February Recap + What I’m Looking Forward to in March

Can you believe it? February always flies by. Today I’m recapping our month and looking ahead at March!

** Some links in this post are affiliate links. These give me a small commission if you use them to make a purchase, at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting Just Bee, as always!

February Recap:

Sophie was dedicated at church and we had a fun party afterwards! // I wrote a whole post about it with photos here. It was a special day, and we celebrated afterwards with a yummy lunch at our place!

I got a haircut! // Finally! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut or colored since…March 2017! Wow! I’m not one to get my hair touched up often – I typically get it cut and colored once or twice a year – but it was definitely time! Plus, there’s something about being a tired new mom that makes you feel a bit more dowdy. 😉 I went to my friend Meghan at the hair salon like I always do, and she knows exactly the colors and cut that I like when I come in. (Isn’t there something so reassuring about that?) 🙂 My hair already feels so much fresher, after getting several inches (at least!) off and highlights/lowlights. I hope I won’t wait 11 months next time!

Bjorn had additional army training. // I bet some of you are wondering, does he always have army training of some sort going on? Haha, well, in February there definitely was a bit of army going on. 🙂 This month, it was during a stretch of weekdays for two weeks in a row! (Typical army drill is one weekend a month.) Bjorn is now the commander of his unit, so he has more responsibilities and trainings he has been focusing on lately. This meant he had to miss teaching at the middle school a bit this month; I know he misses his students when he can’t be there. We’re grateful to work for such an understanding and accommodating school district! Sophie and I came up with Bjorn when he had these trainings and stayed with my parents. It was fun to have additional time with them! On Valentine’s Day, Bjorn was out of town but Sophie’s grandpa (my dad) came home from work with an adorable helium-filled heart balloon for Sophie! She was mesmerized by it – it’s still in our living room now! 🙂 I’m very proud of Bjorn. He has such a strong mind and is cool and collected, making him a great leader. He doesn’t get rattled and he’s able to lead with a practical, serving spirit. Go Bjorn! 🙂

I’ve been getting in the frame more. // I had been hoping to get in more photos with Sophie this month, and I did! Jessie Martin inspired me on Instagram with her photography tips! I’ve been using and loving this Tripod + Bluetooth Remote (aff. link). It’s only about $10, too!

I’m reading a lot again. // Thanks to authors James Herriot and Francine Rivers. 🙂 (All books listed here are affiliate links.)

I posted about James Herriot on my Instagram Stories the other day, but he is just amazing! If you haven’t heard of him yet, then you HAVE to check him out. His books are loosely autobiographical stories about his time as a country vet in England in the 1930s-50s. Since he is a veterinarian, he does describe his cases with sick animals in detail, so you do need to be prepared to read that…but I’ve read his books since I was a lot younger and I am still just as big a fan of his as ever. I’ve been working through All Creatures Great and Small (aff. link) lately. I honestly can’t decide what I like most about him: he describes the scenery of the Yorkshire Dales with stunning imagery, his stories are chock-full of hilarious wit and irony, and you really get to know him, his boss Siegfried, and the humble, hard-working farmers so well. I laugh until I cry when I read (and re-read) certain chapters! So, I highly recommend his stuff! Start with the first book in his collection, All Creatures Great and Small. He has even written great children’s books such as Only One Woof, which I grew up with.

I’ve also been getting back into Francine Rivers’ books again. Many people know her for her book Redeeming Love (which is amazing), or the Mark of the Lion series (also so good), but most recently I read And the Shofar Blew. That one really makes you think. Rivers develops characters so well, I actually was marching around all annoyed with one of the main characters in her book the other day! Haha. Right now, I am working through her newest book that came out in 2018, called The Masterpiece. It’s good so far. 

The weather has been a mixed bag! // I feel like this image sums it up pretty well. 😉 Earlier this week, at the end of February, it hit 41 degrees so Sophie and I had to go on a walk! It was the most amazing feeling to be FINALLY be walking outside in the sunshine with the birds singing! (I hadn’t taken Sophie out for a walk in her stroller since last fall, when she was quite new! So it was an interesting new-feeling experience for her this week!)

