When it's a little more than Morning Sickness

Today I'm celebrating 9 weeks and also recovering from a stint in the hospital on Tuesday. 

The "morning" sickness that fills my days

Morning Sickness is something you expect going into pregnancy. There are funny TV bits about a lady having to run away randomly in order to not lose her breakfast, comical bits about how smells can turn your stomach, I digress.

Most women (around 70%) do end up feeling occasional nausea in the first trimester, and a fraction of those women also experience vomiting.

If you're a pop culture fan and watched the news a few years ago, you probably heard about Kate Middleton-- who doesn't love her-- experiencing this sickness on a pretty severe level.

While I've always wondered what it would be like to practically be a princess, I never wanted to understand what it was like to have hyperemesis gravidarum.

Long story short: it sucks.

Announcing Baby: When?

When we confirmed the weekend before Thanksgiving that there was indeed a baby on the way, the first thing W and I wanted to do was tell our loved ones.

We managed to hold off until that Monday to tell one of our best friends (a trial run involving the Star Wars intro with our announcement in it). Then we were able to put together cute announcements for my mom and his parents, which we gave to them on Thanksgiving.  Everyone was thrilled, and it made the day so much more special.  This will also be the first grandchild on both sides, so the excitement hasn't stopped.

New Blog Title Because.....

You may notice the title of the blog has changed from "Running From Law School." Sorry about any confusion it caused, but I've thought long and hard over the last two months, and it felt right considering some big changes going on in our home.

Namely......

5 Self-Care Things for People Who Don't Like Leaving the House

It's That Time Again

It's quickly approaching that time of the semester where you do not have the luxury of just taking an "off" day for mental health and self-care.  Who am I kidding, we're already at that point of the semester-- and I am just in denial.

Spending day-in, day-out with other law students is grating on the nerves and energy, especially when finals are dauntingly close.  I assume from talking to my friends in other graduate and professional programs that it's a common sentiment.  It's a feeling akin to stir-crazy, but it's not because you haven't left the house. It's because every second of your time seems to have a task assigned to it, and if you don't keep up your work you really will suffer from it.

I had a good ol' heart to heart vent session with a friend via text today, and she told me something I didn't think I had time to hear: paint your nails.

I know this may seem kind of silly, but this is my best friend who has suffered through living with me in college and she knows the types of things that help me find my zen when stressed. One of those things is hiding away in the bathroom and painting my nails.  There's something therapeutic about filing, shaping, painting, and creating a tidy and pleasant thing in the midst of stress. For me there's an added obstacle of hating leaving my house (introverts represent!), so I like things I can do from home.  It gives me the control that I so desperately need.

I've spent my spare minutes throughout today thinking up a list of  small "self-care" things.  They're things that I always go to when I need a break from my responsibilities to re-gather my thoughts and tackle whatever has to be done.

Grocery Adventures

Cheap, Healthy, and Much Needed

Does anyone else wait until literally the last humanly day to go grocery shopping before the fridge and cabinets start crying and asking why you hate them when you used to love them?

Okay, tiny bit of exaggeration, because my kitchen doesn't talk to me.

We are in a really bad habit of waiting until we really have to go shopping to do it, though.  In part it's because we're homebodies and hate to battle the grocery store.  This typically leads to us "picking up just a few things" here and there, eating fast food, or just neglecting a lot of the stuff we already had. You waste money, time, and so many calories just because you didn't take a minute and plan a grocery trip.

Getting Back Up-- & Why It's Okay to Get Sidetracked

Fitting life in is hard

I started running consistently for around 2 weeks before I came down with a sinus infection that had the intentions of taking me out.

That was almost a month ago, and I'm still struggling to get back at it-- deviated septum be damned.

When running was happening before Sinus-zilla came to town

I'd worked back up to running 5 miles at a time, albeit it at a really slow pace (I'm talking 11 minute miles, yall). It felt SO good to be logging distance again and the calories that come off with it.  That paired with limiting our alcohol intake in the house was making maintaining weight and general well-being so easy. We really like our cocktails, nothing takes an edge off of a long day of Estate Planning reading quite like a bourbon and coke, but you have no idea how much bloat and general ickiness consistent drinking causes.

All of that being said, we were also loaded down with multiple major assignments for the semester and extra social things. From a writing seminar draft, estate planning problems, and on-call days in multiple classes, to   our small group meetings, coming up with an idea for a non-profit community group, and family shenanigans. I know, I know-- no excuses, you have to be the master of your own time, blah blah blah. Guess what, though? Real life happens, and as much as I like positive mantras sometimes the grind really gets the best of you. 

So, we've been doing better overall. We've been making small strides towards better choices. I'm talking about driving past McDonald's and moving our carcasses whenever possible.

Hubs and I are trying to correct and AT LEAST get in Saturday hikes/walks.  

I guess my point is this:

Sometimes, you need the break.  Sometimes worrying over the things you aren't managing to do only makes you worse for wear.

What matters is that EVERY time you get refocused, re-energized, and make yourself return to course. That's my goal this week: getting back on course.

March Showers

February always seems to fly by in my mind.  My mom, dad, brother, and I all have birthdays within 11 days of each other starting on February 21, so by the time we finish those out it seems that March is already well on its way!

I struggled the last month to do much with my "weight loss" goals.  That being said, I become a little obsessive with watching the scale when I'm trying to make it move.  It's definitely something I've worked on for a while, but I still fall victim to it.

Last year I started this journey adventure (I really hate calling it a journey, because it seems so ~inspirational.) towards losing the almost 40 pounds I'd gained over the span of about a year and a half.  It was difficult to face down, at first, and honestly it never got "easy."

What did get easier was eating well, exercising, and owning my missteps.

Long story short, I've decided to step away from the scale this month.  If you follow me on Instagram you already know this, but I decided earlier this week to deem March my month to step away from the scale to focus on wellness.

So far I'm feeling a lot better without the scale awaiting me every morning and afternoon... and night. (Yeah, guys, I'm serious. I took it way too far.)

[Door Reflection pictures post run, featuring my fabulous hot pink running fanny pack >.< ] 

Today was nice. Despite having an interview this morning and finishing up my final writing assignment for this semester, I was able to come home and get in a quick run. It was frigid and my knee still hurts from whatever I did to it, but it was wonderful to get sweaty.

After printing over 300 pages (between mine and the husband's damned writing assignments) I got down to assembling our squat rack. I. Am. So. Excited.  Really, there aren't words for how stoked I am to put this thing to use. We have a new bench to go with it, and it will make strength training so much more simple.

[Our new squat rack, mid assembly!]

It's been quite the busy week, but lots is going on here! This weekend will most likely be a lot of meal prepping and cleaning.  If there are particular things you'd like to hear about please let me know! I'm excited to do what I can on here!

x Devin

Welcome!

My name is Devin (obviously), and I have been hanging around the Instagram fitness community for quite a while!

I realized a while ago that I do best with accountability, and as I've made progress in my own up and down journey lots of people have asked what I do.

I'm not a bodybuilder.  I'm not a competitor.  I'm not a trainer. I'm not perfect or #goals.

However, I do live a fairly low-key life as a graduate student with my husband and two dogs, and I like to share how I manage healthy living and fun times... hint: they're aren't exclusive from each other!

I plan on sharing some meal-prepping, fitness progress, some general thoughts on changing habits that are hard to break, and  my ventures into half-marathon training!


I'm really looking forward to blogging, because goodness knows that Instagram throws shade at my captions for being too long!