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i’m calling you out, patagonia {discussion post}

March 12, 2013 in Blog, Causes, Crazy, Kids, Rambles

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Oh friends.

Seeing this picture on my Instagram feed yesterday made me a little queasy.

I’m not going to sit here and type judgments about these parents….although I think it must be said that throwing a helpless infant across rocks just BEGS for me to do so.  In my mommy mind, that guy falls before catching the baby.  Or just misses catching the baby.  No no no. Just no.

What I will do is call Patagonia out.

Dude!

In what possible realm of reality could this photo be called, “GREAT”!?!?!?!?!?  Stupid.  Reckless. Idiotic.  Yes.  But not great.

Dear Patagonia,

I’m unfollowing you on Instagram….which may be a little harsh.  But I’d venture to guess that I’m not the only one who did so.

End rant.  End post.

I’m off to hold my little ones a little tighter.

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QUESTION:  It’s actually two-fold.  1) What do YOU think of this picture?  and 2) Do you unfollow people on Instagram if they post pictures that piss you off?  <-unfortunately yes – there was one the other day of this guy performing a handstand with two 30-pound kettlebells wrapped around his feet.  Looks cool until you drop one on your face.  Unfollow.

splendid…lindsay

45 Comments »

a little less me

March 4, 2013 in Blessings, Blog, Family, Goals, Inspiration, Kids

Thank you for all of your amazing comments on last Friday’s post.  As I wrote it, I wept the entire time (in fact, I seem to be crying a lot these days – not always because I’m sad, but because I seem to be one of those people who saves up their tears and then, when the teeniest tiniest needle presses up against me, I gush out all the saved up tears.  Anyone else a tear-hoarder like me?  Bueller??)

If you missed that post, let me catch you up to date.  I’m at a point in my life where I need to make some changes.  It seems as though the World keeps pulling me outside of “The Home” (in quotations because “the home” can also be outside of the actual infrastructure of a house and on the playground, grocery store, church, etc).  Work, this blog, freelance projects, shows – they all appeal to me greatly because I receive accolades and recognition.  Wow.  Typing that out, it makes it all very real and raw.  Being a mother is the most amazing thing ever, but simply put, there isn’t very much room for selfishness if you want to pour your heart into it. 

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And I desperately want to pour my heart into these children.

(I’m not sure why this needs to be written, as I think you all know my heart and my disgust for judgment, but I’ll just go ahead and type it out as to not hurt anyone’s feelings – I’m making these changes for ME and MY family because I think they’ll work for ME and MY family.  I could go on and on, but I’ll just leave it at that for today.  I get exhausted at the thought of trying to please everyone.  It’s actually very freeing to not have to worry about planning YOUR life for you – I can barely plan my own. Winking smile)

To illustrate the problem, let me show you a typical day for us right now – the good and the bad, because I’m not trying to fool anybody:

  • Wake up/Breakfast.
  • Play around on the internet, while kids watch Super Why.
  • Get everyone ready to leave (a job that takes 15 minutes, but that I allow 10 for).
  • Train clients at the gym for 2 hours (kids in KidZone).
  • Library time (this part of my day makes me feel better about my parenting).
  • Home for lunch and naps (Clara naps, Henry reads or plays quietly in his room, I blog).
  • Go to rehearsal/Zumba/or Worship team – dinner is squeezed in there somewhere.
  • Home by 8pm to get ready for bed.

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The part I don’t like about this schedule is that it feels like it’s selfish, very self involved.  Henry and Clara are simply side kicks in the Lindsay show.  I have simply AMAZING children, so I know that I’m doing something right and in these moments of raw honesty, I can be my worst critic.  But still.  At the end of most days, I know I could have been better.  Been more present.  More selfless with my time.  (Does every mom feel this way??)

When something needs to be fixed, you don’t just abstractly talk about it.  You DO it.  You fix it.  Or at least you TRY.

Here’s my ACTION PLAN:

  • First (and probably the most difficult, as I am a sloth), I’m going to get my workouts done and out of the way BEFORE my children even wake up.  Monday-Friday, I’ll now be going to the gym at 6AM.  This way, my children will only be in KidZone for no more than 2 hours a day (most days only 1 hour).
  • I’m declaring Sunday the “Day of Unplugging.”  No iPhone, no Instagram, no computer, no blogging.  A PURE family day.

