Friday Thoughts | Mile’s Kitchen Cafe

1) Catch up:

• Finally listened to The boys are in the boat And I really liked it. We also watched PBS Documentary Boy of ’36 As a family, it was so much fun!
• Feeling called to repent After my announcement about Hate yoga in this post; I took your suggestions (dozens and dozens of them!) To give Yoga with Adrian Try, and, you guys, you were right (no surprise). Really cool. I’ve been making shorter videos of it, 10-20 minutes, multiple times a week, and I can definitely say that I don’t hate yoga as much and that the nagging hip pain is manageable. I have converted many other friends, so I guess you could say I got certified for yoga with Adriene, and it’s totally a miracle.
• Hand over the books to the elementary school; finally! With covid protocols, it took a while for elementary school to open up for visitors / donations, which delayed the simple Cultural Awareness Book Project. I was finally excited to have these books delivered to our elementary school. Here is a list From the books we donated. We bought most of the books from EyeSeeMe Library. I hope to complete the Cultural Awareness / Literacy Project this next year and engage our community and other families!

2) Decisions: Hope we can still be friends, but I’m not one of the people who has set too many goals when the new year comes.

I always start every new year with a lot of holidays (2020 taking this to a whole new level), and I’ve learned that I’m really overwhelmed with a bunch of new goals staring at me.

Better to focus on going through each day without inhaling an entire bag of chocolate chips. just me?

When I set goals, I try to keep them simple and attainable, such as setting aside time in my plan (yes, my custom paper planner) to read the Bible daily and exercise two days every week. things like that.

My general wish for myself this year is to get rid of some non-essential projects and stop managing other people’s feelings. wish me luck. Haha.

Are you a new year resolution? What is your style?

3) Holiday game: Thanks to my longtime blogging buddy, Rachel R., for sending me this game idea just in time for the holidays. Clasic {Aff. Link} He was the ultimate winner of the holiday gift. It’s so much fun! I couldn’t wait for my end-of-year gift guide to tell you so. We still play it non-stop.

I will not lie, I am very good. (The 16-year-old is currently fiercely discussing this fact with me.)

Any favorite Christmas finds / gifts to share?

4) Homemade gifts: On Christmas, we decided, or rather, dictated, that the kids give homemade gifts to each other. They always choose another sibling’s name for the Christmas gift anyway, but this year, the focus has been on homemade gifts on purpose. The only criteria: It should be homemade and level above the popsicle stick scope.

Although at first ananas and groans and some Extremely The last moment (i.e. Christmas Eve) pushed things to an end, complete with a few moments of mom’s eagerly screaming (not proud, but the truth), it ended up being one of the best Christmas moments.

The kids loved opening and seeing what their siblings had made for them, and they were really excited and grateful that each of them experienced the effort it took to make a gift for someone else.

Let’s see, we had a crocheted scarf and a painted treasure box, a hand carved sword, and a homemade pillow case, among a few other delights. I haven’t yet done the news that makes this a yearly tradition.

Also, the 14-year-old told me while writing this post, “In a million years, I never imagined that I would be able to sew anything.” He continued, “I never intend to.” And then finally: “Are you going to pay me to post my picture on the Internet?”

5) Arthritis in my hand: Despite the fact that we literally can’t stuff another blanket (or stuffed animal, for that matter) in our home, I decided not to be hypocritical with “make someone a homemade gift” and to crochet both the kids and Brian’s Christmas blanket.

I ditched my very rusty knitting skills, and I started working on this Single stitch pattern. The easiest pattern ever. The reason why these blankets are unique and amazing is because Bernat blanket yarn (JoAnns or Michaels with 40% coupons!), And the resulting blanket is soft and addictively cuddly.

I didn’t give myself much time, and I ended up knitting in the very late hours of the night (morning, morning) nearly every night in December, but I finished whipping my teeth with sore knots, hands with arthritis and blood congestion.

Now my goal is to make one for myself so that I don’t keep stealing Brian or the baby blankets when we watch a movie. Let’s hope my still hurting hand can make the latter before 2025.

6) rock climbing: A new hobby for our family, and we’re addicted to it thanks to Brian’s parents who gave us a two-month membership for a gift this year. Most of us are Pillai certified, and let me just say: It’s very interesting to place absolute confidence in one of your children to keep you safe as you climb up an oddly high wall.

And by “climbing an oddly high wall,” I mean, lift about 5 1/2 feet and ask to lower it right away, because your arms and legs are about to fall from exhaustion.

On the other hand, I amazed my children with their efforts of goats to overcome certain roads.

7) Best Dry Shampoo Ever: Listen, I’m not an expert at everything, but I know two things: chocolate chip cookies and dry shampoo. I have used about 384 brands of dry shampoo over the years, and This is the best thing ever {Aff. Link}.

It’s more expensive than other brands, but can you really put a price tag on your ability to spend a shocking number of days without washing your hair and not looking like a grease ball? No, you cannot. Also, I use less than other brands because it is very effective.

8) quick thinking: With the New Year and so much focus on healthy eating, fitness goals, and New Year’s resolutions, I was reminded and I felt so much grateful for how I totally changed my perspective when I read the book. Intuitive eating {Aff. Link} And I began to pursue redefining beauty (website/Instagram).

With absolutely no exaggeration, I can say that this book + arithmetic has been life-changing for me as I work on developing resilience of body image and teaching my kids the same. At home, I gotta start with just saying Your body … Before my kids start coming in “… a tool, not a decoration!”

I know this topic is like discussing politics: a lot of opinions, but I feel strongly about the insights I’ve learned over the years.

Once I got crazy (like, really crazy) with the diet culture and the illogical ideals of society and demanding that women never get old (insert eye roll + punch throat), it helped me free me of some of the restrictive ideas I had about my body and nutrition And a lot of other things … and I was happier.

Let’s not be too hard on ourselves, okay?

Thanks for being here (and a special bonus to those who made it to the end of this post!).

I’d love to hear your thoughts – any and all of them!

I appreciate when you share the “real” in your life. The good, the bad, the hard. I’ve learned a lot from all of you over the years.

Personally, I suffer from many things (High anxiety On that list). And while I’m lucky for you, I’m not just identifying all of the struggles here Remember, everyday life carries a lot more than what we read in blog posts and feature in little square shots on Instagram.

Sometimes, it helps and validates knowing that we are not alone – in the good moments and the difficult moments. I love your courage.

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