4 Strategies to Keep Work at Work

{This post originally appeared on How to Make a Life as part of the Self Care Saturday series}.

I think one of the hardest but most important parts of self-care is being able to separate your work life from your personal life. It is hard, if not impossible, to try and live both lives at once. If you are involved in a profession that deals with people (health care, social worker, counselor, teacher- just to name a few), this separation from work and real life can be especially difficult. 

I'm a pediatric nurse working on a unit that sees everything from toddlers getting routine tonsil surgeries to kids doing six months of rehabilitation following tragic car accidents. Separating work from home life has been a daily challenge over the past 18 months that I have worked on this unit. I have employed some strategies that are helping me keep work and personal life separate, but it is still a work in progress. I hope you can read these strategies, implement a couple of them yourself, and then brainstorm other methods that may work for you. 

Disconnect your work email from your phone and/or home computer. 

This was absolutely key for me. I was getting emails on my phone on my days off that would cause me to stress out even though I couldn't do anything about the email until I was back at work anyway. I strongly urge you to disconnect your email and anything else work related from your phone. I know many of you feel like you can't do this- I felt the same way at first. But really, think about it- what difference is 12 hours going to make in an email response? If we're being honest, it probably won't make much of a difference. I get that some of you aren't able to do this because of the requirements of your job- I can't turn my phone off when I have to be on call. But unless your job description specifically requires it, I plead with you to disconnect work related correspondence from  your electronics. No one will die, and you'll be able to better care for yourself. 

Employ mental techniques when you leave work. 

I have about a 5-10 minute walk to my car once I leave the hospital. During that time I think about my day- the good, the bad, and the ugly. In the walk to my car I take all the parts of my day (good and bad), and imagine myself shoving them in a suitcase that I then lock. As I step off hospital grounds, I imagine dropping those suitcases on the ground and leaving all parts of my day at the hospital. Sometimes, I can't drop everything that quickly so I'll think about my day on my drive home. When I get home, I imagine all the parts of my day, and I imagine locking those parts of my day in the car when I close my door. 

Do these techniques always work? No. Do they help? Certainly. I can be a bit of a verbal processor and my husband is in the medical field so we often share our days with each other over dinner. But employing the above mental techniques really helps me not carry the emotional part of my day home with me. 

Assign a space in your home for work. 

I have a lot of friends that are teachers and a few that work from home. In these cases, I know it is impossible to keep work totally out of your home. What I would encourage you to do, however, is to assign a spot to do your work. Maybe it's a desk or maybe it's the kitchen table. Imagine that space being in a bubble, and when you step away from that bubble you are no longer at work. I know these professions can be harder to separate work from work, but keeping a designated work space can really help. 

Do something physical to represent that you are leaving work. 

I recently had this idea suggested to me by a counselor and I think it's absolutely brilliant. She suggested doing something physical to remind yourself that you are no longer at work. She personally has a bracelet that she wears to work that she takes off  and places in a little box when she gets home. This signifies that those problems and events of the day are safe, but she no longer has to carry them with her. You can get really creative with this- the counselor explained that she used to take a stone from her house and then leave it at work at the end of the day. The more creative you get, the more you attach to that ritual, and the better it will work. The idea of wearing something (i.e. a bracelet) could really help those of you that do work out of your home (see point above). 

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Work is a necessary part of life, and many of you may even enjoy your jobs. Even if you enjoy your job (or especially if you don't), it is vital to separate that part of your life from your personal life. By separating the two, you will be able to more fully participate in each role. Keeping work at work is an incredibly vital part of self-care and I encourage you to look for ways that you can separate the two. Self care is a process that adapts as you try new things that work for you- keep working at it, keep adapting. You are worth it.

How have you been able to keep work at work? Do you think you might try any of these strategies?

{Linking up with Oak +Oats Weeks End and Sweet Little Ones Tuesday Talk}

Wedding Wednesday: Don't Forget the Thank You

In this Wedding Wednesday series so far we've covered how to set priorities for your wedding, how to make decisions without becoming bridezilla, and 5 things you don't really need at your wedding. 

Today, is a topic that I think applies for all of life, not just your wedding. It's the subject of saying thank you. I used to think that it should go without saying that you send thank you notes after your wedding. Lately, I've been to a couple weddings where we didn't receive thank you notes later and I'm wondering if the tradition of handwritten thank you notes is becoming a lost art? 

