A Day in the Life, Volume 3

Welcome back to another volume of A Day in the Life! I always get great feedback from these posts, so I think you all must be as nosy as I am. When you drive around neighborhoods at night do you peek in the windows with lights on to see who’s eating dinner, who’s watching TV, and who might be dancing in the living room? Don’t worry; I’m not judging you. I do it, too. It’s fun to get a glimpse into the lives of others. No shame.

The last time I posted a peek into my life was March and my routine’s changed a bit since then. The main reason for the change? I now have two kids who are in school all day three out of the five weekdays. This is a huge change for me!

I’ve been working on nailing down a productive schedule for my blogging tasks, and I’m starting to get somewhere. It’s a work in progress as I figure out a good workflow, but having longer stretches of time to focus on tasks has been amazing. I don’t feel like I have to squeeze the work into different nooks and crannies of my day anymore. Want to see what it looks like? Let’s go!

7:00 am

Wake up time! I am usually up a little earlier than this, but this particular “day in the life” is from the day after the first presidential debate, so I was up late watching the debate and commentary afterwards. For breakfast I had a Strawberry Beet Smoothie. This is from my 31 Day Smoothie Challenge eBook. If you’d like the 31 smoothie recipes and grocery shopping lists, click here and sign up for my newsletter. I’ll hook you up!

I took a little break from smoothies after the challenge, but once I started to make them again I realized how great I feel when I start my day with those extra nutrients. I’m back on the smoothie train.

One thing that’s changed in my routine is I’m not working as much in the morning before the kids are awake. I used to squeeze as much work into this time as I could, and I’d often continue working when they woke up. Now I focus on them more and don’t worry about my work until they are off to school. I am usually up for about 15 minutes or so before them because I do like having quiet alone time in the morning, but I just drink my coffee and relax before the chaos begins. 🙂

Once the kids are up, I made their lunches (I always do this in the morning), got them breakfast, and helped them get ready for school.

8:00 am

Meghan is off to school and Luke and I hang out. I clean up the breakfast mess and then get dressed. Luke and I play.

9:00 am

I drive Luke to school.

9:15 am

I write, revise, edit, and send out my weekly newsletter.

10:15 am

Tim and I go for a walk/run. My husband is super athletic, but hates running. He will tolerate walking with sporadic running, so we do that together.

11:15 am 

I shower and get ready.

11:45 am

Look whose lunch I forgot to put in his backpack. Back in the car I go to bring Luke’s lunch to school. Forgetful mama right here! I drop off his lunch and get the biggest smooch ever. That kid melts my heart. I get some gas and head back home.

12:00 pm

It’s finally time for my lunch! One of my favorite parts of the day. 🙂 Lately I’ve been eating a lot of leftovers or quick lunches rather than take the time to cook. I spend a lot of my day cooking when I’m testing recipes and cooking for my family, so sometimes I don’t feel like making another meal for myself at lunch time. I recently discovered Michael Angelo’s new seafood meals. They have been perfect for me as I’ve tried to incorporate more anti-inflammatory salmon into my diet. The ingredient list is super clean and the salmon is wild caught! I love eating these meals better than leftovers because it’s a warm meal and helps me get a bigger variety of nutrients into my diet. You’ve heard me say this before, but variety is a huge goal of mine when it comes to eating.

This meal was scrumptious. I love that there are so many better convenience options out there now. These meals are a great supplement for all the home cooking I do. Find out where you can find Michael Angelo’s products in your area.It was a working lunch. I caught up on emails and blog and social media comments while I ate and well after I was finished.

1:00 pm

I reshot some photos for my Skinny Buckeyes. I have so many recipes I want to re-photograph. There are too many recipes that I love and make over and over that don’t get the attention they deserve because the pictures are terrible. 

Here you can see my photography set up. The table is a small Ikea table that I put right next to the window. I’m using vinyl wood backdrops here. Maybe someday I’ll splurge and get the real thing. These vinyl backdrops are so easy to store, though, I have to say I love them. Check out how the photographs turned out here! Confession: I ate three of the peanut butter balls during this shoot. They are so hard to resist.

2:00 pm

Tim and I made a quick trip to a landscaping showroom to see some stone products. We are in the process of redoing our back patio. It’s a long story, but the stamped concrete we put in when we built the house sunk, and the builder is redoing it for us. We need to pick out what we are going to use for our new patio and my head was spinning looking at all the different stone pavers.

3:00

Tim and I divide and conquer at pick up time. Today, he went to pick up Luke and I went to pick up Meghan from school. She has dance class on this day, so I brought her to Tropical Smoothie Cafe to get a snack. 

I got the Detox Island Green Smoothie. Yum.

After our snack, I brought Meghan to her dance class. I dropped her off and headed home.

4:30 pm

Once I got home, I had some 1-on-1 time with Luke. First, we read his new favorite book, 5 Minute Batman Stories. Anyone has have a superhero obsessed little boy? 

After we read about super heroes, we played super heroes.

After we play for a while, it’s time to make dinner. I have a lot of the ingredients prepped already, so it’s an easy dinner to throw together. I have a secret: I’m working on a product that will show you exactly how I get a healthy dinner on the table quickly. It’ll solve your number one problem with cooking healthy meals (I know because it used to be my problem, too) and you’re going to love it. I guess it’s not a secret anymore!

6:45 pm

Tim went to pick up Meghan from dance while I was preparing dinner. Dinner was Turkey Sloppy Joes on a 10 Grain Bun (fresh from the bakery at our local grocery store), Roasted Rosemary Carrots, and some fresh cantaloupe that you can’t see in the picture.

7:30 pm 

Tim plays with Luke while I supervise Meghan doing her homework.

8:00 pm

It’s time to get the kids ready for bed. Luke takes a bath while Meghan showers. Once they are in their pajamas, Tim reads to Luke while I read to Meghan.

9:00 pm

We had some trouble getting Luke to bed, so we finally sit down together at 9:00. He’s been scared at bedtime lately. We’ve been working on different strategies to help him, but he’s usually only content if he sleeps with lights on. I know that’s not the best for sound sleep, but he’s insisting on it right now. Poor guy.

I sit with Tim and schedule my Facebook posts for the next day while I half watch the episode of Stranger Things he’s watching. Such a creepy show!

10:00 pm

I’m ready for bed! I check on Luke before I go to my bedroom. Aren’t sleeping kids the cutest? I check on Meghan, too, but her room is too dark for a picture.

I get into bed and call it a day. It’s just an ordinary day, but I love this life and am so grateful I have the chance to be a wife, mom, and blogger. I can’t neglect to say, I wouldn’t be doing this without you, so thanks for reading!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Michael Angelo’s . The opinions and text are all mine.