Welcome back to Day 2 of Day in the Life 2019! I always say this is one of my very favorite weeks of the year on the blog, I love the peek inside the real lives of other bloggers. Our guests this year are so awesome, these are girls that we’ve followed for years and they were the ones that led the way in developing both the home decor blogging niche and the Haven Conference, I admire them all!
If you are new, my name is Amy and I am one half of this blog, I share it with my friend and former college roommate, Christy. You can read more about how we started blogging and our enduring friendship here. You can also check out the guests yesterday and Christy’s day in this post HERE. It’s an honor to be sharing in this series with all of them. Welcome to those of you coming over from Just a Girl.
I strive to create time for free time, downtime, and family time in our daily routines but I have to admit right now I feel like we’re in a season of crazy. Back to school always creeps up without nearly enough warning (basically it’s really due to denial for that because I love summer and never want it to end) and since it started two weeks ago, my husband and I crammed in a mini-vacation for our 20th anniversary along with a bunch of projects relating to sponsorships. These are all good things but I feel like we have been a bit slow to get in a comfortable routine this year.
Here is how things generally go around here each day. My boys (above) are both now in high school now and our daughter is in her last year of elementary school. Our oldest is a senior and our younger son is a freshman. They have been back since mid-August and it’s all gone fine but Senior year has hit us all hard, but especially my son. He has quite a bit going on between applying to college, working, an internship and his activities so right now we’re helping him juggle all that. The great news is that he drives now, so my chauffer time in the car is greatly reduced, which is such a nice change.
A typical day here begins at 6:10AM and I’ll state I am not a morning person (nor am I a night owl, I like my sleep!), my alarm goes off and I basically lay in bed and half-sleep half-listen to make sure I hear my boys get up. My older son is fairly good about getting up on his own but my younger son not so much, so I usually have to get up and drag him out of bed. He’s grown almost 6 inches this year so he needs all the sleep he can get, so I kind of understand his lack of interest in getting up, plus it’s just so darn early.
While they shower I take out our dogs and feed them, some of you may remember we adopted a puppy earlier this summer, Auggie, so he still requires plenty of outside time throughout the day. I make a cup of coffee as soon as I possibly can, and start making breakfast for my boys.
I make them protein pancakes, pretty much every day. They have them with a breakfast shake and I think it does a decent job of keeping them full. Our oldest leaves school mid-day for a government internship so his lunch is often disrupted and our other son is heavily involved in sports so they need all the calories they can get. It sounds a little silly, but I feel like one of my primary jobs right now is keeping them fed and of course, being teenage boys, what they eat is of the utmost importance to them!
They head off to school together around 7:10, this is the one and the only year they will be in the same school so it makes me happy to see them drive off each day. Auggie, on the other hand, is not happy and tries to jump in the car too! Once they are en route to school, things calm down for a bit.
I have about 2o minutes of peace after they leave before I wake up my daughter and it starts all over again. I use this time to drink some coffee, check emails, skim favorite blogs, etc. but before I know it I have to go wake her up and start the process over again. We eat breakfast together (I usually eat avocado toast if you like to know these things) then we get out the door for her drop off around 8:10. My husband and I both try to take her if he’s working from home so she gets some of our undivided attention.
When we get home from her drop off I take care of all the things that still need to be done, dishes, start some laundry, make beds, answer the most important emails and if I have a blog post scheduled for that day I’ll take care of posting that and the corresponding social media first thing. Once the pressing things are done, I always try to sit down and have some quiet time. I find my days always go better when I take the time to recenter myself, read the bible and a devotional and pray. Usually, after that, I jump in the shower. I have been hit and miss with exercising recently I admit, sometimes my husband and I take a bike ride on nice days when we can fit it in. I also try to take our older dog for a walk a few times a week especially if it’s nice weather, she’s so sweet and she loves it. Sidenote: I just got these new shoes and they were a great price here (I missed them during the #nsale) and they are super comfortable!
