{My Humbly Offered} Eight Things to Keep Sane at Home

1. Eat breakfast you guys. Really. It's the best way to start a day. If you can, eat real food. Plan for it. Carve out time for it. Lunch, Dinner, yeah whatever. Breakfast is where it's at. Today we rocked the baked oatmeal. Vanilla, eggs, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, steel cut oats. Yes and amen.
2. I have a bad habit of hitting the ground running. It's not healthy. It's good to have routine, but in that routine, build in time to take it slow. As soon as you start moving fast, it's really hard to slow down again. Listen to the dreams your kids had while they slept. Journal. Spend some time in the Bible and listen. Pray out loud. Sip coffee slowly.
3. Start the day with fun. Madeleine rode her bike around the living room before breakfast. My first reaction was to beg her to stop and DEAR LORD WHY NOW. But then I realized she was already laughing. Laughing before 9 a.m.? Dang you guys. Can't beat that.
4. I have a place. A mental time-out if you will. A place that, once I sit, I breathe. It might change every day. (But maybe, likely, not.) I think everyone should have a place.
5. I (try to) only keep things that I find to be beautiful. Dried flowers from my aunt's 50th wedding anniversary still sit in the sunlight on my window sill. I look at them and remember that weekend. The mountains. That some things preserve and stay and don't lose beauty even after the bloom.

6. Keep good memories around. In 2002, I traveled to some remote village in Northern Alaska north of the Arctic Circle. One of the locals took me out on a dogsled ride. One of the best memories of my life so far. In 1999 and 2003, my mom and I traveled to Ireland. I snapped this shot of the Cliffs of Moher, and it hangs on my fridge. I may not be traveling right now but it's still a part of me, my story, my future and I don't want to forget that part of me when life feels mundane and slow and feels like it's going nowhere.
7. I list, all the time. To-do items. Things I'm stressed about. Things I'm praying for. Items to buy when we have more money in the budget. Sometimes it's just to empty my brain. Clear it out for the important thoughts.
8. More and more, I'm seeing that the process of design, of life, of parenting, of growth, of faith... it's the real story part. The happy ending is not as beautiful without realizing that the mess in between and before is what makes the beauty and redemption worth recognizing. So, yes, it's hard. It's messy. It's exhausting. And it's part of it. And I need to learn to be content in that place. So..this last one? I'm still working on it.

What are some things you do to keep steady and sane when life seems to unravel on all its crazy edges?