I took time off after the holidays.

With all of the hustle and bustle of moving in on top of the wonderful holiday season, I decided to take time off. I spent a week at home and let me tell you, it was the best thing ever for me. I got so much done. I was able to unpack and organize my living space. I worked out every evening. I did my first live stream. I finished up some reading and started new books for the year. I started a new television series. I was able to just sit and make plans for the new year and goals, manifest and pray. And most importantly, I was able to just be.

I was able to just get a real feel for my new living space. I had the opportunity to clean and cook and just be right where I am. I am grateful to have taken this time to not go anywhere or do anything but just relax and run things at my own pace.

This is a friendly reminder to just take the time off. Work is important. Work is a blessing. Work provides for your family. But that job doesn’t care about you. Allow yourself time to take breaks. It doesn’t have to be a vacation every time you take off. How often do you take off work to travel and end up feeling not well rested afterwards because you had busied yourself up?

Don’t feel bad about taking time off to do what you love. To care for your mental health and heal in anyway you can.

Tackling clutter

I felt so overwhelmed this past month because my fiance and I never seemed to be off the same days and we were working around the clock to get the house moved in and organized and cleaned up. And no it’s still not perfect but I feel like I’m in a lot better position because I was able to take time to unbox and filter through what needs to go where. Opposed to, during the work week I felt too busy or too tired from my long work days to even focus on where everything needs to go. My routine was all off in the new place. I was shuffling though boxes of clothes with nothing having a home… It just was not a fun time for me.

It’s amazing how one’s space has an effect on your outlook on life. Having stuff in it’s place and neat and organized helps you feel that way on the inside as well. Living in clutter and chaos really gives me anxiety. I’m so happy to finally feel organized and have my house feeling like a home.

Get in routine

Also, during this time I decided to take an hour out of my day to workout even if I tried to make excuses for myself. I knew this was something that was important to me and will be in the next coming year. It’s important for me. I always find myself afterwards sleeping better, feeling more focused and energized during the day. when I work out. I wish I had the opportunity to do it everyday of the week when I work but it’s just simply not possible with my 14 hr days. I do normally take my days off and utilize them for workout days but instead of the typical two days a week I’m going to try three. My friend, Tara, who I used to workout with all of the time has rejoined me and it’s so funny how more you want to push yourself when you have a partner beside you. I feel more motivated to push through the pain.

We decided that we wanted to create a vlog and Instagram to help hold us to be more accountable and be more consistent in the upcoming months. It’s mainly for fun and for us but we are more than happy yo have people join us by watching our journey and hopefully become inspired to do what they have always wanted to do.

Let’s go Live

I did my first live stream on twitch for the first time in years. I didn’t used to stream games, I would use it more as a IRL livestream fun thing. This time I used it to stream a game that I like to play in my free time called Cozy Grove. It’s a very cute cozy game that’d similar to animal crossing but you help the villager ghost spirits cross over by doing tasks for them. I mainly just streamed to find out if my webcam and mic worked. I was happy to find a happy medium and get rolling on sharing something that I enjoy.

Catch up on reading

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as well as this other book by Alix Harrow called The Once And Future Witches. I started both of these books back in October. I lie to read two books at a time. Sometimes more. I really liked both of these books although the only way that they were similar is the magic in them.

Most people have heard of the Harry Potter Franchise. I remember maybe reading the first couple of books when I was younger but I also really remember watching the movies. It was a huge part of my childhood growing up. It’s really neat how much the movie follows a long the book but there is also so much that the book covers that you wouldn’t otherwise know about the wizarding community.

The Once and Future Witches is a beautifully written story about three sisters who uncover the magic within themselves. It was written in the time of the woman’s suffrage and becomes more of a woman’s power story and how these women overcome oppression.

Sit and be still

Due to our off the wall schedules there has been minimum time for me and my fiance, Alex, to actually sit and watch something together. Our family and friends highly suggested Yellowstone which I’ve been told is really similar to Sons of Anarchy but with cowboys and ranches. I had never personally seen sons of anarchy but I really like Yellowstone so far. It’s like a modern day version of the old cowboy and Native American debacle. It’s really thrilling and keeps you wanting more. It can bee found on HBOMax and Prime Video.

Plan

Even with all of this I still wanted to make time to just sit and plan and write. There’s so much I want to accomplish this year and get things aligned for 2023. I know these past two years has left us with a lot of uncertainty and change but I am going to plan to the best of my ability and get things in order to achieve my goals.

What do you plan to do with this year? Make the most out of it? Plan what you can or just let it ride? Let me know in the comments!

with love,

c.p