January 17, 2024 • 37 mins
Ever find yourself in a rut, feeling like Groundhog Day is your life's theme song? That was me until I shook things up with a new morning and evening routine—and oh boy, did it change the game! Join me, Grace, in the latest episode of Five Years Time, where I share the ins and outs of my life's delightful little tweaks, from the energy boost of a midday coffee to the infectious beats in dance class with the coolest retirees you'll ever meet. Get ready to laugh, nod in agreement, and maybe even find a nugget or two to spark your own daily revolution.
Who knew that sticking to a tuna salad diet since college could still be a thrill? I didn't, until I paired it with an unexpected change in my caffeine habits. We're talking about those subtle shifts that can brighten up the grayest of days and how being more present for my daughter Ro and husband Trev has sweetened our time together. It's not just about food and coffee; it's about finding those rituals that bring us joy and turn ordinary moments into cherished memories. So, whether it's a smart light bulb gently coaxing you awake or a sunset lamp warming up your evening, I've got the lowdown on creating a vibe that's all about calm and connection.
And let's get real—none of this would be half as fun without you, my dear listeners, chiming in with your own stories and support. You've turned this podcast from a monologue into a heartfelt conversation, and for that, I'm sending out a galaxy of thanks. Together, we're not just discussing life's ups and downs; we're riding them like the seasoned pros we are. So why not continue this journey with me? Subscribe, follow, and throw me those stars. Let's keep crafting a narrative that's not just heard, but felt right in the heart.
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- Grace
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, you're listening to Five Years Time
with your host, grace Black.
["five Years Time"].
Hey cuties, welcome back toFive Years Time podcast with
your host, grace.
(00:20):
If you're joining us on YouTube, hello, we have a new setup.
I'm using a new camera and ifyou're joining us, obviously, on
YouTube via audio, I'm alsorecording in a new way and I'm
saying new, but these areactually old ways that I used to
do things, but in a little bitof a new setting.
That being said, bear with me.
(00:43):
Bear with me, especially on theaudio.
I'm trying not to blow thespeaker.
I don't know if I need to befurther away from the mic.
Ok, we're going to hope for thebest here and if it absolutely
sucks, I apologize.
Ok, welcome back to Five YearsTime podcast with your host,
grace.
(01:03):
I'm so excited that you'vejoined us.
We have such an exciting episodeahead because I'm talking
passionately about my newmorning and evening routine.
It's only been two or threeweeks of me doing this and it
has literally changed my outlookon life.
(01:26):
Like I am the happiest I havebeen most consistently.
I'll get into that more andexplain what that means, but I
just feel so grateful and Ithink we spent so much of last
year talking about how I'm goingto get into this new routine.
I know I'm craving it, I'mcraving it, I'm craving it, I'm
craving it, and now we'refinally here, and so I think
(01:49):
that's why it's really been thisbig change for me and played
such a positive impact in mylife, because I've really been
wanting to implement somethinglike this and I'm going to talk
about how it's been to upkeep aroutine.
We all know that I'm a flexiroutine gal, and so I've been
(02:09):
keeping it less rigid, where youmust do something every single
day, and more flexible andtaking it one day at a time, and
it's just been so beautiful andI'm so excited to talk about it
.
So excited to talk about it.
I want to talk about it.
I wanted to talk about it lastweek.
I'm so afraid that I'm blowingout the speaker.
Maybe I need to move away fromthe microphone.
(02:29):
Oh, my gosh cutes, I am sonervous.
Ok, I'm going to pause this andtry and just listen to what it
sounds like and we'll see.
We'll see.
Ok, I don't think it sounds toobad, I think it's OK, and I'm
only going to get better.
I just really didn't want to beblowing out the speaker because
I can see my little volumething getting to red and I'm
(02:50):
like, oh my gosh, am I talkingtoo loud?
I'm trying to stay neutral atone pace, but still have fun,
personality, ok, it's OK.
Anyways, yes, I just feel Iwanted to talk about this last
week and I was like, no, no, no,I can't talk about it yet.
Let's do a whole, not let's doone more week of routine and
then I'll talk about it nextweek because I need to catch up
on a bunch of stuff last weekbecause we haven't recorded in a
(03:10):
while.
Anyways, I'm excited for thisepisode.
That's all I have to say.
But let's get into my weeklyrecap.
Honestly, this past week wasreally beautiful.
It has really chilled down.
Like the other morning I wokeup and I could feel the cold in
the house you know when you canjust feel that it's a colder day
and I called out to my friendGoogle and was like, hey, what's
(03:32):
the weather today?
And they were like it'snegative 12 with a high of
negative 7.
I was like, okay, with a highof negative 7?
That doesn't seem like a highto me and I felt that.
But it has actually been sobeautiful because we've had a
light dusting of snow enough tostay on the ground and, honestly
(03:53):
, this is one of my favoritetimes of the year, when the sun
comes out, when it's really coldand the sun comes out and you
get the bonus of snow.
It just adds this layer ofquietness to the world and this
brightness, this calm brightness, oh, it just feels so nice and
because we've been working onmaking changes, switching around
(04:15):
furniture and just likeswitching up our house and
decluttering and utilizing it ina new way that we haven't
recently, it just feels like anoasis inside and I am just
really beaming with gratitudelately about that.
So, yeah, I'm not mad, but ithas been very cold and I've had
(04:35):
to bring my coat with me in thecar to get, just to get from,
like, one place to the next.
Like the other day, I wore mycoat into the grocery store.
I never wear my coat in thegrocery store, even on the
coldest day.
I like book it, but I was likeit is too cold and I wore it the
entire time I was in thegrocery store.
Wow, it must have been cold.
Anyways, that is on the weatherfront.
(04:56):
But as for activities, I startedmy dance class.
I started both my dance classes.
So I'm actually taking like ajust fun movement class which is
majority retirement aged peopleand me and I absolutely love it
.
It's called like boogiesomething, so I just called my
boogie class and my calendar.
(05:17):
It says boogie, with a littledance emoji like the disco guy
and it is so fun, the teacher isso fun, the crowd is so fun.
I just love being around olderwomen.
I think it's such a specialthing that a lot of the time we
don't get to or not that wedon't get to experience it, but
we in such a in such a massamount of people like I don't
(05:42):
get to throw myself into a groupof older women who have
experience and and stories andWiseness and all of this.
So I just love being aroundthat energy.
But yeah, it's been really funand they have like disco lights
playing.
It's so fun.
It's just like a fun, happyvibe.
It's fun to be out in thecommunity for an hour where I
don't have my phone, I'm notconnected to technology, I'm
(06:02):
just me and the ladies jammingand dancing and boogieing out.
And then I started my balletlessons.
I was so excited, slash nervousto start them and I actually
had such a fun time the secondto start it I was like, okay,
wow, this is like lessons, likewe are learning.
There is mental, mind-bodyconnection happening and it has
(06:26):
been so amazing.
I've only gone to one class.
I.
I put on my outfit and I feltso good in it and then I got to
class and I found my perfectspot right away I'm.
I went like there's not reallya back of the class because she
teaches on both sides, becauseyou do it on one side of the bar
and then you turn and you do iton the other side of the bar.
So I'm at the back slash frontof the class, depending on what
(06:48):
it is.
But because I'm tall, I wantedto make sure I had room to put
my legs.
I have taken bar classes beforeso I do know Sometimes when you
go side to side it can betricky.
When you have to stretch outyour legs, you can always go in
an angle.
But anyways, I just knew thatgoing into it.
So and I feel reallycomfortable with my spot.
So I'm like, okay, I need toalways go.
There's a class that goes rightbefore us.
So I'm like I just need to makesure I'm always like about five
(07:10):
minutes early so I can sneak inat the very beginning and get
that spot.
You know, when you love a spotand it's right by a window and I
love being by a window but thewindow has a ledge so I can put
my water bottle on it it's justsuch a perfect spot.
When things happen like that,it's so great.
So, yeah, I'm loving ballet,I'm so excited.
I just think it's gonna be sucha wonderful break in my week
(07:31):
and something to challengemyself with and I'm really
excited Like I almost want to goon YouTube and like practice at
home.
Oh yeah.
So that's been really, reallynice.
And then this weekend I'm tryingto think what we did this
weekend and my brain is blanking.
You know what I did do.
I switched up Rose room.
So, as you know, we've beendoing our room transformation.
I actually posted the firstpart of our room transformation
(07:54):
On the vlog last week over onYouTube at five years time
podcast.
So I switched the beds.
We have a new bed now in hereand then I put our other bed in
the guest room and Then thisSunday I'm gonna post the rest
of it where I'm decorating,hanging things, and it just is
such good vibes.
So when I did that, row came inand was like, oh my gosh, mommy,
someone came and beautifiedyour room and I was like I know
(08:17):
right row, she's.
Like I wish someone would dothat to my room.
So she and Trevor had headedout to swimming on the weekend
one evening and I was like, okay, I have an hour, let's see how
much I can get done.
And so I switched up where herbed was and I really cleared out
some of her.
She honestly didn't have thatmuch stuff to clear out, I just
like organized her toys a bitand Switched up her shelving
(08:40):
unit.
