Now That the Kids Are In School...

Hello!  I am surviving the world of back to school!  My kids are currently on Day 8 of school!  After homeschooling for the past two years, this was quite a switch!  We were all nervous our first day.  And it was raining.  The photos above were ALL that I could get that morning.  I mean, it was rough.  My heart ached as I watched the bus pull away in the rain.  It felt like a movie.  Were we making the right choice?  Would the kids be okay?  Am I a selfish mom?  Were they ready??  I had a FULL day ahead that day with a couple of meetings and projects that relate to my role of leading women's ministry at our church.  The day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go and get the kids!  Both of them had a good day.  What a relief to hear this!

Day 2 of school was QUITE A CONTRAST to our start of the first day!!  I mean, the difference between these two sets of photos is remarkable, right??  That first week involved just two days of school.  The next week was a five day week and that did begin to feel long by the end.  Overall, we are adjusting well.  My son is doing great in Kindergarten!  That has been a bit of a surprise to me, with how much he loves the outdoors and being in a routine of his own making.  My 3rd grade daughter is having a harder time due to some academic challenges brought on by her shortcomings with visual tracking.  We spent a ton of time with vision therapy this past year and she has come a LONG way.  But with entering school, she has become painfully aware that she is not in the same place as the other kids her age and she feels like it will be such a long road ahead of her.  We are working with the school on getting set up for some learning support.  I look forward to getting all of that in place.  

So what have I been up to these days???

Well, lots of things, of course!  You busy moms out there know how it goes!

A few highlights??

Well, my mom had told me about this homemade cleaner and I have been LOVING the way it works as I attempt to take back the chaos of my home during the "we love summer" days which had immediately followed the "we are a homeschooling family who also works from home" era... needless to say, my former perfectionist/neat freak tendencies HAD to give way or I would have completely lost my marbles a long time ago on this adventure of motherhood!  I made an image of the cleaner "recipe" and posted it on my page along with this bit of backstory... at 24 shares, I suppose that lots of us are on the lookout for a good shower cleaner and this one certainly does the trick!

When all else fails... try what your mom suggested!
My husband very rarely asks me to do anything around the house. Between the two of us, it just gets done! But last night he asked me if I could scrub out the tub/shower while the kids were at school today?
Hmm... about that. It was super soap scum land in there. What can I say? We ❤ summer!!!!! I wondered what was going to cut it?? So I found some Kaboom cleaner. Yikes! That stuff is strong. Three treatments later and I was seeing minimal progress and was feeling dismal.
THEN I remembered my mom mentioning this.
MAGIC!!
I picked up some original Dawn and whipped this up and WOW!!!!!!
I will be using this from now on and it got rid of a bunch of old residue as well!

A friend then shared this idea for a great way to store your cleaner in a way that it will also be easy to use while in your shower!  

18 months ago, I became a coach with Team Beachbody and now that the kids are in school, I am able to invest even more within my business and my team!  This past week it was pretty exciting to celebrate my best week yet within a certain category of my business!  

My pay is split into two basic categories - retail sales commissions and team bonus. My retail sales reflect everything that I do with my own customers as well as the customer leads assigned to me through the company. I work hard each day and it is rewarding to see people's lives being changed! It is exciting to hear from challengers who were down 6-8 pounds recently, wearing clothes they have not had on in years, experiencing energy like never before and turning a blind eye to junk food! I LOVE all of that!

The other part of my income is based on the success of my team. Talk about some hard workers who are going out and doing the same things that I am doing with my own challengers. As my team grows I spend a fair amount of time working to support them and I can not even describe how rewarding it is to be part of helping others to reach their own business goals in addition to their health goals!

So, about the extra $368 this week, based on my team's success?

First, I am celebrating them!!

Next, we tithe 10% and give that back to God, reminding ourselves that He is our provider and we choose to honor him with our finances.

Then - PERFECT timing! Annual insurance premium is due next week and this team bonus is within a few dollars of that total!

I coach to help support our family... paying down debt, paying off our single car before thinking of adding another, working to not take out our mortgage to the full extent. Buying groceries and new shoes for the kids and just the expenses of everyday life.

It really benefits our family to have me able to work. We also benefit from me having the flexibility of setting my own schedule and the reward of being able to build my own business and how I am a happy person when I can work without a "boss"!

If you are thinking of getting a part-time job, or are even looking to replace something full-time, please put this in mind as a valid option!

My team is just the nicest bunch of people and I invite you to consider joining us! This is very low risk as a business. You will improve your own health while being part of a bigger picture of others working to do the same! And you can contribute to your household at the same time! We can chat if you would like to learn more!

With the kids at school, I took some time one day last week to go for a pedicure!  I had been holding on to a local spa gift card for 2+ years and I was yet to use it!  Good thing it did not expire!  I have been out having coffee with friends and have held a couple of daytime meetings for things related to my role as a women's ministry leader.  In fact, I am planning for a local upcoming coffee with a BUNCH of friends!  If you are close to Erie, you should join us!

I completed 30 days of Cize and was surprised by how much I enjoyed this program!!!  I will DEFINITELY keep these dance routines in regular rotation around here!  Things I learned about myself with Cize?  I NEED to get better at "living in the moment" and Cize taught me a lot about that.  I had to challenge my own former beliefs that "I can't dance" and "I am just not a dancer".  Shaun T called me out on that one right from the start by saying, "You say that you can't dance but the truth is that you have never even tried."  OUCH.  That was me.  

