I mentioned before that this school year is the beginning of not just a whole new chapter in life, but basically an entire new book in the series of my life. All of my kids are in school full time. As a stay/work at home mom, this is a huge deal. My mission over the next few months is to spend a large portion of my days focused on mental restoration.
If you’re new here, hi! I’m Amanda and I am a hot mess mom. I’m always late, I struggle to keep the house clean (not just the regular struggle lol), I have emotional scars, I yell at my kids more than I probably should. Yeah, I’m a bit of a mess. But I acknowledge it and I’m very actively working on it.
I made a list of things I wanted to do while the kids were in school. At the top was exploring gorgeous hiking trails relatively close to home, finding a serene spot to sit and just… breathe. Pray. Read. Clear my mind.
Sounds magical, right moms?!
As it turns out, this is going to take some practice.
Yesterday was the first day of school here. I left home with my backpack, ready for a magical morning.
My dreamy vision and reality weren’t quite the same. I had a hard time mentally slowing down and just enjoying the atmosphere. It didn’t help that there were a lot of ants, and I’m allergic to ant bites. I actually pulled something in my shoulder while frantically digging a fire ant out of my shirt sleeve. That says a lot about my current fitness level lol. I’ve been going to the gym a lot more lately, but it’s time to step it up.
Next time I adventure out (which will be soon), I’ll be a little more prepared. We will call this little adventure my practice run. Ants suck.
My Magical Hiking for Personal Growth Backpack Checklist
Beach towel or something to sit on
Insect repellent
Notebook/pen
Book
Snack
Water
Earbuds
Camera
The morning wasn’t a total loss. I was able to dust off my DSLR and experiment with shutter speeds. Rushing water is such a beautiful thing. Now I want to add kayaking to my list of things to do while the kids are in school lol.
Photo info: Creative Commons License CCo – Taken by Amanda Alexander (Unsplash). No claims of being a professional photographer. Just giving back to the CCo community.