And she loves little knickknacks, like she loves little tiny
toys.
And in my mind I'm like what doyou do with these little tiny
toys?
Like, obviously you play withthem.
But in my mind I'm like wheredo you keep these little tiny
toys?
So I actually set them all upon a shelf.
I call it her Is, do I call itthe knickknack shelf or
something like that?
Her trinkets shell, her trinketwall, I don't even know, but I
(09:00):
put them all out and now she'sbeen playing with them like all
the time.
She's so obsessed.
She loves her room, she justloves taking care of it this.
She walked in and she was like,oh my gosh, mommy, like it
feels so nice and clean and tidy.
I look, I can see all my toys.
I'm not good.
She said to me I'm not gonnatake all my toys out and put
(09:20):
them everywhere, because thenit'll feel cluttered, but I can
play with them and then I canput them back.
And I was like, okay, queen,you do whatever you want to do.
So she just feels like a lot ofpride for her room right now
and I really love it as well,like it makes me feel At peace
when I walk past it, when I goin in the morning.
We actually been hanging outrecently In there with like a
cup of tea in the morning and amilk and just hanging out.
(09:44):
It's so nice.
I love that.
She has the space that she'sexcited about.
So, anyways, yeah, we, I didthat this weekend and then we
actually went to the library.
We went for breakfast.
There's this new place in town.
It's, it's a chain, but it'scalled pure and simple, and me
and Ro had gone to it before,but Trevor's never been and his
friends like it.
So I was like, hey, we shouldgo for breakfast on Saturday
(10:07):
morning and Trevor's like that'sa great idea.
So we went for breakfast andthen we went to the library,
which we haven't been to thelibrary altogether the three of
us and so long.
And Because we were with thethree of us, I was able to sneak
away and look at the thecookbooks, because they're
upstairs and the kids zone isdownstairs and Ro like never
wants to leave the kids own, butanyways, I was able to sneak
away.
There wasn't any cookbooks I was, I was interested in, I perused
(10:27):
, but there was none that I waslike oh, I need to take this out
.
Sometimes I find cookbooksoverwhelming because I yeah,
it's like, oh, I don't have thisingredient, or I have to go buy
all this stuff, or Then youhave all these ingredients you
don't want.
I rather like, because I,because I cook so much, I just
like to look in the fridge andfigure out what I'm gonna do.
But I do like cookbooks othertimes, but sometimes I find them
overwhelming and right now Iwas like I'm not prepared.
(10:49):
I'm not, I'm not prepared tolike make this grocery list and
go do all this stuff and haveall these extra bits and bobs
and I have to figure out how touse them.
I just want to stick with theclassic, stick with the basics,
um, but yeah, so that was reallylovely.
And then I feel like we didsomething Saturday afternoon.
Oh, we went to the movies.
We went and saw Wonka, whichwas so good.
(11:09):
I loved it and Ro enjoyed it,trevor enjoyed it, and I think
that's the last of all the kidsmovies that are in theater right
now.
So I'm glad that we've wrappedup the kids too, or not?
I mean, I wish there were more,but I'm excited to see what
comes out next.
I also went and saw Mean Girlswith my mom on Friday and, uh, I
normally do my Friday solomovie date, but my mom had
(11:30):
wanted to see me mean girls andshe was available.
So I like you should totallycome, and it was so fun.
I've been listening to thesoundtrack like Consistently
also, I'm kind of giving you anentertainment recap right now,
but I've been listening to thesoundtrack Like continuously.
I'm it's so fun and I lovemusicals so fun.
So, yeah, I really enjoyed that.
But I had a good movie week andit's just been a really
(11:52):
wonderful week.
Um, yeah, okay.
Okay, let's get into my snackand drink of the week.
Cuties, I'm obsessed with tunasalad.
I have loved tuna forever.
When I was in first year ofcollege, I remember my roommate
(12:14):
always said you're gonna turninto a tuna fish.
You're gonna.
What are they?
What do they worry about?
Mercury, mercury, mercury,poisoning Is that what you worry
about with tuna?
I think she would always sayyou're gonna turn into a tuna
fish.
You got to worry about mercurybecause I would eat tuna like
every day.
Sure, maybe it was a little bittoo much and I should have
worried about the mercurypoisoning, but like I was a
student, it was easy.
I love tuna.
I just love making tuna melts,tuna sandwiches, um, tuna tuna.
(12:38):
And like I like making tunasalad with just tuna and mayo,
salt pepper.
And like dipping vegetables andcrackers, like I just love tuna
.
And it's so quick, it's quick,it's so quick, it's so easy.
It lives in the pantry, I loveit.
So I've been obsessed and I'vebeen dipping it like I've been
making snack plates and using mydips or using it as a dip for,
like all my veggies and crackers, and it's just been Excellent.
(13:00):
I make a can.
I make a can in a Tupperwarecontainer and then I use half
one day and half the next dayand it's like then the second
day it's like, oh yeah, I havetuna already made.
It's so exciting.
Um, so yeah, tuna salad is mysnack of the week.
And then for my drink, it isafternoon coffee.
Now I already had my coffee,because I actually filmed a
video right before this and thenI needed to edit it and I was
(13:22):
like, okay, I want a coffeeright now.
So I'm not drinking it rightnow, but I do have water at this
moment which I'm going to takea sip of In my o'wala, which I'm
absolutely obsessed with.
I actually have.
This is the big one.
Um, I think it's 32 ounces andit does not.
I feel like everyone alwaysasks if it fits in a cup holder,
(13:44):
if it's in a movie theater cupholder.
So I feel like if you had a bigtruck, it would probably fit in
your cup holder.
It does not fit in my standardsuv cup holder, but that's okay,
it's super waterproof.
I just keep it on the seat.
Or actually, when we got ourcar stolen If you've been around
that long when we got our carstolen, they stole this one part
out of the middle compartment,like the armrest that used to be
(14:07):
like a little shelf.
They stole it out, I don't knowwhy.
Anyways, we never got itreplaced and so we just have a
big like open gaping part intoour armrest.
So I just put it in there so itactually works out for my big
water bottles, um, but anyways,yeah, afternoon coffee.
I haven't been having a morningcoffee and I've been having an
(14:27):
afternoon coffee and it's beenso lovely because in the morning
I'm so energized, I'm so readyfor the day.
But I feel like now, with, likethese winter months especially,
um, the darkness coming onearly, it's like after I pick up
row I'm like I'm, I'm checkedout.
But now that I've been havingmy afternoon coffee, I've been
having super productiveafternoons, which is great, and
then when I pick up a row, Ifeel like I'm in full mom mode,
but then I also still haveenergy.
(14:47):
So I'm like a happy, full mommode, which is like the best
kind of mom mode, becauseexhausted mom mode, um, it can
be like a little boring forkiddos and I mean it happens.
But this has been good.
So I've really been enjoying itand I think I got used to it,
because after I'd row home forthe three weeks over Christmas
and she would have a nap at like12 and then it's like, oh, I
(15:10):
can sit down, have my nap orhave my nap, have my coffee.
Well, she has nap and it waslike a special little moment for
me and I loved it.
And then when she woke up itwas like okay, we're ready for
afternoon shift.
So yeah, I think that's why Istarted doing that and now I'm
like hooked on it.
I'm hooked on a feeling bomb.
I'm high, I'm believing.
(15:30):
Okay, sorry, but let's get into.
This week I learned I'm soexcited to talk about this this
week I learned I learned thatevenings and mornings are for me
and the family and it isamazing.
It is so beyond amazing.
(15:52):
So there's many, many layers towhat my new routine is, but I
guess let's start with themorning.
So I have always felt sometimesthe mornings are either really
rushed like it's like oh my gosh, everyone get dressed, do this
breakfast.
Or I felt like I Uh Starts evenbefore the morning in the
(16:14):
middle of the night.
I wake up in the middle of thenight around like three or four,
and then I look at my phone andthen I get stuck on a scroll
and then I fall back asleep atfive and then I'm back up at
five, thirty six, it's like thiswhole thing.
And then I have like a horriblesleep, I feel.
In the morning I spent so longscrolling and comparing and just
like negatively impacting mybrain and it's like I just it's
(16:37):
a bad start to my day.
So I one wanted to stop havingmy phone next to my bed, which
at first I was like that's gonnabe so easy, but then I was like
, wait, that's how I tell whattime it is and I usually listen
to a podcast when I fall asleepand Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
, like excuse, excuse, excuse,whatever.
But it has been the best thingever.
(16:58):
So I have set up a chargingstation in our kitchen and I can
easily charge my phone, my ipad, um, and all of that cabal
noodles that has all theinformation to the world, slash
my job, and so that just keepsit out of there, and it's
actually been amazing, because Iobviously record my content in
the kitchen a lot of the timeand I can just have my phone
(17:20):
plugged in when it's like aboutto die or whatever.
It's amazing.
That's like, wow, this is superconvenient actually.
So that has been amazing to.
I was worried about how I wouldlike wake up, not naturally, but
like more, like I want it to beable to wake up and kind of
(17:40):
know roughly what time it was.
