Life Organization Series- Meal Planning

 For the month of January I will be running a life organization series that will give you simple ideas to keep your life running smoothly.  I know that even with a pandemic happening, life goes on and sometimes things can feel out of control or disorganized.  I am hoping that this series will help with that.  I want to share some of the things that work well for me to keep my household running smoothly.

The first thing I am going to talk about is meal planning.  Meal planning has been an extremely impactful part of my life.  In general, I don't feel particularly energetic at the end of my day.  During the week I don't have to spend time or energy choosing what we are going to eat for dinner.  I have already done that work and it really makes my evenings run smoothly.  Planning is easy and only takes me 15-20 minutes a week.

Step 1:

I take a look at what I have on hand.  It is important to me to use up anything that may be expiring soon or going off.  I like to reduce food waste.  At this point, however, I don't usually have much left in the fridge.  I have learned what we use and I pretty good at purchasing only what we need.  

Step 2:  

I make my grocery list.  I try to only purchase things when they are on sale, with the odd exception.  I look at the grocery flyer and find out what is on sale.  I write out my grocery list by category.  I used to write my list by aisle, but they have recently changed things up on me!

Step 3:

I decide on meals according to the ingredients that I will have on hand.  It can help if you have a master list of the meals that your family enjoys.  I do try new meals, but for the most part I pick from our family's master list.

Step 4:

Decide which days to put the meals on.  I always look at our calendar in case we have something going on that will make it difficult to do meal prep that is more involved.  For example, I host a Zoom book club on Monday evenings.  This means that I need to get my kids to be early.  On Mondays, I choose quick and easy meals so that I can serve dinner early.

Meal planning is so simple and it really takes the pressure off of me during the week.  It is a 15 minute investment of time that can really change how you feel about feeding yourself and your family.  There are a few simple things that you can do to help make this process even easier:

• Make a master meal list.  Write down meals that your family enjoys.  Ask your family what their favourite meals are.  Use the list to help you plan when you are feeling stuck.
• Plan a theme night.  On Fridays we always have chicken fingers and fries for supper.  It isn't a culinary masterpiece, but by Friday I am so sick of cooking.  It gives me a break and my kids love it.  Saturday mornings are for cereal which is something I don't serve during the week.
• Feel free to swap your meals around if you need to.  If you forgot to take out meat for supper, swap it with another meal on your list.  There are no hard and fast rules to meal planning.  It is simply framework for you to work with.

Happy meal planning, friends!

 

Winter Capsule Wardrobe- 2021

 This capsule wardrobe is the smallest I have ever made for a full season.  We are still living in a pandemic, however and we don't go out or socialize.  This means that I need less from my wardrobe.  I have chosen to create a wardrobe that is simple, comfortable and suits our pandemic life.  I am hopeful that with the vaccinations coming, we will be able to resume some of our normal activities by late spring or early summer.  Maybe my clothes can be more interesting at that time.  Until then, my casual and comfortable capsule wardrobe will work just fine.

My wardrobe consists of 13 pieces:

3 tees:

6 sweatshirts:

4 pants:

Happy Wednesday, friends!

2021- Word of the Year and Goals

 

I chose the word build for my word of the year.  2020 was challenging in ways that most of us were not expecting.  During the pandemic I worked on skills that I had learned in the past.  I figured out skills that were useful for my mental health, for our family finances and for the overall happiness of our little family.

The most important thing that I did in 2020 was undertake a strength workout challenge.  I made the decision in October to complete 82 strength workouts before the end of 2020.  This averaged to 5 workouts per week.  My mental health had been suffering and I was tracking my mental health so that I could figure out what tools would help me feel content.  What I discovered was that on days where I had worked out, particularly on days where I had done a strength workout (walks don't produce the same results for me), I felt happier and didn't experience extreme lows.

The results spoke for themselves.  Short, intense strength workouts do wonders to improve my mental health.  This year, I vow to build on that.  I plan to complete a minimum of 4 strength workouts a week.  I also plan to complete a minimum of 4 cardio workouts (including walking) and a minimum of 2 stretching or yoga workouts.  I want to feel strong, both mentally and physically.

