On my new toy

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As some of you know, me and fitness/exercise have somewhat of a complicated history. Because of some history with disordered eating and exercise, I have to be careful with this element of my wellness. What that has looked like in the past couple of years is a complete lack of motivation and any energy around my physical fitness, which has been nagging at me as I strive to be my best self.

While I do keep myself healthy with essential oils and moderation in eating habits, I have only actually sweat from physical activity less than 5 times this entire year (kind of embarrassing to admit as a COACH, but real all the same).

After some research and talking to trusted friends and loved ones that own a Peloton, I decided to save my oil gig paychecks for this beauty to grace our household and help me change this narrative of fitness in my world.

Even though I am posting this in the cloud of New Years’ Resolutions and what not, I am actually 3 weeks in and I am already quite in love and obsessed. The instructors are inspiring, funny, entertaining (makes me forget how hard I’m working). Everyone in my family can use it and enjoy the rides. I also love that I can throw on Netflix and take a scenic ride at the same time, which really appeals to my love of multi-tasking.

The Peloton company and app of course have everything dialed in as far as keeping you accountable and giving people with a competitive edge (me, enneagram 3 in full force here) goals, achievements and personal records to go after.

A lot of people have messaged me and asked how I like it so far and if you have any specific questions, just message me and I’d love to answer them. I really haven’t heard one negative thing about it (besides some not using it enough for whatever reasons….) from people that have had theirs much longer than me.

And of course, I have a referral code for $100 in free accessories if you’re interested in saving a bit of money when ready to jump to the dark side!!!

I am ready to take on some major fitness goals in 2020 (major, as in, break a sweat more than 5 times in a calendar year) with this tool….and will hopefully document that journey here when I can!!!

Team HB 2019 annual review

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This morning, our little crew took a trip to our local coffee shop to reflect together on our year and make big plans for 2020! We called it our annual review business meeting and even snagged the important meeting room to make it official.

For Scott and I, we reflected on this blog post to determine how far we made it on our goals. Turns out, we still have a lot of items still to check off and make more of so we’ll be continuing these efforts into 2020 (and maybe beyond that depending on the goal):

(From blog post)
“Some missing pieces that we’d like to change next year:
– being more intentional with how we’re showing love to our children (love languages, quality time, etc.)
– accept where they’re at
– commit to a trip together without kiddos
– attend a personal development conference together
– more transparency about mental health struggles in hopes that stigma goes down in families around us
– host more things at our house….we love our space and want more people in it with us!!!”

I also downloaded an awesome packet for both wonders from Big Life Journal and had them work on it together. The prompts and questions were easy for them to navigate while still digging deeper than a surface level conversation starter like “how was your year”? Plus it’s 25% off through Thursday the 2nd if you’re interested in doing this activity with your kiddos also!! Once they are finished, I will share some of their thoughts and writing to check back on later this year.

A little coloring action to highlight my 2019 word – VALUE.

My one little word this year was VALUE – although it didn’t resonate with me big time, when I took the time to reflect on the word and compare my daily actions or behaviors it really helped me stick to boundaries and priorities in my life. Read more about my 2019 word HERE. I can confidently say that my values of connection and growth were lived out on the daily in my life both personally and professionally this year – even when that connection or growth felt HARD and HEAVY.

We decided as a team this morning to keep checking in on these goals by having a “business meeting” each month to bring up our goals and reflect on our growth towards them. This is where having older kiddos has been so great for me – teaching goal-setting, growth mindset, and self-care to two kiddos who will NEED those things big time in their adult lives (plus how it helps the hubby and I right along with them).

Holiday highlights 2019

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3/4 of our big celebrations are complete – some favorite photos and few words to capture the memories.

WB and I trying to recreate my Aunts famous Chex mix.

Santa takes care of adults too.

My 17 turned 40 year old wanted knee high black heels and a high office chair.

Boy and screens.

Organizing her pile for the 28th time.

Red and green cheese plate while we played games on Christmas Day.

On a sustainable holiday…

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I love the act of buying (mostly online) gifts for people but really DONT love the crazy amount of packaging and waste that comes from that process. And then the whole wrapping piece – even more waste!!! Also, I love wrapping so this has always been a tension to manage for me during the holiday.

A few years ago I decided to do something about this – saving up my huge calendar pages and using them as wrapping was just what I needed to start feeling better about this process and making it slightly more sustainable than it was before.

