Thoughts on being a stay at home “person” (Leibster)

Before the new year I was nominated for another blog award! I love blog awards because they seem fancy but really they are just a great way for bloggers in interact and learn more about each other. Thanks to Amanda over and Pickles and Honey for the shout out. If you haven’t seen Amandas blog, not only does she have ge.or.gous pics of food but she has the MOST adorable new puppy that she shows off often.

Go ahead go check him out. <—- CLICK HERE. You will thank me.

Here are the rules:

• Write 11 random facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions given by the blogger who nominated you
• Create 11 new questions
• Nominate 11 bloggers and mention them in the post
• Thank the blogger who nominated you and tell the bloggers you’ve nominated

I am all about efficiency (most of the time), so I am integrating my 11 things into another post that I have been planning for a while. I present to you:

11 things I have learned from being a stay at home “person”:

*First and important to note…I feel weird calling myself a “stay at home wife” or a “stay at home mom” mostly because I’m not just a wife and I’m not technically a mom and saying “stay at home stepmom” sounds even more dumb. So stay at home “person” is what I have settled on. 

1. One word: Yoga Pants aka…stretchy pants aka…sweats

Every day and I am not ashamed. Don’t judge, you know you want to do it too!

2. I hardly ever wear make up or “officially” do my hair

I didn’t wear a ton a make up before and am blessed with pretty great easy hair, so don’t worry I don’t look like a total slob. Plus Its healthy for your skin not to put make up on right? And better for your hair not to be washed every week day right?

3. The days are just as long/short as before when I was working

Some days drag, some days go super quick. Working or not, life is life.

4. Time spent in the car is near non-existent

I think this probably has a LOT more to do with the fact that I live in a tiny little town now and less to do with the fact that I am a stay at home person. Nonetheless, its pretty awesome to have such a dramatic decrease of behind the wheel time. Only thing I miss is listening to sermons on my commute.

5. I get pretty lonely

This lifestyle I’m living is 100% different from any lifestyle I have ever had before. I have always had school, more school, jobs, groups….people surrounding for a big chunk of time every day. While I never lack things to do…I terribly miss conversation and connection. This blog helps with that tremendously, but at times I’m just plain lonely.

6. Its good to get outside

Its easy to NOT do this. I make a conscious effort to get outside and do something every day. Since we are blessed with such good weather (except for the unexpected common winds) its easy to spend time outdoors. Walking, driving into town, going in the backyard with the dogs…whatever it is, its good to get up, get some fresh air and enjoy God’s beautiful outdoors.

7. Difficulty in working exercise into my every day routine is NOT time driven

This has been a HUGE discovery for me. I always used to say, “if I didn’t have to work, I would exercise all the time.” Well guess what? Yeah, you guessed it, that’s not happening. Don’t get me wrong, I do way more than I used too. I did Runcember and have picked up C25K again (started last week) however its still not easy to get my workout clothes on and get out the door. I can always think up something better to do. I’ve been thinking about this and praying about it a lot. I think that acknowledging the root issue is a huge first step at changing my lifestyle in this area.

8.Laundry/Dishes never end and somehow my hands are always wet

Seriously, they NEVER end. I feel like I do laundry WAY more than I ever did before. I know that can’t be but it FEELS like it. Also, the dishes….oh the dishes. I am the type of person who can’t handle it when the sink is full, it just doesn’t work for me. So I am always doing dishes. I don’t understand how or why this is different from when I was working. Paul thinks its because we eat more at home and I know that is a big chunk of it, but still. Oh and my hands are seriously wet so often during the day. I’m not sure what this is about either.

9. No idea how I got everything done before

I mean, I still don’t get everything done NOW. My theory on this is that before I didn’t do a lot of what I do now, but I’m not sure how accurate this is. My house is still NOT impeccably clean. I still haven’t finished a ton of projects on my to do list. I still haven’t had dinner parties and baked cupcakes for bake sales. I seriously had no idea how I spent 11 hours away from the house every day and still managed to maintain a house. Never-ending kudos to working moms. I guess when it comes down to it, you can never get everything done. There will alway be something else. Its about knowing how to prioritize.

