Stronger Than Before – 39

 

Weekly Intention: Ok this is going to be an intense week of work and then I expect to be working late into the night much of the week and then on Friday I will be driving to Tahoe for the weekend for a school event I purchased last year. David will be camping the middle of the week. So we got a lot going on. And when we come back from Tahoe I will enter a very very tough week. So my intention this week is a few things: be the kindest I can be, I know that when I am tired I can be snappy or even less compassionate towards me and others. So I will work on this. Kind to everyone. Secondly, I want to be able to protect my sleep and exercise because i will get very little sleep the following week and possibly no exercise. And finally, i want to try to savor the moments as much as i can. these are all incredible opportunities for me to be a part of and I am super lucky. So I don’t want to take that for granted.

This month’s intention is: Love Strong: This month is hard. There are transitions, new schedules and more. Use this month to think about what it would look like to love more. Love yourself more: more self-care and kindness. What boundaries can help you? Love Jake more: what’s something you can do for the two of you? Love your kids more: How can you help them with the transition? well there you go, this week i will focus on kindness and seeing everyone’s perspective, finding a way to love everyone.

One way I will stretch this week:  i will see if i can cook a bit and preserve my exercise routine, let’s see. 

One boundary I will set this week: sleep i think that’s the one I need the most.

This week, I will focus on pleasing: hmmm. i think everyone a little bit. would that work? at least give everyone my full attention while i am with them.

One new thing I will learn this week: how to iterate more effectively

One area where I will go deeper this week: how to understand perspectives different than mine

What do I need to sit with this week? how to go the distance here. i have a lot of other deadlines after this october one.

I am looking forward to: our tahoe adventure even if it comes at a bad time. 

This week’s challenges: sleep. peace.

Top Goals: 

  • Work:  october is going to have to be it this week.
  • Personal: i’m just going to do the best i can this week.
  • Family: just be as present as i can in tahoe 

I will focus on my values:

  • Love: love and care and grace for everyone on my path this week.
  • Learn:  how to listen more, better.
  • Peace: peace with this week.
  • Service: to my organization, to my family.
  • Gratitude: for things coming together, even if last minute.

This week, I want to remember: that it always works out


Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Weekly Reflection 2018 – 38


How I got Stronger this week: This was a long week, I worked a lot and had really long days, sleepless nights, and a lot of headache. Despite all that, I managed to work out Monday, Tuesday and Friday this week. Not as much as I would have liked but still not nothing. I also showed up again and again in all the areas at work and at home as my best self as often as I could. I am calling it a best effort week as opposed to a really good week. 

Top Goals Review: 

  • Work:  october getting close to being done, planning officially started, december not really getting anywhere yet.
  • Personal: only ran once this week and for 20 mins. I did 2 body pumps. nurtition was so so and I really didn’t do much of anything else.
  • Family: i did not cook for jake :/,  i did help kids with school+routine, we started to figure out plans for the rest of 2018 and some of 2019.

I celebrate: getting the planning process out the door.

I am grateful for:  my husband whose kindness is just unparalleled. 

Karen’s Points: 2 body pumps, one run this week. reasonable with nutrition but not perfect. it was ok.

A Change I embraced: a lot of work. just so much repetitive work. long, difficult nights of not a lot of sleep.

I let go of: trying to do it all at once and focused on what was a must-do

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

  • Fresh: all this experience around the october event is fresh for me.
  • Magical: getting to do a bit of art was magical. 
  • Lighter: i feel lighter during the weekends. is that fair?
  • True: i am tired. i am worn out. 

Where I chose Joy: i laughed a lot at work this week. 

I showed up for:  david this week who had an 8th grade tea at school.

A Mistake I made this week: i had a meeting that went really poorly, i sent an apology letter but heard nothing back :/

What I tolerated this week: lack of sleep.

My mood this week was: worn out. 

I forgive myself for: snapping a bunch this week. i don’t do well when we talk in circles.

What I love right now: that i can still sit out in the backyard even though it’s getting cold.


Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Moments from this Week – 38

and here we go. First week of Fall, September, School. 

school, us, running.

cooking, us. getting my hair done πŸ™‚


Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Books I Read This Week 2018 – 38

I was away last weekend and took two days off this past week to be with people I love which meant less reading πŸ™‚

Note to Self was super quick and lovely, of course.

I really liked Fruit of the Drunken Tree even though parts of it were very very sad.

