Last week, my family had a fun get together with all my siblings, nieces and nephews. We played Scrabble, watched movies, took the kids to a trampoline park and a splash pad, and generally had a lot of fun. It’s always so wonderful to connect with my little niephlings!
This week, we also got to meet up with some of my husband’s family and spend time catching up. It was great to see some old and new faces and spend some quality time with his family, which we don’t get to do very often.
Throughout my sabbatical, I’ve been exercising sporadically, and doing different kinds of activities to figure out what works best for me and my schedule. This gave me time to do some research and figure out what is sustainable for me long-term when work starts back up. For the last year, I haven’t had much luck fitting exercise into my schedule with any regularity. I’ve been so tired when I get home that I don’t have the energy to come up with a plan, let alone execute it.
But, now that I’ve tried out a lot of different things, I’ve found what I think will work for me! For the last few days, I’ve been following a trainer on social media who posts free workout videos, and I really like her style. She mixes yoga poses with cardio using interval training, so you’re never doing the same activity for too long. It keeps you moving and guessing. Based on this style, I made up a workout I could do with my favorite poses, put on some fun music, and used a timer to keep me on point, and it worked!
I got a full body workout that is perfect for my skill level/ability and that gave me energy and left me feeling tired but great. My husband liked it so much he said he’d do the workout with me in the mornings before work. It’s about 20 minutes a day, but you can do it every day. When I need to mix things up, I’ll just go and learn a new workout and incorporate new things into my basic plan. All that to say, I loved it, and I think this is something I can easily work into my schedule.
Overall, I think this sabbatical has been just what I needed it to be. Time to relax and rejuvenate, reconnect with family, read and reflect, refresh my perspective, and enjoy the rewards of giving back. With God’s help, I plan to carry over little pieces of my sabbatical into everyday work life.
Oh, and I miss everyone and I’m ready to get back to work on Monday! Yeah!!