per month to maintain it). Yes! 

Posting the goals on our giant kitchen whiteboard help keep them at the center of my mind. 

In March, I'll want to:

• Have an awesome Spring Break
• Schedule a dentist appointment
• Plan our summer (I'm traveling to Ohio for a four-week Montessori training)
• Organize the refrigerator side of the kitchen

And I wonder if we should knock out any of our Family Goals? Maybe go to the theater to see a production? 

I'm excited about what March has in store.

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: February

The new year!

Oh, how much easier it is to stick to intentions and goals in the new year...

By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy. I'm about an 8 toward this goal right now! Not too shabby.

Here are the things I'm trying to do toward the above goal this year:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. Running = 90% of my goal this month. Woo-hoo! Yoga = 0%. I'm having a hard time fitting this one in because of #4 (see below). I can't finish my work before I need to go to yoga, which would then necessitate working late into the evening, which I haven't wanted to do. I have also had a TON of evening meetings this month.
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way. Yes! I've only had one additional unhealthy restaurant meal and one extra treat. 
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I meditated 79% of the days in January (I use the Insight Timer app).
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. I did a lot better than I have in the past! I should start tracking this.
5. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week. I started the leadership coaching this month! 
6. Take a pottery class. Later in the year...
7. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year. Not yet...
8. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses. We have categorized all our expenses so far!
9. Restore our house each night. Better! 
10. Go on a retreat by myself. Later in the year...
11. Go on a trip with Matt. Later in the year...

I also worked with Henry to plan his birthday party for next month. 

Up this month: Everything above plus...

• Getting our taxes done
• Organize our office desk
• Organize the boys' bathroom (now that everything has a place in our house, I want to go back through one area per month to maintain it). 

I'm going to write this goals up on our giant kitchen whiteboard, so that they are front and center all month long! 

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The New Year is Upon Us!

The new year is upon us! 

I hosted another Reflection & Rejuvenation party, and four friends came over for three hours of reflection, intention-setting, and connecting. I had a lot of fun! 

When I reflected on 2016, my three words (in this order) were busy, stressful, and beautiful.  

Although I had a lot to celebrate (publishing a book, breaking ground on our permanent school facility in East Austin, and an overall feeling like I'm doing the right work), I was disappointed by my inability to sustain the regular habits of health and wellness. There are so many other habits I want to incorporate into my life in order to be able to describe my life in the way I want. As such, here's what I'm committing to this year:

2017 Personal Goals

By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy.

Toward that end, I will:

1. Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week.
2. Eat in a balanced and healthy way.
3. Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice.
4. Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening.
5. Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week.
6. Take a pottery class.
7. Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year.
8. Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses.
9. Restore our house each night.
10. Go on a retreat by myself.
11. Go on a trip with Matt.

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: November

Only two months left of the year. One of the things I like about my 5-year journal is that it gives me a sensorial experience every single night about how much of the year is left, since the thickness of the remaining pages dwindles each day.

October! What a month! Our Fall Break trip to Los Angeles and my work trip to Bulgaria (more about Bulgaria tomorrow)! There was also my big fundraising push to raise $150,000 more so we could get started on the first part of our permanent facility. And I've been shopping for Christmas presents (to reduce my stress this holiday season). And Matt and I started working on our holiday card. 

But I've really been dropping the ball on my big goal for the year: "Health & Wellness." I haven't been running twice a week or going to yoga because I've been too busy and too stressed. It's such a downward spiral for me. When I stop exercising, I feel more stress because my body isn't releasing its stress in a positive and productive way. And then I start coping with the stress I feel by eating unhealthy things. And then I start gaining weight. And then my clothes don't fit and I end up feeling really gross. 

Now that I'm back from Bulgaria, I really, really want to go to yoga again. And I have a new plan for how to fit in two runs a week: I'm going to see if both boys are ready to ride their bikes around the lake with me while a run. We'll see how it goes! 

I really, really want to end the year back at a healthy weight with my clothes fitting again and with an overall feeling of less stress and more health and wellness. 

I was nervous about reflecting on my goals for the year, but it looks like I'm not doing too badly!