Way back when I worked at a local scrapbook store, one of my regular series classes was on using recycle bits to create beautiful mini-books full of thoughts and memories. This was my favorite class to teach and even though I don’t scrapbook anymore, creating mini books out of our Christmas cards each year still gets me excited to use scraps from our recycle bin in the process.

Pictured above is last years book full of cards and photos from our loved ones. We know have 6 books and wow I love watching families grow and change!!

What do you do to inspire and encourage sustainable habits during the holidays????

December already?!?!

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Oh my goodness this Fall season always seems to get away from me. Between volleyball and back to school and general life craziness, my commitment to blogging always goes away. But I do miss the posting and the chance to write out my thoughts so here’s the usual re-up in December of pictures and random musings by yours truly.

  • My one solid contribution – the cheese platter.
  • Aren’t they adorable????
  • Apple cup fun!
  • Some blazing rounds of Dutch Blitz – we are a tad competitive.

Thanksgiving was a great weekend where I got to see all of my brothers and spend a little down time watching football and eating lots of good food. I am beyond grateful for this crew in their flexibility this year…..they all dropped much of their schedule to help us with WonderGIRL’s spinal fusion surgery down at Children’s Hospital in Seattle and when that got delayed, we flipped the plans up to Ferndale without a hitch.

Now onto December and the holidays!!! In all honesty, I started decorating two weeks ago in anticipation of the surgery delaying things and I’m so glad I did. The cozy factor is in full effect in our house and I (and the cats) love it!

The cutest tree corner I ever did see.
WB found our tree this year!
Kitties approve.

We are still anxiously awaiting a phone call from Children’s to reschedule WG’s big surgery…..please send along prayers and good thoughts as she battles the constant anxiety and dread of when it will happen. It’s been a long time coming so the wait for the date (ha! new tagline) is a wee bit painful. Thank you to all of you who have reached out to check on her…..stay tuned for more details soon!

On our 2019 #szn

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Excerpt from Instagram:

I said it at the beginning of our season and it was every bit of truth at the finish – this group of players and seniors were SO ready for their moment to shine and show off their skills, their heart and their joy for this sport this season. A season filled with adversity, young and veteran players figuring out new roles and new traditions, and a LOT Of hard earned success. To top it off with two huge wins on Saturday in front of one of the biggest state crowds I can remember is a moment they and I will treasure forever. So grateful to be their coach and so very blessed with an amazing coaching staff by my side. ??? #ferndalevolleyball #fifthplace #noexcuses #saidalittle #didalot #flyinggeese @ Ferndale, Washington

On our last 90 days

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Sparked by the idea that we should end our years as intentionally and ready for health and wellness as much as we are after January 1st, Rachel Hollis set up this program….I participated last year and this year, Scott joined me.

What does it entail? The daily 5 to thrive:
– wake up early to spend time on yourself
– daily gratitude practice
– half your body weight (ounces) in water
– move your body for 30 minutes
– remove one category of food out of your diet

Since October and November (and then the holidays of course) can be stressful for our family, we thought it would be good to be intentional about this together. We did pretty well in October – I cut out fast food, which for my busy schedule, was VERY hard to do. I was proud of myself for refusing the urge, even when others around me were enjoying their greasy goodness. I started to find my rhythm with water as well and it truly is amazing the impact that hydration has on our body and energy levels!

Scott has been practicing writing down 5 things he is grateful for each day, along with nightly meditations (calm.com to the rescue!) – watching his personal growth makes me so proud and energized to stay accountable to our commitments.

Next up for November – I really want to work on getting more exercise and movement into my daily routine. Both Scott and I are removing alcohol from our diets for the month….which might be hard later this month when our sweet WonderGIRL has a very serious back surgery but we’ll get a chance to practice our other (and healthier) coping strategies for that!!!

The delicious French fries I looked forward to on November 1st did not disappoint.

Any of you participating in this program?? Would love to hear your progress!!!

On the Enneagram

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Many of you know that I love a good personality quiz….I love people’s stories and I love being curious about the “why” behind people’s actions (including my own).

I was introduced to the Enneagram through a workshop I attended a few years back and have been intrigued ever since. The more I learn about this tool, my “number” and the types of those around me, the more I can understand others’ motivations and react in ways that will support them versus trigger them (very important obstacle course to navigate in my home).

What is the enneagram?
The Enneagram comes from the Greek words for nine (ennea) and drawing (gram). Each point represents a basic personality type and a specific pattern of thinking and way of being.

