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New Game Plan

It’s tempting to focus on what has worked for us in the past before we were moms. But what if we scrapped all of that and moved into the now? What if we look at ourselves as different from our past? What if we honored the fact that people change, tastes change, preferences change—really that change is constant.

How have you changed since becoming a mom? What did you used to do for movement? What sounds fun to you now? Are you holding on to past interests? Do you need to? Can you explore old interests as well as new ones? How does the season of life you’re in NOW affect what you’re able to do? Write about the changes and challenges…then brainstorm about how you can work around them.

New season, new challenges, new goals, new game plan.

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Show Up

Your daily goal this month is to show up. How do you feel about showing up? Do you make it a production by coming up with reasons not to? Do you create drama around the simple task of showing up? Or do you just show up? How much are your thoughts getting in the way? How much are you getting in your own way? Write about it. Work through it on paper. Write about how the month is going so far.

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Overdoing It

A common way people sabotage their fitness goals is by overdoing exercise as soon as they try to get back into it. It’s not intentional, but it happens very frequently: you go from couch to running and push hard to “make up for” not having run in a while. Then you get sore or injured and quit…sound familiar? Have you overdone it in the past?

Time to emphasize that we are NOT trying to overcorrect for past behavior. The past is in the past, hindsight is 20/20, and we can learn from looking into our past instead of using it to fuel a current fire. So you haven’t moved your body as much as you’ve wanted to or feel you “should” have. So what? We do not need to push ourselves now to make up for past decisions. Show up right where you are, as you are.

Write about overdoing it. How do you feel about overdoing it? Are you? Did you? Do you tend to? What do you need to tell yourself to move forward now without overcorrecting?

[How to avoid overdoing it: Remind yourself that you don’t need to come out of the gate swinging. You have nothing to prove, you have only to show up. Improvement will come with the showing up. Give yourself time to adjust and plenty of room to grow.]

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Clothes & Location

What do these things have to do with fitness goals? Well, in our society, it turns out a lot. Not having the “right clothes” to workout in or wearing the “wrong thing” keeps many of us from exercising. And our view of exercise is that it “has to” take place in a gym or workout class in order to “count.” Does this ring true to you? Write about it.

Do you feel like you have to be wearing certain clothes in order to exercise? Do you feel pressure to be “pulled together” from head to toe in order to move your body in front of other people?

What about location? Do you feel like in home workouts are as effective for you as gym visits or group classes? Write about how location effects how much you do or don’t move.

A potential resolution for clothing and location hang-ups is: Snacking. Not eating, but exercise snacking—incorporating movement throughout the entire day. For example: taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking around the block at lunch, running in the yard with your kids, stretching when you wake up or before going to sleep, doing kegals or bracing your abs while waiting in line, etc. Do you feel like exercise snacking could work for you? Write about it. Include what “snacks” you could fit into your lifestyle.

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Mindset

Describe how you your mindset when it comes to your body? Body positive? Struggling? Supportive? Kind? Degrading? Frustrated? Obsessive? A combo of these? Something else? Can you easily talk yourself into or out of exercising?

Write it down with the intention of figuring out how your thoughts are supporting or sabotaging your body goals. Do you feel like you need help changing a negative mindset? Do you need words of encouragement to keep you in a good headspace?

At the end of this month, what would you like your mindset to look like? (More positive, almost automatic, etc.?)

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Where You Want To Be: Describe Your Goals

Get clear on what you want your body goals to be—weight loss, stronger arms, the ability to do longer hikes, to be able to carry your kids more easily, to be more flexible, strengthen your pelvic floor post childbirth, combat aging, etc.

List your intentions and then add details—how much weight you plan to lose, what you would like to be able to lift easily to measure your strength, how far you would like to be able to walk or hike comfortably, etc.

And now write about why—why did you create these goals?

Set your goals, make them measureable, and be specific about your “why.”

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

Where You Are

Write about where you are…what is your body like? What parts are strong? What parts do you want to make stronger? How is your body serving you at the moment? How would you like it to serve you more? What are you grateful for when it comes to your body?

