rushley & crew

shane & chelsey jonson, jessica & dan porter, us, and katie & tyler allan  Russ's birthday is January 3. Incidentally, my dad's birthday is also January 3. I grew up hearing all the time that it's the worst time to have a birthday because you've already had to plan the whole holiday season, and then you're expected to have more energy for a birthday?! Haha I totally get this, and I've been guilty of it for many of Russ's birthdays thus far in our marriage. However, I've also learned recently that truth is reallllllly relative, and you can kind of choose your truth. For instance, someone can like peaches, and someone can hate peaches. Who is right? Both? Neither? It's relative! So. While I could give in to believing that January 3 is a horrible time for a birthday and therefore never put in effort to do nice things to celebrate Russ, I decided I wasn't going to do that. I decided that January 3 is going to be a great time for a b...

As I've started my own family, I've thought a lot about traditions. What are things that I want my family to do to celebrate various holidays and occasions? As I've thought about it, I've often gone to Pinterest to see what ideas are out there. When it comes to birthdays, I've seen that some people celebrate "birthday week" or even "birthday month." In the past when I've seen these things (because the Pinterest scrolling I'm talking about took place years ago), I've thought, "How great! That would be so awesome to be celebrated for a whole week!" I thought that again as I watched the stories of an Instagrammer that I follow, when she said that on each day of "birthday week," the birthday kid gets one present and there is one fun activity. However, my recent experiences with planning Russ's birthday and some Insta stories (that I saw the very same day as the above stories!) from Fun, Cheap, or Free  gave ...

I read The Happiness Project  wayyy back in 2014. I loved it! It's not my faaaavorite self-help book, but I definitely enjoyed it. Then, when I jumped in to the world of podcasts shortly after Ada was born, I soon started listening to Happier with Gretchen Rubin . I binge listened during the months that I would try to hold Ada during naps in order to extend the naps (PS, that didn't work . . . only a sleep consultant could help me!), and I still listen now. Several months ago, Gretchen did a podcast on "planning a virtual move." It didn't turn out to be what I expected, so after listening, I wrote in and shared my idea, which Gretchen then shared in a subsequent episode! I remember waking up the morning that the episode came out, seeing my phone alert me that I had a new podcast from Gretchen Rubin called, " Plan a Virtual Move 2.0 ," and wondering if maybe, just maybe, it was about the idea I had sent in . . . and it was! (I didn't know ahead o...

2018 was the best year ever. Some of the big things I had to do to make it such an awesome year were to STOP spending so much time on social media, START concretely planning my time and activities, and CONTINUE being kind to my imperfect, human self. I got healthier than I've ever been. I found a way to enjoy my exercise and even look forward to it, so I was much more consistent with it! I exercised at least three times each week. I also decided it was finally time to eat healthier foods, so I ate mostly fruits and veggies and other whole foods, and I severely limited my sugar intake because I wanted to be really kind to my body. I still ate grains and treats occasionally, but wayyyyyyy less often than in 2017. I even had better a1C's because I tested my blood more often and paid more acute attention. Being healthier enabled me to have a fit pregnancy ! I didn't gain as much weight as I did with Ada, and I didn't have as heavy of a baby, either! I also didn...

The past few years, I have had this running list of things I can work on. So here it is again, with accomplished goals removed, and also with a few additions and deletions based on how my life has changed in the past few years. Cut back on social media usage  - Well, at least for 10 days, I did a social media fast. I have intentions of putting strict regulations around social media, but have yet to follow through on that 😐 Focus on consistency Come up with a meal-planning strategy Try something new Read a book  -  168 Hours, Make the Bed, The Power of Now, A Simple Favor, 7,  and various sleep books Go skinny dipping Throw a dinner party for friends Do karaoke Join a sports team Splurge on something that will last me years Go on a cross-country road trip Attend a major sporting event Take a class that’s totally out of my element, like improv, golf, or pottery-making Unplug for a full day, or maybe even a full weekend or week  Say yes f...