1. Start the year with the 21-day cleanse from Clean and work through a book about breaking the emotional eating habit. 
2. Eat more salads with dinner. 
3. Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day.
4. Run once on the weekend and once during the week. 
5. Go to yoga once a week. 
6. Cultivate a daily meditation and gratitude practice.
7. Publish five books. 
8. Clean and organize our house before the boys go to bed each night. 
9. Track our expenses in Mint.com daily so that we are able to hit our saving goals. 
10. Invite friends over monthly. 
11. Use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and do bigger-picture planning. Try to move all projects into slots during the work day.  
12. Take a trip with Matt.
13. Go on a retreat by myself.
14. Reflect each month about how I'm doing toward these goals.

I've also made progress on the book I'm working on, so that's exciting. 

I think my goals for this month need to be simple:

• Exercise
• Eat well
• Keep getting ahead of the holiday season
• Keep picking up the house each night before bed
• Keep trying to use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and try to move all my projects into slots during the day so I can close my computer by 9am each night. 

I'm looking forward to November! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: September

Friends, it has been so long! 

It's easy to fall into the habit of not writing. First it was being on vacation. Then it was the horrendously racist things that were happening around the country; I was struggling to put my words together. Then it was the start of the school year. Then it was, "Well, I've gone this long without updating my blog, what's another week?" And then another and another. 

This blog is my place to dream and plan. There hasn't been much dreaming and planning going on lately! I've been working, mothering, working, sleeping. And waking up and doing it all over again. Even my year of "Health & Wellness" has started to fall by the wayside. 

But now it is September. We are two-thirds of the way through the year. I want to feel like I am being intentional and purposeful with my one wild and precious life. 

1. Eat more salads with dinner. I have not been doing this. What's holding me back? Not having a quick, easy, and delicious recipe. Let me get back to goat cheese, apple, and sunflower seeds with balsamic vinegar dressing.
2. Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day. I've been doing okay with this, but I'm eager to recommit to a full 80 ounces.
3. Run once on the weekend and once during the week. I have not been doing this. I need to move my work treadmill into a better spot.
4. Go to yoga once a week. I have definitely not been doing this. It's so much easier to stay home and work than it is to mobilize and get to yoga.
5. Cultivate a daily meditation and gratitude practice. I'm glad I'm getting a reminder to do this!
6. Publish five books. Matt and I have two in the works. We did publish this one!
7. Clean and organize our house before the boys go to bed each night. Definitely not doing this one! If we do a better job of cleaning before the boys go to bed, we'll be able to meet this goal.
8. Track our expenses in Mint.com daily so that we are able to hit our saving goals. We are going to focus on this goal next year.
9. Invite friends over monthly. Yes!
10. Use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and do bigger-picture planning. Try to move all projects into slots during the work day. I'm doing okay with this!

Our Family Goals for the Year

• Take a road trip to Oklahoma
• Take a road trip to Dallas to see Kyla
• Read three chapter books
• Read all the BOB books: On Box 2 out of 5!
• Go camping
• Take more day trips to small Texas towns: Done with 3 out of 5!
• Hang out at the creek in the summer

In terms of special goals this month:

• I want to make another list of adventures in Austin--I want us to have fun things to do on the weekend! 
• We need to make our Halloween costumes! 
• We need to plan Fall Break! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: My Goals for May

Seriously, May? It's already May?

Whoa. There are only five weeks of school left. How is that possible?!?

Well, I started this post more than a week ago and am just now coming back to it. So now we are down to four weeks. 

Some highlights from my month:

• I've been coaching four different people (just as friends, not for money) around their particular life goals, and it feels good to be helping people. I feel like I went through such a selfish, self-preservation period when I was trying to open the school and raise two young children. I'm so glad I'm finally able to look beyond my immediate needs to help others. 
• I presented at the Yale School of Management conference about school redesign and it was so fun! 
• We had an amazing event at school called Noche de Primavera. It was awesome to see that something I started has grown into something so much bigger than I could have ever created. 
• Matt and I finished our book! It is in the final stages of being tweaked. I can't wait to share it with you!

But now? Now I feel like I am barely hanging on by a thread! The end of the school year is pure craziness.

The thought of setting goals for May feels like a joke. Well, that's not entirely true. The thought of setting ambitious, push-myself goals feels like a joke. But I do need to set self-care goals for myself.

