Taking Care of Mom How I Take Care of Me

 

Welcome to the May 2013 Natural Living Blog Carnival: Taking Time for Mom. This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Natural Living Blog Carnival hosted by Happy Mothering and The Pistachio Project through the Green Moms Network. Oftentimes, Moms are so busy taking care of their families that they forget to take care of themselves. This month our carnival participants have written posts about what they do just for themselves.

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It is actually really easy for me to forget about taking care of myself, because I stay so busy taking care of my family, my church, our elementary school, the community projects, and the list goes on.  I first want to say that I love being a mom.  It is everything I ever wanted and I am very blessed.  I also love to help others anytime a need comes up.  So what do I do to stay grounded and remember to take care of myself?

I think it is important to find something you love in addition to being a mom and do it.  I remember a year when my husband asked me, where you would like to go on a dream vacation and I could not answer him.  I had no idea.  I had become too wrapped around the idea of I had to stay home to take the kids to their activities, to cook, to check homework, and visualized that the house would fall apart if I went anywhere.  I take pride in all the things I do for the household, but I should have thought beyond that.  He asked me to think about it and get back to him.  I took my time thinking on where I wanted my once in a lifetime destination to be.  During that time I also attended a MOPS meeting and a question was asked; "Tell me about you".  I started telling about my kids, the pets, the places we have lived, my husband’s job, but not once did I mention something about just me.  This was a shocking eye opener for me because I think I should have been able to mention more personal interest along with my family.  

While my family and activities are important and loved, they should not be all that define who I am.    I decided that I needed to take time for myself and relax a little.  Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought you aged over night?  By taking a few steps to take time for myself, I have reversed the signs of aging, lost weight, and handled stress better.  With a few additions listed below I noticed I laughed more, balanced my schedule better, and was a better example for my kids.  They see everything we do, and I want them to know taking care of you is important; you just have to rearrange something's, make priorities, and don't sweat the small stuff.     

 

What are some things I changed to take time out for me?

·         RUNNING.  I started running and signing up for races.  I am blessed to have a very supportive family that encouraged me while I was taking this journey.  I cannot tell you how relaxing it is to head out and just run.  When I took the time to not just eat right, but get physically active I reduced my stress level.  I know it sounds like adding something to my schedule would be counter active, but it gave me time for myself and the activity made me feel better about me.

·         YOGA.  I started doing daily yoga.  Whether it was for 15 minutes or longer sessions I felt better, more relaxed, and stronger.  The breathing, balancing, and focus you do while doing a yoga exercise helps to forget about the things that need to be done and relaxes me.   It helps to clear my head and recharge my soul. 

·         EAT.  I know you are thinking that everyone does that, but I meant to eat right.  Are you the parent that grabs something and practically swallows it whole eating it as fast as you can while doing other things?  That use to be me, and I called it multitasking.  I was not doing my body justice by rushing.  Maybe you even skip meals saying there is not enough time, or you make sure the kids eat and you just chug down some coffee, but you are not helping yourself.  It is important to sit, yes I said sit, down and enjoy your food.  Make a conscious effort chew every bite completely and taste your food.  This simple step can reduce stress, anxiety, and indigestion.

·         READ.  I love to read books.  I can totally lose myself in a novel and this is my night time indulgence.  After I put the kids to bed, give kisses, and prayers, I am off to a faraway place to read for an hour. 

·         GET SLEEP.  I include this after my reading because I make sure to shut down my iPad and get in a good night sleep.  I could easily stay up all night long reading a good book, but sleep is the time our bodies rest and repair.  If I am up watching TV, reading, cleaning, on the computer I am adding stress to my body when it should be resting.  Make sure you give yourself a bedtime as well. 

·         GARDEN.  I love to plant seeds and watch my garden grow.  When I head outside to water I like to take deep breaths, listen to the birds, feel the textures of the plants, and get my hands dirty.  There is something very therapeutic about gardening that reconnects us to nature and the simplicity of life.  I also feel a personal accomplishment when I eat veggies and lettuces from my own garden. 

·         FRIENDS.  Make time for your friends.  I have been so busy that I looked back and thought it’s been months since I had coffee with a friend.  Your friends might actually need the time just as much as you.  One thing I can recommend is to mark your calendar and never schedule over it.  On Thursdays I blocked out time after my run that is there for a house visit, coffee, or quick shopping trip.  Make an area on your calendar that is for friends only, and use it.