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  • Pressure-less blogging = No more guilt if I don’t put up a post M-F.  No more guilt period.  This is a hobby, not my job.
  • More structure with homeschooling.  While Clara naps, Henry and I will homeschool.

Those are the steps.  They’re small, but I purposely made them that way so that I could accomplish them.  Today marks the first day of implementation, starting with an early gym time.  Wish me luck.

Less of me and more of them.  I like the sound of that.

QUESTION:   Name one thing in your life that you need to be more focused at.  Any tips for getting up super early to work out??

splendid…lindsay

43 Comments »

i will no longer be a zoom zoom mom

March 1, 2013 in Blessings, Blog, Family, Goals, Inspiration, Kids, Love

Yesterday I took Henry and Clara to the park.  I had a client cancel on me at the last minute, so it was a treat that neither I or the children had expected.  But, man, we all needed it.

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As soon as we got out of the car and I put them on the swings, it was as if a darkness lifted.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and my kids were happy and right in front of my eyes.  I really took the time to LOOK at their little faces.  And I saw (I see) just how very much they’ve grown up.  Henry IS Travis, with his little impish grin and those wide Hobbit feet.  Clara, my sweet Clara with her long ponytail and pink cowboy boots (which I was informed are not, in fact, cowBOY boots.  They’re just GIRL boots.  Because Clara is a ”gurl” – duh), will be THREE years old this August.  THREE!!  When did that little chubby-cheeked baby grow into a preschooler??

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You always hear other moms giving advice on TIME.  “Cherish them while they’re little.  It’ll be gone before you know it.  Soak up this time!”

I heard it.

And I nodded.

And under my breath, amidst the diapers and the nursing and the constant battle between my desire for freedom and my children’s needs, I couldn’t help but mumble, “IF YOU ONLY KNEW HOW HARD THIS IS, YOU’D WANT TO FAST FORWARD TO THE EASY PART TOO.”  I didn’t understand the sitting and the cherishing and the being present parts of motherhood.  From the start, when Henry was first born, we’ve been on the go.  “The mom who stays at home but is never actually AT home” – that’s me.  Workouts, clients, play groups, small group, church, worship team, lunches out.  Put the kids in the car (in a hurried manner, as I am always 10 minutes late) and zoom from one thing to the next.  A Zoom Zoom mom.

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Here’s what’s easy – I can tell you guys to be more present and I can blog about my faith.  I think I’m fairly good at being an inspirational writer.  Just think of the most positive things, the most true and worthy things and write about those because a) we all need to hear them and b) no one can take offense to positivity – we all need it, we all crave it.  I’ve been writing for a year and a half now on how we need to slow down.  But I hadn’t really put that INTO MOTION in my own life.  I had been writing abstractly.

Then I got pregnant four months ago.  And I miscarried that precious baby.  And my heart broke.

And my life changed.

And I’m learning that I don’t want to be that Zoom Zoom Mom anymore and I don’t want to neglect these two children that I already have.  And I don’t want to look back at this time and wonder where it all went because I was too busy doing MY stuff.  Honestly, I really don’t know that I want to have any other job than just being a mom.  It is really what I was called to do.

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I want to savor.  I want to pick flowers and try to decipher the long paragraphs that Clara spurts out sometimes.  I want to build Lego towers with my smart Henry and talk about how if he were miniature, he’d live right there in that Lego room.  I want to look my children in the face, REALLY look and see that they’re having a wonderful day with their mom (who btw is so incredibly blessed to get to stay home with them).

I want for time to stand still.  For my children to stay young and chubby and full of innocence.  And I want to be pregnant again.

With all my (broken) heart.

splendid…lindsay

**An action plan is being developed.  And I’ll blog about it sometime next week.  For now, we’re off to the park again.

30 Comments »

life lately….praise reports

February 26, 2013 in Blessings, Blog, Kids, Lists, Shows

I have so many praise reports and life updates to give – I don’t know where to start.  Some of you might have read that sentence and thought I was bragging about myself.  I was not.  To the contrary, a praise report isn’t really about your skill or your awesomeness.  All credit or praise is given to God.  I couldn’t do anything without that grace.

