Week #10 - Recharged, back to nature and feeling present.

Back from an incredibly powerful weekend in Chicago - participated in the Basic Seminar of Pathways to Successful Living and I'm totally ON FIYAH!! I love the connection I feel and epiphanies I have during these seminars... It's indescribable. We are all humans, learning to live life to the fullest and how to get along together, loving each other from an accepting and compassionate place - and Pathways has taught me so much.  #Falacos wouldn't be happening if it weren't for #PathwaysSeminars.  That was a pivotal, life changing experience for me and I've had a fire lit inside of me ever since.  It's powerful beyond measure and I love sharing it with the people around me.

While in Chicago, we went exploring and I finally got to see "The Bean"!  It was too cool!!

Check in from last week:

• Keep up all routines - meditate each morning for 10-20 minutes, have breakfast of some kind, every day. Off phone and start wind down at 8 pm. Move to bed by 11:15, asleep by midnight.  The bedtime was way off this week but with travel, that was to be expected. Definitely had breakfast - something about exercising the mind and personal growth that makes me HUNGRY! 

• The new activity was to start meditating for 5 minutes before bed because while out of town at the seminar, my days are very full and my body is sometimes exhausted but my mind can't shut off and I don't sleep well out of town. This worked GREAT while I was on vacation - but then stopped doing it when I got home. DOH! That wasn't the goal, this was to be a new thing! LOL Realized this on our call this week and decided to make that my refocus this week going forward.  

I knew when I got home from Chicago it was gonna be GO TIME for my new food truck, Evelyn, and I reeeeeeally wanted to solve my "I need an employee ASAP" dilemma before I left.  Coach Bob advised me to stick with my circle and just put it out to people I know and see what happens.  I wrote out an employee vision describing all the qualities I wanted in a teammate (who I want to eventually run this truck) and posted it all around on some foodie groups on Facebook.  Some people shared it and I got an email from a very motivated individual. Long story short, I interviewed Daniel and hired him before I went to Chicago! YAHOO!!! Daniel totally rocks, loves eating clean and staying fit - and he's bilingual too, which was a bonus on my vision! Thanks, universe!!! :)  Had our first day of training on Evelyn last Friday - we are so stoked and ready to get cookin on this baby!!

Our big OPENING DAY is coming up on April 7th at the Farmers Market in Conroe!! I can't believe we are only a few weeks away!! We are planning to be at every Farmers Market in Conroe this year - always remember first Thursday from 4-8. :)

My birthday was March 15th, the day after I got home from Chicago. I came home to find such a wonderful gift - Benny had been working in the garden and it looks SO FINE!! We are totally gonna have a load of veggies this year and I am really excited about that!!  AND, my wisteria started blooming! Such a great birthday week!!

 

I let Anjali know my schedule is so full right now, I'm hesitant to take on a new task or focus for this week - I want to definitely refocus on the night-time meditation and make that a habit this week. She suggested something simple and awesome, and I've already started.

New goal for this week:

• Notice the end of my day.  If I start my day at 8 am or before and I end it at 6, that's a 10 hour day - and it's totally ok for me to turn it off and start my ME time from 6-10 pm. Again, we are working to get me in more alignment with the Ayurvedic clock, as much as possible. Late nights with Falacos will totally jack that up, but the idea is to just focus and ask myself "can this wait until 8 am tomorrow?" and if it can, TURN WORK OFF and enjoy my personal family time in the evening. I can do this. Last night, I became aware of 6 pm and even told my office mate "it's time for me to go".. however, I had important things to do that really couldn't wait (cuz I knew it was my only day in the office this week) and I stayed until 8 pm.  The PROGRESS for me tho, is that ordinarily, I would have stayed til 10 cuz I could have and there was stuff to do.  But that stuff could be delegated (so I did) or wait a few more days. Talk about growth for me! Today, I spent my day getting my Food Manager Certification for the City of Houston. Was home before 6, spent some time in the garden, jamming out this blog right now and then DONE! Time for family. 