·         LUNCH DATES.  I have four kids so getting a babysitter can be more expensive than the actual date.  For this reason my husband and I take a lunch outing.  Once a month I ask him to open his work calendar for us to meet for a lunch date.  This way the kids are in school and we can have adult conversation with out the distractions.  I noticed we get to sit together and actually hold hands.  We love our kids so much and found that on family outing we are holding the kid’s hands instead of our own, not to mention that at the table we are spaced between the kids never sitting by each other.  Making sure that I take this time as a couple enriched our marriage and keeps my spirits soring. 

I rescheduled my activities and made a point to take care of me along with my family.  I still like to put my family first, because I love being a mom, and now I add time for things that are beneficial for me too. I like to give the kids everything they need and tell myself that I don't need anything extra, but I think sometimes I do.  Simple things like listed above should be done normally, but can be left undone, so I make an effort to give myself that down time.

When making time for yourself, you want to reduce a few things that may cause you stress or over pack your schedule.  I volunteer at my children's school and there is always a function, event, or something to help with.  While I am usually available I have trained myself to say NO.  On Tuesday and Thursdays I take longer runs and cannot be at the school.  At the beginning of the year I accepted some tasking pushing my runs to the side and helping the school.  What happened was my body got more tired and I noticed I was moodier.  While helping brings me joy, I had to learn to pass on something's to make sure I took care of myself.  This is still a hard task, the word no tends to get stuck in my throat, but I am working on it.  When you commit yourself to YOU, then you need to make sure you meet that deadline.  You have to take care of yourself for your health and your family.  You are a better mom when you take that time to recharge, relax, eat right, and keep a healthy schedule.     

If you are wondering where I took my Anniversary Vacation is was 8 days in Scotland. 

I cherished every minute of it too. 

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Visit Happy Mothering and The Pistachio Project to learn more about participating in next month’s Natural Living Blog Carnival! Please take some time to enjoy the posts our other carnival participants have contributed:

Day Two in Edinburgh Scotland, part one

The Bed and Breakfast, Joppa Turrets,  that we stayed at was wonderful.  The bed was comfortable and we slept with the window open to listen to the waves, birds, and rain all night long.  Breakfast was served at 8 am and we made sure to be showered and ready.  We were eating and then taking the bus into town to start our adventure of Edinburgh!

We  had a few choices for breakfast and I selected the traditional Scottish breakfast.  While it was being made, I enjoyed fresh fruit of sliced grapefruit, figs, and juice.  They had yogurt, table fruit, and cereals as well.  We needed plenty of energy for all the walking we knew we would do, so I really enjoyed the fresh fruit.  Coffee was by French press.  If you have not had coffee this way you are missing out! 

 I loved my traditional Scottish breakfast of ham, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, egg, haggis is the brown round patty, and black pudding.  I have to say that I really really enjoyed the haggis.  It tasted a lot like a German dish I use to have a few years back.  The only thing I could not eat was the Black pudding (blood sausage).  :-)

 


The owners of Jappa Turrets were great, because this American girl did so great at eating her Haggis, I got a certificate!  Once we finished are breakfast, juice, and coffee we head out to Edinburgh.  The parking is a bit of a headache and did not want to waste our money on the meter parking so we decide to take the bus to town and walk.

Unfortunately as soon as we got into the city we had to do a little shopping.  I knew the temperatures were cooler, highs of 60, but with the rain a cool mist went throughout the city in the morning.  We picked me up a new coat, that you will be seeing throughout the entire trip, lol. 
Here I am in front of the Olympic rings!  Go USA!  Come on Woman's Gymnastic, behind you all the way!

 This is part of the Royal Mile, what a misty foggy morning. 

During the week, Queen Elizabeth was there.  Today she is Knighting her grandson into the "Knight of the Thistle".  Those that have invitations to the events were making their way into St. Giles Cathedral.  I loved the different hats, and wish I had gotten more pictures of them.  I wanted to get a few pictures of the men in their more formal kilts. 

Before going up to the castle we found a knight shop.  So many cool items and they let us try on the helmets. 




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The entrance before heading  into the front court of Edinburgh. 










The guard on the left is there just so tourist can have their picture and not bother the guards that really are on duty.  The guard on the right did a great job of not letting me distract him.

Edinburgh Castle

These were very steep steps leading up to Castle Edinburgh.  Edinburgh Castle dominates its city like no other castle in Europe.  For 3,000 years people have found safety in this rock castle.  In the beginning it was called "din Eidyn", meaning the stronghold of Eidyn.  It was around AD 638 that the Angles invaded and called it Edinburgh.

This castle endured siege after siege during its long wars with England.  While there was a lot of history told, most had a very English feel to it.  By the time of King James VI, the castle been little more than a garrison fortress.  Since 1745 the Castle has been a national icon, but the garrison of soldiers remain.

One thing I loved, and is in a lot of my pictures, is the moss and plants that gross so beautifully over walls, rocks, and pretty much everything

  
This was a small room in the castle that held a full detailed mold of the castle, it was huge!