Writing thank you notes is tedious (We had 100+ to write and it took a long time), but it is so important. Think about it- would your day have been as special if no one showed up? You may not like the gift they got you, but they were there celebrating with you, and that in itself is worthy of a thanks. I can't emphasize enough the importance of sending thank you notes. 

Maybe you're stuck on what to say? I first started by thanking them for coming, and then followed that up with thanking them for the gift they gave us. If you need a little more direction, this awesome template by Tyler should give you some great ideas! 

Maybe you're tired of spending money on your wedding and don't feel like you have room in your budget for thank you cards and postage. I think that saying thank you is important enough that you allot money for thank you notes when you first create your budget. A lot of times, thank you notes will come with your invitations. If they don't come with your invitations you can buy some in bulk, or do what we did. We created a thank you post card (they're pictured in this post); we originally had planned on taking a picture on our wedding day with signs that said "Thank You" but that detail got missed so we just added "Thank You" over one of our photographs. We bought the postcards in bulk online for super cheap and were able to save even more money on postage because postcard postage is cheaper than regular postage. If you are worried about money, postcard thank you notes are definitely the most affordable way to go.

I find that a little effort goes a long way when it comes to thank you notes. Your guests will appreciate the time and effort it takes you to send a handwritten note. It's worth the time- I promise. 

Do you think writing thank you notes is important? What are other things that might get in the way of sending out a handwritten note?

Where is that water coming from??

I have a special spot in my heart for April Fool's Day and am sharing some of my own experiences with pranks in hopes that you'll laugh and maybe get ideas for yourself. 

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After my Dad's fiasco with the toilet, my Mom walked downstairs unknowingly about to become the next subject to my schemes. She went to the sink to wash her hands before she started making breakfast. She flipped the faucet on and was greeted with water spraying straight at her stomach. She was startled and immediately shut the faucet off which stopped the water. She looked all around her (including up at the ceiling) and bellowed, 

"Where is that water coming from?" 

She wasn't fully awake yet, so she turned the faucet back on and was greeted with yet another stream of cold water. She shut the faucet off again, looked around once more and noticed her booby trap. 

You see, our sink (like many of yours). has a sprayer. If you put a rubber band around the base of the sprayer, it will automatically spray the person who turns the faucet on. This is probably my all-time favorite prank because, unless you're super observant, it works almost every time. I've been pranked with this one myself- it's classic and SO funny. The sink in our newest apartment doesn't have a sprayer- I noticed it when we toured the apartment and I've been bummed ever since. Oh well. 

One of you will just have to pull the prank for me on your own sink. Just don't do it if whoever is on the receiving end of the water is wearing something nice :) 

Have you ever pranked someone with this? Or gotten pranked by it?

Sometimes Photo{jenik}: Story Behind the Blog Name

Photogenic: adjective pho·to·ge·nic \ˌfō-tə-ˈje-nik, -ˈjē-\  forming an attractive subject for photography or having features that look well in a 

photograph

When you look on social media, what you are often greeted with are glossy pictures that teem of perfection and beauty. People don't usually post pictures unless they determine that they are photogenic, or worthy of being photographed. 

I, for one, don't consider myself to be particularly photogenic. I have a really hard time not making a funny face when a camera is in front of my face (see pictures above), and a lot of times pictures don't turn out the way I wish they would. I am only sometimes photogenic. 

I think that life is the same way. Social media is the highlight reel of all the photogenic moments of life, but what we don't see is the fight that happened before they took that smiling selfie, the 200 photos they took before posting that one perfect fashion pose, or the dirty kitchen that preceded the picture of that delicious casserole.  

Life really is only sometimes photogenic. Sometimes it's downright ugly and the farthest thing from picture perfect. But there is beauty to be found in all moments, photogenic or not. 

This online space was created to encourage, inspire, and create a community that is not perfect. I want everyone who visits this blog to see that life doesn't always have to be perfect to be good. I want everyone who visits to realize that my life is far from picture perfect, and be inspired to share the lesser photogenic moments of their lives. I want everyone that visits to be encouraged to embrace every moment of their lives whether or not those moments are photogenic. 