A new affirmation: I own 2 businesses and I have a peaceful life.

Hell. Yes. If it's gonna be, it's up to me! I choose to be present and peaceful.  That's where it's at!

Week #9 - Travelling and new tasks.

Checking in a little early this week - leaving bright and early for Chicago to be of service and on staff for the March Basic class of Pathways to Successful Living Seminars. I will be all tied up on Sunday, so Anjali and I had our call today and I wanted to get this blog out before I left. :)

I love Pathways weekends - a super powerful recharge that gets my mind in alignment and my soul on FIYAH.  What would you do with an inspirational weekend that could change your life?  I was skeptical at first... now? HA!!! I'd pay 3 times the cost and do it all 10 more times, these results in my life are so amazing!  5 years ago, sad, depressed, negative, burnt out... today? LIMITLESS. If you've ever wondered where all my energy and light came from?  Highly recommend Pathways.. it's a game changer for those who are ready!!

Check in from last week:

• Healthy lunches. Well.... planning is EVERYTHING! As I shared in last Sunday's blog, I lacked groceries so I had a protein shake in lieu of lunch for a couple of days, finally got groceries on Saturday, forgot I had lunch appointment on Monday but still ate well - guacamole salad - and yesterday and today, both were hearty big salads for lunch. NO CRAP FOOD! That's PROGRESS!!! :)

In other Falacos news... WE HAVE A REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM!!  Falacos now has the best drinking water on any food truck - and it ain't in plastic bottles!

 

Before our call this week, I was thinking up what would be good for me to have as a weekly goal, knowing I'm leaving town and didn't want to try and implement anything new and unrealistic... found it!

 

New goal for this week:

• Meditate before bed. I am steadily meditating 10-20 minutes each morning, but not at night before bed.  I will need to relax my mind each night during seminar, so this is a great time to start an evening meditation practice.  Anjali cautioned - not to say I'm going to do 10 minutes every night the first week - only start with 5 minutes.  I can do 5 minutes! 

 

This is really intriguing - I wasn't looking for results when I started meditating but I'm calmer now, move slower, less chaotic, quieter mind, more attentive and present... I didn't know these things were gonna happen but I'm super happy about it!!  Now that I've been doing it every morning for weeks to prime my day... things are shifting.  In my head, specifically. I wasn't looking for a certain result - I just started meditating. When I get beyond the voice and stay there for awhile, allowing the thoughts to pass by like dandelion seeds floating in the breeze... it's lovely.

 

 

A watcher. YES. Not the mind and all its thoughts - it's just a bodily function... To be the watcher and nothing else. Getting in the gap is where it's at!

 

Namaste, y'all!

Week #7 - Time for fuel.

This past week was pretty rockin. :) Super charged from my relaxing weekend, I've been feeling more chill, calm, present and happy. AMAZING what can happen when I get off technology and work on connecting with the earth.. it's like magic! We have veggies and herbs and I'm so excited. :)

Check in from last week:

• Morning routine - CHECK! In fact, spent 15-20 minutes meditating some mornings. Not planned but had the extra time, so took it! I love starting my day with a calming wake up time and no phone or email or FB... it sets the tone for the whole day!
• Bedtime alarm for 11:15. While I didn't have the alarm set every night, I stayed very aware of the time and I got in bed before midnight. Getting better sleep!
• Off phone by 8 pm. This wasn't perfect but HOLY COW, I am LOOOVING being off the phone! Just being present with the people in my space is a wonderful thing.. really enjoying being still and sometimes taking moments to think about absolutely nothing - cuz I CAN!!

Had another check in with the food truck, too... which, btw, she has a NAME!! Finally decided on Evelyn, naming her after my grandma - her name is Evelyn Colleen Barton.  She is so precious to me and I have lots of fond memories of us doing stuff in the kitchen together when I was little, so it seemed fitting. The burners are in, decals placed and will be applied, now just waiting on the wooden counter on the outside and it's GO TIME!!!