10. Feel lazy

I struggle with this one big time. I guess what I mean by “lazy” is that I don’t feel like I am serving a particular purpose. If I take 3 hours to sit and write every day, does that make me selfish? Who am I that I get to do that? I am extremely grateful that I have been afforded this opportunity at this point in my life where I don’t HAVE to work, but I struggle with feeling guilty about it. So many others do have to work and I am sure they would love to have oodles of time every day to do with it what they please. I have that and I feel like I don’t deserve it.

11. My days need to be planned

I am just coming to this realization and am actively doing something about it. I was finding that I had so many things that I would want to accomplish in my week but then a couple of things would happen.

1) I would feel overwhelmed and sometimes when I feel that way I just shut down and don’t do anything.

2) I would cut myself slack and just say “well you have ALL day tomorrow free, so you can just do it then.” But then I wouldn’t do it tomorrow either.

I was getting stressed and feeling like I was serving even less of a purpose than before.

Without the structure of an 8-5 job to keep me on point, I decided I needed to put myself on point. I got a planner and have structured myself this way.

1. I plan out stuff that is already going on in the week or things I do every day (bible study, dinner, answer emails etc…)
2. I make a list of things I want to accomplish that week
3. I go through every day and schedule those things into the week so that way  (for example) on Tuesday I am only focused on things that are going on that day and don’t worry about other things I want to accomplish. I can relax knowing that those things are already scheduled for another day.

I’ve done this last week and this week and so far it’s working great! I know that things will throw wrenches in my plans from time to time (like last Friday when our internet was out until about 3pm) but that is why I write everything in pencil so I can erase and move things if need be.

SO there you have it. All my insights so far on transitioning from working world to domestic person who is figuring it out day by day godess.

Here are Amanda’s question or me to answer:

1. Do you prefer the city or the suburbs?

Hmmm…to live….the suburbs. To play…the city.  Preferably Seattle.

2.What book are you currently reading? Or if you’re not reading one at the moment, what’s next on your list?

Oy, currently reading three. Still working to finish 1000 gifts. Started 11/22/63 and boy is it good, but its like a million pages long. I’ve been reading it for a week and still feel like I’m not gonna finish it for a month. So I needed to read something else too to feel like I was making progress! So I started reading Not a Fan and it is blowing me away.

3. Cardio or strength training?

Cardio. I feel like a dummy when it comes to strength training so I think I unconsciously avoid it.

4. What place would you most like to visit?

Hawaii

5. Favorite kind of cookie? Don’t even tell me you don’t like cookies

Regular gooey chocolate chip. Can’t beat it.

6. If money didn’t matter, how would you spend your days?

Golfing my way across the 50 states.

7. Do you prefer bigger social settings, or more intimate get-togethers?

More intimate get-togethers. I love good conversation.

8. Coffee or tea, or both?

Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.

9.What’s one of your goals for 2013?

Well its not specifically for 2013, but I have a whole bunch in the CinnaList that I plan on accomplishing IN 2013, so that counts, right?

10. Do you have a favorite blog post that you’ve written?

FAR too many. I’m humble like that.

11. What’s the best part of a typical day for you?

There are two best parts. Morning bible study and when Paul comes home from work.

My 11 questions for my nominees:

1. If you could visit any country, where would you go?
2. Do you like to plan things or be spontaneous?
3. What is your favorite joke?
4. How do you like your steak cooked? (if you eat steak that is)
5. Favorite number and why?
6. What is one website you go to everyday?
7. How do you feel about public speaking?
8. Would you ever sky dive or bungee jump?
9. What did you want to be when you grew up?
10. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
11. What is your favorite movie/book?

Nominating:

WhineLess Breathe More
Fudging Ahead
What does she do all day?
Midwestern Bite
Happy Ramblings
Blueberry Smiles
Live, Laugh, Laurie
Apples and Arteries
Savor the Rainbow
Biting Life
The Foodery

Tagged as: blog award, Leibster award, stay at home wife