anniekmay

Splash pad picnic after camp 😍

Small business ownership is not for the faint of heart. This life requires a lot of sacrifice, a lot of patience, and a lot of your time.

I didn’t realize it until a conversation I had with a sweet friend a while back, but entrepreneurship is in my blood. My grandfather and grandmother started their own business. My uncle took over that same business. Another uncle opened his own business. My dad also started his own business when I was Mattie’s age and I remember the ups and downs, the stress, the sacrifice, and his determination to make it successful. I guess I was destined for this life.

The last 8 years have been hard, but we’re doing it for our (now 5 😳) kids. I won’t force it, but it would be such a dream to see them take what we started and build on it. As they grow older, they’ll be working in the business and I hope we inspire them to become entrepreneurs themselves. It’s not easy, but the sky is the limit when you are in the driver’s seat and that is what makes the sacrifice worth it. 💪🏼

Fun fact: Marley loves to help me with assessments, but I didn’t really realize it until last night. She asked to be in the office while I did a new members assessment. She was mostly quiet while I completed each test, busily working on her own clipboard. At the end of the assessment she handed him a stack of papers with his results and my heart melted as I saw a glimpse of her future. 💕

Last lunch visitor day for the 2022-2023 school year. I know I keep saying this, but I can believe how fast this year has gone by. I love this little tradition Taylor started and I’m looking forward to getting back to it again in August. For now, SUMMER. 🥳🥳

3 lunches in 2 days because our baby boy graduates from 4K tomorrrow. 😭😭😭

Fad weight loss diets, programs and workouts are short term solutions to long term problems. You’ll be stuck in an endless cycle of ups and downs unless you change your daily habits and lifestyle choices.

End the cycle. Make a small change and build on it over time. 💪🏼

Feels like all I do these days is take kids from ballpark to ballpark. 😵‍💫🤣Wouldn’t trade it for the world. 🥰

Legs. Are. Dead. 😵‍💫 Plyo/Power workout to kick off the week. I saw this workout last night and was dreading it all day. 😩 What made it even worse was having to do it alone. Suffering alone sucks. 🥵

I have eased back into my typical workout routine over the last few weeks, but the week that Maelyn and I came home from the hospital I started taking cold showers. Started off with 3 minutes and worked my way up to 10 minutes. It’s almost been 3 months since I started and I haven’t missed one morning. 🤣😏🥳

My one resolution this year was just to “follow through with anything I said I was going to do”. I’m so bad about getting all these crazy ideas of what I want to accomplish, but then get overwhelmed with all that’s on my plate and end up quitting and moving on to something else. This year I just wanted to be more intentional. Slow it down. Think about what I wanted to do and then follow through.

I’ll admit that the cold shower thing was not my idea. Taylor’s been on this train for awhile. I always rolled my eyes and told him that he was crazy when he talked about them. I’m on the train now though and I don’t see myself getting off anytime soon. 😏

Yess. The health benefits are there. Just Google it. Or watch Thor’s Limitless documentary on Disney if you don’t believe me. I’m not doing it for the health benefits anymore. What keeps me doing it every morning is the feeling it gives me before I start my day. It’s the same feeling you get when you finish a hard workout that you didn’t want to do. The feeling of accomplishment. The feeling of checking a big box off your To-Do list. The feeling of a good WIN.

Cold showers force you to step outside the comfort zone and make you feel energized, accomplished and ready to tackle whatever comes your way the rest of the day. I used to dread it, but this morning I jumped in without even thinking about it and realized that this is just a new reality for me. Guess it’s time to add a new goal. 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Healthier eating doesn’t have to be complicated or extreme.😵‍💫

Keeping up with a food journal and counting calories or macros are all helpful ways to increase awareness and accountability with your diet, but these are not the only ways that you can make a change and see results.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed when it comes to your diet just try starting small. If you focus on making small changes then you can build on them overtime. Small changes kept consistently lead to big results long term. 🥳

Instead of trying to keep up with total calories, you can start off by just focusing on calories that come from your liquids. You may be surprised how fast those add up. 😳

Instead of keeping up with total macronutrients (fats, carbs and protein) just focus on getting a good source of protein with each meal. A good, clean source of protein will make you full longer and will help to keep you for reaching for the snacks after a meal.

One way to prevent overeating at each meal is to focus on eliminating distractions so that you know how full you are when you eat. Slow it down. Put your fork down after each bite and resist the temptation to force more food in when you haven’t even finished that last bite. 😏

These things seem simple, but can make make a huge difference. 🥳

🥎 💕🥎💕🥎

April lunch visits with the kids. 🥰

Yesterday Miles skipped school and joined us for lunch with Mattie where she schooled us on Greek math. 😏

Today Marley told me all about her “crushes” 🤦🏻‍♀️ and Taylor found out Michael is trying to collect all the toys that McDonald’s has right now. 😜

2 month checkups are exhausting 🥰

“Was the movie good Michael?”
“It was EPIC!” 🤣

Super Mario bros. movie lived up to our expectations. 💕💕💕 Also, Marley had to get “dressed up” to go to the movies.