Morning y’all and welcome to Warm Beer, Cold Coffee. I can NOT believe it is already May. Andee turned 9 months on the 1st, and my mind is blown at how fast the time is flying by. Anywho, before we dive into my goals for May, let’s do a little recap of my April goals and go over how they went!
Recap of April Goals
I started a skin care routine where I apply sun screen and moisturizer each morning and do the whole shebang each night (cleanser, toner, oil, eye cream and night cream). I also aimed to do a mask once a week. I can’t say I was perfect at following this routine every day, but I absolutely LOVED spending some time on myself. In fact, I have now designated Monday as “Masks and Me Time Monday” where I basically eat dinner with Keenan and then bugger off to do my own thing for the rest of the night. This has been so rewarding for me mentally, and it doesn’t hurt that my skin is lookin 🔥! Also, I love a good alliteration – “Mask and Me Time Monday”. Hehe! I plan to keep my skin care routine going as I absolutely love it!
I started calling my grandparents once a week, and they have definitely noticed and commented on how much they appreciate it. I aim to keep this up, especially while I am on maternity leave. It’s nice just to call and say a quick hello and let them see Andee. I’ll have to figure out how to keep this going once I’m back to work, buuuutttt we’ve got another 4 months before we have to worry about that.
I had the goal of getting outside everyday for the months of March and April. Again I wasn’t perfect, but managed to get outside for a walk or run most days. I am very proud of myself for this because it’s not always easy to muster up the energy required to get everything in place and get out the door with a baby. But Andee bear benefits from the fresh air as do I. I’ll try to keep this habit up in general because it’s just so, so good for my mental health.
Now, for some brutal honesty – I SUCKED at my goal of not bringing any snacks to bed. There is just something so relaxing to me about curling up under the covers with the tv on and snacking on something tasty. I’ve determined that it’s a “winding down” thing for me and I think I’m okay with it. So basically what I am saying is SCREW THAT GOAL! You can find me eatin allllll the snacks in bed, and happily doin so.
And lastly, my exercise routine. I did pretty good with keeping up the two days on, one day rest. I also managed to complete 100km and then some and I did in fact run a 10k!!! Running the 10k wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My stamina was fine throughout. It was more a mental challenge and my feet hurting after like the first 10 minutes. I have really started to enjoy running though and hope to keep it up.
Now, on to my May goals.
- Drink More Water – If you have watched my Instagram stories lately, you know that I am terrible about drinking water. Like I literally will go an entire day without drinking anything other than my morning coffee. It has nothing to do with the taste of water (I actually enjoy an ice cold glass very much), I just don’t think of it at all. I bought one of those gallon sized water bottles that have motivational sayings on it. I am going to try to fill it up each night before bed and keep it in the fridge. Then when I wake up in the morning, it’s nice and cold and I can get to chuggin. I also think the goal lines on it will help me out because we all know I love setting goals! Lol!
- Read More – I really love reading and I really love tv, but lately I have only been making time for tv when I curl up for bed. I have so many good books that I want to read, so my goal is to read before bed most nights. In case you are curious, the book I have recently started is called The Whole-Brain Child. It’s about different strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind. It’s really interesting so far, but I should save my thoughts on this for another post another day.
- Clean More – Since moving into our new house, I have cleaned the floors more than I ever did at our old house. This means that I’ve cleaned more in the last 2.5 months than I did in 13 months. Lol! We’re not super dirty people and we tidy up often, but I just hate actual cleaning. However, I do love a clean house and I do understand the necessity to keep the floors clean now that Andee is so mobile. So my goal is to dust and clean the floors once every two weeks and clean the bathrooms on the off weeks. Basically I will be cleaning something once a week, but I think I won’t feel so bogged down about cleaning the entire house if I break it up like this. And I will vacuum the carpeted area where Andee plays the most more frequently than once every two weeks.
- Exercise and Stretching – If y’all have been following along for a while now, you know that I LOVE exercising. I am glad that I have made several exercising goals since Andee was born because it is very challenging as a new mom to get back into old routines. But now I feel like I am doing pretty well and I actually look forward to working out again. I’ve still been doing a lot of high intensity strength training following Cass Olholm’s plan on the Sweat App and plan to keep that up. I’ve also been running a lot and want to continue with that. However, I was just diagnosed with arthritis in my big toe joint and on the top of my foot. Apparently running is one of the worst things you can do in terms of pain for this. I even have custom shoes I have to wear now to support my foot better. I am going to try to continue working out the way I like, but be kinder to my body. So if my foot is just not feelin it, then that’s okay. I can just take it easier that day. I also want to incorporate more stretching into my routine. I do complete a warm up and cool down with each workout, but I want to actually stretch. So my goal is to get some stretching in while I’m playing with Andee. And I mean why not? Half the time I’m just sitting there watching her play anyway. So I might as well stretch at the same time.
- Being Content with Taking Care of Myself – Whoooo, this one is a hard one. Yes, I do make time for myself almost every day with exercising and with my skin care routine, but I often feel guilty for doing things like that. It is so easy as a new mom to pour everything you have into your baby and others and forget about yourself. When I am exercising I am constantly thinking about the dishes I need to do or the floors I need to clean. Or I think about the food I need to prep or the things I need to research for Andee. I know that it is totally okay to take care of myself, but I want to actually be content in doing so. I also know that taking care of myself ultimately helps me be a better mother and partner. So my goal is to work on the balance of caring for myself as well as my family and being content when doing both things.
Man oh man, I don’t make it easy on myself do I? But the truth is, I love setting goals that might be slightly challenging to achieve. Fortunately, I don’t put too much pressure on myself to complete my goals perfectly. Rather, I find that setting goals helps me keep the things I want to accomplish present in my mind instead of just fleeting thoughts. Anyway, wish me luck and let me know how you’re coming along with your goals. Happy day, y’all!