Will be travelling to Chicago this week, I'm on the March Basic staff for Pathways to Successful Living and I'm so grateful to be going - Pathways is my mojo recharge!! I get to be of service and support a class of students (who I was once) and also have the opportunity to do my own self work and grow over the weekend.  I always learn so much from the folks in the class - know how they say "others are a mirror of us"?  Well... that's very true. :)

New goal for this week:

• My morning routine has been going great and my nighttime routine is getting better - getting offa that phone was #1, such a distraction - so now we are going to focus on fueling my body better.  I've been having some form of breakfast each day, so now it's time to work on LUNCH. I checked my calendar when we had our call on Thursday, to see which days in the next week I already had reserved for lunch - all the rest would be eligible for my new lunch routine. Friday, Saturday, today, Monday and Wednesday were all available.  Admittedly, I lacked proper groceries to have a decent lunch on Friday and Saturday (went to store last night) but I DID have a protein shake both days and that was a new behavior! Better than my usual habit of nothing, lol, so I'm glad to say I got something in my system. Got salad fixins at the store last night so today, Monday and Wednesday are all on schedule for a healthy lunch! Amazing what happens when I plan and get the stuff I need for my goal and just focus on a week at a time. THAT'S MANAGEABLE! :)

Self care has been my focus throughout this journey and I know eating proper meals is a big part of good self care.. I admit - I am lazy when it comes to food prep on a daily basis. LOL... oh the irony - I'll cook for other people but lazy when it comes to cooking for myself. :) This is a new behavior for me and a big deal - I need ENERGY with this new business I got goin on! 

Time to get back out to my garden - daylight is burnin!!

Week #6 - Getting grounded and dirty.

I'm reminded of an old lesson I thought I learned a few years ago about the joys of being unplugged.  This "no phone" thing has been the best experience!!  I set a goal while on vacation one time.. no phone at all. No texts or Facebook or anything... and it was so peaceful... and somewhat strange because I suddenly had so much time on my hands. Last week, I focused on being off the phone after 9 pm and I'm starting to really like it - I don't miss it at all.

Last week check in:

• All morning routines consistent.  Often meditating 15 or 18 minutes if I have the extra time in the morning.
• Breakfast a definite.
• 9 pm no phone.  I didn't always make it exactly at 9 pm, but as soon as I realized it was after 9, phone goes on the charger.  This keeps it out of my face so I'm not tempted to compulsively check it.  I can't believe how unconscious it has gotten for me.. I'm always checking it, it's compulsive and I want to change - it needs to be a tool for business, not a time waster when I'm at home.

In the last week, by being off the phone, I've noticed I am easily able to get quality time with Ben every day.  As my world spins up with Falacos, it will be more important to be intentional about my time with my husband and make sure we connect every day on an intimate level, shutting out the world and making sure we are giving each other attention.  We are talking every night and having some wonderful conversations.

One night, the topic came up: What did we used to do at night before smart phones and Facebook?  Well, we used to drink and were a lot more social, going to bars and hanging out with friends.  We noticed that since we quit drinking in 2013, we've become home bodies and gotten more absorbed in our phones and less connected with each other when we're in the same room together.  It's been nice to snap to reality and realize there are better ways we could be spending our time.

I noticed in the last week I was getting to bed much closer to midnight because we were staying up talking and lost track of time. This created a new focus for this week!

New focus this week:

• Set alarm at night for 11:15 so this will prompt me to go to bed. (Already seeing I need to readjust this because my phone is on charger beside bed and I haven't been hearing the alarm. Asking Ben to support me and set an alarm on his phone for 11:15 - his phone is usually beside him. I've got to get this habit of an earlier bedtime because when Falacos hits, I'll be needing to get up super early and I need to get enough sleep.)
• Start focusing on rolling back my wind down time to 8 pm. If I'm still going strong at 8 pm, observe, how long have I been working today? I've likely done plenty and I should be in rest mode, winding down and ready for sleep. Starting to put phone on charger at 8 pm.

