Happy Mother Challenge: Week 1

Last Year I started reading this book and loved it.  I didn't get to finish, but I am excited to this year.  The basic premise of the book is to stop focusing so much on being a BETTER mom and start focusing more on becoming a HAPPIER mom.  This is exactly what I need. 

This year the author, Meg Meeker, is doing a "Happy Mother Challenge" on her blog.  Each week for 10 weeks she will post a challenge based on one of the 10 habits from her book.  

I will be following the challenge here on my blog. I hope you will participate with me!  If you would like to join in, let me know so I can follow your progress and get inspiration too! 

CHALLENGE WEEK ONE:

"I want you to make an actual, physical list of things that you are really GOOD at and what you LIKE about yourself, just as you are. Write down what you are, what you like, what you dream about, what makes you happy, what you’re good at, etc. A Happy List. A Positive List."

•  I am generally tolerant and don't get offended easily. 
• I can make friends with lots of different kinds of people and I really love my friends. 
• I try to be good at what I do. 
• I like that I look like my Grandma Phillips. 
• Some of the things I am good at: reading, organizing, listening, typing

New Year's Resolutions

Drumroll, please. 

I have put a lot of thought into my resolutions this year.  It's going to be a tough year, with Dan gone until July.  There were lots of things I wanted to put on my list and it was difficult to narrow it down.  I think that if I stay focused I can achieve these goals and help the time that Dan is away pass quickly.

1. WIFE: Loose my 20 pounds of baby weight by July. ;) (Yes, I put this in the right category)
2. MOTHER: Be a happier mom by reading and applying Meg Meeker's 10 Habits of Happy Mothers. 
3. CAREER: Finish medical coding program by December. 
4. SPIRITUAL: Visit the temple 12 times this year.
5. PERSONAL: Expand my cooking repertoire and make at least one new recipe a month.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.
~Voltaire

I was born a Phillips and one of the genetic gifts handed down by my forbearers is a love of eating. Savoring food is one of my life’s greatest pleasures. I love preparing food with my husband, working in the kitchen side by side, creating fresh and healthy dishes as we chat and reconnect after a busy day. I love the family rituals that revolve around the dinner table: the gathering and sense of belonging that accompanies Sunday roast and potatoes. I love sharing good things to eat with friends at barbeques and parties. I get a thrill out of learning about food: where it comes from, how to prepare it, and how it works to benefit my health. The process of preparing and consuming food is as much a spiritual and social endeavor in our home as means of sustaining life.

Unfortunately, in today’s market place, saturated with confusing nutritional information, pleasure in food is somewhat difficult to come by.

“What should I eat?” is a question most Americans have trouble readily answering.

How blessed we are to live in an era of abundance. Gone are the days when humans spent the majority of their time finding and preparing food, living literally hand to mouth. Today there is almost no limit to the quantity or variety of food or food like products readily available in the average supermarket. Add to variety, the constant bombardment through media sources of conflicting theories, information and recommendations about what we should put in our bodies.

I believe the overloading of food products and data is an influential contributor to the decline of general health and the increase in degenerative diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer that plague the western world. How? People make poor diet choices for many reasons, but certainly one reason must be that healthy eating seems too demand too much time, energy, or money.

This year, I am making a goal to explore in greater depth my love affair with food and nutrition. In addition to forcing my husband to listen to my endless speeches, I will use this blog as an outlet and a place to record and experiment. My aims are:

1. To share my love of food
2. To try new foods and new methods of preparation
3. To show that eating a healthy, balanced diet is achievable for almost anyone
4. To distill and simplify food information

I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.
~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

My First 5k

On Saturday I accomplished one of my summer goals: to participate in a 5k race. I finished right in the middle: #351 out of 711. My time was 33:19, which is not amazing, but is better than I ever did on my practice runs, so I'm pretty satisfied.

The morning of the race, I almost backed out because it was pouring rain. Then I thought I was going to miss the start because I didn't plan for the guy in front of me who thought he had to drive 15 mph down the canyon. But, I made it just in time. The rain stopped, the weather was perfect and it was actually pretty fun.

From Droopy to Dreamy

"The butt; they come in all shapes and sizes. But what if you could have the perfect butt you've always dreamed about?"

