Laina Turner's Blog, page 60

Going Off The Grid

The last few weeks have been more stressful than usual so I decided to do something very out of character for me. Go off the grid, unplug, attempt to live in a world for 48 hours without texting and emails and social media.

I know…crazy talk.

As soon as I found out I had the weekend free of kids and my fiancé I started planning how I was going to spend my alone time. As most moms know alone time is a rarity. In fact, it’s been about 18 months since I last had an entire day and night to myself.

I knew right away I wanted to actually take the time alone I had off. Being a blogger means I work almost every day in some capacity and am on social media constantly. Not to mention the tons of emails and texts I get every day.

I started thinking it might be nice to completely unplug and while the mere thought of it made me anxious I couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect. As I’m sure you can all relate, the constant barrage of incoming stuff makes you feel like you should always be doing something. It can get overwhelming at times.

As scary as it was I decided I needed to do it so I could recharge myself. From 5pm Friday to after breakfast Sunday (which ended up being 10am as I took advantage of no kids and slept in) I shut my phone off, turned the WiFi off on both my laptops, and went cold turkey.

Friday evening was the hardest. I kept finding myself wanting to check Facebook and see what everyone else was doing. Saturday morning was hard too because my normal routine is to check my email the minute I get up and then prioritize my day. Once I got passed that though, it wasn’t so bad. Quite the opposite, I found it freeing. I was able to get my hair done, do some shopping at a consignment shop, and go to the grocery store without constantly checking my phone. I then came home and listened to music while I cleaned the house and just hung out with myself.

I felt so much more relaxed because my phone wasn’t constantly buzzing. I didn’t realize how I must constantly be in a minor state of anxiety every time it goes off and I have to check it. There were a few moments when I got nervous that when I did turn it back on there would be something important I missed or I would have so many emails I would feel overwhelmed and regret it but that wasn’t at all the case. There were actually 2 emails that I’m glad I hadn’t seen when they came in as they would have caused some stress over work needing to be done. The work didn’t have to be done until today so it was one less day of worrying about it or just interrupting my weekend to do it so I wouldn’t worry about it.

All in all, I had a glorious weekend (though my diet did go out the window) and I can’t wait to do it again.

I suggest you try it.

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Fab 5 Friday

Earning and Saving with Sarah – 12 Bloggers’ Savings tips…we can all stand to save more money (or at least I can).

Everyday Reading – Grapefruit Sherbert…I love grapefruit and this sounds delicious.

Just Jacq – Blue Plaid Shirt…I’m loving plaid these days.

MBA SAHM – How to Make Money on Hubpages…Who doesn’t like money?

Pardon My French – Healthy Dips…I love dips and the things you can stick in them.

Have a great weekend!

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A Running Victory

I’ve never been a fan of running. I ran track in high school but did hurdles and sprints (and I wasn’t very fast). A few times in my life I’ve taken up running for a couple months for exercise and weight loss reasons but never enjoyed it so didn’t stick with it.

Until this past summer.

For whatever reason, I started to kind of like it. I think because there’s a cool trail by where I live that takes me to the downtown area. I would run there, which was 3 miles, stop at the ice cream shop and get a diet coke, and water, then walk home.

Just me and some music enjoying the outdoors.

Before I realized it, the 3 miles became easy (though I was still slow) which made me enjoy it more. Especially since running has NEVER been easy for me.

I decided to challenge myself to run more. I got where I could run 5 miles and not feel like I wanted to die. I was pretty pumped about that. I felt like a real runner.

Once the cold weather set in, I started running on the treadmill.

Which I absolutely hate.

But the useful thing about a treadmill is you can set the speed, and you have to keep up so I decided I would make the best of the treadmill situation and work on increasing my speed.

From super slow to just slow.

I’ve been running exclusively on the treadmill for about a month and this past Saturday it was 40 degrees so I decided to venture outside. I put in my ear buds and put on some tunes and took off down the path.

I felt good.

That good feeling turned to shock when the voice inside the running app I use told me I had run a mile in 10:34. Yes, I know that is still slow, but I usually am at least a minute slower.

I was amazed that I didn’t feel like I was going to die. I felt great. It was so motivating to know that I have increased my speed.

Now if only I can stop eating peanut butter cookies.

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Too Many Emails, Too Little Time

I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets way too many emails in the course of a day. Hour. Minute. All of which seem to want something from me.

I feel I only read/act on 1 out of every 10 and continuously am checking my phone/laptop to see if anything new came in. I don’t feel I can ever unplug because the consequences of what I would be walking back into would drive me over the edge.

