http://fgr.am/f/qUN9xiOXhm
I'm baaaaaccckkkkk! And I bring you yet another annoying Flipgram. I am obsessed with the app! For some reason it will only about 1/3 of this one but you get the idea. It's my 2013 year in review Flipgram. Love it!
I disappeared for a little while. Between the holiday craziness and some of the same health problems that popped up over the past few months, I just couldn't do much of anything. But I go to the Dr. on Monday and hopefully he can decipher allllll of my weird symptoms. If you know me, you know, it must be bad for me to go to a doctor. Until recently, the only doctors I've seen since I was 18 have been those delivering my kids, and the only reason I went them was because my insurance didn't cover homebirth midwives. But that's another story all together. I don't have anything against doctors, but I'm a "of it ain't broke don't fix it kind of girl." But, now that my back pain can't be managed by stretching and yoga and my fatigue is debilitating, plus, a whole slew of other things that are affecting my life, my parenting, my relationship with my husband and friends and family then it's time to suck it up and go get checked out. I'm a little nervous to be honest, but, I need to see why I feel bad 99% of the time. I can't be the wife, mother, friend, daughter, granddaughter, employee, baker, crafter, planner, PERSON that I want to be when I just want to sleep or hurt all the time. All of that to say, I hope 2014 will be better and I can invest myself in life again.
I'm packing up Christmas this weekend and it is bitter sweet. But I am on a reorganize, simplify and purge mission and that can't happen with shiny, fluffy trees hanging around. I guess it's a new year, new me kind of NOT resolution, but lifestyle change.
This year will be more about my husband and I sneaking off alone. More family game nights and secret snuggles with each boy by themselves. More mother and son ice cream dates. More time invested in making me feel like a person again. More speaking my mind and standing up for myself. More being compassionate but not a a pushover. I want to become Ashley again.
I'm thinking that I'm going to start juicing again too. Not as meal replacement because I didn't lose a pound and I didn't feel more energized, I actually felt worse while I did a cleanse. I was super cranky too and that is not what I want! It simply didn't work for me to do a cleanse. But, I find that I can get some good nutrients and vitamins in me and my family when I add a juice or smoothie per day, to our normal diet. So things like
this,
this,
this,
this and
this will be making a comeback around here.
Oh and
this! It must happen!
ummm, y'all... shut. the. front. door. How amazing does
this sound?
New motto.
What does this year mean for the blog? I have no clue! But I am going to be focusing on some home projects that I will probably share. And I am working on a series of Quick and Easy Dinners that should, hopefully, be up two to four times a month. When I had bronchitis last year, we survived on take out because, I can only eat Ramen and breakfast for dinner so many times before I go crazy. Seeing that those are the only two thing the hubby can cook, I realized it's time to create some simple, healthy meals for my arsenal. That way if I'm sick, out of town or just simply need a break we can still enjoy something homemade.
I am also toying with an idea of a series of family recipes. Foods Lee and I grew up eating, things that we still make today. So many good things come from our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, friends. Think I may need to share the love. And share the stories behind some of the recipes and the relationships with people who make them.
I'm toying with a new look too. It seems some of my links are broken and I need to fix that but I'm ready for a change.
So... I guess, I got a little rambley and over sharey. Are those words? Nope? Yeah, I know. But, I sort of treat this weekly post as a journal and that is what is going on here with me. So how was your Christmas and New Years?