One of my favorite quotes says: "The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel". - Steven Furtick

The internet falsely promotes a life that is perfect and a beauty that is flawless. It's so easy to fall into the trap of insecurity just by scrolling through Instagram or Facebook. My hope is that when you come to Sometimes Photo{jenik} that you are left encouraged instead of insecure. So many bloggers that I've met are doing spectacular jobs of being real and sharing their less than photogenic moments. Their efforts are making the Internet a place that is more real and it's beautiful to see. 

Sometimes life is photogenic. Sometimes it's not. All of it is valued and worth our time. 

Oh, and one more thing. I spell "photogenic" differently because I married into the Jenik family (it's my last name). Therefore, I myself am Sometimes Photo{jenik}.

What's the story behind your blog name? Leave a link so I can read below? What's your sometimes photo{jenik} story? 

{Linking up with Kiki & The Circle Link-Up}

Why won't my pee go down the toilet?!

It is now March which means that one of my favorite holidays of the year is coming up on April 1st. For as long as I can remember, my family has been playing pranks on each other and generally spending most of our time laughing. A lot. I talked about some of our family shenanigans in this post. 

I do get that some people don't like being pranked. I'm not in favor of pranks that hurt people, and yes I have crossed that line. But I also think that some people just need to lighten up. Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some stories... my most famous pranks, pranks gone wrong, and some of my favorites for you to try. I hope you'll get some ideas to make this April Fool's Day special, or at the very least have a little laugh. 

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One of my most favorite April Fool's Day was back in high school when I still lived at home. This particular April Fool's day I had a complete arsenal of booby traps set in my house. Unfortunately, for my Dad he was the recipient of most of them (bad timing?).

It all started that morning when my Dad stumbled to the bathroom half awake. I, of course, was already wide awake standing a few feet outside the door. I heard my dad in the bathroom as he started to pee and all of a sudden I hear him yell, 

"Debra {my mom's name}, won't my pee go down the toilet?!" 

I dropped on the floor just dying laughing. My mom responded with a very confused and groggy "What??" By this time, my Dad had woken up a little bit more and squatted down closer to the toilet.

He realized his pee wasn't going down the toilet because there was a very thin, hard to see layer of plastic wrap covering the toilet. It's nearly impossible to tell that it's there if you're half asleep and standing over it.

Plastic wrap = pee that bounces and doesn't go down the toilet.

Once my Dad realized what had happened, he, my mom, and I all just about died laughing. It wasn't even 8 am and this April Fool's Day was off to a good start.

Ladies, this one is totally killer if you've got a guy in the house. I think girls would feel the plastic once they sat down but it works on almost every man. Just be willing to clean up the pee on the floor after  {I play pranks but I fully accept consequences including cleanup and retaliation pranks on me}.

Has anyone ever tried this prank? Do you hate or love April Fool's Day? 

Lent: Why I Give Something Up

We are in this beautiful season of time called Lent. Lent is the (approximate) six week season that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. Tradition has it that it is a time to reflect and prepare for the the risen Jesus.

Last week, I shared how Ash Wednesday impacted me so deeply. I still have a lot to learn about Lent, but over the past few years I've come to a greater understanding of why it can help deepen our faith.

Perhaps the most common thing people associate with Lent is giving something up. In fact, "what you gave up for Lent" is becoming the hot conversation topic in church right after "where are we going to lunch". I think it's great that Lent is starting to get more attention, but the Sunday casualness of it leads to the loss of the meaning and understanding behind why we are giving something up. I thought I would share why I choose to give something up in hopes of creating a greater understanding of this practice.

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Traditionally speaking, the main components of Lent have been prayer, fasting, repentance, and acts of sacrifice. All these acts are intended to draw us out of ourselves and point us to Christ. 

Giving up something for Lent is seen as an act of sacrifice. However, this act of sacrifice cannot and should not be viewed as an act of self reliance and willpower. The danger in giving up something for Lent is it becomes all about us- what we are giving up and how well we are doing with our sacrifice. Instead, our framework of sacrifice should be complete and total surrender to the God who graciously grants our very breath. We surrender our own desires forcing us to rely upon God and not upon ourselves. 

Giving something up at Lent is a tangible reminder of my ultimate dependence on God. My sacrifice is a daily reminder that, without Him, I can do nothing, but through Him I can do everything. 

