Five Simple Things (May 26)

Hello.

Here are five things this week.

1. This pottery.

Skylar brought these home from his class at LBCC and I just love them. Pottery is such a fun thing and if I had my own kiln I would be making it every day.

2. These fortunes.

The best part of Chinese take out is the fortunes, right?

3. This day.

It was a good day.

4. This coop.

This duck coop has been such a great addition to us having ducks, but the time has come to replace it with something new. We loved this duck house from the moment we set it up, but unfortunately these types of coops don't last long in the elements. The sides are made from a thin wood and aren't setup to last for long periods of time. Even if this coop was out of the elements, the overall construction isn't great. We have had to fix, repair, and even reconstruct a lot of the coop over the years and every time we cleaned out one part of the coop, it seems another part would need to be repaired. We are currently looking at getting a small shed, but right now we are limping the coop by until we decide.

5. This garden.

Our garden is coming along nicely and we see plants breaking through the soil. We are anxious to see what all is successful this year and what we are going to have for a harvest. This will be the last year that our garden is in this location. We already have plans on where to move it and start with fresh new beds. We can't wait, but for now, we are expecting a good harvest from this year's garden.

One last thing:

I've been working with a dietitian on foods to help me stay at a certain weight, but also help me stay on track. I've been working with her ever since my car accident happened where I lost a lot of weight and the hospital was worried that I would go back on old habits of an eating disorder. I have to eat a weekly determined number of calories every day and sometimes I have a hard time meeting those goals. I hate cooking, so Jeff and Skylar have been keeping me with those calories so that I can meet my calorie goals. I will be honest, sometimes it's really hard, but we can all do hard things. Especially things that help us stay health. Below is a couple of food options that were on the list of calories. Rice with one tablespoon of butter, and two tablespoons of nutritional yeast. The other option was four strips of bacon cooked in the oven and four protein pancakes with one tablespoon butter, one tablespoon jelly/jam, syrup, or honey. This day's calories were hard to get through. I don't like bacon that much, so I wasn't able to eat the entire plate, but I did the best I could and that's all that matters. If you too are struggling with having a good relationship with food, it is going to be tough some days, but overall it's so rewarding to reach a goal, even if it's small.

Positive affirmations this week:

I have started leaving my phone in the kitchen to charge on the charging strip each night and I have gotten Skylar to do the same. We noticed one important thing when we started doing this, we get so much better sleep at night. I mentioned it to Jeff to do, too, but he uses his for his alarm in the morning, so that's a no-go for him... or is it? Using you phone for your alarm clock is one of the biggest issues with people sleeping with their phones next to their heads while they sleep. But breaking that happen only takes you removing the cell phone from the room. No one says you have to use your phone for that, you are choosing to do that. There are so many different alarm clocks on the market that can help you wake up just as efficiently. The best step would be to try it out on a day that you don't have to be at work, or any appointments. Give yourself some learning curve days, too. It's hard to break a habit, but that first step is all it takes. Your sleep will be so much better.

You can do this! 🌈