The Luckiest No Matter What!

In 2021, I made a commitment to be more  PLAYFUL.   It was an easy #oneword for me to pick because I knew how much I had been needing it, craving it. Because of my rigidity, my love of consistency, my natural tendencies to over plan, playing is hard for me sometimes. I'm not talking about playing with my kids- that is usually pretty easy, but I'm more speaking to the opportunity to play  instead  of something else. Handling things in a more playful way... choosing to play when I could've chosen to be angry or frustrated. Here are my reflections about the year-long quest to have more play! Pausing One of the things I wanted to do more of in 2022 was pausing before I reacted to situations. If I paused more, I could help myself think about ways in which I could handle things more playfully. While nothing is met with perfection (I have to say that to help remind MYSELF that I couldn't embrace this #oneword with perfect standards), I can absolutely say that I paused more. My

HAPPY 2022! I'm entering slowly, taking small steps with caution.  My family is keeping this weekend low key: trying to squeeze in last moments together before the hustle and bustle of real life starts Monday again. This winter break has been one of the best- a lot of togetherness, and an excellent balance of work and play. It has all felt so good for my soul and I can tell it was just what #hundtboysx4 needed too. It's time for my #oneword of 2022: PLAYFUL! PLAYFUL: The Why Throughout 2021, I continued to feel as though my sons were needing something more from me than I have been able to give them. Was it my time? Energy? Patience? Kindness? Yes to all (duh). What these things all have in common is the desire of connection. What my boys want more than anything, is me. But a better version of me than I've been showcasing. After a challenging day of supporting my boys through online school or, lately, a day full of learning for them and teaching for me, I don't have much

2021 is almost over. I will remember this year as the one where my kids were in virtual school about as much as they were in person. I went back into the classroom in 2021. It was the year I pulled myself out of the breakdown I had towards the end of 2020. 2021 was when I did a ton of work on myself, said goodbye to my parent's cottage in Canada and our beloved Primrose the Cat. I saw Saint Augustine, Florida more than I ever had and explored the wilderness of Virginia. I visited our nation's capital. Josh, my three biggest boys, and I got vaccinated and witnessed so much change with the pandemic and also so much stay the same. Finally, I watched #hundtboysx4 learn, grow, and change a lot in 2021.  2021 was also the year I picked the best #oneword I ever could: small . I could feel that it was a winner way back in January, but I didn't know how much that word was exactly what I needed to focus on. Here are some of the awesome things that small little word has done for me t

If you know me well, you know it took me a looooooooooooong time to get a smart phone.  Paying a ridiculous amount of money on internet at home AND internet on my cell phone was too much for my frugal mind to bear. Nope, negative, never.  Time passed, years actually, and I continued with my non-smart phone. I really didn't mind whatever I was missing out on until I really started to miss out on things. My phone became so outdated that I began not to be able to get any emojis. A small problem, certainly, but when someone would tell me something, it was sometimes hard for me to sense the tone of things. I'd get a box or two, which I knew were emojis, but who knows which ones!? Did she just send me a wink to tell me she was kidding or a mad face to tell me she wasn't? Did he just put the middle finger up or the clapping hands? Those are very different takeaways.  I also started not being able to get group texts... at all. Think about how often you are texting with several

Happy 2021! A new year is here. I honestly can't believe it. I took such a beating from 2020 that I am still recovering. It was truly a year for things we did not expect, things none of us could plan for. For that reason, I am treading lightly into this year and I would imagine a lot of you are too.  #OneWord For the last several years, instead of making a new year's resolution, I've focused on one word. Last year, my #oneword was TRY. I had made this awesome list of things I would TRY to do each month. I spent January, February, and March doing just that. In January I tried being a vegetarian. February I wrote a card each day to friends and family expressing my love and gratitude. In March, I tried never to go over my allotted Weight Watchers points; I tried to use none of my weeklies. Each of these things I TRIED taught me lessons, gave me pause and reflection. I had many more written down and ready to roll out as the year continued. But, after March, the only thing I cou