What I give up for Lent is something that I want to be difficult. Not so that I can prove to myself and the world that I'm so strong and self-controlled. I want it to be hard so that I have to rely on Jesus to carry me through. 

Giving up something for Lent is also seen as part of a fast that lasts the entire 40 days. There is Scripture upon Scripture that talks about fasting in the Bible, but Matthew 6:16-18 is the verse that first comes to mind for me: 

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (ESV)

First of all, fasting is not seen as an option in this verse. No translation says "If you fast...do this"- all translations say "when you fast...do this". This means that we are called to fast.

Second, when we fast, we are to do so quietly. I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing your fast with a few friends, especially for accountability purposes. But when Sunday morning comes and we are trying to out-fast each other by bragging about what things we're giving up for Lent, we're missing the point. Are you telling everyone that you're giving up coffee or Facebook to hear a "Woah, I'm impressed"? I know I've done it. Again, we're missing the point. A fast is done quietly because the Lord is really the only one that needs to know about it.

Third, fasting is intended to draw us closer to God. I want whatever I give up for Lent to be something that draws me closer to Jesus. A lack of something that draws you closer to Jesus may look completely different than what my lack of something looks like. I draw closer to Jesus by spending more time in His word and in prayer. Things that threaten this closeness are certain hobbies and habits that eat at my time- therefore what I often give up is an unnecessary hobby or habit that is taking up valuable time in my day.

I give up something for Lent so I can draw closer to Jesus. 

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If you are interested in giving something up for Lent (it's never too late!), I would first begin by encouraging you to pray about it. Pray that the Lord would bring to mind the things that distract you from Him. Think about how you draw closer to Jesus. What threatens that closeness? What is something that, when removed, would remind you daily of your dependence on God? What is something that, when removed, would give you the time and resources you need to draw closer to Him?

I find that when I pray about this, the answer is often brought clearly to mind. It's often an answer I don't want to hear, and an answer that I try to ignore for a little while. If you pray about something to give up during this season and God brings to mind something that would be challenging to sacrifice, I encourage you to go through with it. Often, the more difficult and personal the sacrifice is, the more reliance upon God we learn.

I hope and pray that you all are drawing near to Jesus in this season and every season of life.

Have you/are you giving up something for Lent? What are your thoughts on fasting and giving things up?

{Linking up with Oak + Oats & Sweet Little Ones Tuesday Talk}

5 things you don't REALLY need at your wedding

Now let me start this post by saying... the following 5 things are things I personally felt like weren't necessary. They saved me stress and money, and I don't think my guests missed them at all!

If you choose to have these things- more power to ya! There's no judgement here- just things I felt that worked for us, that saved us worry and allowed us to spend money on things we really found important.

Like food.

We also had a fairly large wedding (approx. 170 guests), and we were buying things in large quantities, thus we tried to save where we could.

So, anyway lets get going on the 5 things you don't really need at your wedding

1. A seating chart 

Why stress yourself out trying to decide which great aunt twice removed has to sit next to crazy great uncle on your fiance's side? If there are less people at one table, and 20 people crammed around another one, who cares? Your guests are probably stoked that they can sit with people they know and actually like, and you're stoked because that's one less thing you have to worry about!

2. Tablecloths that match the shape of your table 

Let me explain this one. If you are renting a venue that provides the tables, they'll likely provide the tablecloths and you can skip to the next point. 

If you're like me and had to get tables and tablecloths separately, you have a couple of options. You could

 #1 Spend a fortune renting round table cloths. We're talking $8-12 per tablecloth (minimum) and   depending on how many tables you have, you can easily rack up a couple hundred dollar bill paying for something people are just going to spill their food on.

#2 Plastic table cloths- not a bad option (I had a friend do it and it worked great!), but I personally     wanted to leave the "cloth" in "tablecloth".

#3 Skip the table cloths and tell your photographer that their job description now includes not shooting the tables... or using magic editing powers to erase the (potentially) ugly table surface out. 

#4 Or you have option #4 which I personally thought was brilliant and saved us over $100! We         decided that we would rent square table cloths big enough to cover the round tables. We were able to rent these from a restaurant supply store (wayyyyy cheaper than wedding rental places) for about $4. 

