5 New Healthy Habits

This summer, Shawn and I are trying to start new healthy habits. We’re hoping that by implementing these new healthy habits during the summer when we have a little more time, we’ll be able to carry them into the regular school year!

1. Drink more water – We have completely given up drinking soda! We used to drink soda all the time. Whenever we were out, whenever we were home… you get the idea. We can still drink juice, but we’re really trying our hardest not to. We’ve been doing this for a few days already, and I can already feel a difference in how I feel!

2. Having better posture – I used to have amazing posture, just because I grew up playing piano. Once I went to college, I began slouching over my computer at my desk, lying on my bed watching Netflix, and well now I have back problems because of having bad posture and a mix of other things. I always fine myself having to readjust, especially at work while sitting in little kid chairs!

3. Exercise – I definitely have been doing a lot more exercise, especially at work since I’m on my feet all day. Plus, chasing after a one year old also has its advantage when it comes to exercising. During summer school, I’ll be in the pool all day helping kids with swimming lessons so I can at least count on that. But come time for summer school to be over, I’m definitely going to have to work on getting outside more, even if it means going for a walk around the neighborhood.

4. Sleep – Okay, we all are saying that we need more sleep. But it’s true! I keep reading all these articles about how much sleep kids are supposed to be getting, but what about adults! We have crazy busy lives; working, running errands, just surviving! How can we do all that if we’re not getting enough sleep? I’m trying to lessen my screen time, especially before going to bed. Last year I was so good about reading for a little bit before falling asleep, and I definitely slept better. This summer, I’m going to try to do the same thing. It definitely helps that I have a huge pile of books that I’ve been meaning to read, but just haven’t had the time to do!

5. Eat healthier foods – I eat pretty healthy on a regular basis. I love my fruits and veggies. I always have well proportioned meals. It’s my snacking that always gets to me. Having chips around, or cookies, or popcorn! Now I’m not saying snacking isn’t good, but I’m also saying it isn’t bad. Sometimes you just need a little afternoon snack to keep you going. But I find myself snacking at 10 at night, when I really should just be going to bed instead of looking for something to eat because “I’m bored!”.

Let me know if you have any tips for making sure your new healthy habits are getting implemented. Also, does anyone have any good healthy recipes? I’m always looking for something new to cook up for dinner!

Happy Friday

Wow did this week go by quickly!  To start, the San Francisco Giants won and they are going to the World Series!! That definitely makes one happy family here.  This past week was filled with some amazing visits with some of my friends, getting and starting a new job, lots of homework (thank you midterm season!), and lots of celebration (Shawn got accepted into the Master’s program at APU!).  Oh, and might I just add, it’s FINALLY starting to look and feel like fall around here.  From my balcony, I can start to see some of the leaves at the tops of trees starting to turn colors, it’s no longer 80+ degrees when I wake up in the morning around 7 AM, and look at this beautiful sunset that we had a couple of days ago.  Note: This photo was taken 1, through a window and 2, it is not edited with any filters.  How amazing is that?!

via Instagram

Okay, now onto some of my favorite things I came across this week that I want to share with you all!

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Sleep is a word that everyone is familiar with and we all wish that we could get more of it, right? This morning I was doing my routine social media scroll on my phone before I got out of bed, and I came across this article that one of my friends had shared on Facebook.  It’s called What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep.  Okay- well that right there is a definitely intriguing title, so of course I had to read it.  Some of the things I knew happened if you didn’t get a lot of sleep, such as being more irritable and more colds.  But some of them absolutely shocked me- unhappiness, depression, and death are on the list!  This really caught my attention. I absolutely love sleep, however when I was a Freshman in college, I used to not get much sleep.  It didn’t bother me that I only got 4 or 5 hours of sleep.  I was young and wanted to enjoy my college experience. Seriously though- 2 AM Donut Man runs are the BEST.

via Relevant Magazine

Another article that I came across was from Relevant Magazine, and it was about Honoring the Sabbath.  We live in a society that is so busy with something happening in our lives all the time.  How often to do we actually just sit and relax, without thinking about what needs to get done next or where we need to be in the next 15 minutes?  In college, I used to try and honor the Sabbath on Sunday, mostly because I didn’t want to do any of my homework.  But of course, once my choir schedule started picking up, and we started having concerts on Saturday, homework had to be done on Sunday, and there was no way around it.  Thus ended me attempt at honoring the Sabbath.  However, now that my schedule is much different, I really have enjoyed not doing anything on Sundays.  Well, I should explain a little.  I don’t not do anything, but I don’t do work that could be done on other days, such as cleaning the house and doing laundry.  Sundays are time where I spend it with friends (and sometimes family if they’re in town!) and I go to church in the morning, lunch with friends and/or family, and then head over to Shawn’s house for the afternoon, which usually leads us to going to his church’s Sunday evening family service, where we teach Sunday School.  So I’m not exactly not doing anything, but I enjoy what I’m doing and I always feel rested and ready to conquer another week!

I’m not a big soda person.  I have this weird thing that I don’t drink brown soda. So that leaves me with Sprite and Orange soda.  But I will tell you this- my family (not just my immediate family. My WHOLE ENTIRE FAMILY) keeps the Coca-Cola industry going. Mainly the Diet Coke part.  But I had to share this commercial that Taylor Swift did with her kittens. It’s just too cute not to pass up.  It’s nice to see “nice, family friendly” commercials.  Because a lot of the commercials I’ve been seeing lately, haven’t been the nicest at all!

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HGTV has always been one of my favorite channels to watch on TV.  In the next week or so, my roommate Heidi will be moving out to live with our sister out in the Santa Monica area.  It will definitely be weird not having a roommate, especially since I’ve been living with roommates for the past 4+ years now!  Aside from Pinterest being one of my favorite places to look up decorating ideas and stuff like that, I love watching HGTV and going on their website!  Some of my favorite HGTV shows are Property Brothers, The High Low Project, and Love It or List It.