Anjali said something this week that really resonated with me... if I'm up and going by 8 am, it's totally ok to give myself permission to be done with my "work" for the day and winding down at 6 pm, focusing on dinner and my nightly self care routine. 

SHE IS SO RIGHT!! And that's the kicker - I have to give myself permission.

I'm addicted to doing stuff, feeling productive, there's so much to do in a day, surely if there is energy in me and stuff to be done, I can cram in one more thing... and that's not been working for me. It's time I took control of my self care schedule and start seeing my time at home as sacred, something to be cherished because it's important for my serenity.

This weekend, I focused on gardening. The weather was amazingly beautiful and Benny and I committed to working in the garden together.  We didn't have a garden at all last year and the backyard was overgrown with weeds.  Both days this weekend, we worked together, enjoyed some tunes and tackled a good chunk of our yard. It felt so good to be off the phone and have my hands in the dirt.  When we camped recently, I realized how much I missed the dirt... just feeling the earth on my skin... it does something magical to my spirit. It's peaceful and grounding and oh so relaxing for me.

Watched a documentary last night, Dirt! The Movie and I suddenly had a renewed respect for the ground that brings us life and the food we eat... I am so excited to be back in a garden again this year and I expect this will be part of my meditation each day - piddling in the garden each morning, pulling weeds and tending to our little spot on this pale blue dot.

Week #5 - Getting off my phone is a new thing.

I am loving this. Every week I'm seeing something new and it's so fascinating. Thank you Anjali, for encouraging me to do this and keep a record of it... this weekly exercise keeps me in constant reflection and staying open to the lessons happening all around me and within me. It's crazy wild, sometimes!

Check in from last week:

• All the morning routines are consistent and going well. 10 minutes of meditation is starting to go by in a flash and one morning, I set my alarm for 8 more minutes because I had the time and wanted to keep going.
• Breakfast everyday.
• Bedtime before midnight also going well. Time to start rolling it back.
• "No judgment" is a constant reflection. When I speak, am I adding to the conversation? Is it my ego wanting to interject an opinion? Does it matter or help the situation? When a conversation triggers any emotion inside of me, I notice the urge to want to say something. Why is that? No judgment, only observing. Interesting. Does what I want to say, do or change anything? What is my motive in wanting to say it? Hmm. 

And then I wonder about this here blog... lol... contradiction, much? Well, I guess it would depend on my motive. First, I'm writing this for me. I make it public because I hope it might inspire someone to go after their dreams and take action to shape their life into more of what they want... because anyone can do it. Anjali is helping me on my spiritual journey right now, becoming more in tune with myself and the world and I'm making the changes I want to see in my life. If any of you want to work with Anjali, I highly recommend you contact her for a consult. She is truly amazing.

Anjali Gadre
Inner Bliss Studio, Yoga and Wellness Studio
832-610-5564

On our call this week, Anjali suggested we really focus on my night time routine and examine my whole "I seem to go to bed no earlier than 3 hours after I get home" thing.. if I'm home at 9, I'm in bed at midnight never before, sometimes later. 

Anjali explained to me the Ayurvedic clock, the idea of the three doshas - vata, kapha and pitta - and how they are the cycles of our day. Here's a great blog explaining how they work. This makes so much sense to me... and why I always have a second wind after 10 pm...and wanna eat. I'm back in pitta again. I want to get more in balance on this... cuz right now, I'm kinda outta whack.

The primary focus this week:

• Off the phone completely from 9-10 pm. Don't touch it.

Friday was our call and admittedly, I totally spaced the new exercise Friday night. Almost forgot it again last night, but then something really kinda amazing happened that got my attention... I had a panic attack sitting on my couch.

Long story short, I caught a picture of the new sign going on my food truck - and I was ELATED!!! Extreme joy and excitement exploded inside of me and I was giddy as could be - the logo looked AMAZING! That sign is SO FINE!!!! I loved it so hard... and then I noticed something was off. A pepper was out of place. 

