Posts Tagged ‘Parenting’

Following Your Passions is REALLY Hard… But REALLY Worth It

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Sooooo, hey there! I’ve been super busy the past few weeks (plus I had the plague for about a week… joy of joys…) but this week I am back to a normal schedule and wanted to fill you in on some big things that have happened / are happening for me!

You know those dreams that you have in the back of your head just waiting to become real but you think to yourself “Naw, not something I can ever do.”? Well I had some of those and now I’m on the look out for new ones because I’ve been moving through my list pretty fast this year!

Source: voguebespoke.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

 


Become an Actress

This past weekend I starred in a community theater production of Almost, Maine. I tried out for the play on a whim because I realized earlier this year that my passions really lived in performing (acting, dancing, singing) and was over the moon when I got not one role but TWO!

It was so much fun and the other actors were so inviting and really made me feel welcomed. Normally I am extremely shy when I meet new people but in that setting with those people I was my fun quirky self the whole time and it was fantastic. Feeling like I belonged there was the greatest feeling in the world and I can’t wait to do another one soon!


Raise the next Audrey Hepburn

Another big success of mine was my daughter’s 3rd birthday! I know, not really MY accomplishment that she is the cutest most wonderful little girl in the world but I like to think I’ve been a pretty big influence on how awesome she is turning out to be.

I tease people and say that I’m a horrible parent, and sometimes I really believe it, but this past year I have basically turned my business upside down and rearranged a lot of my time just to be sure she has as much of my attention as she needs. I think that at least deserves a vacation to Vegas… but I’ll settle with a big squeezy hug and an “I love you Mommy”.


Become a Speaker

(but preferably not one that lives in a van down by the river…)

This past year I’ve been putting together Power Points and worksheets to create presentations on branding, social media and business planning. Not all of them have worked out the way I had planned but the point is that I have pushed forward because this is something I really want to do in my business.

I love helping people and I love helping them figure out how to do something they didn’t think they could ever do before. Sometime there is a lot of hand holding but sometime they just need that push in the right direction to make things click for them.  I had a great workshop on how to start using social media at the Women Writing for a Change center here in Cincinnati which I was really excited to do! I really think there were some light bulb moments for some of the attendees even though we covered A LOT of content! I’m also working on my first ebook/ecourse on how to create a plan for your one big goal which will hopefully be done by the end of the year! I’m really excited about that and I’m hoping that will open a lot of new doors for me as well!


No Fat Mommy

My other big success has been my weight loss journey. I started my journey last year, almost to the date, and so far I’ve lost over 100lbs which is a lot more than the planned 50lbs that I figured I would lose! It’s amazing to be thinner and to feel better about the way I look but my favorite things about this journey has been the way it has changed my self confidence and the way I feel about myself. I spoke with a friend last week that put it very simply for me. She said that the weight was just an outward manifestation of the way I really felt about myself and I totally agree. Once I made the decision to change my life and lose the weight everything fell into place. 

All of the other items above could not have happened if I hadn’t lost the weight and gained back my feeling of ME. I feel like Sara now instead of Old Sara, as I lovingly call her now, because I was holding back so much of myself before, but now I feel free to be myself and be happy. I can put myself out on a stage and not care if people think I’m rediculous. I can act silly and chase my 3 year old daughter around the house while she squeals with delight. I still get super nervous when I do trainings and speak in front people but I’m still pushing myself out there even though it is scary.


Keep Following Your Dreams

Wow, this ended up being a sap-tastic post huh?! Well, now that you know where my passions are and how I’m moving towards them let me know where you are on your journey!

  • What successes have you had in following your passions?
  • What passions are you working towards right now that will change your life in awesome ways?
  • How have you fallen in your journey to accomplish your dreams? How did/will you pick yourself back up and keep moving forward?

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon Kickoff

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Today I am participating in the Dewey’s Read=a-Thon which is a 24hour reading marathon with mini challenges and prizes that are given away throughout the day on blogs and social media!

Here are my kickoff question/answers for this fun day of reading!

1)Where are you reading from today?

Mostly from the house (Ohio) but we’re planning a trip to the local library so maybe some reading there too!

2)Three random facts about me…

My favorite color is purple.
My favorite job was working at Johnny Rockets in Cedar Point one summer.
I really love Peach Jolly Ranchers but I can’t have them in the house because my husband had a bad night with Peach Schnapps back in the day… hehe

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Well I have a few but I’m afraid I am not the awesome reader that most of the other participants are so I’ll be lucky to get through two! hehe
- Are You There, Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea (audio book)
- The Phantom Toolbooth
- Promise Not to Tell

Plus I have a stack of children’s books that I’m planning on reading with my almost three year old so that will be a fun way to involve her as well!

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

I want to read at least one book for myself but my main goal is to spend a day reading with my daughter! She’s really excited about reading all day with me so we’ll see how long this lasts. hehe

I’ll be checking in on my progress and doing mini challenges throughout the day so look for some awesome updates all day long today!

“Stressed” is “Desserts” spelled backwards

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Typical One year old
+
Working from home on client projects AND re-branding project
x
Not enough time in the day

= One crazy stressed out Mom/Wife/Woman!

Everyone has those days when things get overwhelming whether it’s your job, your family or the dog that won’t stop humping the neighbor and digging tunnels to China in your backyard (I love my dog, I love my dog…) If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Congratulation! I hate you. I award you no points and my god have mercy on your soul.

I started my business to help alleviate some stress in my life because riding a bus into the city everyday meant a 10 hour work day (if I worked overtime it was longer than that) and the childcare would have been redicutarded expensive. Now, I LOVE my job and am so happy I decided to stay home with my daughter and watch her grow up. I get to work with people I want to work with, work when I want to work and see Aerith with her funny little dances and giggles as she watches the dog chase his tail outside!

BUT

Now I have new stress that I hadn’t planned on. Watching Aerith is a full time job, being a good housekeeper is another full time job and running my virtual assistant business is a full time job. I hadn’t really considered the fact that I would have three full time jobs but here I am, and some days I want to quit and run away to distant shores and open a mom and pop porn shop!

SO

I have devised a new strategy to help me ease some of my stress and hopefully make me a happier person in general (which I’m sure everyone would enjoy). I started planning out my meals ahead of time, focusing on one area of the house at a time to clean and yesterday I signed up with a local babysitting service called BabySitEase to give me some ME time each week. This babysitting service is a big step because trusting someone else with my daughter might be the hardest thing I will ever do but I need to do this for my sanity and hers.

If you are getting overwhelmed by life and you are a planning kind of person like me I invite you to come along with me on my journey of organized chaos!

  1. Write it down. Write down everything that is making you stressed out. Making dinner, cleaning your office, going through emails; whatever makes you want to run away screaming when someone reminds you that it has to be done.
  2. Plan it out. Instead of waiting until the last minute to make dinner, plan out your week’s meals so you don’t have to come up with something off the top of your head. If social media is overwhelming, plan out times during the day that you check your accounts and/or schedule out your Tweets for the day, or the week, ahead of time to make sure you’re still involved.
  3. Make time for yourself. Make sure to schedule in YOU time. YOU are the most import part of your business and your family because if you don’t work, it ain’t gonna work. Even if it’s just a weekly coffee break to a near by coffee shop or a Sunday bath/spa night, make sure you get a chance to decompress after all the hard work you do all week.

I’m going to try and tie in songs or movies with my blog posts from now on because I think it will be fun! SO, I shall leave you with this creepy version of “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads as performed by Kermit the Frog. (Yup, it’s just one of those things you need to see…)