10 on Tuesday 11/25

Today I wanted to do the 10 on Tuesday a little different, and do it like a favorites list!  I have been working on ideas for my "Last Year in my 20s" album, and I want to mix in some of Becky Higgins' list cards. So, I thought I would combine all of these and make my first list for the album be a 10 on Tuesday Top Favorites right now!

And these are in order of most important in my life currently...
10. The holiday flavors of EOS lipbalms. Yes, I am still hopelessly addicted to anything Burt's Bees. But, that being said, the new flavors of EOS that I found at Target are delicious! Also, I have now officially accepted that I am in deed a goo-hoarder.

9. Sabra to go hummus packs. I have eaten one every.single.day for the last week! They are just so good! I love guilt-free snacks! (I can't, for the life of me, figure out why the photo is upside down?)

8. Old Navy clothes. Seems like that is all I am living in right now. I love that I can afford several different pieces at once, especially since all those burpees have paid off. I went from a size 16 to a size 4/6 and now I had to rebuild a wardrobe somehow!

7. My Passion Planner pages! I have been debating on whether or not I should go back to using a paper planner for a while. The thought of everything on the iphone or ipad is just so effortless and transportable. However, as things got crazy busy and my stress level sky-rocketed, using a paper planner really helped me keep perspective on life again. The Passion Planner has pages you can download and use for free by filling in the dates. It gives you space to plan each day, write the daily and weekly focus/goals, reflect on the positive things that happened that week, write your personal and work to do lists, and gives you space to take notes, doodle, journal or brainstorm. It's everything I could have asked for in one spot and I highly recommend it!

6. Signo pens by Uni-ball. I grabbed three of these pens while looking for a discbound notebook for my Passion Planner and these pens are the stuff! I know not everyone is a school supply nerd like me, and that's okay, but these pens make me so happy! They write like a nice gel pen would, without the spots where the gel doesn't flow well. They are so smooth...I could go on forever, but really, no one loves pens as much as me.

5.SNOW!! I am so excited for it to be snow season! I want to play in the snow, take photos in the snow, and travel to snowy places! We are headed to Minneapolis in two weeks and I can.not.wait!! Did I mention I love snow?

4. Boot socks! As if boots over pants and leggings wasn't already the cutest thing...I added ruffly boot socks to it!! It gives just a girly little touch, without being much effort at all! I even asked for two more pairs of cuffs for Christmas from Grace and Lace online!












3. Christmas. This isn't a favorite product or activity. But it is my favorite state of mind right now. It's probably crazy to call Christmas a state of mind, but I am totally trying to embrace the magic of the season without any of the stress. It is so easy to get caught up with family messes, money matters, or the general feeling of "is it just over yet?" about it all. But I truly love Christmas time and want to enjoy every magical, wonderfully moment I get with my boys. I can't wait to see how Jaxon stares at the Christmas tree or what he does with all the decorations soon to be around the house!












2. The Canon 40mm pancake lens. I don't have it yet, but should be here by tomorrow! I ordered this lens because while traveling and in the house, my 24-70 is just so heavy and sometimes I feel like it scares Jax away. Also, I don't want to carry my 50mm around every day, because it is my main portrait lens and I don't want anything to happen to it. So, I read about this 40mm pancake and am very excited to try it! For the price tag of $199, I figured it would be an awesome daily option that doesn't scare anyone away from my camera.

1. Still the Blendicano. I cannot start my day (or be very successful) without a coffee in the morning. I took the original recipe made by mshelll on instagram, took 2 shots of espresso away (because I just can't handle it) and BOOM the Breezy was born. Just kidding. But if you ask for that in my Starbucks they may know what to give you!

Things look like they are finally settling down for me, and I am excited to enjoy some time with my family over the holidays. It's all good in this Breezy Little Life.

Holy Ghost blog.

Well...a few months just blew by like a whirlwind and I was starting to think that my blog might go crawl into a corner and die a sad, lonely death since I've been neglecting it so much. 

But...here I am performing last chance CPR to try a save my newbie blogger behind. 

Here is how I have survived the last months...

Yep, there are two shots of espresso in that cup. YUMMY!!

As my first topic back I've really been wanting to write about the glorification of busy. Busy is a four letter word in my life-a word that I both hate to say and love oh-so-much at the same time. I am that type A, OCD, pinterest addicted girl trying to fill every second of every single day with a perfect project that proves how much I am worth to the world.

But really, in the end, who cares? 

Are my students really paying attention to whether or not every lesson ends with an exit slip? Is anyone really checking up on my goal progress at work? Will my mother and sisters in law run their fingers down the baseboards in my house to check for dust when they visit? Will any of my friends and family know if I didn't plan out their gifts before purchasing them? Will Jaxon care if I give him one cup of Mac and cheese instead of one cup of homegrown, hand canned green beans? Will the world stop revolving if I take Thursday off of work to be with my family?

In case you didn't hear the rhetorical tone in my voice, my answers are no. I just feel like we have come to a point in our society where the busy woman is a goddess. She carries a million bags, keeps a constantly growing to do list, has a color coded calendar on her iPhone to not miss one of the ten appointments she has that day. This woman lives on caffeine because she is non stop running, possibly frazzled, and trying to exceed everyone's expectations. 

I wanted to be that woman. Until I got to the point where my thoughts are frantic and scattered, I am unable to multitask successfully because i can't focus enough to actually accomplish one thing, I am tired, irritable, frustrated and wound way too tight. 

So, I am currently working on cutting back, getting back to priorities. And I strongly recommend anyone who is feeling worn too thin to do the same. Take a moment to write down what is most important to you right now and say NO to everything else. If you're like me, saying no feels terrible and is very hard, but it's necessary to get the right balance in life. 

Running myself ragged trying to accomplish 5,000 things in a day is not the point. Sitting on the floor and reading a book to my son is the point. Getting up early to double check my to do list is not the way to live every day. Spending ten extra minutes cuddling with my husband in the morning is the way to live every day. Trying to GSD from sun up to sun down is not what I want anymore. Taking a half hour to read or listen to music on the couch is what I want. Being a jack of all trades and a master of none is not who I want to be. A happy, balanced, focused woman is who I want to be. 

Here's me drinking more water and less caffeine. 

So, here is my goal for the rest of 2014 and the rest of my life: start saying no to limit the amount of things I try to accomplish. Stop glorifying busy and start glorifying the true priorities in my heart.

It's time to find the balance in this little life.