My intense joy, anticipation and excitement turned on me.  It suddenly slammed into a paralyzing fear and anxiousness - OH SHIT, I'VE GOT TO TELL HIM HIS BEAUTIFUL SIGN ISN'T QUITE RIGHT. Oh, nooooooooo. I couldn't breathe, my mind went fuzzy and I had this overwhelming fear and dread... so many thoughts all at once and it was all I could do to keep breathing. I knew I was going to have to say something and I was terrified... I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I didn't want it to cost anyone anymore money. OMG, how much would that cost to redo? Holy shit, I can't believe this, it's so amazing, and I have to tell him something is wrong with it. OH SHIT.  

Needless to say, I was in full panic mode. All the while, this voice in the back of my head kept saying "hey, this isn't the end of the world, just accept this right now and you'll feel better. yes you have to tell him. it will be ok"... and I focused on that voice. Accept this, Courtney, accept it. It is what it is. 

I picked up the phone to text him.. told him how much I loved the sign and eventually said "I hate to say this.. but..." and I explained what was up. Woooooooo let it goooooooooo, Courtney. Woooosaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. 

Zack said he will check it out on Monday and my worry instantly subsided... the voices started saying "hey, it could be an easy fix, think positive thoughts, let it go, let the professional handle it." Yes... I think I will.

I set that panic down and it switched off just as fast as it showed up. CRAZY. I think that was the most bizarre emotional roller coaster I've ever been on and the whole thing happened in about 10 minutes. I am fascinated by this... so much so, I busted out laughing when the fuzz went silent and it was all over... my mind is a powerful thing. Observing emotion is a new thing for me and it's pretty neato, I gotta say..

About this time, I realized it was 9:30 and I immediately told Ben about my new task. My hour of 'no phone' began. This exercise is in alignment with our new relationship vision, too (we are working to write out the whole thing - positive affirmations for our relationship and things we want to create) because one of the things on my list is "we spend quality time together, everyday." This hour of no phone would make the space for us to have that quality time. Benny supported me by staying off his phone, too.

We laughed at all the times during that hour we reached for our phones because we thought to text someone or wanted to check a message or look something up.

I also noticed in that hour how relaxed I became and thought "Anjali, you are so smart - you're getting me to wind down and get that electronic stimulation outta my face when I'm about to be entering pitta and it's time to go to sleep"... and it totally worked. That phone keeps my brain turned on, scrolling Facebook, watching videos, reading articles and blogs... wow. It keeps me up and into pitta and then I'm totally okay with being up until midnight. If I don't get off that phone, it's likely I'd never get to bed any earlier. Although last night, we stayed up and continued talking until midnight and was in bed by 12:30... on a Saturday night? That's a huge improvement. Usually, I'm in bed at 2 am on a Saturday night.

I will keep up the "no phone from 9-10 pm" and spend that hour with Benny.
Quality time.  It's what I want, so... I think I'll make that happen. :)

Week #3 - I need more meditation time!

I'm really amazed by what all can happen in a week.  I'm glad I'm keeping track of these things in a weekly blog because it helps me see where I used to be and to celebrate my changes and successes, something I need more of in my life. :)

Check in from last week:

• Bedtime at 11:30?  Not exactly... but what I DID realize is that before I started this work, I used to make my way towards bed anywhere from 11:50-12:20, finally getting IN bed around 12:20-1 am... while I may not be in bed at 11:30 exactly every night, I am getting IN bed before midnight, consistently.. and THAT is a new thing!!  That means I've actually rolled back my bedtime schedule about an hour, which is a big deal!  I am not beating myself up for not hitting 11:30 exactly but I am celebrating that I'm now consistently IN bed before midnight on week nights. That's awesome!
• Sleep app continues! Using it to monitor my bedtime and wake up time to see how many hours of sleep I'm getting a night.
• Wake up time of 6 or 7 also working well, will continue that!
• 5 minute meditation... this went so well so quickly, after a couple days I decided 5 minutes wasn't nearly long enough.  It was over in a blip!  Set timer for another 5 minutes a couple of times. :)

Things were going well, and then something else interesting happened last week... I got angry.  Kinda a long story, details aren't important... but I told a friend I was angry. That's not something I do, usually.. But it was all I could think of to say.. Being honest about my emotions in that moment.  I could have avoided, not responded, hid my anger... But I didn't.