I can not help but smile whenever I compare this recent Cize routine with where I began in Week 1.  SHOCKER that I actually enjoyed this soooooo much and would burn 400+ calories while spending 35 minutes dancing!  My daughter SO enjoyed doing this program with me and it was great that I began it while she was still on her summer vacation!  It will now be a weekend thing that we do together!  Although I have to admit that we sometimes put on a song using my phone hooked up to the kitchen radio and we put ourselves through the routine right there!  

I am not back to my FIRST LOVE - PiYo!  This program is honestly my favorite of them all!  We are coming up on my two year anniversary of making a life change of clean eating and beginning home workouts.  I have lost about 60 pounds and have kept it off and I become stronger each day!  I am just getting ready to begin my upcoming PiYo challenge group (via "secret" FB group!) and you are invited to learn more!

This new chapter has had ups and downs!  I am finding my way and I keep on leaning in to my walk with Christ through daily Bible time and frequent prayer!  I pray for my kids even more now that they are away from me!  No matter what this next phase brings, I know that God is faithful.  He is with us!  It is a good time in my business with record-breaking weeks and helping some of my coaches who are pushing for some big goals!  I also love seeing the success of my challengers!!!  It is an exciting time in Alliance Women with sold-out events, relationships being built and new Bible Study groups forming.  It is a memorable time personally as I completed Cize, return to PiYo and approach my 2 year health anniversary next week!  I am enjoying the structure of my days with having the kids at school and then when they come home, I am ready to be "fully present" with them instead of juggling everything all day long with constantly divided attention and feeling like I am not doing any of it well!  Wherever I find myself, my goal is to be "all in" and really live in the fullness of the moment while also taking steps to plan well for the future.  If you are interested in being part of my coaching team, a challenge group, an Alliance Women event or would just like to chat about life -- reach out and we will connect!  So many things are better when we work on them together!

When You Want to Move to a Cabin in the Middle of Nowhere...

Hello!  Have you ever had times in life where you want to hit pause on a few things?  Those who know me know that I typically function quite efficiently when I have many balls in the air.  This is just my personality and has probably been further enhanced over the years through being surrounded by a family of over-achievers!  "Try hard, best you can" was something that my Grandpa Neizmik said to me so many times.  This is my default approach to the things that I do.  We have just entered our 2nd year of homeschooling.  Last year we began our home school adventure with my daughter who was then in 1st grade.  Our son attended preschool three mornings per week.  This year we are homeschooling both kids for grades K and 2nd.  I had been thinking that we would begin next week.  Last Tuesday my daughter unexpectedly asked at bedtime if we could please begin this year in the morning?  And so we did!  In the words of my friend Jaime, we have begun with a "tapered start".  Not every day since Day 1 has been a documented school day.  Yesterday we had morning appointments and then went to the beach!  We are chipping away at our 180 days... Today I arrived at what should have been a fairly obvious realization.  I can not continue to do everything that I have done over the summer while simultaneously homeschooling two kids!

I am a country girl at heart.  When I see a photo like the one above, it embodies the things that I long to do with my life.  We currently live on 1/4 acre in Millcreek Township which is located in Erie, PA.  Our neighborhood is not exactly the country.  My husband is NOT a country person.  If he were, I could see us already living a bit farther out than we do right now!  On the flip side, being 5-10 minutes from pretty much everything is a huge convenience in our everyday life.  I love our current home and am thankful for it each day.  Yet so often I find myself yearning for a more simple life.  Much of this is a state of being as opposed to a physical address that one calls home.   I do not want to be a hurried person who is frequently stretched thin.  I want my kids to have access to more of me.  I do need to be a working mom in order to balance the family budget and I am super thankful to have a job that allows me to work from home!  

When I look at my "time budget" on paper, it really should all work out fine.  But just like with finances and unexpected expenses, there are potential unexpected "expenses" when it comes to the time I give to several areas.  The biggest potential pitfall for me comes when something is taking up too much space in my thoughts!  Where are the margins?  I am going to have to audit myself and begin to make some cuts around here.  I will also need to step up my time management skills!  

Remembering that I have added a large new component to my schedule through beginning a new year of homeschooling, some other areas will have to be minimized.  Otherwise I will try to do it all well and this is what sets me on a tricky course!  This is what causes me to be overwhelmed, snappy and drained.  At that moment I am ready to pick up everything and head to that cabin in the middle of nowhere!  Sometimes I think that I could be a really great mom if I spent less time with other things.  Other times I realize that if I were focused solely on motherhood 100% of my time, I would definitely lose my marbles!  I am wired in a way that I thrive while engaged in several things much of the time.  There has got to be a balance. 

I have to return to John 15 over and over again.  These are the words of life.  Without this perspective, I am a mess!  
John 15:1-12 (NLT, emphasis mine) “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.  You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.  Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!  When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.  When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.  I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!  This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you."

There is a song that I just love.... it gets me every time!  There is a line that says "There's no place that we can't find peace" and "this is why it's to You we run".  Check out Crowder's I Am.