A day in the life...

As a person who has worked a majority of her adult life, since I started staying home I don't really take into account that Monday to Friday are work days, I don't consider staying at home "work" because I've had to do all I do on a daily basis plus work full time and at one time I also was in school full time. So, I consider my days fairly easy and take joy in the fact I can stay home and just have my home as my "work" for now.

So, here is a new take on What I Ate Wednesday
...

So, I figured I would show y'all what a day in the life is like over here.

This is a Monday which is typically my busiest day of the week as it is the day I try and run all my errands as well as get a good majority of my cleaning done.

So...without further ado...

Wake up, put in a load of laundry, unload dishwasher, grab banana, water, and make coffee.

*My precious*

I am almost always starving as soon as I get up so the banana is some quick fuel. I make coffee for me and the teen as I put her lunch together and on her desk.

Sit down to finish coffee and eat breakfast with the teen. We chit-chat, check social media, and just enjoy this first meal of the day together. Please don't get on my case about us checking our social media accounts. Morning is basically the only time we get to really check what everyone is up to (since they are all our family and friends are anywhere from 6-12 hours behind us) we talk about what is going on, so it works for us.

Get her out the door to school, grab a tablespoon of peanut butter and do a little blogging and sharing stuff for blog on social media.

Shortly after hubby wakes up we get some cuddle time in...I poke my head over the shower and chit chat about what he has going on for the day (I will spare you the visual, although I am sure we are utterly adorable haha)

Get him out the door then pop in a workout DVD and get my workout on.

Fix a post workout snack and check blog stuff one more time while half listening to some NPR podcast.

Get presentable for public.

Almost ready to run out the door then I realize I am hungry and hungry + grocery store=disaster. So I make a salad for lunch.

Devour because after an insanity dvd and post workout breakfast I am of course going to starve to death...#firstworldproblems

Put laundry in dryer, but can't start because I finally have to make that trip to the grocery store.

Now, I bet you think I forgot about grocery shopping, but nope, I am now finally ready to bundle up and head to the store.

Battle the elderly for my groceries (actually today isn't half bad because it is Monday which is why I come on Monday's)...

After the stress that is packing my groceries-we have to pack our own and these people have it down to a science, but not me, I freak out and can't get it done fast enough- I enjoy the walk home since it is sunny...

Put groceries away, start cleaning. I do a few basic chores every Monday that I feel keep the house in tip top shape:

• Clean bathrooms
• Dust (kiddo actually does this)
• Vacuum
• Mop floors
• Wash sheets and make beds (kiddo does hers)
• Clean windows and mirrors (again, another kiddo chore)
• Wipe down furniture (this is one we split, whoever gets to it first)

All of these together only take about an hour to 90 minutes depending on the size of my apartment at the time. Right now, because we have a lot of floor space we are closer to the 90 minutes, but 90 minutes once a week ain't so bad.

Fold laundry and transfer sheets.

Work on cards or other projects.

Lately getting back into embroidery has been my bigger project. I am currently working on a collection of embroidered cards I hope to show off soon!

Make beds.

Have tea and a snack with the teenager once she is home from school.

This Winter Mint Tea is a great pick-me-up.

As she starts homework I prep dinner.

Cook dinner/eat dinner...

Clean up from dinner.

• Do dishes (kiddo)
• Wipe down counters
• Wipe down glass cabinets
• Pack lunch for tomorrow
• Make sure breakfast is set for tomorrow
• Start dishwasher

Relax, check social media, do some reading or watch an Eppy of Mad Men.

The teen and I watch an eppy of Gilmore Girls while sipping our Sleepytime Tea.

I didn't watch this when it was a new show...too much going on with life at the time but have totally fallen in love with it and am so glad our cable channel here is showing the series all the way through.

After this I brush my teeth, wash my face, take a bath, and then retire to my bedroom where I check my calendar for tomorrow, make any to do lists to get stuff off my mind, write in our couples gratitude journal, check pinterest, read, and spend some QT with the hubby if he isn't working late.

Finally we go to bed about 11pm that way I get my mandated 8 hours-otherwise I am a zombie.

So, tell me, what does a day in your life look like?

Menu Plan Monday #37 +a lesson on patience

My teenager has had three, count them three cheerleading competitions this year. In one they came in 2nd place, but it was out of two...so essentially last.

The next competition they came in fifth...out of fifth. I was really upset for my daughter because she was trying quite hard. She was very upset.

