I’m so excited to link up with Sheaffer & Shay! This is where I will tell you about a variety of things about what we are up to, what we are cooking, what we are looking forward to, etc. It is a post that will come out on the last Wednesday of each month. I hope you enjoy it!
1// What we’re eating this week:
Cider Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
We are trying to eat pretty healthy right now to reset our bodies in the new year.
We all enjoyed this simple easy dinner of ground turkey, peas, sweet potatoes, and onion. One pot meal, prepared with just s & p, and garlic powder.
Another meal we enjoyed was Baked Chicken Parmesan with Cauliflower Rice….recipe will be up on the blog soon!
2// What I’m reminiscing about:
I’ve been having the traveling bug lately, I miss going on trips and making memories as a family and having adventures together. I was thinking back to a memorable trip we did in 2017 with my parents and with Jason’s parents to Spain. We took a road trip all over and it was such a special experience to do with both of our parents and to have the boys meet their Spanish family for the first time.
Tyler was learning how to walk!!
Ohh take me back….so beautiful!!
3// What I’m loving:
I’m loving getting my life and home in order by doing the Simplicity Challenge with Emily Ley. I feel so accomplished getting these random tasks done. Join me over on instagram @momwithaplan_
I’m loving my new silk pillowcase! I’ve heard it’s great for your hair and to prevent wrinkles on your face while you sleep. Yes please in helping myself in both of these areas!
4// What we’ve been up to:
I started a new lifestyle program in the new year to get healthy and reset my body. I went with the Faster Way to Fat Loss program and I’m loving it. It focuses on eating whole food nutrition, doing Intermittent fasting, carb cycling, and tracking your macros (carbs, fat, protein, & alcohol). I’m enjoying have a health coach and an accountability group on Facebook to keep me motivated and on track. It was a lot of work in the beginning but I’m getting the hang of it and feeling stronger and more healthy everyday. I also went dry this month because alcohol messes with your macros and I didn’t want my progress to be derailed. If you are interested in looking into the program, a new session starts every 6 weeks, go check fwtfl out.
Playing lots of board games….
Laser Tag…
Cleaning out and sweeping our garage…
Fixing up and rearranging our gym area in the 3rd car garage….
We are putting down new floor mats soon!
Enjoying family time together….
5// What I’m dreading:
Nothing comes to mind on things I’m dreading right now. I’m choosing to remain positive and hopeful for these next upcoming months that things will start to turn around!
6// What I’m working on:
I’m working on getting our house cleaned out and in order as well as working on my FWTFL program in doing 30 minute workouts everyday. I’m also working out figuring out what our plan is for this Summer. We are having family discussions about ideas of fun experiences to do with just our family as well as to see family and hopefully plan a fun trip with friends too! I did mention earlier that I have the travel bug…not sure where we will be with the pandemic by Summertime but in case travel opens back up, we’ll be READY!!
I just finished working on a post for kids school lunches! Most of our kids are back in school and I wanted to share what I pack for their lunches. I include the containers, lunchboxes, and water bottles that work well for us. I also included how I give my boys love notes in their lunches…there are two different types of lunch notes that I love using. It makes me happy to bring a smile to their face when they are away from home and to let them know that I’m thinking about them. You can view the post HERE.
7// What I’m excited about:
Today marks 1 year since I started my blog, Mom with a Plan!!
I love having my little creative space here on the internet and it’s been fun getting to know other moms from all over the place. I hope in some way I’ve helped you this past year because that is my intention and purpose for my blog. I love all that I’ve learned and in a lot of ways having a blog has saved my sanity during the pandemic these past 10 months. I have lots of goals of where I want to take my blog and it gets me very excited for the future!
I’m also excited about Valentine’s Day!! I love celebrating the holidays and I enjoy showing my boys all the love!
I mean look at this cutie!! (from last year)
It’s nice to show love and appreciation for the people we love dearly!
