Balance has meant many different things to me over the years. When T.J. and I were fist married, it looked a lot like trying to live within our smaller budget, working hard at our wedding photography business so T.J. could quit his day job in a warehouse, and spending time with friends/family.
Fast forward 7+ years and over time we had to learn how to balance two full time businesses, friendships, employees, family, church, quality time together, having a BABY, staying fit, and a million other things. Like vacuuming all. the. time. because we have four cats.
But honestly, it's only in the last year and a half that I can say I've actually found some sort of balance in my life. T.J. has written about this season of our lives quite a bit on his blog, with my two favorite posts being Throw Away All The Things (when we found balance by, well, like he said.. throwing out all of the things) and, Balance Is A Moving Target (where he talks about balancing less things as a whole, and not always in a 24 hour mindset.)
For me, my days all look a little different. I work at our walk in love. studio twice a week when my parents watch June. Sometimes I have extra photoshoots for friends and family throughout my week. Or playdates with Junie and her friends. But most of the time there are always several categories I work hard to keep balanced in my daily life - food, family time and fitness. The latter certainly being the hardest for me. 😬 I mean, c'mon... running? It's the worst!
Balancing family time often looks like reading books to June in her room and choosing to stay off of my phone. June loves to read. Her current favorite book is this silly little book with all black and white drawings of animals and things. She makes all the sounds they do and sniffs the page with flowers on it every time. (See photo below 😂.) Not that the page actually smells good or anything... she just thinks it's what you're supposed to do.
When Amazfit, an incredibly stylish fitness tracker, reached out to me about partnering for a post, I felt incredibly comfortable saying yes. And I have loved having a way to track my steps, calories and sleep over the last several weeks, all while stacking it like a bracelet next to my other cute accessories.
It has been fascinating to track my light sleep and deep sleep, and how they correlate with how I feel the next morning. My goal, of course, is to always feel as happy when I wake up as June does while reading her books. #goals
One of my favorite ways to find balance in food is our snack trays. No joke, we eat them all the time. (You can see my recent Thanksgiving one here.) It's just a simplified, fast way to eat things that we love, coupled with the things we "should eat more of" on a daily basis. Aka: it's how we justify eating a lot of cheese.
A close second to our love for snack trays though, is quesadillas. I did not grow up making them at home, but with T.J.'s family being part Mexican, they certainly did. Back when I was 22 and all the things were smaller, I'd load it up my quesadillas with cheese and bacon and chicken and eat every single slice. Nowadays, I seek to find balance by first loading it up with tomatoes, peppers, onions, avocado, black beans and corn... and then add the cheese. And honestly, it's so much better than the ones I used to make.
Note to self: do a recipe post on the different quesadillas we make, cause that sounds delish.
Lastly... fitness. Ugh. Working out is not my favorite thing to do. I have gotten better over the years, for sure, and have learned what I do and don't like to do, along with what does and doesn't work for me. But for the most part, it's the little things that all add up. Choosing to walk to work instead of drive, jogging with the stroller on sunny days, and continuing to remind myself that it's all a journey. Oh, and that being able to make humans is an incredible thing, and that I shouldn't be too hard on myself for weight gained in the process.
I'd like to tell you that I always look this put together while working out, but that's simply not the case. Just last week I started walking at 6am with my neighbor/friend Leah, because at some point in her "I haven't worked out since 1999" thinking, it seemed like a good idea. Trust me, when I meet Leah at the corner of our two streets, my sweatpants are all but duct tapped to my ankles to keep the wind out, and I've got four very unflattering layers of heather gray on. But hey! At least I'm walking 3 miles. #balance 😂 Leah, if you're reading this, please burn this well-lit, posed image of me in cute workout clothes into your mind, and think of it when I see you Wednesday morning in the dark. Thank you.
If you'd like to get an Amazfit for yourself, you can use the code MYAMAZFIT to save 40% on your purchase. In the first photos, I am wearing the Moonbeam tracker, which looks a lot like a super cute watch. In the last images, I am wearing the Rainbow wristband, with the blush colored metal details! You can also take out the ceramic tracker and wear it as a necklace. 😍 They also have loads of other styles and wristbands (for guys too!) on their site, so check them out. So really, there is no excuse to not track your activity anymore... cause you no longer have to compromise your personal style to stay healthy.
This post was sponsored by Amazfit. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting my blog and the awesome people who sponsor it.