After I shower and get dressed for the day, which I pretty much do every day because I almost always have something to do outside the house, I head out to get stuff done. I try to cluster my errands as much as possible, grocery shopping, the post office, dry cleaning, gas, pharmacy and such. I try to do most of my errands on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays I meet up with girls from church for a bible study which is the highlight of my week, and Fridays I try to spend time sourcing for projects (that is when I try to stop in places like HomeGoods 🙂 ). Mondays are usually my planning and catch up day.
shirt (similar) | shoes | jeans | doormat
I’ll also mention that I changed how I grocery shop this year and it’s made a huge difference in how much time I was spending doing it. I was going to the store every 2 to 3 days but now I go to BJ’s once a week and buy most of what we need in bulk. It’s cut down on the amount I have to buy elsewhere and they still have a great selection of organic and natural foods. I try keep a list on my desk and almost always have a meal plan and shopping list going. Like I said food is a priority for my boys and so I try to stay on top of what we are eating each week. Later this month we’re planning posts about meal planning so I’ll save more details for then.
My planner is available HERE, it’s pretty much what keeps me sane each day!
When I get home from doing whatever needs to be done that day, I’m usually starving so I’ll eat some lunch. I eat (at least!) three meals a day, I have always had a pretty fast metabolism (though the older I get the slower it’s getting, boo!) and I find I need to stay nourished or my energy gets low. I eat gluten-free since overcoming Lyme disease and try to avoid sugar and anything processed. I usually just eat some sort of leftovers from dinner, or I’ll mix black beans with this quinoa/rice mixture for a high protein lunch.
I spend my afternoons in front of the computer–writing posts, answering emails, sourcing items for posts, doing social media planning, exchanging emails with Christy about this and that. When we went to Richmond we got a plan together about our content and it allows me to work ahead and that helps me manage my time better. I think there can be the misconception that running a blog isn’t a full-time job, even with my fabulous business partner (I know she’ll attest to this too) it takes hours each day to come up with content, answer emails, schedule social media, deal with the accounting, sponsors and such. I also might take or edit photos during this time. Of course, all the household stuff like paying bills, emailing teachers, and returning phone calls happens during this timeframe too. The afternoons fly by!
Most days my boys have a practice or activity after school so I am free until my daughter’s bus arrives a little after 4. If my older son isn’t working, he usually gets home from his internship by 4 and he comes in my office and we chat for a bit about his day and things he needs to do that evening. Then Auggie and I take a walk to the bus stop and meet my daughter’s bus, he’s always so happy to see her come home!
She usually wants some downtime so she grabs a snack and I finish up stuff. I try to leave my office (see the space here) around 5 and start prepping for dinner and cleaning up. Sometimes it is earlier if my boys are home or someone needs a ride, every day is different. My daughter hasn’t started her new dance schedule yet, so that also gives us more free time in the afternoons.
I try to stick to my meal plan and make dinner each night, sometimes when we have so much running around to do it doesn’t happen but for the most part, we always try to sit down to dinner together. After dinner the kids do homework and my husband and I clean up the kitchen together, get lunch stuff ready for the next day, and take care of anything else that needs to be done. I am usually upstairs, finishing up the laundry I started earlier that morning, between 8 and 8:30. I admit usually at this point I work on Instagram posts and check in to see what everyone is up to in stories, I sometimes read on my phone or my Kindle. I’ll be sharing later this month what I have been reading (Christy’s list is here) so that will come soon too.
I admit I sometimes fall asleep reading, but usually around 10 I get back up, track down the puppy and make sure he’s been out, say goodnight to my kids and make sure their alarms are set etc. for the most part I am asleep during the week between 10 and 10:30, gosh its all not very exciting, I know. Somehow the days seem to pass by in a blur right now, especially since this year while we’re trying hard to cling to every minute with all three of our kids still home.
Thanks again for joining us! Be sure to head over to Karianne at Thistlewood Farms to read about her day, she is just hilarious, I promise you will adore her as much as we do!
Be sure to visit all of this year’s series participants:
Tuesday
Christy at 11 Magnolia Lane | Rhoda at Southern Hospitality | Traci at Beneath My Heart
Wednesday
Amy at 11 Magnolia Lane | KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms | Chris at Just a Girl
XO,
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