Craving Routine

My travel papers arrived Monday Jan 30th in Boulder!  Yipeeeee!
They are currently on their way to Victoria, BC via UPS and Rachel and I will fly out on Friday to meet Jason in Denver Friday night.

So our family will be reunited again soon, and we are excited.

Rachel and I have been on the go to California, Virginia, and BC since the beginning of December.  We have no routine whatsoever.  Rachel has been an awesome traveler so far on all the planes, cars, boats, bus rides, etc.  She has had a couple of colds and has been an inconsistent sleeper.  She has charmed everyone we've seen - family, friends, plane seat companions, flight attendants, etc.  We are really looking forward to our own bed / crib, our own kitchen and food situation, and getting settled with consistent nap times.  Hopefully soon we'll have a daycare and work schedule set up, and then I can go crazy on scheduling all of our family's activities and goals. (I love schedules and lists!)

I've been thinking about writing a goals or New Year's Resolution blog for a month now.  I'm probably the most goal-oriented person any of you know.  I think there is only one goal I've ever written down in my life that I did not accomplish.  But it's been hard to set goals recently since our plans have been so up in the air.  We don't feel settled in Boulder yet and it's taking it's time.

Typically I'd like to write goals that are specific, measureable, attainable, and have a time frame.  And we are not there yet.... But here are some general things that I hope to accomplish in the next while.

1) Get a job.  This is a little out of my hands right now but something I can work on again and get going very soon.

2) Save up our pennies and buy a house.  This relates very much to me getting a job, and as soon as I know my job situation, we can learn more about our house budget. 

3) Take better care of myself.  I don't just mean sleeping better and things like that but I want to do more for myself to help improve my confidence, my physical strength and fitness, and my sense of control over my life.  Being a mom and moving to a new country for me have included being mostly sleep deprived for the last 16 months.  Since moving to Boulder, we've had very little time for ourselves to exercise, eat well, be social, shave, get a haircut, and things like that.  It takes away from your own identity.  I want to be confident and feel attractive and energized again.  These things seem especially hard to do when visiting and living on the road and wondering about job and daycare schedules.  For me, I have lost a lot of confidence not working since I love being a physical therapist so much, and consider it a huge part of who I am.  When we get home it will be time to crack down on many things.

Here are some examples:
- Exercise consistently.  Jason runs every Wed night and I plan to go to an exercise class every Mon night.  We each get in something longer on the weekend, usually as a family.  We both want more but are not sure how to get it just yet.  Many people perceive us as being so active and fit, and we typically are, but we've both struggled in the last few months and I'm feeling it.
- Find time without Rachel.  For the last few months this has been time in the shower, or online when Rachel naps.  Maybe a family member has watched Rachel in the last couple of months while I've gone out for a jog.  In March I'm going to Vegas with two special girlfriends for a girls weekend and later in March I'm going to Michigan for 6 nights for a manual therapy course.  Vegas will be the first night since Rachel was born that I will be without her. This whole 'travel without Rachel' will also mean weaning her off breastmilk.  I have mixed feelings about this but it will be great for some independence!
- Find time for Jason and I as a couple.  Every parent will tell a new parent that it's hard to find time as a couple.  We have no family near us to babysit, and bedtime has been our only consistent routine that we do have.  We have hired a babysitter twice so far in Rachel's life and had a few dates out when family have watched her.  We're going to work hard to find a babysitter again and make a date night (or date afternoon, perhaps) every 2 weeks to splurge and create some time to ourselves.
- Use daycare.  Our hope is that we can use a little extra daycare time around our work schedules to fit in a run, hair cut, doctor's appointment, etc. to get something done for ourselves as adults. 
- Sign up for an athletic event.  Jason hopes to do three 50 mile runs this year and has signed up for his first.  I plan to find a trail half marathon to do in April-June and get running again soon.  If I don't have an event, I don't go out very often.

So we'll keep you posted!!