1. I need to turn off the lights by 10:00pm. Life is so much more difficult right now when I'm tired.
2. I need to keep up with my running and my yoga. No excuses! I almost didn't go to yoga last week because I was so tired, but I made myself go and it was awesome. 
3. I need to buckle down and get a lot of work done. I know this goal isn't exactly in the same genre as my other goals, but I need to remember that I have to work urgently to stay on top of everything. I can't get too sidetracked by self-care. I have to keep it to a minimum right now.  

The only other thing I want to do is look ahead to the summer. I want to fully immerse myself in my summer vacation (three weeks!). I don't want to be planning for it once it starts. So I guess that's my big goal for the month! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: My Goals for April

Wow. Another month has already gone by? 

Some highlights from this month:

• I traveled to Chicago for the American Montessori Society conference.
• My family and I traveled to Flagstaff for Spring Break. 
• We went on a school camping trip (just for the day) to Pedernales Falls.

Let me check in about how I did toward my goals:

Goals for This Month

• Keep up with the salad, running, yoga, and water: Yes! I feel so proud of myself for regularly exercising. It is making a huge difference in my life.
• Work on my daily gratitude and meditation: I'm doing okay on this goal. Could be doing better!
• Find a graphic designer to design the cover of our first book: Oy, I still haven't done this yet. 
• Finish the draft for my most recent book idea: Worked on it but didn't finish it.
• Make serious forward momentum on our house projects: refinishing deck, hanging the children's art gallery, recovering the chair in the living room, finding a wall hanging for the big wall, getting more quotes for permanent deck railing. Somewhat. We found someone to refinish the deck. We did not do the art gallery or get quotes for the permanent deck railing.
• Finalize summer plans for Henry and Tate. Yep.
• Book my personal retreat. Oops.
• Have an awesome Spring Break! Yep! 

Honestly,  I didn't do that great because I didn't keep these goals at the forefront of my mind. I didn't have them posted anywhere, and I didn't paste them into my action plan. 

It seems like I need to push forward on these goals before adding new ones to my docket!

2016 Family Goals

• Take a road trip to Oklahoma: Yes!
• Take a road trip to Dallas to see Kyla: Done!
• Read three chapter books: I need to check out the third one from the library.
• Read all the BOB books: Working on it....
• Go camping: Postponed until the Fall.
• Volunteer: Yes! And we have another volunteer experience planned.
• Take more day trips to small Texas towns: Not yet.
• Hang out at the creek in the summer: Too cold!  
  
  
  
  

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: My Goals for March

[Oops! I wrote this a while ago but didn't realize that it never published. Sorry!]

It's a Saturday morning as I write this post. I just finished a 45-minute run around the lake while my family played at the dog park. Now they are out running errands as I sit on the back porch. The sun in shining, the sky is a brilliant blue, my bloodhound is sunbathing on the deck, and the quiet chirps of birds are all around. I am so grateful for this life! 

I had a great month. Some highlights from my month:

• I made a really good friend. This story is much longer than I can fit in right now, but basically I had an acquaintance that seemed like a kindred spirit, I told him I thought we would make great friends, and then I started calling him on the phone and having really deep conversations. Now we are close friends! 
• I worked with a colleague at work to come up with our 20-year plan for our organization. It involves serving 50,000 children in 20 years (15,000 in seats in 25 schools around the nation and another 35,000 in public schools being taught by teachers we trained) and creating more than 13,000,000 education reform touchpoints through resources downloaded from our website, tours, visitors, books sold, etc. 
• I presented at a national educational conference. 
• I officially became a person who exercises again (after a 5-year hiatus!).
• I finished reading a second book (my goal is to read at least one book a month).  
• I started writing my third book (you can find the first one here and the second one here).

Whoa. No wonder I felt busy this month. 

Let me check in on my goals for the year and month:

1. Start the year with the 21-day cleanse from Clean and work through a book about breaking the emotional eating habit. Done!
2. Eat more salads with dinner. Nope, I have not been doing this regularly.
3. Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day. Not really...
4. Run once on the weekend and once during the week. Yes! I've been doing this!
5. Go to yoga once a week. Yes! I've only missed one class since the start of 2016!
6. Cultivate a daily meditation and gratitude practice. Half and half. I've meditated about half of the nights. I've been forgetting to practice gratitude. I want to be sure to do this. I need to start doing it at the dinner table again.
7. Publish five six books.  I am working on this!
8. Clean and organize our house before the boys go to bed each night. Kind of!
9. Track our expenses in Mint.com daily so that we are able to hit our saving goals. Kind of!
10. Invite friends over monthly. Henry's birthday party will have to count!
11. Use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and do bigger-picture planning. Yes!
12. Take a trip with Matt. Still trying to figure out childcare for this one...
13. Go on a retreat by myself. I started planning it! I'll write an update in another post.
14. Reflect each month about how I'm doing toward these goals. Here I am!