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St. Margaret's Chapel

St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building in the castle.  Built around 1130 as a private chapel for a royal family, dedicated to his mother Margaret.  Margaret died in the castle in 1093, who was devastated over the violent death of her husband, Malcolm III.  These are a few of the gorgeous stain glass windows that include St Margaret, St. Andrew, St Ninian, St Columba, and William Wallace. 

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Back side of The Scottish National War Memorial

Royal Guard in front of TSNWM.

These were the only pictures allow since the inside was No Photos Allowed.  The inside was breath taking, they did a wonderful job with honoring the memory of fallen soldiers.  There was stain glass windows and statues that are difficult to describe beside breath taking.  They even had an area much like in Washington that is dedicated to the unknown soldiers. 

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The Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle was completed in 1511, and was meant to serve as the place for ceremonies in the castle.  Unfortunately it was not used for that often since King James the IV was killed in the Battle of Flodden just two years later.  It was used for barracks for the next 230 years by Cromwell when he took the castle over in 1650.

After the Castle was taken back, work began to restore the Great Hall in 1886.
Architect Hippolyte Blanc, helped in restoring everything you see, except the hammer-beam roof. 

The medical roof is one of the most important in Britain!  The stone corbels supporting the main trusses are carved with Renaissance sculptures which happen to be the oldest in Britain.  

I spent quite some time just looking at the detail in the wood work of this piece.  It amazes me the time it would have taken to make these. 

 Mons Meg, is the Big Gun, so to speak. Mons Meg was presented to James II in 1457 as a gift from his niece's husband, Duke Philip of Burgundy.  The six tonne siege gun was named after the town it was built in Belgium, built in 1449.  This massive gun weighs 330 lbs and took a hundred men to move it during its battles.  The gun was used mostly during the wars with England first at siege of Roxburgh Castle 1460.  It was during this siege that James II lost his life.  James the IV then used Mons in the siege of Norham Castle  in Nurthumberland.  Mons ended her fighting days with James V's Navy and was taken out of military use around 1550.
She was then used as a saluting gun, especially at the wedding of Mary Queen of Scots.  She was last fired in 1558 to celebrate the birthday of the Duke of Albany (later known as James VII).  It was then that her barrel burst and was dumped down near the Cartshed.  There she sat until 1754 when they moved her for the Disarming Act.  She was saved from being melted down because of her size and 70 years later she returned to the castle.  A full military escort accompanied this beautiful gun in 1829, back to where she sits today, as one of the most remarkable of all medieval guns and Scotland's military past.

Governors House on left.

 The 1 o'clock gun is fired every day except Sundays, Good Friday, and Christmas Day.  The entire town sets its time to this gun.  The only time it went interrupted from its normal schedule was during the two World Wars. 

We saw the Palace and actual Honors of Scotland.  These were areas were no photos allowed again.  I will show you pictures from the tour guide book.


From here we headed to the city to do Mary Kings Close, St. Giles Cathedral, Museum, and ghost tour.  There is too much for one post so I had to break it into two, which you can check out part two tomorrow. 

Back and Ready!

It has been an amazing and crazy couple of weeks.  Some of you know that I spent, my 15th Anniversary in Scotland with my wonderful husband.  We had a magical time and can't wait to share with you my experiences and pictures.  Unfortunately reality and schedules got me as soon as I got home. 

In the outer court of Sterling Castle. 

 We have four great kids that will all be in elementary this year.  When we got back from Scotland on Wednesday, we need to get our back to school supplies and meet the Teachers that friday.  School started on Monday and I wanted to spend time with the kids getting adjusted to knew classes and teachers. 

I have to admit that I did not handle the change of an empty house well at first.  I needed to keep myself busy and needed to be away from the house.  That said, I volunteered at the school and love being there in the afternoons, when my kindergarten is in school. 

Now, things are slowing down and everyone has their schedules with daily tasks understood.  I am glad that it only took us 2 weeks to get in a good routine, but that made all my activities on the back burner.  I am finally ready to get back into all my passion for Nutritious eating and Green living.  I really was thrown for a loop when my youngest went off for school.  I did not think it would affect me the way it did and glad I took the time to adjust with them.  Now my spirit is where it needs to be and I am very excited to share with you the all that is coming up! 

I have two giveaway currently going you need to check out!
 My Memories Giveaway 7/24-8/10.
 Reuseit Lunch Boxes Giveaway 7/22- 8/5

I will be sharing my 8 day trip and all we seen in Scotland along with the different meals we experience.   Also, I am going to be updating News on GMO and the changes around the US.  Be sure to stop back by :-)