New Series: Behind the Scenes

Hi friends! The other day I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve shared anything personal on the blog. There’s been a lot of clothes and not much else! And I know, most of you are here for the clothing talk (thank you!) but sometimes it’s interesting to hear more of the story of what’s going on behind the scenes. So today’s post is kicking off what I hope will be a new, quarterly series on the blog. I’m calling it ‘Behind the Scenes’ (thanks Mr Seasons for the title idea!) and I will be giving you guys a peek behind the scenes of my life lately. 

Today, I’m diving in to a few family happenings, some major home news, and what’s going on with my current fitness routines.

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FAMILY

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On March 17th Mr. Seasons and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. (We had a stay-cay at the Hoxton and dinner at Republica.) I cannot, cannot believe it has been that long. Time truly flies. Which is bittersweet. It reminds me that I need to savor the days because the years move fast. These are some of our best years: raising our kids, and enjoying them while they’re still in our house and having fun growing into a marriage that seems to get better with time.

I thought about writing a post on that topic of what I’ve learned in fifteen years of marriage, but I wasn’t really sure what I’d say. I think it’s critical to choose well when you get married. And after you’re married learn how to be humble and be willing to admit when you’re wrong. That will save you endless arguments. Before I got married, I had an extremely hard time admitting when I was wrong (even to myself!). Thankfully, I have a partner who is not afraid to patiently call me out. I have learned that it’s not a bad thing to realize and own your mistakes. (It’s still hard though.) 

In March our youngest, David, turned eight. We were fortunate enough to celebrate at the coast with some school friends. (David shares a birthdate with his close buddy.) Our family is very quickly moving out of the ‘young kids’ stage and into ‘older kids’ territory. Our oldest will be a teenager this summer, and our middle is a very mature 10-year-old. Even though it’s hard, I am really enjoying this stage of parenting. My kids are rapidly forming their own ideas and world views and it’s really fun to talk through it all with them. As much as I miss cuddling them when they were babies and toddlers, I think I am enjoying this stage of parenting even more.

March was a big month in our house. In addition to birthdays and anniversaries, we had spring break here in Portland. It was a welcome pause from all of our hurried school, sports and music routines. We didn’t take any trips this year, but instead spent some time doing kids’ choice activities as a family (ie. laser tag and arcades). Mr. Seasons and I wrapped up the week with a concert I was very, very excited about, Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum. They are a lesser-known band with a bit of a cult following. The leader singer is Michael C. Hall, and I am sure many fans – like me – found the band after being a fan of his acting work in shows like Dexter and Six Feet Under. The concert was at an intimate venue in Portland and it was amazing! I still can’t stop thinking about it. I love live music so much.

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HOME

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We have been in our current house for about 2.5 years now. If you’re new to S+S I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version of our home journey in Portland. We moved here from Salem in 2015 after we sold out first house for $199,000, which translated to the ability to buy nothing in Portland’s then-hot real estate market. (If only we knew what was coming!) After a year of commuting from Salem to Portland, we decided we wanted to move into the heart of the city, in an apartment with about 1/2 the square feet we had in our Salem house. It was a really fun adventure. After that we lived in a bigger apartment, bought and sold a townhouse and eventually bought our current single family home in 2019. It was a major dream realized for our family. We love our home, our neighbors and our neighborhood.

BUT, when we bought our home we had no idea that Mr. Seasons would soon be working from home full time for the foreseeable future. AND I think I didn’t realize how quickly my daughters would outgrow their tiny shared room. (They are 10 and 12 now.)

We seriously considered the idea of moving into a bigger house, but there are very few 4 bedroom homes in our budget and neighborhood. Instead, we’ve decided to invest some money in making our house work a little better for us. This will entail remodeling our family room downstairs to turn it into a joint tween bedroom/hangout space. We also hope to connect our family room with our upstairs a little more closely by rebuilding the staircase and opening up a wall. AND, since we like drama, we decided to throw a kitchen remodel in the mix too, haha. We have a dark, enclosed kitchen with extremely limited counter space, so I am hoping for something with more light, counter space, and that is a little bit more entertaining-friendly. Lastly, Mr. Seasons and I will take over the girls’ old bedroom for a shared office. Whew! That’s a lot! We are currently interviewing contractors and designers, more to come on all of this!

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FITNESS

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You guys know I love to talk about fitness! I made some major changes to this part of my life in spring of 2020. The start of the pandemic launched me into seeking comfort through food and cocktails, but I quickly pivoted to exercise and macro-focused eating. Best decision I’ve ever made. My body is so strong and macro-focused eating truly feels like food freedom for me!

After eating in a calorie surplus for nearly six months through fall and winter, I am about four weeks into a moderate cut. During my surplus I focused on heavy weightlifting and muscle building especially in my booty! I am excited to see this cut starting to reveal the muscles I’ve worked so hard to build! After my cut, I’ll take my macros back to maintenance eating, which is 2100+ calories. I love to eat, and I love building my meals and snacks with macros in mind because the foods are so much-more nutrient dense and satisfying than what I used to eat.

I recently bought an inexpensive step counter so I could more closely track my daily movement. Working from home means a pretty sedentary day if I am not intentional about movement. Currently, I try to hit 8K steps each day. But I have to be careful, the other night making dinner (vigorously stirring) gave me an additional 3K ‘steps!’ Oops.

In the gym, aka my home garage gym, I have been doing the programming my friend Paige and I have been putting together, and I’m really enjoying it. Paige has done most of the program writing work, and I really appreciate that. Next week we are starting a new program from Ana Katic Fitness, and I am super excited!

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Thanks so much for reading along with this ‘behind the scenes’ post! If there is anything you’re curious about or want me to cover in future posts, let me know in the comments!