I am currently working Step 1 in Codependents Anonymous. One of the characteristics is "I have trouble identifying what I am feeling." I never thought I had a problem identifying what I felt, until that day.

I was spun up with thoughts and anxious.. Realized I was triggered (which led me down another path of reflection) and I felt the urge to say "I'm angry", so I did. I have always been so IN an emotion, I never step out to say "I am feeling this right now". When I did, it suddenly made it finite.

The interesting part is, later on, I was able to see where I kinda stepped out of the anger when I questioned what was triggered inside of me.. I became inquisitive to the source and observed my emotion like an ant farm... When I walked into my breakfast appointment right after this, I was able to set the anger emotion down like a glass of water.  For the first time ever, I felt anger, IDENTIFIED IT, then stepped beyond it all within about 10 minutes. 

I've had a whole lot of reflection after this happened and I found out why I was triggered. The circumstance reminded me of some past pain on a very subconscious level and I was judging the entire situation - and as a result, I was left feeling yucky on the inside. The way I felt was 100% in my control and it was all because of something that happened to me long ago. I didn't have to associate the 2 things - one was today and outside of me, the other was 10+ years ago and way in the past... but they connected somehow in my brain and flared up that deep feeling I used to have, as if it were yesterday.  That's CRAZY!! How do our brains do that? Truly fascinating, when I really observe it.

The other thing I took from this lesson was how emotion can REALLY influence my choices.  When I'm IN an emotion, the thoughts I think and the things I say are greatly impacted by the haze of that emotion, almost like I'm in an inebriated state, a cloud, a haze... When triggered and in pain, thoughts are dark and I want to shoot that pain out, sometimes not realizing who is on the receiving end of it. When I'm super happy and joyful, I let that emotion out too, not realizing who around me may be in the wake of my super happy fun time.  Either way, the people around me may not really want or appreciate my emotional cloud in their airspace. I know I have allowed other peoples' emotions to be imprinted on me and I pick up those energies and have matched those moods.  

I think I'm in a phase of life where I am aware of and choosing to not pick up other peoples' energies anymore. I'm also being very mindful of where and how I export my emotional energy. I'm seeing where emotional energies can have a positive or negative vibration and they cause internal drama.  The "bad" emotions make us feel bad and the "good" emotions make us feel really good... until they fade away or something "bad" happens to take them away and it's this constant cycle of feeling bad then good again... 

I'm ready to get off the merry go round. I'm ready to just BE. I'm ready to accept and be grateful for all that happens. The sun came up today, my eyes opened today, I have another opportunity to do something with this day.  What will I do?  I'm not really sure.. I have limitless options in front of me... one thing is for sure, though - I will practice gratitude all day to stay in the moment. And no judgment. :)

New actions for this week:

• Maintain all activities from last week!
• Increase morning meditation from 5 minutes to 10 minutes
• On mornings I don't have to get up super early, have one form of breakfast all week - trying juicing or oatmeal for a week each, see if there is any difference in how I feel. Raw breakfast vs warm breakfast in winter months - which does my body like more? 

It's a beautiful day outside today... time for some sunshine! 

How will you make your day great today?

Week #2 - No judgment 2.0, learning to make adjustments - 5 minute meditation

Had a powerful check in call with Anjali this week.  She says "So tell me what's good!" ...and I chose my words carefully so as to just state the facts and what I observed, without judging the hell out of myself for my results. :)

Last Week Objective: 

• Wake up at 6 am and have a glass of warm water. 
• NO JUDGMENT. Practice catching myself when I use words to describe what I do/don't do - am I judging or observing? Also observe my schedule of wake, work, eat, rest, sleep.
• Be in bed by 11:30. 

