Tag: writing

January Round up

January felt like the biggest breath of fresh air. At the end of the year I slowly went through and deleted social media off my phone & I started the year with just a facebook account that I purely use for the buy nothing group & book club communication. It felt so good to step back, not post anything and frankly not mindlessly consume so much. This is the first time in a decade that I haven’t posted consistently. As much as I loved the community I had on my insta I really want to focus on investing on the community right at my feet! In the past I’ve used this blog as an extension of my social media and I thought I’d keep it up but in a less frequent manner than my instagram. I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to this month, books I read, recipes I loved, and just other things I found myself getting into after taking a serious step back from social media.

Things I did instead of scroll:

  • I finished my 2023 photo album – which is a big undertaking, I still need to order it to get it printed. But it is completed which feels so good! Next up 2024!
  • I finished phase 2 of my 12 week workout program! This is a heavy lifting program and the workouts are long. But I’m proud I’ve stuck to it and I have loved tracking my weights and seeing my strength build!
  • We spent 71 hours outside in the month of January! I’m trying to do 1000 hours outside this year and for January that felt like I solid dent in the goal! I credit this to our new outdoor furniture / fire pit set up. It made it easy to curl up on our patio, listen to the rain fall and read or watch the boys play!
  • I hosted my BFF’s baby shower and we did such a fun craft of making candle holders with pressed flowers and modge podge! They turned out beautiful, I put a photo of them lit up at the beginning of this post. This would make a fun Valentine’s Day craft or gift. I’ll link the pressed flowers I used here and then we just got jars from the thrift store and modge podge from any craft store.
  • In the same vein as my photo album project, this month I started creating “home movies” with all the little videos I’ve accumulated in my google photos. I started when Will was born and have slowly been going through them and making larger movies. Google limits you to 50 clips but each movie ends up being about 15 minutes. I remember loving watching home videos as a child and it’s funny to think how this day and age we have SO many more photos and videos of everyday life than our parents ever did but we don’t watch or see them as much. So I’ve made it a goal to try to catch up on some home videos.
  • We survived an unspeakable Adenovirus stomach bug and a bad case of strep throat. Is it even winter if your kids aren’t on the carousel of endless viruses??? Solidarity to all the parents surviving sick season.
  • I did my first watercolor workbook exercise. For Christmas Chris got me two watercolor workbooks, not sure why I thought starting with the harder one was the right idea. But I started with the landscape workbook and completed my first one (see photo above). It was so challenging but I’m excited to keep working on it and see how I progress.
  • I kept track of my decluttering challenge (to purge 2025 items from my home this year). And the nerd in me is not only interested in keeping track but breaking down the categories of things I purge. So i keep a color coded chart and every 100 items I update the graph to see how the categories are working out! This month I purged about 200 items! And here’s how it broke down – with cosmetics / medicine cabinet and clothing being the top categories!

Books I read:

  • Parable of the Sower – This was a book club book and it was kinda wild. It was a dystopian book about the future, written in the 80’s about the year 2025. yikes. The setting is southern California, which happens to be on fire and in a severe drought… ummmmm it was a little to on the nose for the start of year. I won’t lie it was a super depressing book. but overall I think I’d give it 3.5 / 5
  • Electric Idol – This is the second book of the Dark Olympus series. I did not enjoy it nearly as much as Neon Gods which I read in December. I’ll probably still read the 3rd book in the series but this one gets a 2.5 / 5 for me.
  • One True Love – I read this book in two days. It was a super easy read. I’m giving this a 4/5. I liked the characters, I liked the story. It’s the idea of love and the different versions we experience in our lives.
  • War & Peace – I posted in my 25 in 2025 list that this year I’m doing a slow read of War & Peace which consists of reading a chapter a day. So I spent this month getting through the first 120 pages of this behemoth of a classic. So far I’m not disliking it! I’m also following along with the substack footnotes and tangents which puts out a short weekly summary podcast that helps you keep characters straight so that has made it a lot more enjoyable!
  • The Familiar – This one I did not finish. I stopped about 40% of the way through. It was a book my bookclub read of the summer and it was available right away on Libby so I just downloaded it. But it really wasn’t for me. I like the setting of old Spain, but I felt like the story just moved too slowly and wasn’t compelling enough to keep me interested. Life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy!
  • I’m also working really hard with Will to boost his reading and we’ve been doing a 100 day reading challenge where he reads to me for 15 minutes at a time (we’ll hopefully work goal up but we gotta meet people where they’re at!) So I’ve been reading lots of stories with him & it is really fun to watch him improve and build his confidence.