I swallowed Vox in a day. It made me furious but I couldn’t put it down.

Like Never and Always was another super fast year. It was exactly what I wanted at that time.

I then started and stopped 5 different books. Finally settling on Dear Madam President which was a quick and good read for me.

I had a few good books this week so I am calling it a success.


Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Stories from 2018 – 38 – Barcelona Part 2

Our next stop in Barcelona was at he climbing gym. 

The boys climbed while I read.

it was fun to see them in action.

i wanted more Gaudi but the boys were done so they kindly let me do this one on my own.

the inside of this house is breathtaking.


all the glass and light.


all the color.

i loved the blue.

i can’t even imagine living in this house.

i took thousands of photos.

loved the tiles.

this is the roof.

and one more on my way down.


the boys waited next door and had some juice + chocolate.


so here’s part two of our adventures in Barcelona. more next time πŸ™‚


Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.

Stronger Than Before – 38

 

Weekly Intention: Ok now we’re down to the last two weeks before a big event at work. These two weeks will be stressful but also really rewarding. My intention is to be really grounded. To do my exercise, eat well, and sleep. I haven’t slept enough in two weeks, I plan to fix that. I really appreciate routine even more during these weeks. I’d like to journal/meditate and practice extra gratitude this week. Let’s bring it on.

This month’s intention is: Love Strong: This month is hard. There are transitions, new schedules and more. Use this month to think about what it would look like to love more. Love yourself more: more self-care and kindness. What boundaries can help you? Love Jake more: what’s something you can do for the two of you? Love your kids more: How can you help them with the transition? ok i would like to do more here. i am going to journal a bit this week on this.

One way I will stretch this week:  I am going to try to add the running back in, let’s see if i can do it.

One boundary I will set this week: i will cook at night.

This week, I will focus on pleasing: work. i want to get this right.

One new thing I will learn this week: how to put this offsite together.

One area where I will go deeper this week: 8th grade curriculum for my son. and i have some fun classes too.

What do I need to sit with this week? how to go through the next 3 weeks with grace and joy. 

I am looking forward to: the 8th grade tea, i love being at my kids’ school.

This week’s challenges: balancing life depending on how stressful work is.

Top Goals: 

  • Work:  october, planning, december. those are my goals.
  • Personal: run for 30 mins 3 times this week, four body pumps, refocus on good nutrition, meditate, journal, art+scrap, stretch, evening routine as much as possible
  • Family: cook for jake,  help kids with school+routine, figure out plans for the rest of 2018 and some of 2019.

I will focus on my values:

  • Love: love and care and grace for my family.
  • Learn:  how to truly incorporate the running.
  • Peace: peace with the churn at work.
  • Service: to martha.
  • Gratitude: for how good all this is.

This week, I want to remember: this is a marathon and i need to pace myself.


Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Weekly Reflection 2018 – 37


How I got Stronger this week: We started our week with a quick little getaway just the two of us. And then I also took Tuesday off and spent the whole day with my lovely friend Kelly, then I took all of Wednesday off and spent it with my wonderful husband. Thursday and Friday I worked hard. It was a good week despite feeling a bit more stressful than I would have liked. I showed up, I did my best, I tried to support everyone. I am calling it a win.

Top Goals Review: 

  • Work:
    • Work:  did one more turn of the crank for october but we need so many more. took two days off. woohoo.
    • Personal: i didn’t do any running this week at all. but i did three body pumps and my hiit class. i did’t meditate or journal. i did some lovely scrapping and that was it for the week. 
    • Family: i cooked very little this week, need to get back on track here. did help the kids. and did celebrate jake.

I celebrate: our weekend away. 

I am grateful for:  another year around the sun. i am so so grateful to be here, with these people in my life.

Karen’s Points: 3 body pumps, one hiit this week. reasonable with nutrition but not perfect. it was ok.

A Change I embraced: a lot of off time this week which was lovely but messed up all my routines of course.

I let go of: as much as i could.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

  • Fresh: the getaway, our day in the city, having some time off was all fresh 
  • Magical: my weekend, my day with kelly and my day with jake were all truly magical
  • Lighter: i feel lighter now that i’ve worked a bunch to catch up
  • True: my life is still feeling off kilter and there’s a lot more to come in the rest of september and october. i would like to find ways to center myself.

Where I chose Joy: my wonderful birthday.

I showed up for:  my life this week with all the different layers of it.

