ladyofthebog

Yes!! I keep on going back to Tolkien. gratitude while my husbands washing the kids: - reading books together with the family - watching the great British bake off today with my oldest - the kindness my oldest shows her little sister - the river so close to our house - William Shakespeare!!

Whoops! Update: my husband got a few job offers pretty quickly and accepted a position that is actually a promotion in title and role in line with the direction he ultimately wants to be moving- more into business side of things from strict tech. It seems like it’ll be a good fit and nice to know that there’s a world beyond his last position. Also a good reminder that sometimes it’s good to change up roles/ companies because it opens more options if things falls through and allows you to be flexible. Maybe more than that seeing change (uncomfortable change) as opportunities for growth and expansion. Again, all of this taken when not in a struggle to survive type situation. All easy to say when putting food on the table isn’t in question. But for me, this time of upheaval has me really thinking about my own tendency towards scarcity mindset- the idea that there are limited resources and one must struggle to procure them. Salve is in part gratitude but also dissecting why I go to anxiety and scarcity with upheaval. Also, recognizing how the greater consumerist culture has seeped into my mindset without even realizing it! Maybe that’s why I appreciate the hobbits so much- with the exceptions of the Sackvilles- they lead a simple life and appreciate that simple life!

Gratitude between sets: - strong body - deep breath - the chickens clicking out back - smiles and their power to communicate - growth

Upper body today. Definitely have a harder time finding my limits, knowing my form, and connecting mind/muscle with the upper body vs lower body. I’m thinking I’d benefit from adding in some upper body mobility- maybe it’s from hunching over and breastfeeding/ carrying around a huge baby/toddler?? In any case, my shoulders, particularly my right, are tight. Had my parents over for dinner tonight- was nice. I love seeing them. More of that. gratitude: - the rhythm of each breath - the miracle of human creativity, there’s novels/poems being written this very moment that will reveal beauty and meaning in some unexplored region of my being! - chocolate - that I’m living in a time in history where exotic spices can be picked up a the local market with ease! - moonlight xxooo

Busy making valentines last night! Five gratitudes this morning upon waking: warm blankets, soft cozy bed being able to provide comfort for my children, and how receptive they are to it fresh water the countryside so close the library and all the librarians who work so hard in it xxoo

Sore sore sore sore from trading dumbbells for barbells and lifting heavy. gratitude: the miracle of seeds and growing things still having “it” after 15 years with my husband The emerald podcast the sweet feeling of my baby falling asleep in my arms our hot tub goodnight!!

I’m glad to be among those returning! Thank you for always being so encouraging as your epithet suggests!!

Thank you for being here and kind words! Official word from my MIL’s oncologist tomorrow. I’m hopeful but do understand, particularly as a former hospice nurse, how brutal cancer can be. Eeek, yes, tech, particularly at the big name companies is rough right now. We are pretty well positioned to weather the potential storm well but it’s still stressful! thank you! tbh, it’s been my experience that trouble comes in threes so I’m hoping all (in this season are least) has been revealed so that we can get down to handling it. Thank you for being here

following! and a magic show in a spooky tower?? sounds brilliant!

following! i'm not inspired to convert some ability scores for myself!

Hello all! So glad to be here one again for another challenge after a long-ish hiatus. I'm here because this is a particularly challenging season is our hobbit hole and now, more than ever, is a rich time for personal growth and perspective... as well as an opportunity to start lifting heavy again, as always. In the past week, my we found out my mother in law's stage 4 cancer has spread further into her pelvis and spine, my husband was laid off from a large (very comfortable!) tech company is a massive bloodbath, and both children have been down for the count with RSV (no sleep, my friends). All of this various levels of challenging and also a moment where I realize I can be very Hobbit-like, at least of the Shire variety, in that I enjoy stability, regularity, and the known and, of course, the nature of life is that it is unstable, doubtlessly with surprise you in sometimes painful ways. Going to channel my inner Took. So, my main goals at this time is to explore this time of instability and find opportunity in the discomfort, continue to workout goals, make and effort towards writing my PNW small town urban fiction novel. GOALS: - write 5 things I'm grateful for each day - declutter basement - do something relaxing every day - spend some time each week working on novel WORKOUT PLAN: currently I workout doing beachbody workouts (it's convenient w/ a toddler and entertaining!) 5-6 days a week new plan: heavy lift day in garage, lower body focused upper lift day (bodi) DAY OFF (going to take nap time on Wednesdays to just chill) heavy lift day in garage/heavy lift day inside with dumbbells depending on day, lower body focused barre (bodi) barre/full body fun tinmes (bodi) Stay tuned for some hard work!! Life Lately: bright day at the beach house

so, i feel like i kinda have done things more femininely targeted but! in no order- 21 day fix (both the classic version and live versions and the more intense version, forgetting the name). 80 day obsession, 100 MM, a few of the p90x types ( i forget names but there's a few iterations!), lift4, and my favorite ever barre blend which i've done around 8 times? I think?? I did it in endless loop for i think about 2 years. Right now, I'm doing the bodi format which I find charming, lifting heavy 2 days a week (we tricked out our garage with a squat rack!), running. I kind of follow a 2 heavy days, one full body day, one lower body day and fill the rest with combo of barre/running. I might be over training but I keep on dropping my heavy squat days due to the baby and the garage being... just absolutely not baby proofed currently. den of danger.