So actually, there's this thingcalled a hatch alarm clock
which, like everybody and theirmother has or is talking about,
I swear, and the first time Iheard about it was when I had
row all those years ago, becausethey have like a hat, I think
hatch also makes like a kid'snightlight.
But I bought an off brand onebecause I didn't need the sound
machine in it.
I already had.
(18:01):
We were going to use our googlehomes for sound machines.
Um, I just needed to like tapon light.
So I got a different one, whichI love my globe light.
But anyways, I also saw they hadan adult one and then, like
it's become more popular in likethe online world and so it's
like this alarm clock that Ithink has like a sound machine
in it and I'm pretty sure youcan do the subscription for it,
(18:21):
but you don't have to and thenit you set it and it, like
sunrises Open, wakes you up bythe like a artificial sunrise,
so it's like a slow progressionof the light turning on.
So trevor was like oh, you cantotally just do that with a
light bulb, like you can buy asmart light bulb and you can set
it up for a wake up.
So I was like, oh okay, let'stry that out.
(18:43):
So we actually have that andit's like amazing, I love it,
and I actually don't use it allthe time because, um, I don't
need to wake up a lot of thetime to like go somewhere.
So we have a pretty like no onein my house sleeps later than
seven and as long as I'm awakeby seven, it's all groovy.
So I I really don't stress thatmuch about having to wake up at
a certain time, becausemornings aren't that hard for me
(19:05):
, but when I do want to, it'snice because that is set and so
it just like Gradually you canhave it set on one light bulb or
both sides and it just likegradually turns on to whatever
the Light color you choose andthen to like the highest level
or whatever the level is thatyou choose.
So my favorite, if you have asmart light bulb, is called
(19:25):
sunrise.
That's my favorite daytimelight.
I also love pink light and Iuse red light at nighttime, but
that's just a random side thing.
Oh, and I love orange light too.
So these light bulbs, theychange like all different colors
.
It's amazing and you can hookit up to an app so you can
change them all in your app.
But if you have a Google homeor, like I think it, whatever
the other smart homes are, youcan like, say, like, okay, like,
(19:48):
turn on my light to this color,this setting, this whatever,
and it just like turns on.
I'm literally obsessed, like,literally obsessed.
I have them in our bedroom andnow I have one in our basement
and I want to get one for Roseroom too.
I'm like, ah, like obsessed.
So, yeah, that's like, my newthing is just like setting the
mood with lights.
But yeah, so in the morning Iwake up and, in a perfect world,
(20:14):
I head down to the sun spacethat I made, which is Honestly
just like mats, that I've put itinto this little corner in our
basement, which I've made alllike cozy with some pillows and
blankets, but I have a kettlethere and I have a little
speaker and I have a Coloringbook, my journal, and then some
(20:35):
coloring stuff, a pen and alittle teapot.
So that's all down there, andthen all I do is go down there.
Oh, and I got a sunset lamp.
I told you I'm obsessed withlighting at the moment, and so I
turn on my sunset lamp, I turnon the light bulb I have down
there.
That's a fun color, but I putit on orange and I just set a
little vibe and I just do somestretching.
(20:56):
I put on some music, I do, Iput on the kettle, I do some
stretching and I make a cup oftea which takes about 15 minutes
to steep.
So the goal is to like spend atleast 15 minutes here with
myself and just stretching.
And then I do some Journaling,where I usually just write out
my to-do list for the day,because that is always spiraling
in my mind and so once I get iton paper I feel so much better.
So I write out my to-do listfor the day how I'm feeling,
(21:18):
when I'm grateful for, and thenI do some coloring.
I actually got this coloringcalendar from the dollar store
which has each month that has asheet that you color and then it
has the calendar dates, so Ican cross off the date and then
I color in a little portion ofthis picture and then by the end
of the month I'll have it fullycolored.
Now that's a perfect world.
I do that all by myself, thenRo will wake up.
That's my perfect world.
(21:39):
But I've only done that oncewhere I've done it all by myself
.
Most times Rosie wakes up withme and we go down together and
she really loves it and I firstI was like, oh, I really wanted
this be for myself.
But I actually love doing ittogether.
It's nice for us to both have athing that we start in the
morning where we connect and doit together.
I got her a little journal fordown there and she does
(22:01):
everything.
We do our stretches when shemakes a hot chocolate, I make a
tea and she has her littlemarshmallows to put in there.
We do our journaling and it'sso cute.
She asked me to date it andthen we color on the page
together and she absolutelyloves it.
And then another thing is wehave a mini fridge in our
basement so I've been making herbreakfast the night before so
that either one, if she comesdown with me and then she's like
(22:24):
over the Zen space, she canjust have her breakfast, and two
if she.
Thank you for bearing with me.
Cute, this is gonna be a trickyou went to edit, but but it's
worth it because I'm learningsomething there or I'm
implementing something new thatI'm excited about many ways.
So I make her lunch or herbreakfast the night before and
(22:44):
then, if she wants it aftershe's come down with me, then
she can have it.
Or if I'm already down thereand she comes to join me and
Either wants to join me or haveher breakfast, she can just grab
her breakfast and set herselfup, watch a show.
She has a play area down there,play whatever she wants to do,
and it's been amazing.
She has absolutely loved thatand, honestly, that's been great
for me too, because I she hasat least three breakfasts before
(23:07):
we leave the house in themorning and like it's a lot.
So as long as one of them,which is kind of like a one in,
like a two-in-one, because it'slike a snack pack with like
Enough spots to make about twobreakfasts in there, then I just
have to make her one morebreakfast in the morning and it
feels like a lot more Attainable.
I'm not sure what my camera istelling me.
I Can't.
(23:30):
I don't know what that emoji is.
It has.
It has a screen and then it hasa Thermometer next to it.
I really hope.
I just want this to be able togo on to you too.
I need someone else to do thisfor me.
No, I don't, I can do it myself.
Okay, anyways, that is themorning routine.
And then the afternoon, or notthe afternoon.
(23:51):
And Then after the morning, I'mgonna sneeze I have not touched
my phone at this point and then, okay, I'm gonna sneeze, and
then I have not touched my phoneat this point and then row
after I finish my Zen zone.
Row is ready to eat herBreakfast.
She usually wants to watch ashow, and so she'll do that.
Well, I can go take a showerand get dressed for the day, and
(24:12):
then I can come down, get herdressed and we're out the door
ready to go, and it feels reallygood.
So that is like the majority.
We do it together.
That's the situation.
But then there's other dayswhere I wake up and it's like,
oh, I'm in a part of my bookwhen I'm really excited, or I
just don't feel like getting outof bed yet, and so I'll lay in
bed and read my book, and thenrow might come and join me if
(24:35):
she wakes up, and then we justhave a slow, nice morning in bed
and then we get ready,breakfast, all of that stuff.
But then after I drop her offat school, I Go take my first 15
, 20 minutes of the day in myZen zone and do everything I
would have done like first thingin the morning but in this
(24:55):
daylight and it's been so lovely, so there's flexibility in it
and it feels so good and I justfeel really good about the
flexibility that there is.
And then on the weekend I don'tdo it.
On the weekend, I just havetime with the family and we have
really slow, lovely coffee inbed mornings and it's just so
nice and it's honestly been so,so lovely.
So I'm kind of obsessed.
(25:16):
And then for my nighttimeroutine I Do not have my phone
with me once I go upstairs herbedtime, so I don't have like a
time where I cut it off orwhatever.
Some days I like when I go topick up row, it's like I stopped
being on my phone, I just plugit in and I forget about it.
Other days it's like, oh, thisblah, blah, blah, blah or
(25:37):
whatever, and it's like eighto'clock and I then plug it in.
I usually I'm trying to go tobed Like get into bed around 8
30, because I love readingBefore bed.
Now, instead of a podcast, I'vebeen reading, and so I like to
read for at least about half anhour if I can.
That gets me really sleepy, andthen I'm asleep by 9, 9, 30
(25:58):
Sometimes, but like I reallydon't want to be in bed later
than that.
I really am focusing on tryingto get a good night's sleep,
because I never know what themorning's gonna bring.
Sometimes rose up at Five,sometimes she's up at seven, so
it's like I just don't know whatthe morning's gonna bring and I
really want to get a goodnight's Rest so that I can get
the most out of my day, whichhas really been effective, like
it really has been.
So I Plugged my phone in atwhatever point and then usually
(26:22):
by the time row goes to bedaround 7, I put her to bed.
I have plugged my phone in.
So at 7 I'll put row down forwhatever and then If me and
Trevor are gonna watch a show,we'll go downstairs and watch a
show.
If Trevor's out for the evening, then I'll just go to bed early
and read my book for a while,and that's been really nice.
So usually before I put road tobed, I'll turn our bedroom
(26:44):
lights onto the red setting I'vebeen loving Apparently.
Red light is so good forcalming yourself before bed.
It cuts out the blue light.
It just like something aboutyour Is it cortisol, I think
Like it cuts it down.
It's just like nice andrelaxing and it puts you in a
good state.
And it's like not pitch black,obviously because it's red light
(27:05):
.
