Craft

Last month I talked about not making any New Years resolutions in the traditional sense but to rather work on two areas of my life. Only two. It has been a month and a LOT has happened in America since then that I have been pulled in several directions on how I want to prioritize my time. I thought I would give you a HEALTH + MINIMAL update from last month.

HEALTH

One might think ‘being healthy is obviously the most important thing in your life and should always be numero uno.’ ‘You can’t fully take care of others until you have taken care of yourself.’ In my case, I can not continue growing my family until I have lost weight to make sure I have a healthy pregnancy. Health = #1. Until I end up crying multiple times per day because 5 year old kids are being detained from their families at the airports. Or I cry because there’s a good chance that any rape victim will not be able to obtain a safe abortion resulting in an unwanted pregnancy or fatality from a self abortion. It’s possible the fact that I’m cringing when I’m telling my daughter she can be anything she wants when, if things continue, she won’t, and definitely at the same pay.

These things used to make me enraged. It would fuel my workouts. There are TVs in front of the treadmills and I would be redfaced with tears streaming down my cheeks but running that much faster to release my fear and frustration. Now I’m to the point of action. Supporting marches, going to ACLU meetings and signing up to volunteer at the Immigration Welcome Center. I proudly wear my ‘I Love You’ pin every day showing that I am a safe person to talk to, no matter who you are.

Because my head has been in 500 places at once, it has not been focused on eating healthy, food prep and making sure I’m keeping on schedule work my work outs. I had a rough couple weeks healing from an injury from said ‘anger running’. I am now healed and have a new plan for keeping my workouts consistent. I have rearranged my schedule to where I can go to the gym between work and picking up my daughter three days per week, giving me absolutely no excuse to not work out.

My nutrition coach, Michael with Thrive Culture, gave me the best Birthday present ever. He worked out with me! He showed me a workout routine and watched my form, adjusting if needed. I now have a plan of 30 min cardio intervals plus 30 min weights that I will do three times per week. I am mixing this plan with simple habits to follow regarding nutrition, like: palm sized protein at every meal, 4 fruits/veggies each day and choosing healthier carbs that are less (or not at all) processed (steel cut oats with fruit for breakfast instead of cereal). I’m feeling excited and confident in my new journey of health rather than the usual feeling of having to quit eating good food and being intimidated by the men at the gym.

MINIMAL

I’m slacking on minimizing. I’m constantly listening to The Minimalists podcasts and they inspire me to have a smaller footprint on this world. I’ve been great at making sure nothing new is coming in without something old leaving.  I am only on Day 10 of the #minsgame and my goal was to pair that game with the 30day cleaning challenge. I am still excited about the idea of ‘less is more’. Physical stuff is a reflection of our mental self and personally, right now, there is too much of both. I’ve just got to pick up the pace on this goal!

Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about my health plan or looking for recipes. If you’ve done the #minsgame or are going to see The Minimalists in Boston, you’ve got to message me so we can talk minimalism. If you have an organization dear to your heart that you want to share with me, I am always looking at ways to learn more about people and how to help.

This post has been compensated by Nehemiah Manufacturing Company. All opinions are mine alone.
As room mom for Sophie’s class, I wanted to make sure her teacher felt appreciated. Teacher appreciation week is fast approaching and I know she’ll be getting lots of fun treats from the students but I wanted to make sure she had a relaxing, stress free vacation this spring break. She works so hard with the pre-schoolers, constantly bending over to their level. I was thinking how bad I would need a pampering vacation after working with those little kids and wanted to make her a Spring Break Relaxation Kit for her travels. We’re so excited to give her the teacher appreciation gift to help her be energized when she returns.

Teacher Appreciation Gift

It was fun choosing the items I thought would be convenient for her travels but help her feel relaxed on her trip.

Spring Break Kit Essentials:

• Travel tote
• Sunglasses
• SPF lip balm
• Soothing face wipes
• Mini loofah
• Sunscreen
• Detox mask
• Downy Wrinkle Releaser Plus
• DIY Sea salt hair spray (see below for instructions)
• Nail polish
• Dry shampoo
• Airplane gum
• Chocolate treat

My main focus was making her life as easy as possible. I thought about the tasks I always dread while on a vacation; things I don’t like spending time doing because I want to be enjoying my trip. We always book the earliest flights so we can have as much time as possible at our destination. Starting with her early morning, I chose dry shampoo, face wipes, and gum for her flight helping her to freshen up. Once she gets off the plane, she can head to the hotel to drop off her luggage, spritzing some Downy Wrinkle Releaser Plus on her ‘plane clothes’ in lieu of ironing. She’ll have polish, sunscreen, SPF lip balm, sunglasses and a chocolate treat to toss in her beach bag and head straight out for some ocean air. To relax after a day at the beach I’ve got her covered with some sea salt hair spray, a mini loofah and a detox mask so she’ll be refreshed for the rest of her vacation. 

I have not found a sea salt hair spray that I like, so I tried making one and fell in love. I have naturally curly hair but the entire top layer is hardly wavy. The sea salt spray gives my hair the perfect beachy wave that is effortless to accomplish.

DIY Sea Salt Hair Spray

• Plastic spray bottle (found in the travel section)
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp organic coconut oil
• 1 tbsp leave in conditioner (I’ve also tried gel but my hair likes conditioner)
• 1 cup warm water
• a few drops of lemon juice or essential oil (optional)

Step 1: Pour warm water and sea salt in measuring cup and stir until salt dissolves.

Step 2: Combine melted coconut oil and leave in conditioner in separate bowl, then add mixture to measuring cup.

Step 3: Add a few drops of essential oil, add to spray bottle and shake until well mixed. Apply to towel dried hair.

I’m not one for ironing. All of our clothes are wrinkle-free because neither my husband nor I will ever iron. I was bummed when I bought all new curtains for our new home because that meant I had to iron these huge pieces of fabric. I had complained about this to a friend and she suggested trying the Downy Wrinkle Releaser Plus on my linen curtains. I will now never have to iron another piece of fabric again. I used the Downy Wrinkle Releaser Plus on my curtains while they were hanging and was shocked at how smooth the fabric was once it had dried! I now only keep my iron for house guests.

If you are anti-iron, like me, you can use this link to get a coupon for $1 off. You can also check out what Downy Wrinkle Releaser Plus is up to on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest for more tips on keeping those fabrics fresh!

I’m wishing I had bought two of everything so I could take a trip myself with this perfect Spring Break Kit! Are you heading anywhere for Spring Break or are you doing a Staycation like we are?

Check out my past teacher appreciation gift: Crayon Planter or my GIFTS board for more inspiration.