We had a 4-day-weekend. // Well, Bjorn did, with time off from teaching. 🙂 But long weekends around here mean extra time to get farming tasks done! So, he spent a lot of time that weekend getting the rest of our soybeans out of where they were stored, and shipped out! Hooray! Sophie and I still got to see him some that weekend, though, because we had Sophie’s dedication!

I got some new clothes! // Only a few pieces, but it was enough to really make a difference for me. My body doesn’t feel completely foreign after having Sophie, but it’s different enough that I don’t really like how I look in a lot of my old clothing. And that’s okay! But mid-February, I headed to the mall near my parents’ place, and I picked up some new clothing at Francesca’s! I wanted some more flowy shirts and I am so happy that I found a few! 🙂 I also found a fun new necklace that I can wear with a lot of things!

I’ve been struggling with dizziness. // This has been the not-so-fun part of postpartum life. I’ve had a couple other issues with healing, but dizziness is the most recent thing I’ve been dealing with. I feel like I shouldn’t complain, since others have it much worse off, but I’ve been dizzy on and off every day since having Sophie…and lately, it’s gotten worse. This isn’t just the dizziness that most people can have when they stand up suddenly; this is more of a feeling like you’ve just stepped off of a treadmill (ick!). I can still function, and it’s not like I’m laying around all day, but it does make me so frustrated because I want to be the most energetic and present mama I can be for little Sophie girl! I have all sorts of theories as to why it’s happening – hormones? iron? dehydration? inner ear problems? – but I’m finally going in to the doctor next week and I’m requesting blood work. I’d love to figure out what’s truly going on! I usually feel best when I’m laying down…but that’s not really an effective way to live life every day, haha. I was taking iron for a while after Sophie was born, but I’d like to get that checked out again next week.

To combat the dizziness, I’m working on hydrating even more! I’ve never been great about drinking water, but I certainly have improved! Have you heard of the rubber band trick? I’ve been putting rubber bands around the bottom of my water thermos, and every time I finish a whole thermos of water and have to refill, I get to remove one rubber band! It’s an interesting and helpful way to track how much water you’re really getting.

I’m still meal planning! // This is something I started back at the beginning of January…and I’m thrilled to say, I’m still doing it! Life is just SO much easier when I know what I’ll be making for supper each day. I don’t necessarily plan our meals out on a Sunday, although Sunday afternoon grocery shopping works just fine; we were out of town a bit during February so it didn’t always make sense to shop on a Sunday for the next week. Whenever it’s time to plan more meals, I basically meal plan for 7 days ahead, leaving a good amount of meals open for leftovers (most of my lunches at home are leftovers) and also leaving some meals open for date nights or outings with people.

I would still like to hone my meal planning routine a bit more and create a beautiful (aesthetically-pleasing, haha) planning system. However, for now, I am using my account at Evernote to record what our meals will be for the next week, and then I grocery shop based off of those recipes.

We’re trying not to have a ton of heavy meals like pasta or too much bread. Bjorn and I have a salad cookbook we’ve really enjoyed (Salad Days– aff. link) but some of the recipes aren’t as practical, so I recently ordered us another one and I’m looking forward to using their salad ideas. We really have been more into salads lately, which has been fun because of all the new flavors and ingredient combos we’ve been experimenting with.

In March, I’m looking forward to:

• Continued times with family and friends. When Bjorn has his monthly army drill, Sophie and I often like to come with him and stay with my parents, so I always look forward to that time!
• Spring weather?? If I type that, maybe it’ll happen? 😉 March weather can be really up in the air for those of us who live in Minnesota. We’ll see! I sure love seeing sunshine, melting snow, and chirping birds! I can’t tell you how much that helps my mood after what has felt like a long winter.
• Our anniversary! We were married on a cold, sunny day in March 2014. It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years already!!!
• Watching Sophie grow! I love spending every day with her, seeing her personality grow more each day! She brings us a lot of joy!

Hope you had a great month of January to start off your year! What are you looking forward to this month?