I was just wondering how you’ve been doing! Thank you for keeping us updated and sounds like you’re pretty adept forging anchors. I’m also doing Beachbody things- I find it very entertaining and now can’t really imagine ever having enough time to go to the gym. I did p90x years ago, find tony Horton very charming 😂

Though should say that what I mean by untoward pregnancy issues I mean sore back or sciatica or pelvic pain or that kind of thing- definitely go pee a million times a night and every thirty minutes during the day, GERD! Though that’s diminishing (I wonder if she’s descending), I walk slowly and I can’t see my feet! Etc etc etc but feel like all to be expected when super pregnant!

Yes!! Getting very close! Feeling pretty good but definitely slowing down. Can’t wait to meet the little one! Still doing barre and I think it’s doing me well this pregnancy! Highly recommend prenatal barre blend for pregnant people- I feel like it has prepared my body well for pregnancy. Not really having any untoward pregnancy issues except being tired! Last pregnancy I ran pretty late into the pregnancy and did life weights but found it harder to keep consistent. More recently- earlier this week, 35 weeks I think this is 33 weeks, before baby shower

I'm making another hobbit! Hello, y'all. It has been many days. My intention is to start up with the next challenge. Important news! I am pregnant! Im just entering 23 weeks. It's been a (knock on wood) wonderful pregnancy so far, been working out doing barre about 6 days a week and just feeling good in my body Running with that second trimester glow and energy bump right now. I'll keep updated a bit more perhaps later but short version- - this year has been hard particularly for my extended family but coming through and feeling the whisperings of spring! - my main goals for now are to continue to be active during this pregnancy, continue to make meditation, mental health a priority Hope you are all doing well. Lady of the Bog (though now more of the forests but, hey, bogs are mystical lands of change and becoming in my book so I'll keep it le second trimester glow, remember this when in end of third trimester slog 22 weeks- aka 6 months preggo! 21 weekssss ❤️❤️❤️

I'm so late to everything but I'm glad to be reading your challenge. I love your mindset format. Vibe hard with it. Just wanted to say, hello. Hope the snowstorm bypasses you as much as possible, at least the power stays on.

For some reason I just saw this! Will respond after river today!!

Yes! Super interested! If it’s 50+ and not super thick would like that too? I’ve kind of reconciled myself with wearing a hat every single day at this point but would like the option for more protection! Hiking and river and all of that I use some neutrogena thing, I think 50+ but it’s not an everyday moisturizer in my mind

thank you! that's so strange and interesting!

Le skin care regime: 1) oil wash, use face towel w/ warm water to remove (currently a burts bees but i've used many oils before) 2) cream cleanser (evan healy, love) 3) tone (currently using a hydrosol, have liked more clinical stuff in past) 4) retinol (i've used expensive spa ones before that were kind of magic but not currently!) 5) evan healy oil + hydrosol or moisturizer depending on how I am feeling 5) for occasional breakouts, I like essential oil based products and they work! I've used something from dew dab from living libations (love them and best oil cleanser I've ever used was one of their's) or if it feels deep- enessa clove acne control. The Enessa is kind of expensive but it's amazing. I gave a product to a friend who was experiencing some intense cystic acne and it worked very well for her. I often will cover a zit with one of these products and then dab on some of Mario Badescue's drying paste. I really highly recommend this stuff! Very affordable too. As I've gotten older, I don't really break out that much but thought I'd include because I've found this raft of stuff remarkable! I use a face moisturizer/spf cream from rodan and fields. If anyone has something to recommend in the 15-30 spf range please let me know! Other days, I use one from evan healy. About 2-3 times/week, I do a moisturizing mask. I really love Olek Henriksen's blueberry enzyme mask and sometimes will do it before other masks just because it feel like it prepares the skin for other products very well. I'll occasionally do a mud mask (love Lush's mask of magnimity) but only like one a week. If I am feeling like nuts I use Glow Glam's... something about brightening but it's intense. Like very intense so I do it like once a month. I just started using vegemour's eyelash and eyebrow growth serums. Curious to see how it works! ** I realize this is very involved. I think I just started getting into skin stuff post-30 years old. I was then going to go into the supplements I take which I realize nothing is going to replace a badass diet but I do have badass diet for the most part and actually have found improve my skin/hair beyond that with supplements. Sigh. This is a lot but also a lot of fun! I will commence affirmations. And you know what? I am a huge fan of affirmations/meditations as years ago I committed to sleep hypnosis tapes to get over a terrible breakup and hangup if I am being honest and that shiz changed my life. I met my husband a few months later and broke some of my habits that I had approached in dating. That schmaltzy, cheesy stuff actually worked! I crack up thinking about it.