Sunday Somethings No. 4

  • Our biggest Something has to be adding a new puppy to our family!! Chris and I have been looking forward to for so long but between babies, our older developing a serious anemia that took nearly 2 years to recover from, Chris starting a company adding another dog just felt like too much at the time. Last week we picked up Toby & we are so in love. He’s already brought so much joy! And it’s seriously the best watching Juno & Toby play.
  • Something I read this past week was Mad Honey I gave it a 3.5 / 5 star review. I thought the suspense kind of fizzled out and it dragged a little in the middle. I think it could have easily been about 100 pages shorter.
  • I hurt my back at the beginning of the year and haven’t been able to fully workout like I normally do, so something I’ve been enjoying lately is Pilates. I’ve found doing these you tube pilates have been a great way to work on strengthening my core which ultimately will help my back situation! Even the 20 minute workouts are tough!!
  • Something delicious I made that I plan on remaking again this week are these gluten free samoa bars. I made them years ago and had kind of forgotten about them. But they are so delicious and comparatively healthy.

Somethings I’ll remember from this week:

  • The massive storm hitting us and causing us to lose power for nearly 24 hours. I cooked & we ate dinner by candlelight, adjusted to a brand new puppy and the boys thought it was so fun…
  • Chris got the boys a practice tee for at home & we had our first backyard baseball game as a family and it was one of the best parts of the weekend. I think it could be really easy to sit back and say I’m just gonna let Chris have baseball because I never played, I don’t have any experience etc. But leaning in to what interests the boys I think is so powerful. We ended up playing for over an hour and like I said it was a total highlight. So if you’re a boy mom seeking connection with your kids lean into the things that you might enjoy as well. For me, building legos, and playing sports are two ways I can lean into their interests and I’ll also enjoy myself.

Sunday Somethings No.3

Sunday Somethings

  • Something I made this week that was 10/10 was this Short rib recipe. It turned out delicious and I will absolutely be making it again. It was a little labor intensive but the longest portion of the recipe the short ribs cook in the oven for about 3 hours, so although it takes quite a bit of time, you aren’t cooking for 4+ hours! If you love short ribs and are intimidated about making them – try this recipe!
  • Some things I finished reading this week were: Wintering and True Love Expirement. These were both pretty quick reads. It wasn’t until the end of True Love that I realized there was definitely a prequel to that book, oops! Now I started a thriller that I got from the library. I haven’t read a thriller in awhile. I feel like I have to space them out otherwise I start getting nightmares!
  • This week Johnathan got a nasty cold & his asthma flared up. This was the first real cold that took him down this season. Last winter we were perpetually sick and constantly setting up his nebulizer or visiting the ER. It was rough. So I’m beyond grateful for his health and for being able to get an urgent care appt. so he could get steroids asap to help him get over it. I also had such a proud mom moment while we were there. He was such a champ despite at first being scared and crying about not wanting to go to the dr. But then he was so chatty with the staff, let them do all their things and literally laughed with the nurse swabbed his nose for allll the germs.
  • Between J being sick and my back still not 100% we leaned into rest. It’s not easy for me to prioritize rest or to kick myself out of my productivity spirals but there are times when it’s necessary. I’m hoping to get back to working out this week (fingers crossed).
  • Something I’m excited about is both the boys are starting baseball, I went to one of the team meetings this week and it got me so excited for spring and to watch the boys both try something new!
  • I’ve really been cherishing watching Will build lego creations and getting on the floor and building with him. He always amazes with me with what he’s building and just how creative he is. And it’s just the best and it’s one of those, knowing you’re living in a future memory moments. I know one day I’ll look back at how much he loved legos and all the “masterpieces” he would proudly show off (that’s what he calls his builds). So I’m trying to being super present and just enjoy those moments.
  • Finally Chris and I have been working on trying to maximize how functional our house is. And this weekend we built this shoe storage cabinet thing for our entry way and I’m SO happy with it! I was originally planning to DIY something, but I didn’t have a very clear vision and every time I tried I was getting frustrated so we opted for something simpler and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

Sunday Somethings. No. 1

This is a new series I’m starting where each Sunday I’ll be posting some things. Things I’ve been enjoying, things I’m reading or watching, things I’m cooking, things I’m contemplating, things I’ve thrifted, things I’m trying to accomplish etc… It’ll be a fun way to catch up & share a little bit of what’s happening on a more consistent basis. So to kick it off here are some things from this week.

Some things.