Anyway, I thought I’d catch you up on some things around here – in list order of course.  And in no particular (coolness factor) order:

1)  I was cast as DOLLY in Annie Get Your Gun!! 

First, I was blessed when Travis decided that I could audition!!  He’s a good guy.  There are really only two female parts in this show: Annie and Dolly.  So I’m just thrilled and ecstatic that I got one.  Annie will be played by my good friend, Nikki.  She played Annie when the company first ran the show 6 years ago.

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We’ll be sharing a dressing room again (Nikki played the Queen of Hearts in Alice), so I’m looking forward to growing that friendship as well.  There really is no business like show business.  Rehearsals start next week.

2)  I am now NCCPT certified!

I haven’t talked about this at all on the blog, but I took my personal trainer test for NCCPT yesterday and passed.  I am already NASM-certified and have been for about 4 years now, but my boss wanted all of the trainers at our gym to be certified in something uniform across the board so he asked us all to take the NCCPT test.

Confession:  I’ve known about this test for over 4 months.  I cracked the book for the first time last Monday night and crammed all last week.  (That’s NOT how my Type A personality does things, but I’ve just been too busy.).  Luckily, studying for NASM and working as a trainer helped prepare me for this certification so the test wasn’t too bad.

The best part?  I’ve met all of my CPU’s for NASM by taking this test – AND I can take CPU courses and have them apply to maintaining both the NASM and NCCPT certifications. 

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As with any test, I was super glad when it was over.  And as with any test, a celebratory beer was needed.  At 12:35pm.  Hoo-rah!

3)  I’m going to VEGAS!!

I’ve been meaning to tell you guys this!!!  Perhaps the most exciting news in this post.  I was just hired as a personal trainer by Technogym to help demonstrate their equipment at the 2013 IHRSA Convention!!!   (For more info on what IHRSA is, go here – basically a HUGE health and fitness convention in Vegas.  All the latest products/innovations are showcased.)

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My friend, Jillian, who works for Technogym, asked if I’d be interested in flying out and helping with the company’s demo area for two days.  Of course I jumped at the chance and after a phone interview, I was chosen!  IHRSA is March 20-22nd, so I need to go ahead and book everything – put that on my To Do list.

I’ve never been to Vegas.  I’ve always wanted to go.  I get to fly and I love flying.  I love fitness.  AND I get PAID!!  I can’t think of anything more exciting!!!  (or a better use of exclamation points.) 

4)  Clara is allergic to dust mites and dogs.

Ok.  Not really a praise report.  But….we are happy to finally have an answer.  For the longest time, Clara has been breaking out in rashes and we’ve never known the true cause.  Could it be diet?  An allergy?  Something in the air or the detergent I use?  I finally made an appointment and took her to an allergist (who was fabulous btw – for any locals, we saw Dr. Cypcar at Allergy Partners of WNC).  The doctor tested Clara for 11 different things (eggs, soy, wheat, dairy, peanuts, dogs, cats, dust mites, trees, and some others I can’t recall), via a skin prick test.

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Oh man, it was the saddest thing ever.  The results showed that she is allergic to dog dander and dust mites but NO foods.  The cause of her rashes is severe eczema which can be treated with certain creams and a light antihistamine given at night.  In a way, this is good news because it means we can finally treat this problem and not be guessing as to the cause.  Glad those tests are behind us though!

5.  Blend 2013 is shaping up nicely!

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We’re selling tickets, signing new sponsors (Laughing Cow and Core Power to name a few) and refining the schedule to make this event one of the BEST around!  Right now, the mood is LUXURY for a SMALL PRICE!  If you’re at all interested in coming (blogger or not!), please sign up before Sunday, when ticket prices will increase!  It’s going to be so much fun!

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That’s all I got.  Lots of praise.

QUESTION:  Any praise reports or good news from you??  Tell me everything!  What do I HAVE to see/do in Vegas??

splendid…lindsay

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