I'm Cool

Ah! This last week has been one of great personal progress for me. Several days ago I saw something on my Instagram feed that really brought up a rush of negative emotions. I've been dealing with some really weird stuff with....people (for lack of a better word) for awhile. Life happens, and I get that relationships die out, personalities change, and it's all good. However, when I have a good thing going I really try to hold onto it, especially with friends because making friends or connections with people just isn't something which comes easily to me.
Anyway, the photo that popped up on IG made me realize I've been holding on to a lot of relationships that in all honesty are just..done. They aren't "a good thing" for me anymore. And not like they've ended in big, bad, terrible ways but I think I've been waiting for things to go back to somewhat "normal" with a lot of people, for a really long time. And it's not going to happen because of one thing or another. And the way I've been feeling about that has been negative.

I did a thing though.
A bold thing.
I just removed several of these people from off of all my social media. I dunno. For some this may be dramatic, but it works in the Chelsea playbook. I look at my life as chapters and not a running river that flows through situations, people, and experiences. For me, my life is a chapter book, and it was time to close the chapter and move on and pursue other relationships that will be meaningful and positive for me during this part of my life. These connections and relationships were holding me down even more then I realized. And in every sense. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and in some cases yes, physically.
As soon as I did this "cleanse", an invisible weight just lifted off my shoulders. I've met some new girl friends, I'm spending more of my time outdoors with my daughter-which is something I feel I mention in every post but it is truly something that makes me happy, I started a book club with some intimate friends (and am taking suggestions for a great book to read, and let me know if you want to join!), I'm exploring talents long forgotten, and working on some new skills. But mostly the shell I've had wrapped around myself is becoming thinner, and the light brighter. To be taking the initiative and making plans (and following through) with old and new friends is a leap for me. A huge gigantic scary leap and I feel free.

With all of this progress a new mantra for my life (at this time) has been discovered:

Have Fun Every Day

 

Because truly I don't think I've been having real fun for a minute. My life is full of love for my family, service for my family, routine, and in all of that, yes there is fun. I could laugh more though, I could be more adventurous, I could try harder to be active in the amazing friendships that I do have, I could be better in a billion different areas, I could go out of my comfort zone and really do something amazing. That's all part of my mantra. Have Fun Every Day.

 

 

So that's what I've been doing. And it's real progress. And I'm cool.

A River Haiku #3

 

The water is clear,

It shimmers in the bright light,

Blinding those who stare.

Sunday

Okay so I wanted to record a non-scale victory for me as far as my healthy resolutions are going. The other day at the gym I did a few intervals at an 8mp speed. That's huge for me! I haven't ran that fast on a treadmill in a few years and have been sitting comfortably at about 6 mph the last few weeks. I decided to try it out and discovered it was easily done. Victory! I've also started to creep up on my old times as far as miles go. Right now I'm sitting at about a 12-13 minute mile. My goal is 10 minutes which would put me at 5 miles to every hour. I've found that's a good pace for a long distance runner like myself, and it feels good to be inching closer and closer.

I really want to pick back up on swimming 1-2 times a week. I think that will really help with my stamina and endurance, and I need both to keep moving forward with my distance. I haven't sorted out the weightlifting thing yet, but I did discover at the gym I'm a part of I can schedule instruction time with a trainer and they can help me perfect form as far as lifting goes.
Anyway, progress for me.

A Holiday// Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! We weren't really on top of our game this year for Earth Day. Normally we'd go on a hike or something but Cristian had to work and well, life....it happens sometimes. So we worked with what we had to do a craft:  Poster board, glue, paint, bits and pieces we gathered from the backyard, and an empty egg carton.

It was fun to work with Violet on this. She painted all the egg carton cups, gathered all the loose flowers, grass, and sticks from the yard, helped me with the paint, and glued down all the pieces. The most exciting part for her was showing her daddy (this is the case with most things), and talking to him about all the parts she helped with. And now this baby is on display in our little dining area. Anyway, hope your Earth day was spent in nature someway, somehow! 

