My Exercise Routine Consists of Doing Diddly Squats

A post about exercise...say whhhaat??

The last time I did any sort of exercise was in October when I was 'encouraged' to run a mile with my first grade students.  I was completely embarrassed as I crossed the finish line with all the moms and dads cheering and wanting to give me a giant high five.  My family will tell you that I am not a high fiving-throw your arms up into the air kind of girl...go team go! moments embarrass the heck out of me.  My husband tries to give me a high five at least once a day...:)

 I'm pretty sure the last time I had run a mile before that was in junior high when we would sneakily cut corners just so the torture would be over faster. I was never very athletic, despite my dad's enthusiasm and effort to get one of his daughter's to stick with some sort of sport.  Now that I think of it though, I dominated four square and kick ball in elementary school so maybe I do have some athletic talent after all...

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Rewind 18 months ago and I was 100 months pregnant and weighed 55 pounds more than I do now.  I had gone from eating pretty strict Paleo to whatever my pregnant self wanted to eat. My 5'3 frame did not hide the weight well and it's been a slow process for the weight to come off. None the less, I'm proud of myself for losing over 50 lbs with just changing my diet. 

So the weight is off, but things do not look the same a t  a l l.  I truly don't mind the stretch marks here and there because they are my mark of motherhood.  I grew a child inside of me and there is nothing more important or sacred to me. 

When Everdeen was just a teeny tiny being inside of me I worried about my self esteem and how I would teach my own daughter to love herself, to stand proud, and to be confident when I rarely felt those things.  18 months have passed and my sweet girl is watching, listening, and learning from everything I do.  I want her to see that her mama can be strong and confident. It's not about a number on the scale or the size of pants I can wear...I want to feel proud of myself, maybe even enough to give someone a high five..but don't push your luck ;). And so my journey to self love (and to be honest, looking decent in a swimming suit wouldn't hurt) is just beginning. 

My husband is a great CrossFitter and has built his own home gym in our garage.  It's only been a week and I am just as sore as when I gave birth, but I haven't quit and to me that is a huge accomplishment.  

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"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Everdeen Kate: Watching the birds fly by :)  

 Linking up with Jodi :)

Lately

We are here and alive! (Incase you were worried :) I feel like I've been so absent from my blog and these past few weeks have been filled with moments...both up and down that I want and need to write about. I always feel better when I can be honest and document the here and now.  We've been hanging in there since the unfortunate news of my husband's job loss and it truly is amazing how fast you adapt to life's changes.  

Somedays I feel okay...and somedays I'm up till who knows when worrying about this or that and trying to brainstorm how to be even more economical. I am of course so thankful I have my job, but seriously I think my students earn more in allowance. We've always been frugal people and for that I'm thankful.  It would be worse if we had lived beyond our means or always felt the need to buy buy buy.  But we really have always stuck to just the necessities and become frequent visitors to the consignment stores.  I remember when I first started teaching seven years ago.  I was living in Denver with my older sister and telling her how I didn't think I should buy new black socks for work.  I literally felt guilty for spending the money.  We were raised to be careful with our money.  My dad never turned the heat up passed 65 degrees...and trust me we begged.  Not because he couldn't afford to keep the house at the requested temperature of 90, but because he was being economically smart.  In response we were always told to go put on a sweater.  Now here I am twenty some years later and I am making sure that my thermostat doesn't go past 65 :)   

  Martin has been incredible.  But that's just Martin...the most positive person you'll ever meet.   He's been super dad and super husband these last few weeks.  Cooking, cleaning, laundry, baths.  It's all done before I get home from school.  We've made the decision that if he doesn't find something by the end of the month then he will be a stay at home daddy- at least until this summer.  He's happy to do the most important job in the world for a few months and he simply is head over heals in love with our little girl.  You should see some of the cute outfits he has pulled together for Everdeen :)

(who doesn't love to be serenaded at breakfast?)

So we are chugging along.  The last of the snow is melting and today was even in the mid 50's.  Sometimes you can start to imagine warm spring days ahead. I have a sneaky feeling that everything is going to be okay because it always is.  I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home, a wonderful job.  Yes. This must be how it's supposed to be for now.

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"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Everdeen Kate: Playing hide-and-seek amongst the curtains is one of your favorite games. I wonder if when you're all grown up you'll be reminded of days when you were small and how those curtains created a whole new world of imagination for you...  

 Linking up with Jodi :)

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"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Everdeen Kate: Your first ponytail. It is literally the cutest thing I have ever seen :)

 Linking up with Jodi :)