Breathing, Trust, and Letting Go....

At the beginning of March when I was checking in with my Dr. on my progress towards a healthier life, both mentally and physically, she suggested that I start going to Yoga. I'll admit I heard that with mixed emotions... I have so many friends who practice Yoga and LOVE it.... but it was not anything I thought I could ever do. So I looked up Yoga Studios in the area and found that there was a new one opening ten minutes from my house. After calling and talking to the manager, I decided to give it a try. So last Thursday, wearing my Yoga pants (which let's face it, have become my every day pants), I headed over for my first class.

When I entered the studio, this huge quote on the wall struck me. Not (just) because it was a large vinyl quote, but it is exactly what I need to do. I need to learn how to breathe. I need to learn how to trust more. I definitely need to learn how to let go. And I was about to see what would happen....

A friend gave me some great advice before class. She told me to only worry about what was happening on my mat. I tried to keep that in mind throughout class. I did the best I could to follow the instructions and didn't even look to see what anyone else was doing.  I was surprised at how simple the movements seemed in theory, but how much I was sweating while holding them. I can remember the teacher saying things like "this is working our inner shoulder blade" or "here we are stretching our inner hip" and thinking I have never even thought about those muscles before. One thing is for sure... the next morning I was thinking about them!! OUCH!

I tried 4 different types of classes last week on my own, and another with my children. The more I go the more I think I am figuring out which is right for me. I'm getting more comfortable with the terminology and understanding more each time. The hardest part is turning my mind off.... although I did find today that when we were mid class, I was working so hard I was definitely lost in the movement and not thinking about anything else. That's todays victory. We will see what the next week of classes brings.....

Learning to "Lick the Beaters"

My first week unemployed has been a humbling experience in so many ways... both personally and professionally.

It started as I was making a birthday cake for my sister. (Nothing fancy, but I was whipping my own whipped cream.) As I finished up, I clicked the "beaters" out of my hand mixer and called my girls to the kitchen, just like my Mom always did "Whooooooo wants to lick the beaters???"

I will admit that in that moment I had this feelings of "Ta-da!!!", "I'm so proud I did this!", and "Yay! This is what 'good moms' (like mine) do!" 

....Only my call to the kitchen was met by no one. So I repeated it. Louder of course. "WHOOOOO wants to lick the beaters??" My oldest looked up into the kitchen and said "What's a beater?"

I know it sounds dramatic, but it was as though life stood still for a minute. My thoughts of triumph turned into "OMG they don't know what beaters are?" to "Wait, have I ever used a hand mixer" to "Wow. I am nothing like the good moms. My kids don't even know how to lick the beaters." 

So I brought them both into the kitchen, handed them each a beater (which, in my world as one of three children with 2 beaters was a privilege you fought for.) And my oldest half touched her tongue to it before discarding it in the sink because she didn't understand. Now don't panic, this was homemade whipped cream, so of course I rescued it and taught her how to try again.

What I learned in this experience was humbling.  It got me thinking... yes, this just a "beater" but what other things have I neglected to do with them that are some of my favorite childhood memories... or just things I had always hoped I would do with my own children.  For this week, we started slow...

• We baked muffins for breakfast on Sunday. Jiffy muffins, but they were muffins. 
• I went to school and read with my oldest. 
• I picked the girls up at school and took them for ice cream. 
• I actually sat with each of them while they watched their favorite tv show. Now I know this sounds silly, but I remember sitting with my parents watching Full House, and I still turn it on and feel like I'm on my couch at home. Yet while working, I never took the time....their TV time was my work time. 

My list of things I hope to do is long.... but we got a solid start. It was humbling to realize how many things I need to learn or relearn about them. I know it's not going to be easy or fast, but it's going to be worth it. What are some things you think I should add?

Today is a new day.

Omg. I did it. I quit my job. Never in my life have a quit a job before. I've let my time expire, I've called out and eventually not gone back, I've even escaped on maternity leave. But never have I written a resignation letter before. ... and it broke my heart. As crazy as the last two years have been, walking away from my job was a challenge. Because as I always say, my job was hard work, but it was mostly heart work. I believe so much in what our company is doing, and I truly want the mission to succeed and reach every child every day.