Figuring out my type, Scott’s type and then starting to discover both WonderGIRL and WonderBOY’s types have led to some really thoughtful and intentional discussions about our behavior and how we treat other people, especially in times of stress. We love reading specific instagram posts that help us learn about types and commenting occasionally to the other “That’s so very type 1 of you.” Here is our constellation of types in Team Hoelzle-Brown:

  • Scott
  • WonderGIRL
  • Me! (no one is shocked by this one)
  • WonderBOY

How did we find out our type(s)? There are a lot of different quizzes you can take….or some people read about each type and try to figure out which resonates the most for them. Here is the quiz that I most often give to people to take which also gives short descriptions of each type:
Fast Enneagram Test

This might be a powerful tool for you in any team you work with as well. I know the types of each of my volleyball players and we often discuss how to interact differently with each type on and off the court to lead to a more positive climate. There are a lot of great Instagram profiles to follow that can highlight all sorts of interesting conversations about your type – just search “enneagram” into the user search and voila! research away!!! Some you will find more accurate (sometimes scary accurate) than others, but still good “food for thought” anyway.

I would love to know your type!!! Take the test and post in my comments….also feel free to message me with any questions (I am no expert but can point you in some helpful directions) or for suggestions on Instagram accounts to follow!! Happy “gramming” everyone!

On the life “scrub”

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Fall is always a season of renewal for me….with school and volleyball starting, I always feel the itch to try new things or switch up some patterns I had acquired during my slow summer season.

This year, it took a little longer for that itch to happen with some grief and other stressors but here we are with two months left in the year and I’m feeling motivated to make a few changes toward my better self and a more organized daily world!!

One of my favorite podcasts is publishing a week-long “scrub” of your device, calendar, home, etc. and I’ve been loving the practical ideas she has shared on staying focused and limiting distractions.

This first episode is about “scrubbing” your decide, turning off notifications, organizing your home screen, etc. and I loved taking 30 minutes during my morning routine to really evaluate how I used my phone. She shared a wonderful quote, saying “when you get back to someone right away, that is not showing leadership. That is showing that you are distracted.” This is how I’ve always viewed messages and notifications on my phone and loved the validation and common sense of what it communicates to the sender.

Are you an “eliminate all the red bubbles’ kind of person? Don’t look at my phone – they are everywhere!!! My husband cringes whenever he peeks over.

Even my new office needed a “scrubbing” after my move to a new location this Fall. The piles of papers and files were overwhelming me, so I turned off my phone, shut my door, laid everything out and finally got organized. It’s amazing how good that feels once it is done!!! I feel like I’ve gotten more work done in a faster period of time since getting my physical space and functioning organized!

Is there anything or process in your life that may need a good, clean “scrub”? Leave your idea below and inspire us all!!!

A few game-changers….

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I love when random things drop into my life and then poof! I can’t imagine what life was like before them….here are a few things (with links for discounts!) that have upleveled my work/home/foot/healthy eating game as of late.

Bombas socks have quickly become my favorite….the right amount of thickness and support so my feet don’t hurt after a day at work and practice. They just released these new “no-show” socks and I love them!!! But what I love the most is the mesh bag you can add on to your order to wash them in so you don’t lose them – genius!
Want some of your own? Click here to get 25% off your order!

A while back I was super interested in these Daily Harvest subscription boxes, that had proportioned smoothies and other meals ready to go. I love having a smoothie in the morning, but I could never keep up on having fresh fruit and greens in my fridge and ready to make quickly. Then my friend Amy posted about them and I quickly snagged my first box. I love how easy it is just to add liquid (I add half almond milk and half water), blend, pour back into the container and take with me to work!!!
I have a special code for you on this one as well – get $25 off your first box by clicking here. You will not regret trying this one out – I can’t wait for my second box to get here this week!

I know I am definitely late to the game on this one but an extended screen situation at my standing desk has been AWESOME!!! My poor eyes staring at my laptop for the past couple of years really needed an upgrade….lucky for me I found this ancient screen ready to go to surplus and I snagged it up. I have also been relying on my blue light blocking glasses to help with my headaches (my brain and body is still getting used to the new screen demands of my current position).

Do you use glasses like these? Mine are from https://ladybossglasses.com but many people have snagged them from Amazon too.

Any new game changers in your life??? Leave them below so I can go check them out – we all need to share our life hacks when we find them!!!