So you still have light, butwithout having like the energy
that bright lights can bring toyou.
It puts you in more of a sleepystate.
So I turn our room lights to red, I put road to bed and then
when I'm ready to go to bed, Ihave this little beanbaggy thing
that Trevor bought me.
It's like a heat up thing inthe microwave.
(27:26):
So he got me that for Christmas.
So I just put that in themicrowave for 90 seconds and I
lay that in our bed under thecovers and then I'll go to the
bathroom and I'll do all mybrushing my teeth, washing my
face, moisturizing, and then Icome into bed and my bed's all
nice and cozy because I havethat thing in there and I'll
just read for about 30 minutesand then I turn off the light.
(27:47):
I then again my book, like okay, my book is the only thing that
has a clock on it, but it's noteven right Like my Kindle, my
e-reader.
It's not even the right time,so I literally have no idea what
time it is.
So I say about 30 minutes, butI don't really know, but anyway.
So I'll then turn off the lightsand read for a little bit more
and then, once I turn off thered lights, like usually, I can
(28:08):
get through one more page andthen I'm just ready and then I
can put my book down and I puton rain sounds on my Google.
I just say, hey, can you playrain sounds?
And I have just been sleepingwith those on and it's been so
lovely and I fall asleep soquick, right after, like right
away pretty much, and it's sonice.
And then I wake up and Istarted all over again and
(28:28):
honestly, it's just been solovely and I am trying so hard
to disconnect from social mediaand thinking about what I'm
going to post next, or whatpeople are thinking, or what are
other people doing, or all ofthat.
I'm trying so hard to justdisconnect from that and I feel
like it's really working andit's becoming pretty much a
second nature, which feels sorefreshing and it's making
(28:52):
sharing so much more fun.
Like I feel like for a whilethere I was feeling so much
pressure to have to share orshow up as a certain person or
do all this stuff, but now it'slike I'm just coming as like my
true self in a good place, andit feels really good and it's
like, oh, I want to make cookies, I'm going to make cookies and
share it, which is exactly how Istarted sharing and I'm so glad
(29:13):
to be back there.
It just feels so, so refreshing.
So these morning and eveningnight routines have been amazing
.
I feel like Ro has reallypicked up on this routine that
I'm implementing and is reallyappreciating it for herself as
well, and it's helping her sleepLike even just like her seeing
(29:34):
me do routines, like I feel likeshe's really appreciative of
implementing routine in her lifealways, but now even more so
it's like she wants to put inher own routine and I love that.
I feel like Trevor is on thesame journey where he's figuring
out his nighttime morningroutine and I feel like we're
all just like feeling reallyconnected in the quiet hours,
the morning and the night, as afamily unit, which is so nice
(29:57):
because the days get so busy andwe get so picked up and thrown
around and disconnected throughthe day doing our own thing.
So it's nice to be able to comeback and have that connection
right at the end of the day orright at the beginning.
So, yeah, it's been so amazing,I have enjoyed it so, so much
and I am just like beaming,beaming with gratitude around
(30:19):
that.
So if that's something thatyou've been like thinking about
in your life, like implementinga new routine, or if you've just
been feeling like, for me itwas more like I just felt cloudy
all the time.
I always felt like I like there, like I like I wasn't doing
what I was supposed to be doing.
There was always a to-do listsomewhere in my mind, but like I
didn't know where to start, Iwas distracting myself, I was
(30:41):
feeling overwhelmed.
I was just like staying up toolate, or just like scrolling,
waking up in the middle of that.
I always waking up in themiddle of the night, scrolling.
It became like a habit.
That was bad, that was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and I was
always like, oh, it's only for aweek here, a week there.
But no, I just like I just needto stop doing that.
And so, anyways, I finally feellike I have clarity and that,
(31:03):
like I'm very much connected to,like the present moment, which
is all I can ask for.
So it's been really, reallylovely and I'm just like so, so
excited about it, yay.
Another thing I've been keepingon my side table is I always
have my lavender spray, which Ispray before bed.
But I've been keeping a lipmask.
I've been like moisturizing sointently and I'm at this point
(31:26):
where, like I don't have I'm notlike a huge product curly, but
like the products I do have, Ifeel like I always use them a
little bit and then I'm like, oh, I got to save it, or I'm
worried it's going to run out, Idon't even know.
But I'm like in this momentwhere I'm like I just need to
use what I have, like I boughtit for a reason, use it, love it
, because then I always end upnot using it and it expires, or
I've had it for years and it'slike, am I ever going to use
(31:47):
that?
So I'm just using what I have.
I've been lathering myself upin oils every day because it's
so cold.
I've been just keeping somoisturized.
I've been keeping a lip mask atmy bedside table and just like
applying that before bed handcream, and then it's just been
that extra step where I justfeel like, wow, girl, you're
taking care of yourself.
You're amazing.
(32:08):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So yeah, it's been really nice.
Okay, let's get into ourentertainment recap.
Entertainment recap Okay, cuteentertainment recap.
What have I been watching?
I already told you basically Isaw Mean Girls.
I was obsessed.
I saw Willy Wonka.
I thought it was so cute.
(32:30):
I really enjoyed it.
I have been still watching BlowDeck.
Love Island started this week.
Oh my gosh, I haven't watchedyet.
I'm so excited.
I usually am pretty bustlin'hustlein' at the beginning of
the week Not hustlein', I'm nothustlein'.
But I have a more full scheduleand as the week comes to the
end, I have a little bit morefreedom.
(32:50):
So that's probably when I'llstart Love Island.
But they're not doing a winterseason.
This is winter, but it's LoveIsland All Stars.
So they're bringing back peoplewho have been on Love Island
before.
I don't care, I will take anyLove Island, please.
It is my comfort show.
So I'm so excited because LoveIsland's back.
And then, oh, I just finishedor I'm not done.
(33:13):
I'm gonna finish it today, soI'll be done by the time you're
listening to this, but I am justfinishing up.
Down the Drain by Julia Fox,that's the current book that
I've been reading.
I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was attention catching rightfrom the get go.
I feel like it has.
I don't know much about JuliaFox, I don't even know why I
decided to read it.
I think someone shared like, oh, I've been listening to this
(33:35):
book and it's been good orwhatever, and I just like kept
that in my mind and I was like,oh, I love a celebrity memoir,
like let me try it out.
I know a bit about her fromUncut Gems and obviously she was
dating Kanye.
And then Hannah Burner, whoI've been loving at the moment.
Her and her husband's podcasthas been such a joy.
I also obviously love SummerHouse, where I first heard about
(33:55):
her Giggly Squad, all of that.
But I've just really beenenjoying Hannah Burner and she
had done an interview with JuliaFox recently, so she was just
on my mind.
I'm so happy I read it.
It was a really quick read.
It was captivating right fromthe start.
I feel like it was such aroller coaster.
I feel like she.
It's a really good look intothe mind of like someone who has
(34:18):
dealt with drugs and datedpeople who've dealt with or
dated different addicts, and Ijust like very much Up and down,
up and down.
I really enjoyed it and I'mexcited to see how it wraps up.
I'm right now in her Kanye eraand it's very interesting.
It's very interesting.
So, yeah, I've been reallyenjoying that.
If you're looking for a quick,yummy, delicious snackable, read
(34:40):
down the drain by Julia Fox.
I asked on Instagram today forsome recommendations and I feel
like I got two really intriguingones From the way they explain
them to me in like the secondthat I saw them just before I
hopped on.
So I Already I'm gonna addthose to my list.
I think is the next two books.
So I'm so excited.
I just need to go on to thestore and, you know, get them,
(35:03):
download it.
But yay, yes.
So that's what I've beenwatching.
Oh, you know what I haven't done?
I haven't made a Spotifyplaylist for 2024.
If you don't know, I have myfive years time 2023 playlist,
which I will have linked in theshow notes.
It's always linked in the shownotes, but I'm gonna switch it
over.
So this week I'll have bothlinked, but next week It'll just
(35:24):
be our 2024 playlist.
So make sure to like it if it'ssomething you're interested in,
so that you can go back and seeit.
But it's just basically, everyweek I add a few songs that I'm
interested in and and by the endof the year we have a whole
playlist.
I actually saying that it'slike I need to listen.
I'm gonna listen to thatplaylist 2023 today For fun and
to to vibe with what I want.
It's basically my likedplaylist for the, for the public
(35:46):
, for you to see.
So, yeah, I'm going to make ourSpotify playlist so that you
can go over to Spotify andfollow if you're a Spotify user.
But, yeah, I think that's it.
I am gonna start putting thistogether.
I feel like it's gonna be aJungle for me to put together
because I've stopped and startedthe camera and my audio a few
(36:06):
times and I'm gonna have to clipit all together, but I just
wanted to like make sure it wasactually recording.
I love you all so much.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for being with methrough changes in evolution.
I'm actually so excited forthis year of the podcast.
I just feel this newfound likea Love and appreciation.
Like I, the podcast has alwaysbeen my heart and soul.
(36:26):
But like I feel like for awhile there I was feeling like,
does anyone care?
Like what's the point?