About the 11:30 bedtime... Well, I've noticed some things.

I start making my way towards bed at 11:30... meaning, brush teeth, feed the cats, grab laundry, get water, pee... and then I'll be in bed by 12.  I have been using the sleep cycle app every night and this has been a GREAT tool because I'm tracking what time I ACTUALLY get into bed.  To keep me from playing on Facebook, as soon as I hit the bed, the sleep app goes on and phone is set on nightstand.  I track exactly when I get into bed and what time I wake up. 

So, funny story…. it's last Monday night and I’m tossing and turning, 12:30-1am, not falling asleep, mind reeling asking myself:

“What’s the deal, Court? Bedtime is 11:30, why aren’t we getting to bed on time? What’s the deal with that? OMG, I have ANXIETY right now over not going to sleep on time and now I can’t sleep! GAH!! WTF is the deal? OMG This is so fucking stup – GAH – NO JUDGMENT!!!”  

It was in that moment, I GOT IT. This isn’t about me getting to bed consistently every night at 11:30… the deeper lesson in all of this is how I talk to myself. When I don’t succeed, what does my inner voice do and say to me? So I can’t fall asleep right now, that’s ok. So I didn’t make 11:30 tonight, that’s ok – so long as I observe, take note of what had me late, accept I didn’t make 11:30, ask myself what I can do differently next time and above all, NOOOOO JUDGMENT.  

In Pathways I learned my purpose is to create a patient and loving world by teaching others acceptance and compassion.  Those 4 words are so impactful for me.  Patience, love, acceptance and compassion – I DESERVE THAT FROM ME FIRST.  I’m not gonna master this “no judgment” thing right off the bat… practice makes better, accept what I’m doing without judgment, practice compassion for my mis-steps as I am not gonna get it perfectly every time, and loving myself all the way through.

I explained all of this to Anjali and she was happy to hear that I was seeing that deeper lesson... cuz really, that's what it's all about. Everything we do, everything we are... it's all broken down to one very core level - our relationship with ourselves and how peaceful and loving THAT is. It drives everything else in our world.

Other observations.. I'm not up at 6 am every day. My brain tells me I can sleep longer if I don't have a 7:30 am appt. Rather than hitting snooze for 30-45 minutes, we agreed to re-adjust this goal also. Warm water still all good, that's daily.

NEW Weekly Objectives:

• Bedtime ALARM set on phone for 11:15. Start process of 'getting ready' for bed - wash face, brush teeth, do cats, get water, etc - and goal is to be IN bed at 11:30. Sleep app on, asleep before 12. Progress not perfection. No judgment. Getting Ben's support on this also to keep me accountable.
• Depending on morning schedule, alarm will be set for 6 or 7 am. If I am able to sleep until 7, set alarm for 7 so will sleep soundly up til 7. Working to find the right solution to get me off this snooze button usage.
• When wake, get water and brush teeth, then set timer on phone for 5 minutes of meditation. We are starting small with realistic, attainable, bite size changes.

Other thing I noticed... Friday and Saturday nights have been exempt from this bedtime/wake up schedule thing. I've always liked staying up late those nights and then sleeping in the next day. I realized, with the upcoming launch of Falacos, those are going to be late nights anyways... so it's kinda a good thing I am already used to being up late. :)  For now, staying up late has looked like COLORING. I'm soooo in love with coloring in my coloring books before bed.  Very relaxing and meditative. And pretty. :)

In Falacos news, I went down to see the truck the week and met with my buddy Chris with Genisoft to see about installing a reverse osmosis water filtration system in the truck so I always have SUPER clean drinking water for my infused waters, cooking, etc and never have to worry about a bottled water service. Zack says the truck will be ready in 2-3 weeks - HOLY CRAP!!! It's GO TIME!! Once the truck is finished, I will be spending 3-4 weeks getting the truck ready and practicing cooking EVERYTHING in the truck, before I go anywhere public. Lots to do!! Feeling excited and ready!