So starts the infomercial for "Brazil Butt Lift," a DVD workout program. My friend Becca and I were flipping through channels the other night when we stumbled upon this infomercial. With classic lines like, "from droopy to dreamy," it was just too good to pass up. Watching that is, don't worry, Dan I didn't buy it. Actually, in my humble opinion, I think this DVD program, if faithfully followed would actually work.

Here is the three minute version, for your viewing pleasure!

/div>

I guess the funny part to me is the obsession over a particular body part. I don't know, I just don't dream about my butt. Or any other body part for that matter. Maybe I'm weird.

I do dream about getting my whole body back in super shape, though. Pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood, while all transcendent emotional and spiritual experiences, sure have taken a toll on my body. And without my personal trainer available (my hot husband), I have been slacking.

I tried giving myself a reward for working out. I decided to buy a new piece of clothing for every ten days of working out. Well, I blew that one in the first week. Not for lack of working out, but I went and practically bought a new wardrobe at Plato's closet. (More about my great finds at a later date)

This week has been super crazy and I've only been to the gym once! It's so hard to workout as a mom. If anyone has any good ideas, let me know! Please!

My new ideas for motivation are:

1. Sign up and pay for the Utah Valley 5k
2. Enlist my sister and as many people as possible to run with me
3. Tell you all about it so I can't back out.

Step one is complete. Now I just need some buddies! My sister said she'd sign up, I'll just need to bug her about it. The race is in June, which gives me plenty of time to work up from the 2 miles I can run right now. Also, that will be about a year since my little squirmy was born. Perfect.

Now ... off to the gym!

Cute Little Yoga Instructor

Tuesday and Thursday nights are Yoga Class at the PFC on post. The class is free to military and dependents, so I don't have to cut this treat out of my budget! I love yoga. I really believe that it can have great fitness, health, and mental benefits. I relish the opportunity to breath and focus on the moment, letting go of all my cares and worries. Thankfully, I have wonderful husband who volunteers to watch my sweet baby while I have some much needed Michelle Time. This yoga class is at the perfect level for me too: it's more challenging than just stretching, but I can still do most of the poses.

So, who's the cute little yoga instructor I mentioned in the title? Me. In my imagination. One of my life goals is to become a yoga instructor. Can't you just see me in my cute little yoga clothes, leading a class? My absolute dream job would be to teach prenatal yoga and childbirth preparation. So, yesterday I got on online and planned out a course of study to get my associates degree and yoga teaching certification from Salt Lake Community College. Just looking at the spreadsheet I created makes me so happy. I'm going to be back in Utah in April and I would want to start classes right away.



Now I just have to figure out how I can go to school. Right now I can't see how it would work. Dan's going to be taking 15 credits a semester to finish his bachelor's degree in two years. Plus, he's thinking about working part time for the Utah National Guard. Then there is sweet baby Ethan. Right now I can't think of a way to watch a baby, work full time to pay our bills AND go to school. There has to be a way ...

New Year

This year Dan and I are doing a makeover on our lives. We have been talking about this for a while, but didn't have the motivation to start. We finally decided to get our butts in gear on Christmas Eve. I once heard someone say that people don't change until they can't stand the way things are anymore. That moment came for us, standing in the car dealership, unable to pick up our car because we couldn't pay for the repairs. All three of our credit cards were maxed out and we had $40 in the checking account. There was no healthy food in our house and we were out of shape and just generally a mess. Thankfully, we have wonderful family members who were able to loan us the money to pay for the car repairs. But, on the way home we promised each other that we were going to change and never come back to this place.

Our New Year's resolutions are about being healthy and wealthy. They are intertwined and work together to hopefully achieve some big changes this year. I am going to use this blog to chart our process.

2010 WILDE FAMILY RESOLUTIONS

1 - SPEND MONEY ONLY ON ABSOLUTE ESSENTIALS TO FACILITATE PAYING DOWN THE DEBT AND CREATING AN EMERGENCY FUND
2 - WORKOUT 4-5 DAYS PER WEEK
3 - REPLACE JUNK FOOD AND EATING OUT WITH HEALTHY FOODS

In addition, we will be focusing on "going green." Yes, you read that correctly. I will elaborate in a future blog post. Wish us good luck on our journey into 2010!