And I just feel like there'sthis new, I don't know
invigoration between you and meand you being the cuties, me
being me, but I just feel likewe're connecting more than ever
and there's a lot of Gooddiscourse back and forth and
(36:49):
commentary and that makes a bigdifference because a lot of the
times it just feels like I'mtalking to avoid.
So it's nice when you getinteractive with me.
So thank you for being sointeractive lately.
It really means a lot sayingthat you can go follow me over
on Instagram at five years timepodcast or on Tiktok and then
obviously subscribe and followthe podcast rate review.
(37:10):
It really does make adifference.
I love you all so much, sendingyou hugs, sending you kisses,
mwah, mwah, mwah, wishing you abeautiful, beautiful week ahead.
Love you Good.
I.
Hey everyone, you're listening to Five Years Time
with your host, grace Black.
["five Years Time"].
Hey cuties, welcome back toFive Years Time podcast with
your host, grace.
(00:20):
If you're joining us on YouTube, hello, we have a new setup.
I'm using a new camera and ifyou're joining us, obviously, on
YouTube via audio, I'm alsorecording in a new way and I'm
saying new, but these areactually old ways that I used to
do things, but in a little bitof a new setting.
That being said, bear with me.
(00:43):
Bear with me, especially on theaudio.
I'm trying not to blow thespeaker.
I don't know if I need to befurther away from the mic.
Ok, we're going to hope for thebest here and if it absolutely
sucks, I apologize.
Ok, welcome back to Five YearsTime podcast with your host,
grace.
(01:03):
I'm so excited that you'vejoined us.
We have such an exciting episodeahead because I'm talking
passionately about my newmorning and evening routine.
It's only been two or threeweeks of me doing this and it
has literally changed my outlookon life.
(01:26):
Like I am the happiest I havebeen most consistently.
I'll get into that more andexplain what that means, but I
just feel so grateful and Ithink we spent so much of last
year talking about how I'm goingto get into this new routine.
I know I'm craving it, I'mcraving it, I'm craving it, I'm
craving it, and now we'refinally here, and so I think
(01:49):
that's why it's really been thisbig change for me and played
such a positive impact in mylife, because I've really been
wanting to implement somethinglike this and I'm going to talk
about how it's been to upkeep aroutine.
We all know that I'm a flexiroutine gal, and so I've been
(02:09):
keeping it less rigid, where youmust do something every single
day, and more flexible andtaking it one day at a time, and
it's just been so beautiful andI'm so excited to talk about it
.
So excited to talk about it.
I want to talk about it.
I wanted to talk about it lastweek.
I'm so afraid that I'm blowingout the speaker.
Maybe I need to move away fromthe microphone.
(02:29):
Oh, my gosh cutes, I am sonervous.
Ok, I'm going to pause this andtry and just listen to what it
sounds like and we'll see.
We'll see.
Ok, I don't think it sounds toobad, I think it's OK, and I'm
only going to get better.
I just really didn't want to beblowing out the speaker because
I can see my little volumething getting to red and I'm
(02:50):
like, oh my gosh, am I talkingtoo loud?
I'm trying to stay neutral atone pace, but still have fun,
personality, ok, it's OK.
Anyways, yes, I just feel Iwanted to talk about this last
week and I was like, no, no, no,I can't talk about it yet.
Let's do a whole, not let's doone more week of routine and
then I'll talk about it nextweek because I need to catch up
on a bunch of stuff last weekbecause we haven't recorded in a
(03:10):
while.
Anyways, I'm excited for thisepisode.
That's all I have to say.
But let's get into my weeklyrecap.
Honestly, this past week wasreally beautiful.
It has really chilled down.
Like the other morning I wokeup and I could feel the cold in
the house you know when you canjust feel that it's a colder day
and I called out to my friendGoogle and was like, hey, what's
(03:32):
the weather today?
And they were like it'snegative 12 with a high of
negative 7.
I was like, okay, with a highof negative 7?
That doesn't seem like a highto me and I felt that.
But it has actually been sobeautiful because we've had a
light dusting of snow enough tostay on the ground and, honestly
(03:53):
, this is one of my favoritetimes of the year, when the sun
comes out, when it's really coldand the sun comes out and you
get the bonus of snow.
It just adds this layer ofquietness to the world and this
brightness, this calm brightness, oh, it just feels so nice and
because we've been working onmaking changes, switching around
(04:15):
furniture and just likeswitching up our house and
decluttering and utilizing it ina new way that we haven't
recently, it just feels like anoasis inside and I am just
really beaming with gratitudelately about that.
So, yeah, I'm not mad, but ithas been very cold and I've had
(04:35):
to bring my coat with me in thecar to get, just to get from,
like, one place to the next.
Like the other day, I wore mycoat into the grocery store.
I never wear my coat in thegrocery store, even on the
coldest day.
I like book it, but I was likeit is too cold and I wore it the
entire time I was in thegrocery store.
Wow, it must have been cold.
Anyways, that is on the weatherfront.
(04:56):
But as for activities, I startedmy dance class.
I started both my dance classes.
So I'm actually taking like ajust fun movement class which is
majority retirement aged peopleand me and I absolutely love it
.
It's called like boogiesomething, so I just called my
boogie class and my calendar.
(05:17):
It says boogie, with a littledance emoji like the disco guy
and it is so fun, the teacher isso fun, the crowd is so fun.
I just love being around olderwomen.
I think it's such a specialthing that a lot of the time we
don't get to or not that wedon't get to experience it, but
we in such a in such a massamount of people like I don't
(05:42):
get to throw myself into a groupof older women who have
experience and and stories andWiseness and all of this.
So I just love being aroundthat energy.
But yeah, it's been really funand they have like disco lights
playing.
It's so fun.
It's just like a fun, happyvibe.
It's fun to be out in thecommunity for an hour where I
don't have my phone, I'm notconnected to technology, I'm
(06:02):
just me and the ladies jammingand dancing and boogieing out.
And then I started my balletlessons.
I was so excited, slash nervousto start them and I actually
had such a fun time the secondto start it I was like, okay,
wow, this is like lessons, likewe are learning.
There is mental, mind-bodyconnection happening and it has
(06:26):
been so amazing.
I've only gone to one class.
I.
I put on my outfit and I feltso good in it and then I got to
class and I found my perfectspot right away I'm.
I went like there's not reallya back of the class because she
teaches on both sides, becauseyou do it on one side of the bar
and then you turn and you do iton the other side of the bar.
So I'm at the back slash frontof the class, depending on what
(06:48):
it is.
But because I'm tall, I wantedto make sure I had room to put
my legs.
I have taken bar classes beforeso I do know Sometimes when you
go side to side it can betricky.
When you have to stretch outyour legs, you can always go in
an angle.
But anyways, I just knew thatgoing into it.
So and I feel reallycomfortable with my spot.
So I'm like, okay, I need toalways go.
There's a class that goes rightbefore us.
So I'm like I just need to makesure I'm always like about five
(07:10):
minutes early so I can sneak inat the very beginning and get
that spot.
You know, when you love a spotand it's right by a window and I
love being by a window but thewindow has a ledge so I can put
my water bottle on it it's justsuch a perfect spot.
When things happen like that,it's so great.
So, yeah, I'm loving ballet,I'm so excited.
I just think it's gonna be sucha wonderful break in my week
(07:31):
and something to challengemyself with and I'm really
excited Like I almost want to goon YouTube and like practice at
home.
Oh yeah.
So that's been really, reallynice.
And then this weekend I'm tryingto think what we did this
weekend and my brain is blanking.
You know what I did do.
I switched up Rose room.
So, as you know, we've beendoing our room transformation.
I actually posted the firstpart of our room transformation
(07:54):
On the vlog last week over onYouTube at five years time
podcast.
So I switched the beds.
We have a new bed now in hereand then I put our other bed in
the guest room and Then thisSunday I'm gonna post the rest
of it where I'm decorating,hanging things, and it just is
such good vibes.
So when I did that, row came inand was like, oh my gosh, mommy,
someone came and beautifiedyour room and I was like I know
(08:17):
right row, she's.
Like I wish someone would dothat to my room.
So she and Trevor had headedout to swimming on the weekend
one evening and I was like, okay, I have an hour, let's see how
much I can get done.
And so I switched up where herbed was and I really cleared out
some of her.
She honestly didn't have thatmuch stuff to clear out, I just
like organized her toys a bitand Switched up her shelving
(08:40):
unit.
And she loves little knickknacks, like she loves little tiny
toys.
And in my mind I'm like what doyou do with these little tiny
toys?
Like, obviously you play withthem.
But in my mind I'm like wheredo you keep these little tiny
toys?
So I actually set them all upon a shelf.
I call it her Is, do I call itthe knickknack shelf or
something like that?
Her trinkets shell, her trinketwall, I don't even know, but I
(09:00):
put them all out and now she'sbeen playing with them like all
the time.
She's so obsessed.
She loves her room, she justloves taking care of it this.
She walked in and she was like,oh my gosh, mommy, like it
feels so nice and clean and tidy.
I look, I can see all my toys.
I'm not good.