Now I wasn't sure about this plan at first so I did what any normal person needing to make a decision would do... I googled it. And I found dozens of opinions saying that this option was incredibly tacky and to never do it. Well I decided to do it anyway, and it worked awesome! You couldn't even tell the difference with all the chairs put up against the table, and I have yet to have a guest bring up the issue of square table cloths on round tables at my wedding.

(Our dining room before it was decorated. I think the tablecloths totally worked!)

3. Real silverware and/or plates 

A lot of times your caterer will provide silverware/plates... if that's the case-great! Move along to point 4. 

If you have to figure out your own plate situation like we did, let me tell you paper plates and plastic silverware is the way to go! You can always splurge and get the nicer looking stuff, but people are going to care much more about what's ON the plate than the actual plate itself... wouldn't you agree?

(Note the plastic silverware and plates. We also brought a few empty mason jars and had my bridesmaids stick their bouquets in them for the table decorations). 

4. Super fancy, intricate, beautiful, and expensive invitations 

I LOVE some of the gorgeous invitations that we have gotten and that we saw when we were doing our own invite shopping. But for us, paying $1.50-$2.00 per invite plus postage for 200+ people just wasn't going to fly. My brother-in-law landed up designing the invitations himself and we print and cut them ourselves. Though I don't necessarily recommend a DIY approach to invites (especially if you're doing over 100), I DO recommend not spending a lot of money on them because... lez-be-honest... who doesn't just throw them in the trash after the wedding is over? 

5. Hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of flowers 

Now flowers are BEAUTIFUL and I LOVE them as much as the next girl, but this is one place that can really getcha when you're trying to plan a budget friendly wedding. 

I was fortunate enough to have an extremely talented cousin who made our arrangements with flowers we'd bought from Sam's Club. I highly recommend this route- buy your flowers wholesale and try to find someone to make your bouquets for you (paying them will still be less than a florist), or maybe teach yourself and your gals (hello YouTube tutorials) and throw a little bouquet making party the day before the wedding!

If you decide to go to the florist to avoid the hassle mentioned above- keep it simple! Do bouquets for the girls, boutonnieres for the guys and call it a day! Buying flowers that are in season or cheaper to begin with can really help you out too. 

Flowers can empty your wallet really quick if you do flower centerpieces. Instead of flowers, get creative and do non-flower options. For a fall wedding, scatter fall leaves. For a rustic wedding, place small logs with a candle on top. Try candles on top of a mirror with fake rose petals scattered around.

(Our centerpieces)

OR do what my brilliant friend did... get some interesting shaped bowls at a discount store and fill them up with chips. Add a bowl of salsa and a bottle of wine (depending on your budget) next to it and, voila! You have a centerpiece that your guests can eat... because if they're anything like me, that's all they want to do anyway. 

If your church/venue needs decorating, sometimes you can get lucky and time your wedding around a holiday (say Christmas or Easter), and the church may already have decorations (i.e. flowers) in place. 

If not, tulle bows on pews, arrangements of fake flowers, or easy DIY decorations like the cross and hearts made by my parents below would suffice.

Lights strung behind tulle or clear glasses/jars filled with ornaments or other decorative items could also be cheap options.

(Note the lights behind the tulle)

All of this is to say that a little brainstorming and creativity can save you literally HUNDREDS on your wedding. Some days I got caught up in wanting every little detail that I saw on Pinterest in my wedding. Not only did I not have the budget for it, it stressed me out! 

Just remind yourself of the priorities that you have set for your wedding (more on how we did this here) and let go of the rest.Trust me- you'll be happier, less stressed and you will still absolutely have the wedding of your dreams! 

Much love and happy wedding planning!

What other things do you think aren't really needed at weddings? Or can be skipped to be friendlier on the budget? 

Project 12: February

Project 12 is a monthly recap post/project that my friend Amanda over at the Lady Okie Blog created. It is SUCH a fun way to recap your month, and helps me feel like I did something besides look at the calendar on the first of the month and last day of the month and wonder where 30 days just went. 

Part of the project is taking a photo of yourself/you+spouse on the first day of the month. Not only did we not take a picture on the first day of the month, we took no picture at all. Fail. Every time I thought about it, Alex was gone and then I never remembered while he was home. So I decided to make that picture collage and make you think that it was totally a selfie (almost fooled ya, didn't I?) Ironically we're both holding Chik-Fil-A items in our hands. And in case you're wondering, we already took our March picture so no worries there. Without further ado and speaking of Chik-fil-a... 

