Hi, how are you?

The next email will be after my race. I’m hoping to report back that I finished and did really well!

I’m also starting to think ahead. What am I going to do once it’s over? There’s another race, in Texas, in September, that I may sign up for. But okay, what about after that? I want to stay in shape, but I don’t want to keep doing this 5-day-a-week biking, swimming, running I’ve been doing. Perhaps I’ll keep up with it a little bit, but I want to do more strength training. I just don’t know what schedule or program I’ll follow.

For now, though, let me just finish this race. 🙂 

Get Your Pink Back

Lindsey Gurk is a mom and influencer* and entrepreneur and comedian and an all-around cool lady. She’s got a line of merch called Get Your Pink Back. The name comes from the fact that flamingos lose their pink after they have a chick. They give so much to the baby that they literally lose some of their coloring.

Once the chick gets a bit older and can find its own food, the parents get their pink coloring back. The message she wants to convey is that we moms give so much of ourselves to our kiddos that we sometimes forget who we are as people, too.

The idea is that when you start finding yourself again, doing things you love and enjoy just for yourself, you “get your pink back.”

For me, doing this training has really been impactful in that way!

Is there something you want to do, you’ve been meaning to do, you’ve started to do, that is just for you?

*Are you an influencer if you also have a brand? Or does that just make you an entrepreneur with an IG page? I feel like an influencer is specifically someone who gets people to buy stuff on social media and they make a commission from it. Or is it literally someone who has influence? I mean, I don’t consider myself an influencer because I don’t have brand deals and don’t make a living from social media. What do you think?

Working toward gratitude

They say that a grateful heart is a cheerful one. Okay maybe no one says that. But it works with what I have been thinking lately.

I’m a grump, did you know that? I’m good at hiding it online, and I wouldn’t say I’m grumpy all day every day. But I get irritated really easily. My threshold of what I can handle is loooow. Like, I’m washing dishes and a spoon catches the water and it splashes onto me? Mood, ruined. I’m writing on paper, and a tiny wet spot gets on the paper and smudges the ink? EYE ROLL.

And sometimes, if enough of those happen, I can’t shake the bad mood for a long time. It doesn’t last all day - cooking, listening to podcasts, or taking a walk help me reset. But I hate that I get irritated SO easily.

Over a decade ago, our pastor in Washington DC, Mark Batterson, said something that’s stuck with me ever since. If you are looking for things to complain about, you will find them. And if you are looking for things to be thankful for, you’ll find them.

When I shift my perspective at the beginning of the day - when I tell myself first thing “Today’s going to be great” - it really helps. I just forget to do it most days!

Do you have a habit of gratitude? Do you keep a journal? Would the journal be something you write in throughout the day, or do you do it first thing in the morning, or at the end of the day? I need RULES if this will work. I can’t just be willy nilly about it.

Tonight, I’m going to start jotting down 5 things I am grateful for. And by the time I write the next email, I’ll let you know if anything has changed with my daily moods!

Things that are none of my business

I’ve seen this trend on TikTok and I think it’s hilarious. I want to share some of my favorites:

• What the back of my head looks like - If I’ve got a cute hairstyle going on in the front, I don’t really care if it doesn’t look good in the back😅

• My screen time - I try to be present throughout the day. If one of my kids comes up and talks to me, I put my phone down. I try to leave it off and/or away from me as much as I can during the day. So yea at the end of the week, I get a little alert that tells me if my screen time is up or down, and I am not sweating it anymore!

• How I look when I work out - I don’t need to know, I don’t need to see that. As long as my form is fine, I don’t want to know what I look like.

• If I didn’t hear what you said after 3 times - It just wasn’t meant to be.

10 Random things

1. Alexander’s been taking gymnastics for a while. He really likes it, but I also wonder if he’s more likely to do well in something else. He’s a lot like I used to be: if X is working out okay, then why try Y or Z or anything else? He doesn’t want to try karate or baseball or dance or anything different because he doesn’t know if he will like it. Gymnastics is familiar to him, so he just doesn’t want to try anything different. Anyway, if we decide to sign him up for something else, as a trial run, I’ll keep you posted!

2. Annabelle, on the other hand, has wanted to do dance for a while. We’ve had her signed up for nearly a year, and she’s been on the wait list. Poor thing just tags along to A’s gymnastics every week. She’s been a good sport about it, but it’s time for her to get into a class. For now, we’re going to put her into a gymnastics class too until a dance class opens up!

3. Charlie’s super into animals. He knows the names of them and their sounds. He has all these little animal figures that he plays with every day.

4. He also loves doing things on the white board. I’ll say “Charlie you wanna go write on the board with me?” And he literally drops whatever he’s doing and runs to the board. I’ll draw various faces (happy, sad, mad, grumpy, sleepy, surprised, and so on) and he’ll say what the face is and then make the face. He also likes shapes right now!

5. Speaking of shapes, I’m going to make these shape mini-puzzles for him.

   

6. Look at this cute paint/doodle idea! WARNING: The song is a bit vulgar. It doesn’t match the video at all😅 

7. My mama is coming to town this weekend because of my race. She’ll stay here with the kids while Cam and I go. The race day, we’ll have to get up at 4:30 and leave home around 5:00. That’s way too early for the kids, and they won’t enjoy it anyway.

8. Also, this weekend is our anniversary! Race day is our 12 year. Cam is not really into gifts, so every year, he says not to get him anything. He always gets me a couple things. I have a few ideas of what he’ll get for me - the last few months I’ve mentioned things I’d like, and he either remembers or jots them down in one of his notebooks. I THINK he’s getting me some small gold hoop earrings and/or some Billie Eilish perfume.

9. Annabelle is sitting next to me right now, watching a show called Grizzy and the Lemmings. It’s one of those shows where the characters don’t speak at all, just make noises (like Larva or Oddbods). I don’t like it much but I do think it’s impressive how they can tell a whole story without actual words.

10. Do you think one of those giant Stanley cups with the straw would actually help me drink more water? I don’t drink nearly enough water, and I feel like I’ve tried everything🥲

I need some ideas!

My triathlon coach has been absolutely amazing. She’s the coolest person I’ve met in a long time. She loves to help people so even though she gets paid to coach me, it’s PENNIES. It’s $30 for a half hour lesson, but the lessons have all been well over an hour.

So I’d like to put together a big gift for her. I’m going to share a few things about her, and if you can think of a good gift, please let me know! I have a few ideas already, but I’m sure there are many others I’d never even consider. She’s a scientist. She’s really into using food as medicine. She’s completed over 100 triathlons and just loves the sport. She’s a Christian.

The last time we were at the lake, one of her little silver hoop earrings fell out into the lake, so I plan to get her a new pair. I was thinking of a gift card to the local health food store.

Anything else you can think of? Thanks!!

Shoutouts and stuff

Thanks to Kristina who bought me a coffee last week!

Thanks to Ciara and Anna for skincare recs, and also to Allison for the documentary suggestion!

That's it for this week. Have a good one!❤️ Bethany

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