I’m also excited for Tyler because he turns “5” the day after Valentine’s Day on February 15th! My mommy heart does hurt that he is getting older because he’s in such a sweet spot of being so cute, loving and wanting to hang out with us so much. I just don’t want it to change!
8// What else is new?:
I finished decorating our family room and did a post that includes all the product links and a tour of the room, you can view it HERE.
Tyler has worked hard and now holds pencils the correctly and is getting good at writing his name….someone is ready for Kindergarten next year!!
We had a fun time celebrating and bring in the new year together!
I started doing a new monthly post series called, “Let’s Look” where I show you peeks into the little things in our life. January looked at our coffee bar set up, you can read the post HERE.
Here is the line up of topics for the year….
9// What I’m watching/reading:
I finished watching Bridgerton! Whoa, It took me a minute to get into it and I was wondering what all the buzz is about and then you get to episode 6 and let’s just say it definitely heats up, lol!
I’m currently watching a show with Jason called, The Money Heist! It was recommended highly by my in-laws, my father-in-law, Arturo is from Spain and that’s where it was filmed. It is SO good! Now it’s filmed with the actors speaking Spanish but you can view it in English. However, Jason and I think it messes up the acting a little so we watch it in Spanish with English subtitles. Although, Jason speaks fluent Spanish, I on the other hand do not. Anyways, I highly recommend checking it out.
I wish I could say what I’m reading or listening to a book on audible but I haven’t started back up. Definitely goals to find a new book to listen to.
10// What I’m listening to:
Right now, complete silence and it’s a beautiful thing. Both boys are in school and Jason went into work today, a rarity, so I’m enjoying my alone time because I don’t get much of it these days due to all of us spending so much time at home.
11// What I’m wearing:
A lot of workout clothes lately. I’ve added to my workout attire due to working out everyday right now and I’m loving my new sleeveless tanks from Amazon. Side note: ignore my bed please, it’s sheet washing day, Lol.
Loving my new workout shoes too!
I purchased this over-sized hoodie to wear as a “house jacket” it’s so comfy and soft and I’m loving it! It’s on sale right now at Nordstroms for $41 and comes in 3 different colors. I chose to get it in pink!
My Sunday lounging outfit!
I’m also loving using my new Tory Burch cross-body purse that I purchased with gift cards from Christmas. I chose to get it in this cute navy blue color.
12// What I’m doing this weekend:
Friday night we have our reoccurring Family Fun Night and will enjoy pizza, a movie, and a dance party. Saturday we are meeting our good friends, Kelly & Chip Adkins and are going to Newport Coast to roam the beach and eat lunch at beachcomber and I can’t wait to enjoy an afternoon out of our house. Exploring, enjoying the fresh air, having good food and good conversation is just what my family and I need. I tell ya, I haven’t hung out with friends in a few weeks and it has me a little down, being around friends that I love, brings so much needed fuel & happiness to my soul. Sunday we don’t have any plans so we will relax, meal-plan, exercise and I foresee us playing some board games together.
13// What I’m looking forward to next month:
I kinda already addressed this but I’m looking forward to Valentine’s Day and Tyler’s 5th birthday. We haven’t figured out what we will do to celebrate his b-day yet but probably along the lines of renting a big jump house and having a few friends over. February is a popular birthday month, so I look forward to celebrating my mom, my brother and my nephew Burke’s b-day as well as one of my besties, Katie’s b-day. Other than that, I’m looking forward to tackling some more home projects….my next project is to find new furniture for Luke’s bedroom. Tyler needs to be in a larger bed so we are moving Luke’s old furniture into Tyler’s room, which means new bed, dresser and end-table for Luke, it’s always something. I’m feeling sad that it’s time to move out the baby furniture, bittersweet for sure.
See you here for What’s Up Wednesday, next month!
XO
Natasha says
I miss traveling too. It’s been hitting me extra-hard lately but as I’ve read the What’s Up Wednesday posts it seems like LOTS of people are feeling the same way.
Julie Gimeno says
It’s definitely been a hard year! We are all in the same boat with missing traveling but hopefully by Summertime things will improve.