January 2024 Recap
January was an emotional rollercoaster.
I was still living in survival mode and was desperate to make progress, move forward. Release the shackles so to speak.
I let the office space I was renting go, I had been holding onto it, wanting to make a coworking space but the reality is I was not ready for it. Acknowledging that was HARD! Accepting it was even harder!
Ironically this quote was one I came across in January and it aligned with everything I was trying to do. I love how that happens sometimes.
“At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and LIVE in WHAT IS HAPPENING!”
My focus shifted heavily to start identifying the things that were causing me stress, which in turn was causing me to stay stuck in survival mode. I needed to start dealing with those things.
First up came the house, there was so much that needed to be done!!!
Living in a cluttered house is so stressful for me, I have never been so unorganised, but since having children something inside me broke and I couldn’t keep up with organising the clutter anymore
OPERATION MESSY HOUSE TO SANCTUARY STARTS
We still had unpacked boxes EVERYWHERE!!!
After months of false starts getting the house organised and decluttered, I made a plan that wasn’t going to overwhelm me, lists of what was necessary to do and what could wait until I finished the decluttering and unpacking.
My momentum stalled as I gave up my studio, so we ended up with more stuff for me to go through, for now our garage and 4th bedroom is storing everything.
Organise Lego, manuals, and a Lego table
We have been collecting Lego ever since Drew was old enough to play with them. Then Lego started targeting adults, Chris and I couldn’t resist the awesome sets.
As you can imagine we have several sets. They were scattered amongst boxes from the move, and as I have been unpacking boxes, I kept coming across random pieces.
I started by having one huge box to put all the random pieces in. Then once I was sure I had all the Lego pieces (or most of them) I did the whole sorting by colour.
I got all the manuals together and then divided them into boxes, Chris’, Drew’s, and Mine and then Family ones (in other words, sets we are happy for Owen to play with). I also made a spreadsheet, because let’s face it organisation is better with spreadsheets.
I have been wanting to build a LEGO table for YEARS and have had all the materials to do it, but I never had the motivation or space to do it. So instead of waiting for the perfect time, I just did it! It isn’t perfect but it’s done. It is somewhere Owen can happily play.
Kitchen organisation
Even though our kitchen is 4 times the size of our old kitchen I haven’t been able to fit everything in! I am still trying to figure out how I made my old kitchen work!
My solution was to get this unit from IKEA, we had the space in the kitchen, although I was worried it would make the kitchen feel cluttered and closed in, but it didn’t!!
I have been using it for several months now (because as I write this post it is JULY) and I love it so much! Everything I need daily is quickly accessible, not to mention the coffee bar and popcorn area.
COOKING
Some of you may know I LOVE cooking!! Like really love cooking. We got an air fryer, and I started making beef roast dinners, I thought I would experiment with making a beef grilled cheese sandwich with caramelised onions and gravy! I was NOT disappointed!!!!
I am starting to enjoy cooking again.
LIVING DAY TO DAY
I still needed to nap almost every day, I suffered several migraines. Functioning on a daily basis was hard, but when I had the energy, I put it to good use to make my load lighter.
Reflective journaling and reading helped me cope.
Owen continued to bring us smiles daily, the way that kid deals with life is inspiring. He fell at school on a scooter, scraped his nose, and 10 minutes later he was back to himself running about. He is so resilient, and he gives the best snuggles.
My memory journal spread was short this month because I was working on it in March, from photos on my phone, planner and memory (which isn’t the best most days).