Snippets// Exploring Spring Hollow

A few days ago Violet and I decided to wrangle our friends Sarah and Charlotte into going on a little adventure up to Spring Hollow. It was the perfect afternoon. Besides getting to catch up with one of my best friends, there was gorgeous weather, fruit snacks, throwing rocks into the water, learning about moss and algae, tripping several times, and duck sightings. It was so much fun! After our little walk along the nature trail we headed back to my house where the girls built a fort, fought over who got to rock around in the papasan chair, colored some pictures, and played with some stickers. I should probably try and get together with friends more often, it was a welcomed change from the usual Vi and I routine. 

 

I loved this day! And I love these girls! Here's to more exploring this spring/summer!

What Springs Looks Like// Baby Animals Days

Baby animal days keeps getting better the older Violet gets. This year she wasn't so afraid to touch the animals, feed them, and get her hands dirty (though she did insist on hand sanitizer the ENTIRE ride home). Out of all the baby animals days I've been to, going today was amazing. I'm not sure how much it was advertised for but there were no lines, maybe 50 people tops,  we rode the train 3 times, went on a bison tour, and got to have some one-on-one time with the babies! She was really diggin' this baby goat (and I wanted to buy her! She was so cute!!) It was a good 4 hour day trip that wore my little girl out. So much fun! We also met up with some new friends! Maylene, and her son Isaac who I met at Wiggle Worms last week! It was wonderful to spend time with another mama and great to develop a new friendship!

 We LOVE bison! And the baby girl among the pack was just so beautiful!



Top knot, bison stop! A huge tractor pulled the wagon down into the field and the entire way Violet was mesmerized by the giant tires spinning. It's the little things that really capture this girls attention and it's pretty fascinating to watch.

I have to say, it doesn't get much more beautiful than Utah. We live in a gorgeous valley! And we seriously have a fascination with bison lately. They are enormous, majestic, and just so cool to see!





Baby chicks! And look at that face, pure excitement!

This little guy fell asleep in her hand! It was so fun to watch her not be afraid this year. She's never been afraid of being close, but her picking up and holding this little guy is a huge leap from last year! So proud of her!

Eeyore. And she couldn't be more content.



Not a baby horse, but whatever. Violet fed this guy some grass. Still can't believe it. Even after it gave her hand a little nibble!

And goats, goats, goats! (below)

Pretty fun adventure, minus the part where Violet somehow snuck into the pen where the baby cow was with her mama. It's okay to be brave sweetie! Maybe not THAT brave though ;)

A River Haiku #2

Cool, rushing waters

Gently flowing down the hills

Like a natural song.

 

Snippets// What Spring Looks Like

Violet's first time decorating Easter eggs. Seriously, this is so precious to me.

 



Eggs dyed with turmeric, so beautiful.

 





Easter lunch, it was delicious, and I was pretty excited about that Easter egg fruit salad. It was lots of fun to make, and yummy to eat!

 



Hunting for eggs with Aunt Lee Lee and a very excited Piper!

 

Hahaha, all her wildest dreams came true-CANDY!

 



Our joy in life! Her smile lights up our entire world.

 



Easter selfie! It was a bright beautiful day!

 



Zuchinni, yellow squash, grape tomatoes. On the bottom I browned up some beef and the top was drizzled with olive oil, pepper, salt, garlic, and was topped with a little cheese and oats for crispiness!

 



Black beans, salsa, tomatoes, cucumber, and a avocado cilantro sauce.

 



<3

 



Oh man, every day this girl builds herself a new "house" and pretends to sleep in it.

 



From the day we spent chasing planes at the park.

 



Woohoo!! We made jaffles for the first time. It took awhile to figure out the timing on these hand pies, and next time we'll get more creative with the fillings, but it was fun to try something different! For our first try, they turned out pretty amazing! And we had a fire so- BONUS!

 



Spitting watermelon seeds and soaking up the sun.

 



And it wouldn't be Utah if we didn't have a random snow storm in the middle of April! And trains. Trains all day, every day, morning, noon, and night!