SuburbanGoddessMN

 When I had our twins I felt like someone dropped me in the middle of the ocean. With cement shoes. Not only was I a young mom, but a young mom of multiples who had no clue what I was doing. And the worst part of it, I felt like no one else in the whole world could relate to me. No one else knew what it was like trying to feed two screaming newborns at once. No one else knew the absolute exhaustion you feel. Your hormones fluctuating in your veins, your eye lids so heavy that you would give anything for just five minutes of rest. And of course that new mom feeling where you think every cry means you screwed something up. Now I wasn't completely naive. Deep down I knew I wasn't the first 23 year old to have twins. But at the time not only did I feel like it, but I was the first one in my family and friend circle that did have two babes. Speaking of circles. Mine was really small at the time. Most my friends at the time were just graduating college, getting into the workforce,

 When I was a kid, an average summer day lasted about 37 hours.  Now as an adult, I'm lucky if they last 6. June came in with a bang and it hasn't slowed down yet. We started the month by hopping a plane to Annapolis for a weekend long music festival. Then we came back to wrap up the school year. Not only did my kiddos finish their sophomore year of high school, but I left my decade-long stent at the elementary school I was working at. Sprinkle in some graduation happenings, everyday life, along with navigating life as a newly self-employed business owner, and you end up here. Here being the end of June with a wicked head cold and a mound of work piling up. And oh, wanting to actually enjoy summer. The woman in me was trucking along. Do it all and chugging NyQuil on the side.  Dumb. When you run a million miles an hour, you can expect some fatigue. As a self-care coach, you would think I would know that. But such as life, it happens to all of us! So what could I have done? What

 I will be the first to tell you, I'm not what you call "out-doorsy".  I hate sweating. The first bug bite I get, I run inside. And if there isn't modern plumbing, forget it. ...but... There is something to be said about the power of nature. Just walking from your backdoor to your deck is like entering a different world. A world that seems to instantly slow down and make everything wrong, right. Over the years I have learned super simple ways (cause if you haven't learned yet, I'm all about efficiency) to soak up the power of the outdoors and harness it into your self-care rituals. 1. Walk barefoot. We call them "summer feet" around my house. If they aren't permanently  dirty for three months, you're doing it wrong. Going outside and walking barefoot is the easiest way to energetically connect and ground yourself. It's also called earthing. You can get all science-y here, but basically when you connect with the earth's electrons, you

This seems like long time coming, right?! Self-care always seems so trendy. Like you hear it on TV or see an ad for it and all of a sudden you're like "shit! I gotta do that!".  ... That's where I come in. And give you a wicked side eye for not practicing on the regular... We, as a society, need to realize that it's PREVENTION over REACTION. I shouldn't have to lose my shit in order to get a pedi. I shouldn't have to get a pedi every time I think I'm gonna lose my shit. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good pedi or trip to the spa. But that isn't always a realistic option. Hell, it's not even an 'on-the-regular' option for me or a lot of other busy women I know.  So what are some really easy and accessible ways to get to a mental place of zen? How do you reel it back in when you're on the ledge? And how do you know when to use your self-care strategies? Here are my top three tips for those that are like me and need something fast

  Have you ever had an entire frozen pizza to yourself?! Just like "screw it, this baby is all mine"?! Recently I did this.  For health reasons, I don't recommend this practice on the regular. But believe it or not, I find it quite therapeutic! Anytime you can say "fuck it" and detach from reality for a few moments I consider it a win. I guess for me it's frozen pizza. But it really can be anything...a solo walk, loud music, shutting off your phone. This kind of detachment is a completely passive, yet a super powerful form of self-care. Sometimes you need to shut off the world around you. Forget the "norms". And connect with yourself. Feel those damn feels you normally would shove into a corner. The guilt, the anger, the embarrassment. These are all normal , human feelings. We react because they are not happy, positive feelings. They are automatically considered negative which puts us in a funk. Once you recognize them though, you find how do deal

It’s always the damn laundry. Figuratively and literally. I hate laundry. Figuratively and literally. After any given day, the last thing I want to give ANY ounce of the attention I have left is to that damn laundry. And every time, there it is, in the same basket (it's been in at least for the last three days) staring me in the face. I know you know. Because this is what we do. We stretch ourselves so thin every freaking day between the things we have to do, that by the time we get to the things we want to do, we have nothing left to give. So we start cutting the "haves" out to make room for our "wants". But then the haves pile up. And that shit ain't going nowhere. And now we just have a big ass mountain of laundry that will take up so much damn time and now we're crabby AF. You know what else is a "have" though? Self-freaking-care and mental sanity! ...so... If you can, if only for a day, forget the proverbial laundry! As long as you’ve go