A Day in the Life

I get so many questions and emails from you guys (keep ’em coming, I love it!) about the fact that I work from home doing this food blogging thing as well as mothering. I’ve always said that I’m a mommy first, blogger second, but if I’m being completely honest it’s a real struggle for me at times to keep it that way. See, there’s this thing called an ego – and that little thing pushes me to do MORE MORE MORE to grow my blog and make things happen, but the reality is that the most important thing I can do with my life and my influence is to pour it into raising a generation of Godly, loving, grace-filled, exceptional children. Take that, ego.

 

That being said one of the most frequent questions I have from y’all is what does my day actually look like? The reality is that no day is ever the same, but because I love real, PRACTICAL information I’ll give y’all a little timeline of the average day. I want to stress though that I usually try to do a LOT of my work Monday-Thursday and then take Friday-Sunday “off,” dealing with online stuff in teeny doses and only when needed. So a day in the life (currently)…here goes!

 

5:30am Rise and shine! I take this time to go on a long walk and get my posts scheduled for the day on my social media outlets (except Instagram). It’s a time when my boys are both still sleeping, and it’s so sweet to get outside and smell that first-thing-in-the-morning smell. I listen to podcasts as I walk and take different routes every time, which makes it all fly by.

 

7:30am Wes either wakes up around now or has been up for about 30 minutes. We kiss Dada goodbye and settle in to some breakfast. I use this time that he’s eating to unload and reload the dishwasher, throw in a load of clothes, and otherwise straighten up to start the day. I also write down my to-do list for life and work, and make sure to chat with Wes all the while.

 

9:00am Around this time Wes starts getting a little antsy to get out. We go to parks, friends’ houses, the grocery store, the zoo, museums, whatever. I try to mix it up, but also don’t undervalue the fact that we have a great house and great yard with lots of possibilities to play too!

 

11:00am We eat a really early lunch because I’ve figured out that it takes about an hour to fix and eat, then another 30 minutes to wind down. And if I get Wes in bed for his nap around 12:30 then that’s kind of (knock on wood) the perfect time for him to take the longest nap. I usually eat a little something too. If I have an exceptional amount of prep work to cook something I’ll lug everything over to the table and chop next to him. What can I say, I like being close to my son PLUS I think it help peak his interest when he can SEE the process behind food.

 

12:30pm Wes goes down for a nap and I do a quick weight workout, then settle in at my desk to check emails, write posts, edit photos, brainstorm for my editorial calendar, pin stuff (I use a combination of Ahalogy and ViralTag) and anything work related. I’ll also have the second half of my lunch while he’s still napping. Sometimes, if I can do it quietly, I’ll also cook and photograph stuff for the blog and during the winter this is usually the time that I do ALL of that because of the natural light situation.

 

3:00pm The dude is up and ready to go! We will do stuff around the house for a bit while he wakes up (folding clothes, unloading – yet again – the dishwasher, etc.) and then either go to the park or the pool. He’s also a fan of just chilling on the deck with a water table and a swim diaper. We are all about taking advantage of this summer weather though! In the winter we’ll do laps around Target or the mall, go to a museum or a friend’s house, or visit an indoor play area.

 

5:00pm We get home from wherever we were and I will get dinner ready. He eats a little earlier than we do, but it’s a good time for me to get my cooking and photographing done with the great light in our windows at that time. I shoot away until everything is properly documented, and then we chat for a little while he finishes his meal. After he eats we do his bath time (if needed) and play a little longer.

 

6:30pm When Nate gets home we’ll sit down to eat and Wes will drink some milk. A lot of times we have a movie on and there are lots of snuggles and giggles with my boy and his daddy. I use their snuggle time to clean up a bit and start another load of dishes.

 

7:30pm Bedtime for Wes! We do our bedtime routine, then head downstairs to hang out for 30 minutes and unwind before doing any remaining work. I usually take this time to enter freelance pieces, edit photos, finish up a post and brainstorm some more. As I’m sure y’all can imagine the bulk of my work gets done when Wes is asleep, about a total of 6-7 hours a day.

 

10:30pm I try to wrap up and then finish the day snuggling in bed and watching a Friends rerun. I don’t know if that’s “recommended” and I don’t really care – it’s a great way to relax and laugh a little before nodding off!

 

11:00pm Asleep!

 

So it’s not glamorous, and some days are very different. Sometimes I do work while Wes is awake and playing by himself, but I try to keep those times to a minimum if possible. And I always, always make sure we get out of the house – both for Wes’ benefit and my own. I’m a big proponent of going on little adventures and living life so that I can pour that inspiration back into this here blog. It’s a crazy, unpredictable life but I am seriously so blessed that I get to live it!

 

Questions? Comments? I’d love to chat further!