She said to me I'm not gonnatake all my toys out and put
(09:20):
them everywhere, because thenit'll feel cluttered, but I can
play with them and then I canput them back.
And I was like, okay, queen,you do whatever you want to do.
So she just feels like a lot ofpride for her room right now
and I really love it as well,like it makes me feel At peace
when I walk past it, when I goin in the morning.
We actually been hanging outrecently In there with like a
cup of tea in the morning and amilk and just hanging out.
(09:44):
It's so nice.
I love that.
She has the space that she'sexcited about.
So, anyways, yeah, we, I didthat this weekend and then we
actually went to the library.
We went for breakfast.
There's this new place in town.
It's, it's a chain, but it'scalled pure and simple, and me
and Ro had gone to it before,but Trevor's never been and his
friends like it.
So I was like, hey, we shouldgo for breakfast on Saturday
(10:07):
morning and Trevor's like that'sa great idea.
So we went for breakfast andthen we went to the library,
which we haven't been to thelibrary altogether the three of
us and so long.
And Because we were with thethree of us, I was able to sneak
away and look at the thecookbooks, because they're
upstairs and the kids zone isdownstairs and Ro like never
wants to leave the kids own, butanyways, I was able to sneak
away.
There wasn't any cookbooks I was, I was interested in, I perused
(10:27):
, but there was none that I waslike oh, I need to take this out
.
Sometimes I find cookbooksoverwhelming because I yeah,
it's like, oh, I don't have thisingredient, or I have to go buy
all this stuff, or Then youhave all these ingredients you
don't want.
I rather like, because I,because I cook so much, I just
like to look in the fridge andfigure out what I'm gonna do.
But I do like cookbooks othertimes, but sometimes I find them
overwhelming and right now Iwas like I'm not prepared.
(10:49):
I'm not, I'm not prepared tolike make this grocery list and
go do all this stuff and haveall these extra bits and bobs
and I have to figure out how touse them.
I just want to stick with theclassic, stick with the basics,
um, but yeah, so that was reallylovely.
And then I feel like we didsomething Saturday afternoon.
Oh, we went to the movies.
We went and saw Wonka, whichwas so good.
(11:09):
I loved it and Ro enjoyed it,trevor enjoyed it, and I think
that's the last of all the kidsmovies that are in theater right
now.
So I'm glad that we've wrappedup the kids too, or not?
I mean, I wish there were more,but I'm excited to see what
comes out next.
I also went and saw Mean Girlswith my mom on Friday and, uh, I
normally do my Friday solomovie date, but my mom had
(11:30):
wanted to see me mean girls andshe was available.
So I like you should totallycome, and it was so fun.
I've been listening to thesoundtrack like Consistently
also, I'm kind of giving you anentertainment recap right now,
but I've been listening to thesoundtrack Like continuously.
I'm it's so fun and I lovemusicals so fun.
So, yeah, I really enjoyed that.
But I had a good movie week andit's just been a really
(11:52):
wonderful week.
Um, yeah, okay.
Okay, let's get into my snackand drink of the week.
Cuties, I'm obsessed with tunasalad.
I have loved tuna forever.
When I was in first year ofcollege, I remember my roommate
(12:14):
always said you're gonna turninto a tuna fish.
You're gonna.
What are they?
What do they worry about?
Mercury, mercury, mercury,poisoning Is that what you worry
about with tuna?
I think she would always sayyou're gonna turn into a tuna
fish.
You got to worry about mercurybecause I would eat tuna like
every day.
Sure, maybe it was a little bittoo much and I should have
worried about the mercurypoisoning, but like I was a
student, it was easy.
I love tuna.
I just love making tuna melts,tuna sandwiches, um, tuna tuna.
(12:38):
And like I like making tunasalad with just tuna and mayo,
salt pepper.
And like dipping vegetables andcrackers, like I just love tuna
.
And it's so quick, it's quick,it's so quick, it's so easy.
It lives in the pantry, I loveit.
So I've been obsessed and I'vebeen dipping it like I've been
making snack plates and using mydips or using it as a dip for,
like all my veggies and crackers, and it's just been Excellent.
(13:00):
I make a can.
I make a can in a Tupperwarecontainer and then I use half
one day and half the next dayand it's like then the second
day it's like, oh yeah, I havetuna already made.
It's so exciting.
Um, so yeah, tuna salad is mysnack of the week.
And then for my drink, it isafternoon coffee.
Now I already had my coffee,because I actually filmed a
video right before this and thenI needed to edit it and I was
(13:22):
like, okay, I want a coffeeright now.
So I'm not drinking it rightnow, but I do have water at this
moment which I'm going to takea sip of In my o'wala, which I'm
absolutely obsessed with.
I actually have.
This is the big one.
Um, I think it's 32 ounces andit does not.
I feel like everyone alwaysasks if it fits in a cup holder,
(13:44):
if it's in a movie theater cupholder.
So I feel like if you had a bigtruck, it would probably fit in
your cup holder.
It does not fit in my standardsuv cup holder, but that's okay,
it's super waterproof.
I just keep it on the seat.
Or actually, when we got ourcar stolen If you've been around
that long when we got our carstolen, they stole this one part
out of the middle compartment,like the armrest that used to be
(14:07):
like a little shelf.
They stole it out, I don't knowwhy.
Anyways, we never got itreplaced and so we just have a
big like open gaping part intoour armrest.
So I just put it in there so itactually works out for my big
water bottles, um, but anyways,yeah, afternoon coffee.
I haven't been having a morningcoffee and I've been having an
(14:27):
afternoon coffee and it's beenso lovely because in the morning
I'm so energized, I'm so readyfor the day.
But I feel like now, with, likethese winter months especially,
um, the darkness coming onearly, it's like after I pick up
row I'm like I'm, I'm checkedout.
But now that I've been havingmy afternoon coffee, I've been
having super productiveafternoons, which is great, and
then when I pick up a row, Ifeel like I'm in full mom mode,
but then I also still haveenergy.
(14:47):
So I'm like a happy, full mommode, which is like the best
kind of mom mode, becauseexhausted mom mode, um, it can
be like a little boring forkiddos and I mean it happens.
But this has been good.
So I've really been enjoying itand I think I got used to it,
because after I'd row home forthe three weeks over Christmas
and she would have a nap at like12 and then it's like, oh, I
(15:10):
can sit down, have my nap orhave my nap, have my coffee.
Well, she has nap and it waslike a special little moment for
me and I loved it.
And then when she woke up itwas like okay, we're ready for
afternoon shift.
So yeah, I think that's why Istarted doing that and now I'm
like hooked on it.
I'm hooked on a feeling bomb.
I'm high, I'm believing.
(15:30):
Okay, sorry, but let's get into.
This week I learned I'm soexcited to talk about this this
week I learned I learned thatevenings and mornings are for me
and the family and it isamazing.
It is so beyond amazing.
(15:52):
So there's many, many layers towhat my new routine is, but I
guess let's start with themorning.
So I have always felt sometimesthe mornings are either really
rushed like it's like oh my gosh, everyone get dressed, do this
breakfast.
Or I felt like I Uh Starts evenbefore the morning in the
(16:14):
middle of the night.
I wake up in the middle of thenight around like three or four,
and then I look at my phone andthen I get stuck on a scroll
and then I fall back asleep atfive and then I'm back up at
five, thirty six, it's like thiswhole thing.
And then I have like a horriblesleep, I feel.
In the morning I spent so longscrolling and comparing and just
like negatively impacting mybrain and it's like I just it's
(16:37):
a bad start to my day.
So I one wanted to stop havingmy phone next to my bed, which
at first I was like that's gonnabe so easy, but then I was like
, wait, that's how I tell whattime it is and I usually listen
to a podcast when I fall asleepand Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
, like excuse, excuse, excuse,whatever.
But it has been the best thingever.
(16:58):
So I have set up a chargingstation in our kitchen and I can
easily charge my phone, my ipad, um, and all of that cabal
noodles that has all theinformation to the world, slash
my job, and so that just keepsit out of there, and it's
actually been amazing, because Iobviously record my content in
the kitchen a lot of the timeand I can just have my phone
(17:20):
plugged in when it's like aboutto die or whatever.
It's amazing.
That's like, wow, this is superconvenient actually.
So that has been amazing to.
I was worried about how I wouldlike wake up, not naturally, but
like more, like I want it to beable to wake up and kind of
(17:40):
know roughly what time it was.
So actually, there's this thingcalled a hatch alarm clock
which, like everybody and theirmother has or is talking about,
I swear, and the first time Iheard about it was when I had
row all those years ago, becausethey have like a hat, I think
hatch also makes like a kid'snightlight.
But I bought an off brand onebecause I didn't need the sound
machine in it.
I already had.
(18:01):
We were going to use our googlehomes for sound machines.
Um, I just needed to like tapon light.
So I got a different one, whichI love my globe light.
But anyways, I also saw they hadan adult one and then, like
it's become more popular in likethe online world and so it's
like this alarm clock that Ithink has like a sound machine
in it and I'm pretty sure youcan do the subscription for it,
(18:21):
but you don't have to and thenit you set it and it, like
sunrises Open, wakes you up bythe like a artificial sunrise,
so it's like a slow progressionof the light turning on.
