charity
The 4th and final challenge in the Beautiful Change Challenge is all about revitalizing your community: how “a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, so no volunteering opportunity is too small”.
I wholeheartedly agree. Every little bit counts. Every little bit counts when it comes to money, diet, exercise, and even social good. If everybody did one tiny thing to improve their community, it’d add up to an awful lot of good.
I did a lot of volunteering in college, from building homes with Habitat for Humanity to granting kids’ wishes through the Make-a-Wish foundation with my sorority. Once I graduated and got married, I felt a little lost without a mission to focus on or a way to productively contribute to my community. One of my friends had joined the Junior League and immediately piqued my interest.
I’d never heard of the Junior League outside of the book “The Devil in the Junior League” that feeds the stereotype that it’s an organization of rich, elitist, old-money women. In reality, it’s a group of women that want to make an impact on their community. What appealed to me most was that the Junior League didn’t just focus on one volunteer project; they spread their resources across many projects that all added up to make a huge difference.
I’ve been involved with the Junior League for the past four years. This coming year is particularly exciting because we’ll be putting all of our volunteer efforts into a local school. We’ll be helping with reading, education, feeding hungry kids, and much, much more. To hear this elementary school’s principal speak is invigorating and motivating. It’s going to be amazing what an impact this project is going to make on these students’ lives and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
It’s an added bonus that Junior League has introduced me to my biggest support system and best friends, something I never expected. 
Some Junior League-related posts:
Denim & Diamonds
Touch a Truck {and Touch a Truck with babe this year}
Kids in the Kitchen: ACC Tournament
“Changing the world” sounds like a big task. It is a big task. But if we each start with our own communities, image what we could accomplish.
How do you contribute to your community? Do you volunteer?
A note from a Aveeno, the sponsor of the Beautiful Change Challenge:
Now, it’s actually healthy to wash your hair every day. AVEENO® PURE RENEWAL lets you renew your hair to its naturally balanced state daily. Unlike ordinary shampoos, these sulphate-free formulas have Balancing Seaweed Extract; bringing hair back to its naturally healthy, most balanced state with each wash, for beautifully healthy-looking hair.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Aveeno via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Aveeno.
Writing
Topic #3 of the Beautiful Change Challenge couldn’t come at a better time for me. The theme of this challenge is to take advantage of springtime by “ushering in new beginnings” and making your passion a reality.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say that your life doesn’t have to change just because you have kids.
I beg to differ. No, your life isn’t over– which is what I think people fear when they make statements like the above- but, yes, it changes.
Every single minute detail of your life changes.
There’s not a single thought or decision I make that doesn’t involve my child. Whether it directly impacts him or not, he’s a part of every piece of my life. When I get up in the morning and when I go to the gym is dictated by my son- by what time he gets up, when the daycare is open, and when he needs to nap. My social life revolves around my child- whether it’s waiting until I’ve put him to bed to see friends or choosing a daytime activity that’s kid-friendly. Every morsel of food I put in my mouth is influenced by son. {And I happily make these decisions, I might add.}
Last but not least in the slightest, my work is affected by having a child. What I want to do, how I want to do it, when I can do it- all different now that I have a new primary job title: mom.
There are so many factors that go into making the decisions that dictate what your home-work life looks like. Income, childcare, job position, hours, travel, spouse, support, time, passion- the list goes on.The hardest part is that it might take awhile to figure out what works for you and your family. You can’t just pick a scenario out of a hat and say that’s how it’s going to be. People’s real lives don’t fit neatly into tiny checkboxes that determine how you should make your life work.
I’ve spent the better part of the year trying to figure it out. At first I had no problem being adaptable- adjusting to situations as they came up and working around changes at home to make things work out. I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you, but babies change at the speed of light- meaning your life on any given day does too.
But almost 15 months into this gig called parenthood and things are starting to stabilize. One thing I know for certain: I’m probably never going to have a child that takes decent naps. I can wait and wait for the day to come, but I’m pretty sure I’ll just have wasted a lot of time hoping & wishing.
I LOVE being home with my child. I find it thoroughly exhausting {and sometimes boring and monotonous..shh don’t tell anyone}, but the thought of returning to an “office” job makes me nauseous. I’m grateful to have an occupation that can take on an unconventional format and am determined to make it work in my favor. You can’t “have it all” all the time, but you sure as heck can try to get as close to it as you can.
Where I’m going with this is that over the past year I’ve slowly lost my passion for private practice dietetics and running my own business, but my love of writing has never waivered, especially when my words can be used to inspire and encourage health in others. The reality of running a formal business while taking care of a non-napping toddler full time is as insane as it sounds, and it’s not what I want right now.