  • Something I’ve been cooking on repeat is high protein salsa verde enchiladas! It’s so simple and it’s the easiest way to sneak extra protein in! I just take a jar of salsa verde, blend it with about a cup to a cup and a half of cottage cheese (I like the brand Good culture), and then a little chicken stock or veggie stock to get it to the consistency / thickness you like. It’s seriously SO good. It cuts down on the spice level and makes it so creamy but with extra protein!
  • Something I’m excited about coming up is our annual snow trip! We booked a cabin and the boys don’t know yet, but Will is gonna lose his mind. He freaking loves the snow!
  • Some things I’ve read this year so far: I finished the book Self Compassion – The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff- which was a therapist recommendation – it was super impactful especially for anyone who is like myself and has a harsh inner critic. It had some great exercises to try in the book, which I loved. I also read Happy Place by Emily Henry which was a super quick read! I love alternating between fiction and non fiction books.
  • I’ve been doing my January declutter challenge – which is: for every box that gets delivered and comes IN to the house I fill it with things to go OUT of the house. I love this challenge because it really makes me think twice before I just click order now. I’m trying to be really intentional about my purchases and I’m also trying to continue to simplify and de-clutter my life. Did you know that the average american home contains 300K items (yikes)! and over 40% of Americans rent storage units!? I’m trying to realize minimize and simplify. So this is a really productive challenge!
  • I’m starting to plan my very first DIY for the year – I’m redoing our very small entry way to make it more functional. I’m hoping to add some built in storage. I feel like the pile of after school stuff that just gets dropped as soon as we get home has finally gotten to me and I want to have a better solution because the boys are starting baseball this spring and I feel like that problem is about to get so much worse!
  • Something I’m grateful for this week is my body. I threw my back out on Thursday and was so miserable and basically not able to do anything. I actually thought my back pain was a kidney stone because of how much pain I was in. Thankfully I got it checked out and it’s *just muscular, but ouch!! Whenever I’m hurt or sick it’s such a reminder to be grateful for our health and grateful to be able to run alongside my boys, to lift things, to just do all the daily tasks!

Hope everyone had a great week!

xo

2023 wrapped + reflections!

Somehow the calendar has flipped again & we’re once again at a new year! I love a good reflection moment and the start of a new year is the perfect time to look back. This year we celebrated big birthdays for our boys, we spent a lot of time outside, I read more than I have in years past. We took trips to the snow and the beach. I leaned into creating. I built dining benches, mud kitchens and redid closets. I tapped back into my arty side and started playing with watercolors. Chris and I took our first solo international trip and visited Singapore this fall. Of course there were less desirable parts of the year. The boys started the year with virus after virus and there was relentless rain. I got a strange post viral arrhythmia that I’m still sorting out (waiting for a cardiac MRI bleh). I wrote about this last year, but it’s impossible to categorize years as “good” or “bad”. This year was made of thousands of beautiful moments. There were moments where I struggled, moments I felt burnt out at work, or in my motherhood. There’s a chasm of uncertainty when it comes to Chris’ start-up life. But all of those moments are just that, moments. They are fleeting, some are beautiful, like walking my son to kindergarten each morning and others are painful. This year I was better about allowing myself to experience these moments for what they were. And I think the more you’re able to do that in your daily life the less significance a “new year” has, instead I feel gratitude for all this year has given to me. One of my favorite new year traditions is making a list for the year, you can see previous lists here: 20 in 2020 , 21 in 2021, Monday Mindset: 2022 Wrapped. I talk about the origin of this tradition, but I like to fill it with goals, simple things, things to try etc. So it’s time to review what was on my 2023 list.

  1. Attempt gluten free puff pastry – I didn’t do this, but I did make GF sourdough so I’m counting this as an adventure in GF baking!
  2. Go to the beach – yes, and it was one of my favorite memories of the year!
  3. Read 23 books – and then SOME, 34 in total!
  4. Spend 1000 hours outside - we got damn close so i’m counting this as yes. We spent 977 hours outside this year. I am SO proud of this – it was an exceptionally wet first 3 months of year but we purchased rain suits and splashed and made it outside.
  5. Re-open my Etsy shop – nope. but I did sew burp cloths for several friends.
  6. Get a will / living trust set up – yikes. nope. 2024 will be our year for this.
  7. Plan a Stedman family trip – nope
  8. Get another dog – no but this is a rollover for 2024 and I am SET on this.
  9. Hike in the redwoods – yes
  10. J’s closet renovation – yes, one of the hardest DIY’s I’ve done. It took obscenely long since I couldn’t work on this at night or at naptime, but I finished it and learned so much and that closet is 100x more functional now.
  11. Start hot yoga again – I did return to bikram this year. But then was quickly sidelined with my cardiac issues and haven’t returned.
  12. Redo garden beds - yes shout out to my amazing husband who took over this project while I was on limited activity for my heart.
  13. Review spending every week – no.
  14. Go to the dermatologist – also no.
  15. Use my DSLR camera more – I did use it some but not as much as I would have liked. This is an example of a goal that is too vague what is “more”?
  16. Store my phone away during the day – I was fairly good at this and even took a month. of social media which felt amazing.
  17. Take the boys on monthly individual day dates – not nearly as much as I would have liked.
  18. Make a personal timeline – started this
  19. DIY avocado dye – yes, this was fun and the color is a beautiful muted pink.
  20. Do a 75 soft challenge – yes!
  21. Learn to use the cameo machine – nooope! Better luck this year?
  22. Finish my 2021 & 2022 photo albums – YES!
  23. Rescreen our sliding door – we switched to a magnetic screen door which is way more convenient for kids and pets. although idk what I was thinking getting a white one.