DATES

1. Chik-fil-a. Repeatedly. They had free coffee this month so we literally could not stay away. I was there almost daily during the month of February.

2. Tennis date for the win. Colorado is really weird you guys. I was in shorts then and now, two weeks later, I haven't seen the sun in three days.

3. Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo probably shouldn't be on your list of top places to visit in Colorado, but it can be a fun place... if your brother happens to be playing lacrosse there on a Sunday. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to watch lacrosse, and we got to meet one of his good friends from college as well as his girlfriend. We topped it off with lunch at Olive Garden. Good people, good weather, good food = triple win.

4. Two double dates with our friends from North Carolina. We met some awesome friends on our cruise (just one of the many reasons you should hop aboard a cruise ship!), who were out in Colorado on business. {They actually both work for Chikfila- we can't stay away you guys.} First we went to lunch at this place called Jack N Grill. I had a green chile sopaipilla burger the size of my face and was transported to heaven. Right before they left, we met them at a fun diner for delicious pancakes and omelettes. 

5. We got locked in a room with the challenge to get out in an hour. We did it. Again. I wouldn't want to be locked in a room with any other four people. They're smart cookies. 

DISCOVERIES

1. The best fries I've ever had. They were Belgian fries covered in truffle oil served at this new beer and brats place in Denver called Wurstkuche (I totally had to google that to remember the name). They were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and literally the best fries I've ever eaten in my entire life. For all you fellow fry lovers out there- come to Denver and I'll take you on a trip to fry heaven. 

2. I sadly discovered the city of Denver is extremely stingy with letting the public use school tracks. I spent one afternoon driving around all of Denver to find a track that was open to the public so that I could do my speedwork run. All were locked and I didn't feel like getting arrested. There was one middle school track that was unlocked, but to get through it I would have had to walk right through the middle of their playground and the current group of kids out on recess. Something tells me their teachers wouldn't have been down with that. So now I'm stuck doing speedwork on my regular road route. Watch out semi, I've gotta beat my time for this 400 sprint. 

3. You can get especially close to new friends by agreeing that PG-13 answers are okay when you play The Game of Things (a game like Apples to Apples except you get to make up your own answers). Imagine PG-13 answers to the prompt "things that are wild". You get my drift. New friends- you know who you are. 

BOOKS & MOVIES

1. Alex and I are both working on the books from January's list. Kind of lame I know, but I'm on the wait list for a couple of new books at the library- that counts right? 

2. The Giver. My bro in law and I watched it while the hubby mostly snoozed through it. I'm not a huge movie person, but I LOVED this movie. I thought it was really interesting and got me thinking about a lot of things. I highly recommend it, and although I haven't read the book, I've heard it's good too. 

NOTABLE EVENTS

1. Valentine's Day. I actually worked Valentine's Day and then we didn't really land up celebrating later. If I'm being honest- it was kind of lame. However, my mother in law gave me a cool light up heart necklace to wear to work- it was a hit with all the kids! 

I left this poster for Alex before I headed to work that morning. 

And I came home to a candlelit dinner. Now that I think about it, Valentine's Day wasn't that lame. 

2. This girl is my sister from another mister. We had lunch together and had a dream changing and dream inspiring talk. More details to come... eventually. Just know that it was important. 

3. We made some really big strides in our marriage, and I saw some incredibly tangible answers to prayers. More details on this eventually, but just know that God is faithful in the littlest of things! 

4. I got a killer pair of new running shoes. Holla holla chicken dolla! 

5. Lent began with a beautiful entrance. Ash Wednesday brought me to tears, and I am learning so much as I work my way through the Lenten devotional by Naptime Diaries.

BY THE NUMBERS

Miles Run: 63. The snow is threatening my good streak.

New recipes tried: 5 (Our favorite was this stellar creamy spinach and tomato pasta!)

(Looks pretty killer right? Go try it. Tonight.)

15 hour shifts worked: 1. And it was terrible. 

Money spent above our entertainment budget: way too much (Darn Chikfila).

# of kids in Colorado that have respiratory viruses: every single child in Colorado. For the love of God, everyone just needs to stay home for two weeks. 

How was your February? What was your favorite part? If you're in Denver- do you know of any public tracks??