Pyramid from 2nd Compeititon

But, she stayed positive. She worked hard, she encouraged her teammates even when she was getting some negative text messages this past week like, "ready to lose Sunday?" Despite this she worked on her balance, she was moved to point for a portion of the routine, she stretched daily, and worked on not saying anything negative...even after practices that were hard she would tell me it was one of the best practices she'd ever been to. Well, Sunday comes and the negativity of her teammates seemed it increase despite them being excited to perform. She went in with a fierce attitude and practiced hard before going out on to the floor in the performance centre. She kept a huge smile on her face, she picked a judge and did what all good cheerleaders do...smiled her biggest smile and showed as much personality as humanly possible. My little ham even gave a cute little wink at the judges! So, these girls performed their hearts out, hit just about every stunt as far as I could see, moved their little booties during their tumbling passes, and danced their little hearts out at the end. This resulted in them competing against the exact same five teams from the last competition and them going from last place to first place! I couldn't be more proud of these little ladies and their ability to pull together and work hard.

Here is my little ham loving her medal. She even took it to school to show a couple of her teachers that know about her cheering.

So, life throws us lemons many times throughout our lives. We can either get hit in the head with them or make it a goal to become a better catcher and learn to juggle. I think my kiddo's positive attitude despite not having the best start to the season is an amazing trait! I hope it is one she never loses!

Anyway, enough about  my bragging...here's the menu for the week.

It's short and sweet, we are out of the country at the end of the week so I will have tons of food to post about when we get back at some point next week. May be early in the week, may be late in the week will just have to see how the trip goes and if we can squeeze anymore time out of our little trip!

I chose to use this banner this week for the Org Junkie Link-up because we are having a serious cold snap up here in BC! We have been super lucky and temps have been around 40 Fahrenheit, but now it is only in the 20's Fahrenheit! But, I have some seriously healthy meals designed around this weather that also uses up our leftovers before we head out at the end of the week!

Menu Board Tutorial

If you haven't made one of these...do it! It is the best ever and when I use it...I always stick to my menu!

Breakfast: Shakeology, eggs and veggies, cream of wheat

Lunch: Shakeology, leftovers

Dinner:

Monday: pork chops, brown rice/cauli-rice, peas

Tuesday: Chicken fried rice using the leftover rice/cauli-rice, peas, carrots

Wednesday: Chicken and cheese omelettes with bacon and any leftovers from the previous night and veggies

Thursday: Chicken and cheese quesadillas with leftover veggies (most likely carrots....hope we don't turn orange! haha ;))

Friday: Will eat a late lunch/early dinner at the airport after check-in....most of the decent looking places are prior to security so it won't be anything too exciting, classic pub fare no doubt...how to keep that healthy will be a fun challenge! ;)

Saturday: Somewhere fun and exciting in our destination city

Sunday: Again will no doubt be somewhere fun and exciting in our destination city...cannot wait to try some traditional local fare! 

What all does everyone have planned for this week?

Me, I am heading to the doctor, then off to buy a new planner, then the rest of my week will be filled with cleaning, stocking my Etsy store, working out, and packing for our trip! 

Sunday Social: Life

Welcome to the Sunday Social! This is my first one under my new blog name "The Diary of an Urban Housewife". I hope you'll bear with me while I make all the changes around the blog! 

In the meantime come and follow me:

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram

Etsy

This is where you'll see all my posts about what we are doing around the city, get to see my life in pictures, and where I am selling my creations. I hope you'll join me, I love to see what everyone else is up to! :)

Img Credit

1. What do you value most in life? 

These two: 

Nothing better than seeing those two faces every day ;)

2. What do you think is the greatest invention in your life and why?

Hmmm this is an interesting question. Honestly there isn't anything since I've been born that has been invented that I don't think I could live without....but if I have to pick something I'd definitely say the INTERNET! 

Img Credit

This picture is completely unrelated, but without the internet we'd have never seen its awesomeness! 

3. What do you think is the secret to a good life? 

Happiness and acceptance. If you surround yourself with people and work that makes you happy, the accept you for who you are and surroundings that make you happy, and if you learn to accept people for who they are and love those you love for who they are, you really can't go wrong! :) 

4. What would you most like to be remembered for when you’re gone? 

Being a devoted wife, awesome mother, and great friend and daughter.

5. What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? Graduating university while working full time, being a wife, and mother. I taught my daughter to read while working with my husband to keep our daughter out of daycare. While doing all of this managed to sometimes exercise and cook a healthy meal every night. Sometimes I don't know how I did all I did in those days, then I take a nap because I remember my 20's were fairly sleepless so in my stay at home mom of a teenager 30's I let myself nap ;)

See you all next week for a Halloween Themed Sunday Social!

September Blog Challenge: Best Piece of Advice I've Received

The best piece I've ever received is from my grandmother. Sadly, I don't think I personally have any digital pictures of her. I will have to look through my photo albums and get one though. Whenever I think of the best advice it was when I was pregnant and she said to get an "old fashioned" clock that ticks, wrap it in a blanket and put it in the crib near where my new baby would sleep. She said it reminds them of the mother's heartbeat and along with swaddling will help the baby sleep better, thus giving you more rest. I did this for about the first 6 months of my daughter's life. I felt like it gave her security feeling like I was there and I never had a problem with her sleeping.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?