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| LETTERING VIA WHITTON & WHITE |
THINKING ABOUT: Until yesterday I never dabbled in the wild world of Instagram Stories. I know what you're thinking, "Way to tackle 2017 with gusto, Ash!" In the past, I would open it up out of curiosity, see the dark bags under my eyes and scary forehead wrinkle, then nervously close out of it and proceed to check my profile picture to ensure there wasn't a colorful ring around it. That would mean I published something and we can't have that now can we?? Go on, yuck it up, chuckles! I actually think it was a post I saw on Tuesday with a sign that read "Too old for Snapchat and too young for Life Alert" that inspired me to take the plunge. No, seriously. Naturally, I turned to Lady Google and referred to a tutorial for guidance—as you might expect from a hip and with it 31-year-old woman in Swell Rio. You guys, stop laughing! I love Instagram for the visual eye candy and as a personal forum for me to capture details/moments and edit images, but I'd be remiss if I didn't let others in on the not-so-curated aspects of motherhood and our life in a sleepy border town. For selfish reasons, I'm also pretty excited to use the option as a means of survival these next few weeks. Keeping an eye on a recovering Berner means we're cooped up inside the house a lot more than I like, so I've had to rethink my daily schedule with Max, and some days that makes us all a little stir crazy. Motherhood can feel a bit isolating at times, so why not have fun with it, right?! Now everyone that follows along can get a taste of the REAL Maxwell. Hehe!
THANKFUL FOR: You guys have all been so supportive and encouraging since I shared my feelings about Tripp. I honestly can't thank you enough for the sweet comments, messages, and snail mail. I'm all about embracing my emotions. I've always been a very emotional person and I love a good cry, but I'd be lying if I didn't say this change rocked my world a bit. I know that this is a part of life and it's up to me to press onward and shake the funk, but the more I tried to mask the feelings and push them to the side, the more I realized I wasn't helping the situation. I knew it was bad when I found myself withholding affection from Beesly. How's that even possible?! Quite honestly, I didn't even realize I was doing it, but I was essentially giving her what she needed to help her with her recovery and keeping our interactions to a minimum. I left the snuggling to Flyboy, as she's his best girl (next to me, obvi), and went on with our day. I finally caught myself and felt ashamed, so I shared my feelings with Flyboy. Everything about her made me miss Tripp and desperately wish I could see both dogs together again. To me, they were always a pair and I never pictured life with them individually. Does that make sense, or do I just sound really cold-hearted? Writing, in my experience, helps me work through my feelings and for the first time last night, I was able to really bond with Beesly again and that was a huge relief. I needed to write yesterday's post so I could move forward and embrace the new normal. It doesn't mean that I have to forget about our past, but it's a great reminder to put the lessons Tripp taught us into action and that's to be present and love BIG. Thank you for letting me throw it all that out there. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share.
WATCHING: My sister sent my mom and me this Brené Brown video (Boundaries, Empathy, and Compassion) last week. I've watched it three times since Aubrey suggested it to us AND took different notes each time. You guys, it's life changing and incredibly insightful! If you get a chance, you've GOT to watch it. As a lifelong people pleaser it spoke to me on a lot of levels, but it mostly left me feeling empowered and confident to say "No, this isn't okay with me." I never set any real goals for the year (Hello, Insta Stories! Ha!), but I think I want to genuinely focus on what Brené discusses here. It might be a good place to start...
EATING: Aside from eating out a few times on the weekends (Who wants to cook all the time anyway?!), I've planned weeknight meals exclusively using the Skinnytaste Fast and Slow Cookbook for two weeks straight and there hasn't been a bad recipe yet.
Here are a few of our favorites so far...
(recipe not available on the site, but I'm sure you can figure out the rest)
LISTENING TO: Is that really a crying child I can hear as I pen today's post? His nap hasn't even lasted a full hour. For those of you who have yet to have kids, this is what moms like to refer to as a sick joke. I blame the neighbor's barking hound. Tsk, tsk.
READING: You know that period in between the holidays and last Friday when I wasn't blogging? Yeah, well, I convinced myself I was going to get sooooooooo much reading done, but then I never got around to it. Sigh. Would somebody tell me what I did with all of that free time?! Because I definitely wasn't working out either. Oops! My mom got me Lauren Graham's Talking as Fast as I Can for Christmas. Has anybody read it yet?! I'm FOR REAL going to read it this time. #PRIORITIES
LOVING: Dr. Jart's Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment has got me *almost* believing I could go foundation free. My complexion has always been something I've struggled with, so the last sentence says A LOT! Very rarely do I go without makeup, and I never believed I would feel comfortable doing so, but the voodoo magic that comes from this jar is crazy good. Just the tiniest bit of this green cream goes a long way and manages to even out my redness and scarring. I currently use it as a primer paired with IT Cosmetics CC Cream. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to go without the latter?
Enough about me. How are you feeling today? What are you up to? Thanks for stopping by!!
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