So why quit? Because for the first time in my life,. It's time now to make time for myself, and the 4 M's....

• It's time to reconnect with my almost ten year old (double digits... ahhhh!) as she enters this awkward preteen phase, and from what I'm noticing, needs her Mommy even more now than she did as an independent toddler. 
• It's time to spend time with my five year old, who so desperately wants to learn to read and working with her is more important than stressing over emails, calendars, and babysitting schedules. (And if I have to have one more hysterical crying child FaceTime call, it was going to push me over the edge.
• It's time to connect with my husband..... as my husband... not just the person who takes care of the girls while I'm away. As hard as it is to admit, there have been weeks that went by recently where our only conversations revolve around who did what or needs to do what when with the girls, but I haven't even asked him about his day. That needs to change.
• And equally as important, I need to take care of myself. Something I have not been doing at all.  I've been making everyone else in the world a priority, it wasn't until I was working one day, and my resting heart rate was double what it should be while I was in a ball of sweat in the hallway wondering how I was going to make it through the afternoon that I decided to admit I needed help. That something was just not right. The more I investigated and the more Drs I went to, the more clear it became that my lifestyle and my health were not a match. 

So I had to make the toughest decision of my life. And now here I am, sitting on my family room floor, making plans and wish lists of all the things I want to do. Starting with heading outside for a walk on this sunny morning, so I'll catch you all later..... Wish me luck! 

Saw It! Pinned It! Did It! Two Ingredient Banana Chip Cookies

Have you seen it? The "pin" that says you can make cookies using just ripe bananas, oatmeal, and chocolate chips? 

It shows these beautiful pictures, making it look so incredibly easy, and yummy!

So I had to try it. I figure if they come out like they say they will, they could almost be breakfast! LOL! 

My attempt started with mashing two ripe bananas (not over-ripe, but not brand new either.) I mixed in 1 cup of quick oats, and maybe a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. The recipe says you could also add in nuts or coconut, but I figured I would start simple..... after all, my sister Jenna is the baker in the family, definitely not me! 


They actually looked exactly like they do above in the bowl and on the tray. I had seen another pin that said to roll them to look like this: 

but they were WAYYYYYYY too wet and sticky to make anything that pretty. 

I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.... This is what I got. Again, not as pretty as the picture, but not gross to eat. 

I've been trying to think about how I can describe them.... and pretty much I can say they taste like bananas in oatmeal..... clever, right? ;) Would be another great (and quick!) way to use up those bananas before they go bad.... but I'm not necessarily going to WAIT for that to happen either. ;)

Valentine's Day Cards

It's official.... I think Valentine's Day is my daughters favorite holiday! Yesterday she literally floated around all day, and if she was standing still it was only because she was getting ready to jump up and down. ;) She loves collecting her cards, lining them up, sorting them.... she has every single one from her last three years of Preschool plus now her new ones.

This year we started planning early. With all of the non-candy, homemade Valentine ideas on Pinterest, it was a pretty hard decision!!! In the end, there were three we couldn't live without making so we did them all.

First we decided on something for her class. We found this cute saying "You Color My World With Happiness" on Pinterest to put on crayon boxes. Since sometimes the sayings on Valentines are not really appropriate (in my opinion!) this stood out as something that could be true for everyone in her class!

I designed a full sheet of these and printed them onto a full sheet label, cut them apart, and we stuck them onto the boxes. I always like for the kids to be able to do the writing on them themselves, you can see why---it's so stinkin' cute with kid work on it! In the end, I think it was a great choice! They were really cute and actually useful after the 14th! If you want to do these yourself, you can always design up your own design, or you can purchase this one already made in my Etsy Shop!


Next, we needed something special for her teachers. Another easy Pinterest idea (no surprise there!) stood out to us as just the perfect saying!

This one was easier. We cut out a heart, wrote on it, and punched two holes in to slip the pencil through. Simple and cute!

Last, we needed one for our family. Since we recently had a new addition this year, when I saw these little "thumb"bodies on one of my favorite blogs, I knew I HAD to make them!