So trevor was like oh, you cantotally just do that with a
light bulb, like you can buy asmart light bulb and you can set
it up for a wake up.
So I was like, oh okay, let'stry that out.
(18:43):
So we actually have that andit's like amazing, I love it,
and I actually don't use it allthe time because, um, I don't
need to wake up a lot of thetime to like go somewhere.
So we have a pretty like no onein my house sleeps later than
seven and as long as I'm awakeby seven, it's all groovy.
So I I really don't stress thatmuch about having to wake up at
a certain time, becausemornings aren't that hard for me
(19:05):
, but when I do want to, it'snice because that is set and so
it just like Gradually you canhave it set on one light bulb or
both sides and it just likegradually turns on to whatever
the Light color you choose andthen to like the highest level
or whatever the level is thatyou choose.
So my favorite, if you have asmart light bulb, is called
(19:25):
sunrise.
That's my favorite daytimelight.
I also love pink light and Iuse red light at nighttime, but
that's just a random side thing.
Oh, and I love orange light too.
So these light bulbs, theychange like all different colors
.
It's amazing and you can hookit up to an app so you can
change them all in your app.
But if you have a Google homeor, like I think it, whatever
the other smart homes are, youcan like, say, like, okay, like,
(19:48):
turn on my light to this color,this setting, this whatever,
and it just like turns on.
I'm literally obsessed, like,literally obsessed.
I have them in our bedroom andnow I have one in our basement
and I want to get one for Roseroom too.
I'm like, ah, like obsessed.
So, yeah, that's like, my newthing is just like setting the
mood with lights.
But yeah, so in the morning Iwake up and, in a perfect world,
(20:14):
I head down to the sun spacethat I made, which is Honestly
just like mats, that I've put itinto this little corner in our
basement, which I've made alllike cozy with some pillows and
blankets, but I have a kettlethere and I have a little
speaker and I have a Coloringbook, my journal, and then some
(20:35):
coloring stuff, a pen and alittle teapot.
So that's all down there, andthen all I do is go down there.
Oh, and I got a sunset lamp.
I told you I'm obsessed withlighting at the moment, and so I
turn on my sunset lamp, I turnon the light bulb I have down
there.
That's a fun color, but I putit on orange and I just set a
little vibe and I just do somestretching.
(20:56):
I put on some music, I do, Iput on the kettle, I do some
stretching and I make a cup oftea which takes about 15 minutes
to steep.
So the goal is to like spend atleast 15 minutes here with
myself and just stretching.
And then I do some Journaling,where I usually just write out
my to-do list for the day,because that is always spiraling
in my mind and so once I get iton paper I feel so much better.
So I write out my to-do listfor the day how I'm feeling,
(21:18):
when I'm grateful for, and thenI do some coloring.
I actually got this coloringcalendar from the dollar store
which has each month that has asheet that you color and then it
has the calendar dates, so Ican cross off the date and then
I color in a little portion ofthis picture and then by the end
of the month I'll have it fullycolored.
Now that's a perfect world.
I do that all by myself, thenRo will wake up.
That's my perfect world.
(21:39):
But I've only done that oncewhere I've done it all by myself
.
Most times Rosie wakes up withme and we go down together and
she really loves it and I firstI was like, oh, I really wanted
this be for myself.
But I actually love doing ittogether.
It's nice for us to both have athing that we start in the
morning where we connect and doit together.
I got her a little journal fordown there and she does
(22:01):
everything.
We do our stretches when shemakes a hot chocolate, I make a
tea and she has her littlemarshmallows to put in there.
We do our journaling and it'sso cute.
She asked me to date it andthen we color on the page
together and she absolutelyloves it.
And then another thing is wehave a mini fridge in our
basement so I've been making herbreakfast the night before so
that either one, if she comesdown with me and then she's like
(22:24):
over the Zen space, she canjust have her breakfast, and two
if she.
Thank you for bearing with me.
Cute, this is gonna be a trickyou went to edit, but but it's
worth it because I'm learningsomething there or I'm
implementing something new thatI'm excited about many ways.
So I make her lunch or herbreakfast the night before and
(22:44):
then, if she wants it aftershe's come down with me, then
she can have it.
Or if I'm already down thereand she comes to join me and
Either wants to join me or haveher breakfast, she can just grab
her breakfast and set herselfup, watch a show.
She has a play area down there,play whatever she wants to do,
and it's been amazing.
She has absolutely loved thatand, honestly, that's been great
for me too, because I she hasat least three breakfasts before
(23:07):
we leave the house in themorning and like it's a lot.
So as long as one of them,which is kind of like a one in,
like a two-in-one, because it'slike a snack pack with like
Enough spots to make about twobreakfasts in there, then I just
have to make her one morebreakfast in the morning and it
feels like a lot more Attainable.
I'm not sure what my camera istelling me.
I Can't.
(23:30):
I don't know what that emoji is.
It has.
It has a screen and then it hasa Thermometer next to it.
I really hope.
I just want this to be able togo on to you too.
I need someone else to do thisfor me.
No, I don't, I can do it myself.
Okay, anyways, that is themorning routine.
And then the afternoon, or notthe afternoon.
(23:51):
And Then after the morning, I'mgonna sneeze I have not touched
my phone at this point and then, okay, I'm gonna sneeze, and
then I have not touched my phoneat this point and then row
after I finish my Zen zone.
Row is ready to eat herBreakfast.
She usually wants to watch ashow, and so she'll do that.
Well, I can go take a showerand get dressed for the day, and
(24:12):
then I can come down, get herdressed and we're out the door
ready to go, and it feels reallygood.
So that is like the majority.
We do it together.
That's the situation.
But then there's other dayswhere I wake up and it's like,
oh, I'm in a part of my bookwhen I'm really excited, or I
just don't feel like getting outof bed yet, and so I'll lay in
bed and read my book, and thenrow might come and join me if
(24:35):
she wakes up, and then we justhave a slow, nice morning in bed
and then we get ready,breakfast, all of that stuff.
But then after I drop her offat school, I Go take my first 15
, 20 minutes of the day in myZen zone and do everything I
would have done like first thingin the morning but in this
(24:55):
daylight and it's been so lovely, so there's flexibility in it
and it feels so good and I justfeel really good about the
flexibility that there is.
And then on the weekend I don'tdo it.
On the weekend, I just havetime with the family and we have
really slow, lovely coffee inbed mornings and it's just so
nice and it's honestly been so,so lovely.
So I'm kind of obsessed.
(25:16):
And then for my nighttimeroutine I Do not have my phone
with me once I go upstairs herbedtime, so I don't have like a
time where I cut it off orwhatever.
Some days I like when I go topick up row, it's like I stopped
being on my phone, I just plugit in and I forget about it.
Other days it's like, oh, thisblah, blah, blah, blah or
(25:37):
whatever, and it's like eighto'clock and I then plug it in.
I usually I'm trying to go tobed Like get into bed around 8
30, because I love readingBefore bed.
Now, instead of a podcast, I'vebeen reading, and so I like to
read for at least about half anhour if I can.
That gets me really sleepy, andthen I'm asleep by 9, 9, 30
(25:58):
Sometimes, but like I reallydon't want to be in bed later
than that.
I really am focusing on tryingto get a good night's sleep,
because I never know what themorning's gonna bring.
Sometimes rose up at Five,sometimes she's up at seven, so
it's like I just don't know whatthe morning's gonna bring and I
really want to get a goodnight's Rest so that I can get
the most out of my day, whichhas really been effective, like
it really has been.
So I Plugged my phone in atwhatever point and then usually
(26:22):
by the time row goes to bedaround 7, I put her to bed.
I have plugged my phone in.
So at 7 I'll put row down forwhatever and then If me and
Trevor are gonna watch a show,we'll go downstairs and watch a
show.
If Trevor's out for the evening, then I'll just go to bed early
and read my book for a while,and that's been really nice.
So usually before I put road tobed, I'll turn our bedroom
(26:44):
lights onto the red setting I'vebeen loving Apparently.
Red light is so good forcalming yourself before bed.
It cuts out the blue light.
It just like something aboutyour Is it cortisol, I think
Like it cuts it down.
It's just like nice andrelaxing and it puts you in a
good state.
And it's like not pitch black,obviously because it's red light
(27:05):
.
So you still have light, butwithout having like the energy
that bright lights can bring toyou.
It puts you in more of a sleepystate.
So I turn our room lights to red, I put road to bed and then
when I'm ready to go to bed, Ihave this little beanbaggy thing
that Trevor bought me.
It's like a heat up thing inthe microwave.
(27:26):
So he got me that for Christmas.
So I just put that in themicrowave for 90 seconds and I
lay that in our bed under thecovers and then I'll go to the
bathroom and I'll do all mybrushing my teeth, washing my
face, moisturizing, and then Icome into bed and my bed's all
nice and cozy because I havethat thing in there and I'll
just read for about 30 minutesand then I turn off the light.