Today is all about acknowledging where you are. Try not to move ahead too much. Today is today. Your body is what it is right now. Write about what is.

Remember to note today’s movement/exercise/fitness (whatever you want to call it!) and plan ahead for tomorrow. Set the intention to move your body again tomorrow.

Today’s Daily Movement:
Tomorrow’s Plan:

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❄️winter❄️ I’m here for it. My planner w ❄️winter❄️ I’m here for it. My planner will now be filled with daily hot beverages, books to read aloud with my children, movies to watch as we snuggle, schoolwork in Christmas pajamas, building of snowmen, weekly baking, carol singing, and long chats with friends. Will I be working? Oh, yes. But will I be embracing the season? Ooooooooh, yes. 

It turns out I love winter. After almost 20 years on Maui, I also love winter. 💕 

It’s funny because when I tell people, “I love winter! I love the snow!” most of the time I’m met with “ha! you just wait until March…then you’ll be tired of it.” 🙄 Okay…thanks (sips more coffee and turns away to admire the snow some more). 

To me it’s the same as when the strangers tell me, “just wait until they’re teenagers, then you won’t like motherhood so much.” 😒 Actually… I love life. I choose to love my life and the different seasons of motherhood and the different seasons of weather just as they are, just where we are. Most people in our current culture don’t get that. They have been conditioned to complain and live in misery and consumerism. They have their own stories and reasons for not liking parenting or not liking the weather. They also have the choice not to project their dislike of (seemingly everything 🤔) onto others. And yet complaining abounds. I don’t really care for our cultural norm of complaining about literally everything… starting with the weather.

The reason this coffee and this view are so peaceful to me has more to do with my mindset than anything else. It has to do with my faith and gratitude. I am so grateful for all that God provides for me and my family. I’m grateful for the gift that is winter. I’m grateful for the natural order of things. I spend more time in gratitude than I do complaining. I spend more time trying to be present rather than trying to force my schedule onto my children (or worse, a school schedule outside of my control). I give in to the peace of the season instead of trying to fight it. 

As always, I share this not with an intention to brag or pretend like I have it all figured out. Quite the opposite. I share it as a way to combat the complaining…
I am thrilled for December 1st. ❄️ Snow. Adven I am thrilled for December 1st. ❄️ Snow. Advent. Countdown to Christmas. My son’s 2nd birthday. A season change that’s here to stay. There is nothing wishy washy about December…and I love that about this month. 

Bring on the cozy + celebrations + change. Bring on the steady snow + hot drinks + books. Bring on the deep sleep + slow mornings + candles. 🕯☃️☕️ Raise your hand if you love the charm of December, too 🥰😘
Our first moose sighting on the new property 🤯 Our first moose sighting on the new property 🤯 My mind is blown. Just one of many “where are we!?!?!” moments here on the mainland after almost 20 years on Maui. 😆 I imagine people feel the same way the first time they see a honu, monk seal, or humpback on Maui 😉

Grateful to have 3 giant dogs! 🙏🏼 

#idahome #moosesighting #wherearewe #holysmokes #mooseinthewild #mamamoose #babymoose
Thanksgiving prep has begun. Our hearts are happy. Thanksgiving prep has begun. Our hearts are happy. Our tastebuds expectant. And yet. 💔 For some of us there are some very special people missing from the table this year. And it’s hard. 

We make their recipes in their absence. We hope to do them justice, knowing they will never be the same. We cry in the pantry. We forge ahead. We feed our people. We love them big…and we grieve. It’s both. 

If this is a year you’re missing someone big time or missing something that was, know that I’m praying for you. Let’s pray for each other. If you’d like some extra prayers, feel free to share in the comments or in a DM 🙏🏼
I saw a post that said “The future isn’t femal I saw a post that said “The future isn’t female, it’s family” and it hasn’t left me since. 💙 THAT is a message that needs to be out there. THAT is the truth. 