2016 Family Goals

• Take a road trip to Oklahoma: Yes!
• Take a road trip to Dallas to see Kyla: We are getting it calendared!
• Read three chapter books: I need to check out the third one from the library.
• Read all the BOB books: Working on it....
• Go camping: Planned for March
• Volunteer: Yes! 
• Take more day trips to small Texas towns: Not yet.
• Hang out at the creek in the summer: Too cold! 

Goals for This Month

• Keep up with the salad, running, yoga, and water. 
• Work on my daily gratitude and meditation. 
• Find a graphic designer to design the cover of our first book (Sebrina, I tried e-mailing you about this! I'll try to reach you through Facebook).
• Finish the draft of for my most recent book idea. 
• Make serious forward momentum on our house projects: refinishing deck, hanging the children's art gallery, recovering the chair in the living room, finding a wall hanging for the big wall, getting more quotes for permanent deck railing.
• Finalize summer plans for Henry and Tate. 
• Book my personal retreat.
• Have an awesome Spring Break! 

On my run today, I saw a poster or some graffiti (I can't exactly remember since I was huffing and puffing) that said: "Live a great story." I'm looking forward to it! 

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Reflection & Rejuvenation: My Goals for February

February is here! 

Thank you for a great month, January. 

The stats around New Year's resolutions are pretty depressing. I think it's something like 80% of resolutions fail. And yet resolutions are our chance to declare an intention for our lives and then to make it happen. How depressing to think that only 2 out of 10 intentions for ourselves come true! 

One of my tricks for setting an intention and making it happen is this kind of thing right here. This monthly post forces me to come back to what I said I wanted this year and to check in with myself. Sometimes I get to celebrate what I've been doing. More often than not I have to recommit to what I want to happen. And sometimes I have to change what I said I wanted. 

Let me check in with myself:

1. Start the year with the 21-day cleanse from Clean and work through a book about breaking the emotional eating habit. Yes! My mom and I did this together, and I am so proud of myself.
2. Eat more salads with dinner. Yes, I've been doing this!
3. Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day. Yep.
4. Run once on the weekend and once during the week. Yes! It's been really tough to fit this in every week, but I'm pushing myself to do it.
5. Go to yoga once a week. Yes! I have gone once each week!
6. Do 15 minutes of strength building once a week (either MommaStrong or my back exercises). No, I have not been doing this. This is one of those intentions that I want to eliminate rather than berate myself each month. Doing three different exercise activities a week is enough.
7. Cultivate a daily meditation and gratitude practice. Half and half. I've meditated about half of the nights. I've been forgetting to practice gratitude. I want to be sure to do this. I need to start doing it at the dinner table again.
8. Publish five books.  I haven't started this at all!
9. Clean and organize our house before the boys go to bed each night. Kind of!
10. Track our expenses in Mint.com daily so that we are able to hit our saving goals. Kind of!
11. Invite friends over monthly. We didn't do it in January. But we did go over to a friends' house. I guess I'll just have to count that....
12. Use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and do bigger-picture planning. Try to move all projects into slots during the work day.  Hmmm...I have gotten better about scheduling projects to work on during the day.
13. Take a trip with Matt. Still trying to figure out childcare for this one...
14. Go on a retreat by myself. Not for a while!
15. Reflect each month about how I'm doing toward these goals. Here I am!

2016 Family Goals

• Take a road trip to Oklahoma: Yes!
• Take a road trip to Dallas to see Kyla: Not yet.
• Read three chapter books: We've finished two!
• Read all the BOB books: Working on it....
• Go camping: Planned for March
• Take more day trips to small Texas towns: Not yet.
• Hang out at the creek in the summer: Too cold! 

Goals for This Month

• Keep up with the salad, running, yoga, and water. 
• Work on my daily gratitude and meditation. 
• Find a graphic designer to design the cover of our first book.
• Plan my birthday celebration.
• Plan Henry's birthday celebration.

It's going to be a great month!

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