I often think of a world where email didn’t overtake my life and I had some sort of management system in place to deal with it.

However, it seems like a utopia. A land of unicorns and rainbows. Meaning I’m sure it doesn’t exist but it’s sure nice to think about.

Then I think about the millions of other people out there who seem to be able to manage their email and maybe it’s something I should be able to do too. As I was pondering this dilemma this weekend I remembered a book I got a long time ago called Getting Things Done by David Allen. 

I of course hadn’t read it because at the time I received the book I didn’t have time to sit down and read about how I needed to get organized. Which we all know is a bad excuse. You sometimes need to stop and take a step back so you can see all you need to do and come up with a plan.

So I decided to do just that. I took some time to actually read the book and then check out his website where he had a page called the 5 steps about 5 simple steps to apply order to chaos. 

And chaos is exactly how I feel about my inbox and my to do list.

The 5 steps aren’t revolutionary. They’re practical and make total sense.

Capture – to me that means write that shit down. It’s too east to try and keep it in my head or even worse I don’t write it down because I’m afraid of how scary it will look. But keeping it in my head just stresses me out and of course I’m going to forget something.
Clarify – be specific. I can put on my to do list eat healthy but what does that actually mean. I need to break it down into what are actionable steps.
Organize – create a system. How many of you are like me and just leave emails languishing in your inbox until ‘you get to them.’ Well then those to do’s get so buried I forget they are even there and the ball gets dropped, and I get overwhelmed…etc. Having a system where the tasks are either done, delegated or filed for later will help keep that inbox clean. One of the pieces of advice was if a task only task 2 minutes or so then do it immediately and get it off your plate. I am guilty as charged for not doing that one. I put a lot off because I don’t think I have time and then that 2 minute’s task turns into 2 weeks of thinking about it or forgetting which makes it even worse.
Reflect – and review your to-do list daily/weekly/monthly. It’s not like you make one to do list and you’re done. It’s a never-ending process. I used to try and make time Sunday evenings to look at my week and get things together. I need to get back on that habit.
Engage – in the words of Nike. Just Do It. I admit I sometimes stress more over the anticipation of having to do something than the actual act of doing it. I need to do the stuff I don’t want to do and stop procrastinating and getting even more backed up.

I spent time this week deleting old emails and organizing the ones I have AND completing many 2-minute tasks which gave me a HUGE sense of relief. Now I do say when I wake up in the morning and see many things have come through in the night it’s very hard to not fall back into my old ways but I know how easily it can spiral out of control and will then take me that much longer to clean up again.

Now  when I wake up in the morning and see many things have come through in the night it’s very hard to not fall back into my old ways. But I know how easily it can spiral out of control and will then take me that much longer to clean up again.

Wish me luck that I can stick to it!

What are your email organization tricks?

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I love me some peanut butter. I can – and have – eaten it straight out of the jar with a spoon.

Don’t judge.

Since peanut butter is fattening, I try to limit myself but I just can’t go too long without peanut butter cookies.

I decided it was time I tried a healthy peanut butter cookie recipe. I found a flourless, gluten free one that looked simple – an important element of any recipe I try – on Sally’s Baking Addiction. 

No one in my family needs gluten free, but I try to stay away from it when I can. In other recipes I’ve tried I’ve found I really enjoy the whole flourless thing. It gives such a different texture that I truly enjoy.

Because I’m not all that great at following directions, I didn’t notice until after I had made the cookies, the recipe called for old fashioned oats, not quick oats. I also didn’t realize when I started to make them that my brown sugar container hadn’t sealed properly after the last time I used it and it was dried out.

That didn’t stop me though. I chiseled enough off to use.

I also didn’t add chocolate chips because we finished the bag I had with our pancakes the night before for dinner.

Even without following the recipe directly they didn’t come out half bad. They were a little crumbly and my taste testers said they were a little too peanut buttery.

As if that is even possible. I probably need new taste testers.

I thought they were peanut butter fabulous though next time I think I will add a few more oats and maybe honey instead of brown sugar. I also would like to experiment with chia seeds. I’m currently addicted to those things in my yogurt and maybe they’d add an interesting crunch to the cookie.

Recipe as I made it

2/3 cup quick oats

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp baking soda

dash of cinnamon

one egg

6 tsp of brown sugar

I mixed the dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside.

I beat the egg and mixed with peanut butter.

I poured the peanut butter and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mixed thoroughly.