(27:47):
I then again my book, like okay, my book is the only thing that
has a clock on it, but it's noteven right Like my Kindle, my
e-reader.
It's not even the right time,so I literally have no idea what
time it is.
So I say about 30 minutes, butI don't really know, but anyway.
So I'll then turn off the lightsand read for a little bit more
and then, once I turn off thered lights, like usually, I can
(28:08):
get through one more page andthen I'm just ready and then I
can put my book down and I puton rain sounds on my Google.
I just say, hey, can you playrain sounds?
And I have just been sleepingwith those on and it's been so
lovely and I fall asleep soquick, right after, like right
away pretty much, and it's sonice.
And then I wake up and Istarted all over again and
(28:28):
honestly, it's just been solovely and I am trying so hard
to disconnect from social mediaand thinking about what I'm
going to post next, or whatpeople are thinking, or what are
other people doing, or all ofthat.
I'm trying so hard to justdisconnect from that and I feel
like it's really working andit's becoming pretty much a
second nature, which feels sorefreshing and it's making
(28:52):
sharing so much more fun.
Like I feel like for a whilethere I was feeling so much
pressure to have to share orshow up as a certain person or
do all this stuff, but now it'slike I'm just coming as like my
true self in a good place, andit feels really good and it's
like, oh, I want to make cookies, I'm going to make cookies and
share it, which is exactly how Istarted sharing and I'm so glad
(29:13):
to be back there.
It just feels so, so refreshing.
So these morning and eveningnight routines have been amazing
.
I feel like Ro has reallypicked up on this routine that
I'm implementing and is reallyappreciating it for herself as
well, and it's helping her sleepLike even just like her seeing
(29:34):
me do routines, like I feel likeshe's really appreciative of
implementing routine in her lifealways, but now even more so
it's like she wants to put inher own routine and I love that.
I feel like Trevor is on thesame journey where he's figuring
out his nighttime morningroutine and I feel like we're
all just like feeling reallyconnected in the quiet hours,
the morning and the night, as afamily unit, which is so nice
(29:57):
because the days get so busy andwe get so picked up and thrown
around and disconnected throughthe day doing our own thing.
So it's nice to be able to comeback and have that connection
right at the end of the day orright at the beginning.
So, yeah, it's been so amazing,I have enjoyed it so, so much
and I am just like beaming,beaming with gratitude around
(30:19):
that.
So if that's something thatyou've been like thinking about
in your life, like implementinga new routine, or if you've just
been feeling like, for me itwas more like I just felt cloudy
all the time.
I always felt like I like there, like I like I wasn't doing
what I was supposed to be doing.
There was always a to-do listsomewhere in my mind, but like I
didn't know where to start, Iwas distracting myself, I was
(30:41):
feeling overwhelmed.
I was just like staying up toolate, or just like scrolling,
waking up in the middle of that.
I always waking up in themiddle of the night, scrolling.
It became like a habit.
That was bad, that was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and I was
always like, oh, it's only for aweek here, a week there.
But no, I just like I just needto stop doing that.
And so, anyways, I finally feellike I have clarity and that,
(31:03):
like I'm very much connected to,like the present moment, which
is all I can ask for.
So it's been really, reallylovely and I'm just like so, so
excited about it, yay.
Another thing I've been keepingon my side table is I always
have my lavender spray, which Ispray before bed.
But I've been keeping a lipmask.
I've been like moisturizing sointently and I'm at this point
(31:26):
where, like I don't have I'm notlike a huge product curly, but
like the products I do have, Ifeel like I always use them a
little bit and then I'm like, oh, I got to save it, or I'm
worried it's going to run out, Idon't even know.
But I'm like in this momentwhere I'm like I just need to
use what I have, like I boughtit for a reason, use it, love it
, because then I always end upnot using it and it expires, or
I've had it for years and it'slike, am I ever going to use
(31:47):
that?
So I'm just using what I have.
I've been lathering myself upin oils every day because it's
so cold.
I've been just keeping somoisturized.
I've been keeping a lip mask atmy bedside table and just like
applying that before bed handcream, and then it's just been
that extra step where I justfeel like, wow, girl, you're
taking care of yourself.
You're amazing.
(32:08):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So yeah, it's been really nice.
Okay, let's get into ourentertainment recap.
Entertainment recap Okay, cuteentertainment recap.
What have I been watching?
I already told you basically Isaw Mean Girls.
I was obsessed.
I saw Willy Wonka.
I thought it was so cute.
(32:30):
I really enjoyed it.
I have been still watching BlowDeck.
Love Island started this week.
Oh my gosh, I haven't watchedyet.
I'm so excited.
I usually am pretty bustlin'hustlein' at the beginning of
the week Not hustlein', I'm nothustlein'.
But I have a more full scheduleand as the week comes to the
end, I have a little bit morefreedom.
(32:50):
So that's probably when I'llstart Love Island.
But they're not doing a winterseason.
This is winter, but it's LoveIsland All Stars.
So they're bringing back peoplewho have been on Love Island
before.
I don't care, I will take anyLove Island, please.
It is my comfort show.
So I'm so excited because LoveIsland's back.
And then, oh, I just finishedor I'm not done.
(33:13):
I'm gonna finish it today, soI'll be done by the time you're
listening to this, but I am justfinishing up.
Down the Drain by Julia Fox,that's the current book that
I've been reading.
I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was attention catching rightfrom the get go.
I feel like it has.
I don't know much about JuliaFox, I don't even know why I
decided to read it.
I think someone shared like, oh, I've been listening to this
(33:35):
book and it's been good orwhatever, and I just like kept
that in my mind and I was like,oh, I love a celebrity memoir,
like let me try it out.
I know a bit about her fromUncut Gems and obviously she was
dating Kanye.
And then Hannah Burner, whoI've been loving at the moment.
Her and her husband's podcasthas been such a joy.
I also obviously love SummerHouse, where I first heard about
(33:55):
her Giggly Squad, all of that.
But I've just really beenenjoying Hannah Burner and she
had done an interview with JuliaFox recently, so she was just
on my mind.
I'm so happy I read it.
It was a really quick read.
It was captivating right fromthe start.
I feel like it was such aroller coaster.
I feel like she.
It's a really good look intothe mind of like someone who has
(34:18):
dealt with drugs and datedpeople who've dealt with or
dated different addicts, and Ijust like very much Up and down,
up and down.
I really enjoyed it and I'mexcited to see how it wraps up.
I'm right now in her Kanye eraand it's very interesting.
It's very interesting.
So, yeah, I've been reallyenjoying that.
If you're looking for a quick,yummy, delicious snackable, read
(34:40):
down the drain by Julia Fox.
I asked on Instagram today forsome recommendations and I feel
like I got two really intriguingones From the way they explain
them to me in like the secondthat I saw them just before I
hopped on.
So I Already I'm gonna addthose to my list.
I think is the next two books.
So I'm so excited.
I just need to go on to thestore and, you know, get them,
(35:03):
download it.
But yay, yes.
So that's what I've beenwatching.
Oh, you know what I haven't done?
I haven't made a Spotifyplaylist for 2024.
If you don't know, I have myfive years time 2023 playlist,
which I will have linked in theshow notes.
It's always linked in the shownotes, but I'm gonna switch it
over.
So this week I'll have bothlinked, but next week It'll just
(35:24):
be our 2024 playlist.
So make sure to like it if it'ssomething you're interested in,
so that you can go back and seeit.
But it's just basically, everyweek I add a few songs that I'm
interested in and and by the endof the year we have a whole
playlist.
I actually saying that it'slike I need to listen.
I'm gonna listen to thatplaylist 2023 today For fun and
to to vibe with what I want.
It's basically my likedplaylist for the, for the public
(35:46):
, for you to see.
So, yeah, I'm going to make ourSpotify playlist so that you
can go over to Spotify andfollow if you're a Spotify user.
But, yeah, I think that's it.
I am gonna start putting thistogether.
I feel like it's gonna be aJungle for me to put together
because I've stopped and startedthe camera and my audio a few
(36:06):
times and I'm gonna have to clipit all together, but I just
wanted to like make sure it wasactually recording.
I love you all so much.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for being with methrough changes in evolution.
I'm actually so excited forthis year of the podcast.
I just feel this newfound likea Love and appreciation.
Like I, the podcast has alwaysbeen my heart and soul.
(36:26):
But like I feel like for awhile there I was feeling like,
does anyone care?
Like what's the point?
And I just feel like there'sthis new, I don't know
invigoration between you and meand you being the cuties, me
being me, but I just feel likewe're connecting more than ever
and there's a lot of Gooddiscourse back and forth and
(36:49):
commentary and that makes a bigdifference because a lot of the
times it just feels like I'mtalking to avoid.
So it's nice when you getinteractive with me.
So thank you for being sointeractive lately.
It really means a lot sayingthat you can go follow me over
on Instagram at five years timepodcast or on Tiktok and then
obviously subscribe and followthe podcast rate review.
(37:10):
It really does make adifference.
I love you all so much, sendingyou hugs, sending you kisses,
mwah, mwah, mwah, wishing you abeautiful, beautiful week ahead.
Love you Good.
I.
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