It’s taken me a long time to get to this place, but I can finally accept that just because I’m not practicing dietetics with clients doesn’t mean that I’m not working and doing good. It’s important for me to work both for my own mental sanity and to show my son that moms can work too. I know I have a few years before he understands, but it’s still in the back of my mind. We’re lucky to live in a time where “work” can look like a lot of things. There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not grateful that what I’m talking about is even an option for me and my family.
I think a mistake a lot of us make is getting so stuck on “living our passion” that we forget it’s ok if passions change. Every other aspect of life continually morphs and mutates; it wouldn’t make sense if our passions, desires, and interests didn’t too.
Well right now my passion is spending time with my family while still writing and inspiring people to live a healthy, fit life. Now I’m able to do just that: I recently took a position writing for Babble, a Disney-owned website for “a new generation of parents”.
I’m a contributor for their health and fitness channel. Pretty fitting don’t ya think? I’ll be writing about things like the new recommendations for food allergies in babies, the FDA petition about putting aspartame in milk and not clearly labeling it, dealing with my sugar gremlins, and things like the Lulu-Snafu and fun ways to eat chia seeds.
I still have a lot on my plate, but the nature of writing is much more flexible than working with clients. I’m excited and a little nervous about this adventure. I hope you’ll follow along and stick with me on this new journey. It’s not a good bye to private practice, just a “see ya later”…
How do you live out your passion? What’s the one job you would do if money & experience weren’t a factor?
A note from a Aveeno, the sponsor of the Beautiful Change Challenge:
Now, it’s actually healthy to wash your hair every day. AVEENO® PURE RENEWAL lets you renew your hair to its naturally balanced state daily. Unlike ordinary shampoos, these sulphate-free formulas have Balancing Seaweed Extract; bringing hair back to its naturally healthy, most balanced state with each wash, for beautifully healthy-looking hair.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Aveeno via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Aveeno.
Thoughts
For the next 2 weeks I’ll be participating in Bliss & Aveeno’s Beautiful Change Challenge. It includes a series of four challenges focused on renewing and revamping my beauty routine.
*scccreeeetttcchhhhhhh*
Hold up.
My beauty routine? I’m pretty sure most of you know I don’t have one. But a big part of my life right now is figuring out who I am and want to be outside of being a mom. Now that I’ve officially graduated from “new mom” status, it’s time to remember what it’s like being a wife, friend, and late 20-something girl. It’s the little things that make a difference. They’re also the easiest to let slip away. I’m perfectly comfortable letting my neighbors see me at noon in my pj’s or going to the grocery store without a stitch of make up on, but it’s also nice to feel cleaned up and pretty and put together. Sometimes taking a few minutes to pull yourself together is all it takes to make you feel like you can tackle the world…or at least the day.
The first task bestowed upon the participants for the Beautiful Change Challenge is to focus on cutting down the time you spend primping in front of the mirror in the morning and spend that time on something more productive, like heading to the gym, making breakfast, or simply catching a few extra zzz’s. I’m going to redefine the challenge just a bit: GET a morning routine. A 3 minute morning routine. 3 minutes I can spare- the rest of the time I can continue to use more productively.
I leap reluctantly crawl out of bed before the sun even thinks about making an appearance in the morning, awakened to the sounds of a baby crying for his mama. From that moment until his morning nap 3 or 4 hours later, it’s all about him. I nurse him, then make and feed him breakfast. Change his diaper, get him dressed. Play with blocks, read books, give him a snack. And so on and so forth. On school days I consider myself lucky to make it to drop off wearing a snot-free, clean hoodie.
But since I’ve given up being a martyr mom and not taking time for myself, I’m also challenging myself to put myself together for the day- before the day is half over. It doesn’t need to be more than 5 minutes, but brushing my hair, swiping on my favorite BB cream and some mascara, and putting on clean, non-pajama clothes will be a big change for me- a good change, I’d say. 
A note from a Aveeno, the sponsor of the Beautiful Change Challenge:
Now, it’s actually healthy to wash your hair every day. AVEENO® PURE RENEWAL lets you renew your hair to its naturally balanced state daily. Unlike ordinary shampoos, these sulphate-free formulas have Balancing Seaweed Extract; bringing hair back to its naturally healthy, most balanced state with each wash, for beautifully healthy-looking hair.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Aveeno via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Aveeno.
Do you take time to put yourself together in the morning? What does your morning beauty routine look like?
