time, time, time

I know most of us out there barely have enough time in a day. It seems as if we are all running around from school drop off, to grocery shopping, other errands, parks, playdates and other school or sports activities. I don't know about you, but I actually kinda like being busy like this. However, I do appreciate the down time too. I make sure that my kids and I have downtime together some part of the day every day.

Someone at the park this morning asked me how I had time for it all. I guess I really don't know the exact answer, but I will tell you what works for me. I am a lover of schedules. I live and breathe by a schedule, not a rigid one, but one that is flexible for myself and our family. I guess it all started when the twins were born. We went from this 3 person family unit to a 5 person family that included 3 children under 2 1/2 overnight. I knew that I had to be organized and on a schedule right away. Since the twins have been born, they have pretty much been on a schedule. Lucky for me, they are not too rigid about it and have learned to be go with the flow children.

I try to manage my time as wisely as I can. This is why I hit the gym or a morning run by 5:15 am. Why? Well, with 3 little boys, it's really the only time I can do it and get it done for now. I know that it doesn't work for everyone, but right now it works for me. I just have to make sure I am in bed by 10ish, which usually ends up being 10:30ish. If you do the math, I certainly could get more sleep and hopefully will one day. My workouts are my time. They keep me going, make me stronger, feel good about myself and make me a better mother to my boys.

Another time management area is the computer. For instance, I only allow myself 3-10 minute periods a day on Facebook. I get on FB in the morning, lunch/naptime, and and in the evening for only 10 minutes each time. I actually set the timer on my microwave because otherwise I'd waste so much time. As a social person, I LOVE social networking and think it's genius. It has grown our photography business two-fold and best of all it's free.

Another time management area is meal planning. I do all of our meal planning for the week on Sunday afternoon. I look through cookbooks, magazines and internet sites to get my meal ideas for the week and make my list for that week. This way I only have to do one trip to the grocery store each week. Laundry is another way I try to manage my time. With 3 boys and exercising 6 days a week, there is a lot of laundry. My system may be similar to lots of people. I wash sheets towels on Sunday, (usually 2 loads) whites on Wednesday (usually 2 loads) and darks on Thursday (2 loads). This way I don't have to do laundry every single day. It makes me feel better about it.

When I have photo editing to do for clients, I do this during naptime. Naptime is also when bills get paid online, this blog is updated and any online shopping (dog food, clothes for boys, etc), searching for new recipes or any other nutrional/foodie/fitness/photog blogs I enjoy reading are done. Just like on FB I usually only allow myself about 15 minutes or so to surf these sites.

This gives me the afternoon to spend time with my boys either playing inside or out (hopefully soon!) and cooking dinner. We have our family dinner routine when Daddy gets home and then it's bath and bedtime for the boys. Nights are usually not spent on the computer unless there is work that has to be done. I try to either read, catch up with my husband or veg on my fave tv shows as a guilty pleasure (Lost, Modern Family, Grey's). So there you have it, not a glamourous life by any means, but a life that I love!

On the vegan front. It's been 1 week today. I feel amazing, CLEAN and refreshed. Absolutely no stomach issues or headaches and I actually feel lighter. Woo hoo!

Today's meals:
Breakfast:
Pure Organic Chocolate Brownie Raw Bar
Banana
coffee with coconut hazelnut milk creamer

Snack:
1 oz raw almonds

Lunch:
Food for Life veggie burger on a sprouted whole grain bagel with sliced avocado, tomato, horseradish mustard and veganaise (Yum, yum, extra yum!)
handful for Whole Foods veggie chips
1 mini coconut milk ice cream bar (I do love a sweet treat! These are mini, only 100 calories each.)

Snack:
blueberry mango smoothie with vegan protein powder and almond milk

Dinner:
Creole Rice and Bean soup from The Whole Foods Cookbook (will add turkey andouille sausage for my family)



You are what you eat!

Live life to the fullest, it's the only one you've got!