Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️  

Hi mamas! Happy Valentine’s Day ♥️

This past week, I turned 32, ran my first half marathon (on 3 hours of sleep), and now it’s Valentine’s Day. There’s so much to talk about- where do we start?!

Well, a quick recap of my thoughts from running the half marathon- I “woke up” in the morning (even though I really wasn’t asleep to begin with) thinking “the last thing I want to do is go run 13 miles". I even said it out loud to Gabe as I was nursing two babies in a bed in an Airbnb in Galveston. But here’s why I decided to go and do it anyway: I promised myself I would do it, and the thing about me is I keep my promises to myself. Even though I didn’t hit my goal time, and it wasn’t under the best circumstances, running that half marathon was the culmination of 4 months of taking time for myself to train for something. Plus, it was 2 hours of uninterrupted time outside, and who doesn’t love some morning sun?! 😆 

On turning 32, I don’t have much to say except that I really do love my life, and am so grateful for the choices I’ve made to get me here. Even the things that didn’t work out, because they opened new doors or taught me a valuable lesson (even just that sometimes life is hard and that’s ok).

On Valentine’s Day, we don’t really celebrate this holiday, although I love any excuse to express my love and admiration for Gabe. This is actually something I struggled with up until recently. I always want there to be zero question about how much I love my husband. He is my best friend, my life partner, and a really freaking amazing dad. In the past, I have struggled with saying that so freely because there is a weird culture looming over us that prioritizes people complaining about their spouses. Is everything always sunshine and rainbows? No, any healthy relationship has disagreements. But that is the person you chose to spend your life with. I chose to grow and evolve with Gabe, and I couldn’t be any more thankful to God that we were put in each other’s paths. So this Valentine’s Day, who can you openly and freely express some admiration for? I’m sure they’d love to hear it ♥️

I am still on my sourdough journey, and because of that I thought I killed the starter my friend Hillary gave me, so I got a gluten-free sourdough starter (which I actually killed, so I got another). This is the one I got: instructions are pretty simple, but I left it in the oven and then turned on the oven which I wouldn’t recommend if you want your starter to grow and not bake.

The Pikler Triangle has had a resurgence in our house after a month-long hiatus. Shay and Charli both love climbing on it, and I love it because it is allowing both of them to develop strength and coordination (and doing it together which is most of the time very cute). We use it as a table to color, a slide, a ramp for cars, and just to climb on. The possibilities are truly endless, it’s great!

I recently shared that I am trying to wear more “elevated” comfy clothes, and have been living in this sweatshirt since I bought it. It can be “dressed up” with jeans, or “dressed down” with some leggings or sweatpants. 10/10 recommend.

If you’re not already in the Mom’s Training Club, WYD?! I’m about to share a 🍑 booty program that’s FREE for members!

See you next week, same time same place.

Xoxo,

Arielle