For these, I made them 5"x7" so they were frame able afterwards (I thought my Mom & Sister would want it for more than a day!) I printed out the words in the middle on cardstock and made this fun shape, and the heart on my Silhouette Machine and cut them out. The thumbprints and "body" decorating were all courtesy of the children! 

That's all we made this year. ;) My daughter was already scouring Pinterest this morning looking for ideas for next year. 

Did you find any cute candy-free ideas you want to share?

Procraftinating!

Hi. My name is Dana and I am a procraftinator. 

Wow. For the first time in my life I feel like I found the introduction that perfectly describes my life right now! :) Yes, I'm a Mom, a Wife, A Teacher, An Etsy-Shop owner....... but of all the roles I play in life, procraftinator is probably the best description of my day to day life right now. 

My New Years Resolution this year was to try to do better with keeping the house in order..... in the fall when my shop exploded with sales, I often would let it get too far out of control. You know the point.... just past the point where you can easily rush around and clean up the mess between the time your husband calls to say he's leaving work and the time he arrives home..... Instead I would craft until the very last second and he would walk in to what could only be best described as Kansas after the tornado! After a few days in a row, it was just too overwhelming to tackle so I would continue to let it go.

New Year, New Rules. Now I do not allow myself to scroll through Pinterest or sit down with my Silhouette machine until AFTER I have done the laundry and straightened up one room in the house. This way I can feel a lot less guilty about the procraftinating that will occur that rest of that day. 

So far so good..... I haven't forgotten to pick my daughter up at school..... yet. It is only February! ;)

Saw It! Pinned It! Did It! Crockpot Freezer Bags

It's no secret that my favorite cooking appliance is my Crock Pot. I'm not sure how I originally started crock-potting since I never remember my Mom using one.... but I am a total addict now! I have even seriously considered looking at the pin for the woman who has 365 days of Crock Pot meals, but I think my husband might not be a fan for a whole year. ;) 

Last summer I was trying to come up with a great gift idea for my sister when she had her first baby. Something to make her life easier, help make those first few weeks at home go a little more smooth, and take some pressure off. That's when I found this pin for Crock Pot freezer bags! 

You spend one afternoon chopping everything up, and then have tons of meals to just stick frozen in the crock pot in the morning, and you are ready for dinner by evening! Genius! I think my favorite part is that they are full of fresh vegetables, not just all the cream of soup ones I usually find! 

I looked around Pinterest and found tons of different links for similar ideas, and ended up making 2 of everything... that way I had them too! My sister and I had fun for weeks chatting about which ones we had tried. Some of our favorites were: 

BBQ Chicken 

• 2 cups sweet potatoes, 
• 2 cups red and green bell pepper, 
• 1 cup carrots, 
• 2 cups onion, 
• 3 cups zucchini, 
• 2 T flour, 
• 1.5 lbs chicken, 
• 2 cloves garlic, 
• 1 t salt
• Dump bag plus one bottle BBQ sauce into crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Teriyaki Chicken (2 Bags)

• Split a large bag of Baby Carrots between the 2 bags
• Cut Red Onion into Large Chunks and split between the 2 bags
• (1) 20oz can pineapple in each bag (undrained)
• (2) Garlic Cloves chopped per bag
• (2) Chicken Breasts in each bag
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce in each bag

*Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to mixture. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Serve over Rice.

No-Peeking Peking Chicken 

• 8 bone in chicken thighs 
• salt and pepper 
• 3/4 cup chopped scallions 
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1/4 cups soy sauce 
• 3 tbsp. honey 
• 1 tbsp. ginger 
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil 
• 1 bag frozen corn kernels 
• 1 bag frozen snow pea pods 
• 1 red pepper chopped 

Roast and Vegetables 

• 2 lb chuck roast, cut into cubes 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper 
• 1 large onion cut into 8ths 
• 1 bag baby carrots 
• 1/2 teaspoon celery or onion salt 
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, DO NOT DRAIN 
• 2 cans condensed tomato soup 
• 2 beef boullion cubes, softened 
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes 
• 1 can whole kernel corn, DRAINED 
• 6-8 small red potatoes, cubed 

Have you ever tried bagged recipes like this? What are your favorites?