A Mistake I made this week: i spin a bit more than i’d like. i’d like to be calmer, more centered, talk slower πŸ™‚

What I tolerated this week: lack of routine.

My mood this week was: grateful. 

I forgive myself for: how hard some of this is for me. i am learning to embrace myself.

What I love right now:  that i can still sit outside in my backyard.


Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Moments from this Week – 37

and finally the last week of summer. 

i love seeing all the ephemeral bits of our lives.

l added lots of family photos this week.


Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Books I Read This Week 2018 – 37

A bunch of reading this week.

Sweet Little Lies was okay. It didn’t blow me away but I was interested enough to keep going.

Where the Crawdads Sing might be my new favorite of 2018 so far. I love love loved this book.

I kept wanting to put down Inappropriation because it just didn’t feel like my type of novel but i kept going because the satire was so over the top.

Nothing Good Can Come from This was okay in some parts and meh in others. I’ve never been a drinker so maybe this is more about me and not the author.

I’d put off A Place for Us  several times so I finally tackled it and it was decidedly a meh. 

Then I picked up  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo  which I also had put off forever. It was much better than I’d expected but too long imho. 

I can’t say it was a bad week because I read one of my favorite 2018 books this week! πŸ™‚


Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Stronger Than Before – 37

 

Weekly Intention: This is my birthday week and I will be honest, I need some rest after last week. My only goal this week is to go back to taking care of myself. Exercising, eating well, sleeping a lot. I really need the reset.

This month’s intention is: Love Strong: This month is hard. There are transitions, new schedules and more. Use this month to think about what it would look like to love more. Love yourself more: more self-care and kindness. What boundaries can help you? Love Jake more: what’s something you can do for the two of you? Love your kids more: How can you help them with the transition? Oh this is lovely. I am working on it!!

One way I will stretch this week:  The major project for October is stretching me plenty. 

One boundary I will set this week: i will guard my exercise and sleep like a hawk.

This week, I will focus on pleasing: my husband. and me.

One new thing I will learn this week: perspective.

One area where I will go deeper this week: the curriculum for 4th grade.

What do I need to sit with this week? how to get back to feeling better. 

I am looking forward to: back to school night. my birthday. having a day off.

This week’s challenges: just getting back on track.

Top Goals: 

  • Work:  do one more turn of the crank for october. take day off.
  • Personal: run for 30 mins 3 times this week, three body pumps, one hiit, refocus on good nutrition, meditate, journal, art+scrap, stretch, evening routine as much as possible
  • Family: cook for jake+celebrate Jake,  help kids with school+routine

I will focus on my values:

  • Love: love and care and grace for me.
  • Learn:  how to get back on track.
  • Peace: peace with having to reset.
  • Service: to myself.
  • Gratitude: for everyone who’s being patient with me.

This week, I want to remember: that it’s all going to be ok.


Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Weekly Reflection 2018 – 36


How I got Stronger this week: This was a super tough week, I dropped the ball on a lot and just did the bare minimum. I felt (still feel) exhausted and spent and just overwhelmed much of this week. My head was (and is still) throbbing much of the week and I slept too little and exercised too little all week. I also ate poorly. so net net i’d say this wasn’t a week i particularly got stronger.

Top Goals Review: 

  • Work: didn’t really do .a full turn of the crank but i was present. 
  • Personal: only ran once and was for 1.5 miles. did one body pump. no thing else. 
  • Family: didn’t cook for jake, celebrated a little,  helped kids with school+routine a little.

I celebrate: i celebrate a successful summit.

I am grateful for:  a little quick getaway with jake.

Karen’s Points: i only did 1 short run and one body pump this week.

A Change I embraced: offsite all week really messed up my routines.

I let go of: everything this week, i am in so much pain.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

  • Fresh: the offiste while a lot of work was great 
  • Magical: back to school night is always magical for me. 
  • Lighter: i feel lighter now that one offsite is done.
  • True: it was a terrible idea to drop everything this week but i couldn’t see another way forward.

Where I chose Joy: i was really present even though i had so much pain.

I showed up for:  my team.

A Mistake I made this week: i jump the gun a bit too soon. i need to be more patient. 

What I tolerated this week: pain.

My mood this week was: in pain. 

I forgive myself for: dropping the ball on my personal goals.

What I love right now:  not very much at this moment.


Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Moments from this Week – 36

this week is a mish mosh of last weeks of summer. 

camps, backyard adventures, work, and family πŸ™‚

love looking at these so much.


Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.