During the month of February, I wrote some kind of note, card, email, or letter each day to someone.  I knew when I decided to TRY something new every month for my #oneword2020, this task was absolutely going to be one of the months. I picked February because it felt like the perfect time to spread some extra love. Not just because Valentine's Day is during the month, but because I personally find February to be difficult sometimes.  It feels forever since the warm fuzzy feeling of the holidays.  It feels like forever since your last gathering with family and friends because people seem to want to do NOTHING in January. It feels like forever since the sun's been out (although we've had a decent amount of sunlight this particular February). It feels like forever since everyone in your house was healthy at the same time. And it feels like forever since it's been warm... like really warm. WHERE ARE YOU SPRING?! WHERE ARE YOU SUMMER?! Writing kind notes sounde

After getting inspiration from my sister Laura, Josh and I went vegetarian for the month of January. Prior to this, I have reduced quite a bit of my animal food and animal products in general to be kinder to my body, these living things, and also kinder to the environment. I research before buying vitamins, shampoo, lotions, and makeup to keep them as vegan as possible. I keep my leather purchases to a minimum; I recently got Josh an awesome vegan leather briefcase for work. And, I do use plant-based 'meat' quite a bit now. Going fully vegetarian in January both felt like it was something in my wheelhouse and great way to push myself at the same time, which I think makes it a perfect thing to TRY ( #oneword2020 ). It wasn't completely new, but I had never been so meticulous and so intentional before so I was certain it'd be challenging as well. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of my month of vegetarianism... THE GOOD: Most of my meals were not just vege

During 2020, I'm TRYing something new! Every year I have so much I want to accomplish and change and focus on. I'm a super goal-driven person so, to be honest, sometimes the new year makes my head a little dizzy. There are always so many things I want to do and achieve and it's hard for me to focus and be intentional to see real difference, real change. That's why I got into doing this #oneword thing in the first place. Only choosing one word instead of a myriad of bullet points or some lengthly serial comma of a resolution helps me zero in and narrow what I'm working towards. I really think it's helped me. This will be my third or fourth year choosing only a single word as the foundation of my new year so I was ready to change things up a bit.  My family is all in a group chat. As this new year was coming, we started talking about what some of our resolutions might be. We always happen to share about this because I think it gets all of our good smart juic

Each January, I decide to focus my New Year's Resolutions (or intentions) through one word. This helps me to keep it simple. 2019's #oneword was WILL. Will has two meanings. One is about action- saying you will  do something. This past year, my intentions for action were laid out with these goals: I WILL take my vitamins every day I WILL make time to read/write  I WILL make time for prayer and spiritual growth I WILL put my phone down During 2019, I took vitamins more than I have in a long time. I researched all different things my body should have to keep me healthy. Researching for me, also meant researching about what Josh needs and the boys need. I learned about ingredients and how to get good things into my body as natural as possible.  I read a lot and wrote a lot. Taking time to read or write has morphed tremendously when I began my educational content writing for Project Explorer. I've technically wrote more than I ever have and that feels great. I also

Before moving forward into 2019, I want to give a nod to 2018 and say thank you. 2018 brought Preston Huron Hundt into our lives completing our family. I finished carrying my last baby. My biggest achievement surrounding this is to be a functioning parent of four young children. In my excitement of our fourth baby being born, there was a fear of what that would look like- could Josh and I really do this life with four kids?! I have made it eight months into being a mom of four boys. We go out in public (sometimes), we do things, we get things done, we take care of each other, we have fun. It is NOT easy, but I am here and doing it and wouldn't have it any other way. Now for setting new goals and intentions for the next twelve months... I have been choosing one word to focus on instead of a New Year's Resolution to keep me focused over the last several years. This year, I'm choosing the world WILL. Thankfully, because I am anything but concise, WILL has several meanings,

I don't know why, but each year, I love to decide, as many others do, to try to sum up my new year goals, resolutions, and changes with only one word.  I do find this incredibly challenging since I am not concise and am always striving to change and improve 783 things at once.  How can I sum up all that in one word?!  After much reflection and thought, I've decided that my #oneword for 2018 is less .  Less can often be a word that has a negative connotation: being less happy, caring less, giving less effort towards something, spending less time with someone.  For me though, this year, I'm hoping this word helps me gain more.   I couple of things I'm going to try to do less of... - worry less about things I cannot control - spend less time on things I don't want to do - purge things in my house so that there are less things, less clutter - spend less time ignoring myself - get up less early in the morning (please, please, please) - say yes less - c