Growing up I was brainwashed to believe that the messages of feminism were truth. But then I got married to a man that I love & the messages didn’t check out. Then I had a son. Add to that the fact that I love and respect my dad. And my grandpas. And uncles. And nephews. And a lot of men in my life, and suddenly all of the “girl power” messages hammered into my head via advertising, school, and the culture in general didn’t make sense. They also didn’t make room for them, in fact they taught me to look down on them, make fun of them, and devalue them. Many female “empowerment” messages create division. They create beliefs that someone is “better than” and that simply isn’t true. 

I think what they meant to communicate is that we all have value and up until that point, some people didn’t personally feel valued. But putting someone else down (i.e. all men) in an attempt to build yourself up? That’s not gonna work. It’s not going to give you tools to have peace in your everyday relationships. It’s not going to empower mothers to raise strong children whether they are raising boys or girls. 

And when I really think about it, every woman I know who champions “the future is female?” —they are either divorced, not married, or in unhappy relationships on the verge of divorce.  

I have never been able to reconcile within myself the notion that we should turn away from men, because those men also include people we love and respect like our husbands and sons. 

Now imagine an entire generation that hears the message that family is what it’s all about. Imagine the potential for strength and peace in everyday life if family was put first. 

Feel the need to be a rebel? Rebel against the toxic messages of our current culture that scream “the future is female” (while also claiming there is no such thing as female). Rebel in a way that changes the current culture and brings you peace, security, and mutual respect in your relationships.

#thefutureisfamily
My cup runneth over…and so did my plate 😉 La My cup runneth over…and so did my plate 😉

Last night I celebrated “Friendsgiving” with my mom friends here in Idaho. I’m not 100% sure I’ve ever been to a friendsgiving…truthfully, the name always turned me off. To me it was always a random thing people in their early 20s did—you know, your 20s when you think your drinking buddies and being “cool” are the most important things. Your early 20s when you’ve turned away from your family and try to create things to replace what you’ve lost. 

At 43, that is not what I crave at all. Last night’s gathering blew my past assumptions right out of the water. It was beauty & gratitude all around. The food…the people…the conversations…the memories we have…the memories we’re making…the way we celebrate & encourage one another. It was stunning from start to finish. I’m so grateful for these strong, passionate women in my life. I’m grateful they value what’s important in life. And that they take the time to pause and celebrate everything we have together. 

Thank you for hosting, @danikanormannn Thank you for pulling us together, @krunchymamabear Thank you for including me, @redheadhippielife 😘 

I’m not sure I can tag everyone who was there, but thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the ease, depth, and encouragement you bring to my life. 💜
Grace laced indeed. 💙 This interview with @ruth Grace laced indeed. 💙 This interview with @ruthchousimons needed exactly zero editing. Ruth is so generous in this episode…her calm, gentle voice is just what you need today. Her new book Pilgrim is just what you need on your coffee table as a daily reminder of the beauty & strength of God’s character. 

I believe in God‘s timing. Within a few hours of releasing this episode, I got a message from a listener saying that this episode was perfectly timed for their life. 🙏🏼 That’s all I want, mamas. I want words of encouragement to find their way into your life at just the right moment for you. 💕 My heart is full today thinking about the positive impacts of @elevatingmotherhood 🥰 I hope this episode blesses you, too. 😘
I shared a very personal story today in The Elevat I shared a very personal story today in The Elevating Homeschool Community… I wasn’t really planning on jumping into the deep end of the pool to start the group, but here we are. Want to tread water with me and talk about it? Join the community via the link in my bio 😘
New Episodes of @elevatingmotherhood are here! 🥳 Start with Episode 152 for a candid behind the scenes explanation of why I took the summer off from the podcast. 💙 

I’ve had so many mamas reach out to me about this particular episode 😱 Your feedback has been encouraging…I’ve really enjoyed your messages about it 🥰

Have you listened? Tune in! Get caught up! Cause two more are coming your way soon!

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