Week 2/3 Update Week 2 We spent last week on the coast. I feel very lucky that we have a place out there to stay always but particularly in pandemic times. I'm finding it overwhelming to record but suffice to say, I worked out everyday and mediated x5. Other conscious efforts towards self esteem work didn't really happen. Not going to add points this week. Week 3 We are leaving to climb a peak! Tomorrow, we happened by some magic to secure a permit for a limited person trail/lake (20 heads/day). I'm pretttyyy excited. The next day, we will hike a peak and either swim in a lake/hot springs or kayak around following depending how we are feeling. The Pacific Northwest is really a wonderland. I hope it doesn't sound like gloating but I'm pretttyyy excited. Mental health wise, could be worse could be better. I feel like that's how I've been handling the pandemic/general fuckupness of these times. I really want to make it an intention to get working on my self-esteem workbook. I feel kind of like an ass typing that out but it does help! do my self esteem workbook (at least once a week): didn't do this but did set up with husband when a good time to do this might be (post dinner) in the midst of negative self-talk, punto for recognizing it and observing it: most beneficial part of this challenge so far has been simply beign aware of this sometimes... ALSO: found a instagram of a lady who shows how "influencers" pose/use apps to distort their images on social media. It sounds crazy admitting it, but seeing how images are heavily altered or posed has been helping realize how incredibly unrealistic my body expectations are of myself! meditation session: 6 times this week!!! Does anyone else use insight app? I love it!! Hobbit: GREY HAVENSSSS (really, though, architecture of the Oregon coast strong Grey Havens vibe The beach right outside the beach house is pretty nutso We've also been going to the river a lot! Just found this spot about twenty minutes from our house. Including this because I love this dress and felt very much myself wearing it

I know these over the hill denizens of which you speak. lollllll I love this- and I also have an involved skin care regime! I can incorporate mantra/affirmation into it. I'm down. Alas! I need to get back into the habit! We went to the coast for a week and I lost the thread! I feel like these times bolster your particular army unfortunately thank you! I would be so honored! Hobbit 4 life

Friday Night Update: Brevity has never been my forte but will attempt as I am reading a FANTASTIC novel- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo- and must away to it's sweet embrace. Body: Indeed got those 5x/week in. Took a run last Saturday as well, plan on tomorrow morning. I did yoga x1 and x2 foam rolling sessions! Great! Fantastic! Self esteem: journaling So, I have this kind of silly but actually feels good yoga journal thing that I'll post sometime. I did this x5 this week after each workout. Felt good! I do want to get into habit of writing proper journal as I did in days of yore but stoked to add the perhaps silly yoga journal into my routine act of self compassion Private moment but did remember to cnsciously do this x1 meditation session x2 talk about self esteem issues with someone other than myself x1 on a mom's group- I shared some really personal stuff and someone I really admire wrote me some very nice things. Felt really good Puntos: 9 out of the gate strong Hobbit stuff: spent time at the river, did not locate one ring to rule them all.

Oh, yes this all sounds good. Do share! Meditation is the magic sauce for me too- when I remember, make time to do it! Very good point. Maybe I'll name that voice, Smeagol. Won't be creepy at all. YES! To the first point, I should take compliment better and store them away as if I am a squirrel w/ compliment acorns for winter. Thank you for being here! Always the kindest, involved people on this forum. Mom look is the sauce. Citizens for elastic waistbands. YAY!! Analog girl. Yes, the general trickle down mom-auntie-nana fashion from normcore has been the best. just the best. Tanning is never ever in the cards for me (alas, cries my poor 13 year old self) but I'm fine with it at this point- except when going anywhere vaguely tropical BECAUSE my heart is there but hte body does not commit, lol. YAY! I'm so glad you are rooting for me. Much love! ad do share! love the sharing. thank you Thank you! Also, your lands always pop up on my iweather (because homeland) and I grumble every time I see it. literally in the 70s everyday. How do you live iwh yourself? Answer- very well. Heheh, miss that town! thank you!!