Put in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Spoon on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

It made 9 which worked out to be decent in regards to calories and such.

128 calories

11g carbs

8g fat

5g protein

4g sugar

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Things I Love About Winter

When I think of February, I think of Valentines Day, which makes me think of LOVE.

I know, I’m cheesy. But ever since my grade school days of trading valentines and candy hearts with sayings on them, I’ve loved Valentines Day. Since it’s a little over the top to talk about Valentines every day this month, even for me, I thought I would pepper in several posts about the things I love.

Starting with today and the things I love about winter. I picked winter because I complain all the time about how I hate the cold and the gloomy days. I thought if I tried to put a positive spin on winter with the things I do like about it – and there are a few – I could make myself feel better about the remaining wintery days.

Sunny days. When the sun is out winter doesn’t seem so cold or dreary. As my daughter says, when the sun is out you can almost pretend it’s summer.

After a snowfall when the snow has accumulated on tree branches. Such a beautiful sight.

 

Snow ice cream and the memories it brings back from my childhood. Take a couple scoops of fresh snow and mix with vanilla and sugar. YUM!

Hot coffee. Ok, I like coffee year round but when it’s super cold outside a steaming cup of hazelnut coffee is about the best thing ever.

Soup. Another thing that can be had year ‘round but I’m sure you won’t disagree when I say hot soup on a cold day is much better than hot soup on a hot day.

Adorable winter hats on my daughter.

What do you love about winter?

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Put the “A” in AWESOME

So yesterdays post made me decide that it would be fun to go through the alphabet and see what I could come up with. Starting with the letter “A” for AWESOME is quite appropriate. We should all celebrate our awesomeness. Because in some way we are all awesome.

Laina

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Cupids & Crooks – a Cozy mystery

Cupids & Crooks is the 7th installment in the Presley Thurman series, Cupids & Crooks.

Presley was thrilled when Cooper surprised her with a trip to an all inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas. No work and all play was what was on her mind until well-renowned Mexican soap opera star, Lucia Vegas, turned up dead in the hotel pool. Accident it was not and Presley couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Then she met reporter, Belinda, who told her the theory that Lucia was just one of a string of murders targeting young actresses. Vacation or not, Presley had to find the murderer!

Grab your copy today!

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Fab 5 Friday

Happy Friday! Here are some of the lovely blog posts I read this week. Hope you like!

Honestly WTF – Lob-spiration. I love the mid-length cut.  
Laugh Out Loud Mommy – She comes to You Tube. I admire anyone with the gumption to do video.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Fingers – Things you love more than you should. It’s the simple things that make me happy.
Grapefruit Princess – Life Lately. Life just happens sometimes.
My Life as a Mumma Walker – Fudge. Need I say more?

Have a great weekend!

 

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I Love/Hate my Fitbit

I have a love/hate relationship with my Fitbit Flex. I got one for this past Christmas after wanting one for over a year. I’m pretty active. I do hot yoga a few times a week and go to an insanely early 5:40am boot camp a few times a week.

In nice weather, I run outside and in crappy weather I force myself to go on the treadmill a few times a week.

I despise the treadmill.

I despise cold weather more so treadmill it is. 

I thought getting a Fitbit to track my steps would be cool. Until I got one and realized when you’re a writer and spend most the time sitting down. You don’t get too many steps in, in a day.

When I set it up, I thought 10,000 steps…piece of cake. Until the first day, I tracked my steps and didn’t even have in 2000. In my defense, it was Christmas vacation, and I was doing more couch sitting than I was walking. However, it didn’t change much when I got back in my regular (ok, semi-regular) workout routine because come to find out you don’t take the whole lot of steps in yoga or boot camp.

I now find myself trying to get on the treadmill every day to get my steps up to the 10k mark. I look at it ever 5 seconds and get up and walk around. I know you’re probably asking yourself what’s the downside in that? From an exercise point, there isn’t anything wrong with it. But I’m taking up more time that I don’t have by doing yoga or boot camp AND then getting on the treadmill each day. And sometimes my body is just tired but I don’t want to stop if I don’t hit that 10k!

It’s driving me crazy!

I’ve thought that maybe I should upgrade to the Fitbit Charge HR. That way it can track my heart rate that does elevate during boot camp and yoga. Then I could get a more accurate count of how many calories I burn each day. But then I wonder if that’s getting too in the nitty gritty and I need just to chillax (as my kids tell me) and not worry about it so much. But if I don’t worry about it what’s the point of having it?

#firstworldproblems

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