The other skill I plan to build on is strengthening and maintaining a good morning routine.  This is a habit that I easily fall out of, but it is so beneficial when I keep it.  I am an introvert.  I enjoy spending time alone.  This year, I have felt like I am never alone.  My kids and I are always together.  My oldest is doing virtual school and we have been avoiding pretty much all social contact.  I love being with my family, but I still crave time to myself.  My evenings are spent plugging away at my school work or with my husband so I am still not getting restorative alone time.

When I get up early and have time to myself before my kids are up, I am happier and my day runs smoothly.  I love the way the day feels when I get time to myself in the morning.  The problem lies in the fact that I hate rolling out of bed, so I often avoid getting up until the last minute.

I acknowledge that I don't ever feel like jumping out of bed, even on days when I have had ample sleep.  I am never going to feel great getting up early, but it certainly sets a much more positive tone for the day and helps me feel prepared.  This is worth it.

I am going to ease into my morning routine, especially since the holidays have been full of late nights.  I plan to have my routine in place by February and then I plan to keep it going all year long.

Did you set any intentions for 2021?  I would love to hear them!

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!  I know that this holiday season looks different for most of us.  We are spending our Christmas at home with just the four of us.  We have planned a few Zoom dates with family so that we can be together even when we can't be together.  

I wish all of you a peaceful Christmas.  Take care and stay safe.

Fall Capsule Wardrobe Outfits 21.12.2020

I am sharing the last few outfit pictures that I took of my Fall Capsule Wardrobe.  I have moved on to my next wardrobe plan and I am working on sorting out the wardrobe before I share it with you next week.  I am toying with the idea of a uniform instead of an entire wardrobe.  I will still include a few options outside of the 'uniform', but since most days I am at home with my kids, with the exception of grocery runs, a uniform makes sense at this point of life during a pandemic.

I enjoyed my Fall Capsule Wardrobe, but as the weather became colder and COVID-19 cases have risen we have mostly stuck close to home and I stopped utilizing my wardrobe fully. 

Happy Wednesday, friends!

 

Quick Life Update

Hello Everyone!  I haven't been on the blog in such a long time, but it feels good to be back and writing.  I thought I would give you a quick life update.

• I finished my first semester of school.  I was looking for a career change and decided to go for it.  My school was the victim of a cyber attack, however so my ability to register for a second semester is up in the air.  Ugh.
• My youngest is potty trained.  Wow.  My oldest child was a nightmare to potty train (which was more of a problem with how I did it, I think) so I was bracing for the worst.  My youngest has done really well, so it has been a pleasant surprise.
• My oldest is now on winter break from virtual schooling.  Her teacher has been wonderful and has somehow managed to keep the kids feeling connected and enthusiastic about learning.  We are very lucky to have her.
•  My husband's job change has allowed more time at home lately and I am thankful for that.  It is wonderful to have him around.  He is a great cook and made us turkey dinner on the weekend.  It was so delicious.
• I have almost completed my 82 workouts to finish off 2020.  My workouts are integral for me to maintain my mental health.  I set up a workout spot downstairs and it has become such a great  space to have.

I know this year has been tough.  I hope you all are doing well and managing through this pandemic.  I will be posting a little more over the next few weeks.  Talk to you soon!

Fall 2020 Capsule Wardrobe- 7.10.2020

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this week.  It was a low-key celebration due to COVID-19, but we really enjoyed having some time alone together.  We visited my favourite place (the lake where my parents have a cabin) and then we went to the city.  In the city we picked up supper, ice cream and coffee before heading home.  It was so nice for us to just be able to chat without interruption and it was nice to listen to music that wasn't from a children's movie.

I have 4 outfits to share with you this week.  I wore several of my new ThredUp purchases, which I am really pleased with.

This dress came from ThredUp.  I love the colour.  I paired it with the shoes I wore for my wedding.  

This pink sweater came from ThredUp.  I love wearing crew neck sweatshirts and most of mine are beginning to wear out.  The pants are the "Dressy Sweatpant" from Encircled.

This dress is an Old Navy find that I purchased through ThredUp.  It is so comfortable.

This dress came from Zulily.  The jean jacket is from The Bay.

This leopard print sweatshirt is what my outfit dreams are made of.  It combines my love of leopard and my love of sweatshirts.  It is from ThredUp, as well.  My jeans are from Old Navy.

Happy Wednesday, friends!