This week, we finally had a break in the weather!! Daylight savings time happened and made everyone very tired. How does one hour throw you off so much? Anyhow, I know I'm enjoying the extra hour or so of daylight. It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine and a heatwave (yes 40 degrees constitutes a heat wave) can brighten the mood. Ten weeks into my 365 project and I have to say it's finally starting to wear me down a bit. I knew the time would come I would hit a point when I'm ready to throw in the towel. Also, I've been wanting to sit down a devour a large pizza all by myself. But I'm not going to do it. To get myself over the hump, I've decided to allow myself to take some more photos with my iPhone as a break from lugging the big boy around (my trusty Nikon D800). At the same time, I gave myself a special treat this week, item of my choice since I've been eating clean and working out consistently since the first week of January. Here's the story of Week 10:

Day 64: It's a challenge getting four kids in for haircut appointments at the same time (and dentist and everything else you want to condense into one visit). So tonight, it was Emi's turn. Who doesn't love dipping that head back, feeling the warm water on their head as someone massages all the cares away? This girl was in heaven! I love that she allows herself to relax and enjoy the quiet moments. I am relaxed just looking at this one...

Day 65: I put my phone down for a second and returned to it only to discover my oldest daughter took about 25 selfies on it. She makes me smile...I love surprises :).

Day 66: As I'm over two months in to my health and wellness journey, a friend of mine has been on a journey of her own. For the past four months, my buddy Jen has been training to compete in a bodybuilding competition. She's worked so hard and is such an inspiration. This fellow mother of four is focused, driven, and motivating to so many people. She also has muscles in places I never knew muscles existed! I spent today photographing Jen in her element in order to help her document this amazing accomplishment in her life. Join me in wishing Jen the best of luck at the competition on March 21st! 

Day 67: Getting our fitness on together during our weekly date night. I love that she does this with me. The cutest thing is that she compliments me the whole entire time. "Mom, you are so strong." "Mom, you are so much better than you were last time." She is full of encouragement. She also points out certain statements in the videos that she doesn't feel are right or accurate. It's wild how intuitive she is, and also how she focuses on what matters. She knows we're doing this to make sure our bodies are healthy and taken care. She reminds me of this on the days it takes me longer to get going. Makes heading down to that dingy basement all the more worth it...

Day 68: Here it is folks. The moment you've all been waiting for! My choice of treat: a Panera brownie! So if you're thinking "She wasted her treat cheat on a Panera brownie?" Before you judge, have you HAD a Panera brownie??? It's decadent! The brownie part, the frosting part, amazing. The part where I have to feel like crap afterwards, not so amazing. So going down, I had a "where have you been all my life" moment. Thirty minutes later, I had a crater in my stomach the size of a bowling bowl. Said brownie upset my stomach. This was a cruel twist of fate. I ate the whole thing, in case you were wondering. Probably under 10 seconds. Let's hope the chocolate bug has left the building...

Day 69: Monday morning traffic...I know you're jealous! 

Day 70: Fears are funny little things. They make no sense. They are irrational. They make us do things that we wouldn't normally do. They prevent us from doing things we should do, know how to do, and have been doing for a long time. But when a switch is flicked in our minds, we're the only ones who could turn it on and off. My little girl, my gymnast girl, has had rough go of it this year and last (see Weeks 1-8 to catch up). Fear took over her mind and virtually paralyzed her. She just couldn't get past it. Nothing seemed to help. From hypnosis DVDs playing in her sleep to private lessons, she wasn't improving. She began to hate practice, she beat herself up, she wanted to quit because of this one thing. This last for 8 months. I repeated to her many times "on your own time, child." I understood her all too well. I have one irrational fear to my name. There isn't anything anyone could so to me to help. So we left it alone for a while. Over time, she worked out some pretty unique (wild) strategies to get herself comfortable about tumbling again. The below image is one of her setups. A small, soft pink chair with two huge snake stuffed animals. And this is where she started tumbling again. She build a little world full of fairytales with mythical creatures that were friendly. A world that she created for herself with her own thoughts and ideas, a world in which she healed herself. A world where little girls fly like angels. It is here where she gained confidence again, all on her own. Her own terms, her own way. Liv has told me before that she wanted to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for something. After this, I told her she belongs in there. She's the only person in the world to tumble through chairs and snakes. I have a feeling she will see the light at the end of this dark tunnel soon. And when she comes out, it'll be pure magic...