My Outdated "About Me"

A few weeks ago, I took a look at my "About Me" page and was shocked by how out of date it was. Tasks over here in blogland have fallen to the bottom of the to-do list, haven't they? I had written the original about three years ago and, well, a lot has changed in that seemingly short amount of time.

Below I've taken a look at the outdated information to see what's changed, provided a few updates, and documented some of those changes via the very posts on this blog. Let's take a look.

"Put simply, I'm a young professional (writing, editing, and publication design) striving to find a balance between my full-time job, side projects (Zumba and freelance), personal goals, friends, family, and sleeping!"

Is 30 still considered young? I think so, but I'm gonna nix that description because I don't feel new to the field and typically work in management positions. I also quit working a traditional full-time job shortly after originally writing this (I wrote about the decision to quit working full time here) and made the side projects mentioned my main sources of income.

"Sometimes I don't think my inadequate self will ever be able to accomplish everything I want to, but I'm learning to focus on the little things and rejoice in small victories. Some of my dreams? I want to start my own business." 

I started Annesali Communications shortly after this to encompass my freelance work and additional clientele after quitting my full-time job. (See my post "Introducing Annesali Communications".)

"I want to find the love of my life." 

Wow. Check. I think I met Jake two, maybe three months after writing this. My first and only slight mention of him on the blog while we were dating was in my October Instagram recap where I show flowers he gave me. But I did write up our proposal story!

We have now been married for a bit over two years. And he is definitely the love of my life. My best friend. The one I want to do anything and everything with. My biggest supporter. And I'm completely heads over heels for him.

"I want to have a family of my own." 

Jake and I were extremely blessed to welcome our son Emerson this past January. He is a happy, chunky little guy and the perfect addition to our lives. Emerson hasn't officially appeared on the blog, but I did share his and her reactions to finding out I was pregnant.

"I want to live free and embrace happiness."

Happiness intrigues me apparently. I can't seem to stop writing about it.

Happiness Comes in the Little Things—Dec. 2013
A Happy Happy Life + 2 Goals - May 2016

I think my post "3 Things I Love About Life Without a Full-time Job" reflects what I mean about wanting to live free. 

"When I'm not writing, editing, or designing, you might find me teaching a Zumba Fitness class. I also hope to soon earn my group fitness instructor certification and explore the fitness world more from the instructing side."

I have definitely dived more into the fitness instruction world. I did earn my group fitness certification through AFAA (find my tips here). I also certified in and have taught U-Jam Fitness (my certification experience) and Piyo, and added in multiple Zumba trainings including Gold (seniors), Kids, Sentao,  and Pro Skills. Next on my list is barre!

If you made it this far, thanks for joining me on this little flashback through the past few years. I'm writing up a new description of me and this blog, so hopefully that will debut soon.

Motivation Monday: Do What Makes You Happy

Welcome back to my resurrected Motivation Monday series!

I've kinda been on a "happy" kick, huh? (In case you missed my last posts, check out "A happy HAPPY life" and "Happy does not equal perfect.") I suppose I'm trying to capitalize on my current situation and adopt life practices that help me maintain that outlook and continue to feel this way, regardless of circumstance.

Thinking about the topic actually brings back a lot of thoughts from the book, "The Happiness Project." It's been YEARS since I read it, but I'm definitely going to pick up a copy and re-familiarize myself with it. Oh, plus I want to check out the author Gretchen Rubin's newer books "Happier at Home" and "Better Than Before."

In case you aren't familiar with the bestseller, "The Happiness Project" follows the author's journey through self evaluation and noticing some simple ways to capitalize on her happiness. (Yes, that is my own personal, very brief, and very generalized summary.)

I commented on some of my take away from the book in my post "Little Ways To Live a More Simple Life." 

Today's Motivation Monday quote, "Do What Makes You Happy," is a reminder to ME to continue to seek out those little things that make me happy. Most recently, I mentioned my goal to add more writing and designing into my everyday life. Those are both aspects of my career that I don't get to do on a day-to-day basis anymore, and I've missed them.

Download this image with high resolution here! 

That said, I also what to add the reminder that the things YOU do to be happy might not be what anyone else would choose to do. And what someone else does might not make you happy. Incorporating this reminder requires you to know and accept yourself for who you are. (Which I think is a beautiful process!)

So take a minute to think about what makes you happy. What's one thing you could do to be a little happier today?

Happy does not equal perfect

A look at this moment: I'm sitting on my bed with a load of laundry to fold and Emerson laying next to me kicking me with his feet. Though we tried for a nap in his crib, he wasn't having it and squalled until I brought him into my room with me. (Granted, he slept a lot this morning in the car so we'll just do an afternoon nap.) While he was quiet but not asleep, I did manage to heat up a small lunch. After that we all headed to my bed to work (and me to eat). 

P.S. Emerson fell asleep next to me after about a half hour of watching me work on my laptop. 

P.P.S. I got a little work done on an impromptu design project for my sister but then we had a pooping-on-the-comforter incident, a spitting-up-on-the-sheets incident, and several we-definitely-won't-get-anything-done incident. 

P.P.P.S. I am now continuing this post. Two. whole. days. later. 

Wow. The struggle is real, folks. I'll say that my intent with the above information was just to show what my day might look like for a single snapshot of time. In fact, I thought it might be a fun little detail to include on any of my personal life posts going forward.

However, with each additional "P.S." I realized that the unfolding of events actually demonstrates the topic of this post pretty well.

See after I published my "Happy happy life" post, I continued to think about what I wrote. (Other people do that too, right?...right?) And I started to come up with all kinds of "wait a minute" reasons about why I shouldn't be as happy as I've been feeling.

I am constantly behind on housework
As much as I intend to meal plan and make dinner every night—shoot, every other night—I rarely do
I don't have huge attendance at my fitness classes
I have baby weight and am sensitive about unflattering pictures of myself
I am horrible at responding to or even reading text and Facebook messages and am horrible at staying in touch with friends
I have so many personal professional projects that I have never moved forward on
I still haven't scheduled the dental appointment I've been needing for months
Somedays Emerson and I don't leave the house
I have moments where I am frustrated, tired, and overwhelmed
I often don't get done any of the things I wanted to that day

Overall, the idea that kept coming up was that I have a thousand reasons NOT to happy, namely because I am not perfect. I didn't want others to think I was putting on a front to appear better than I actually am. I mean, I have so many downfalls and my life is most definitely not perfect. I don't want to be a person that pretends my life is something that it's not.

But I realized that everyone will ALWAYS have thousands of reason not to be happy. And perhaps the most gratifying thing about "happy" is finding it even through the many reasons not to.

Happiness is not dependent on perfection. Happiness is not dependent on success. Happiness is a daily choice. Happiness is thriving in the moments that give us joy. Happiness is knowing and accepting who you are and loving that person.

Happiness is driving home from a daily errand and seeing beauty in the moment. And smiling.