“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

I had no idea what I was going to post for today when I got up this morning. I headed out to the Daily Dose Coffee Shop in Maple Grove to meet two fabulous women from my church. As the time quickly passed, laughs were frequent, and the stories were insanely relatable and awesome. Meeting these ladies was exactly what my heart needed today. (Not to mention the coffee was amazing and the breakfast panini was to. die. for!)

I used to run, run, run myself ragged trying to do all life tossed my way, but the older I get the more I realize just how important it is to take care of myself. But “self-care” has changed in my eyes as the years have passed. Self-care doesn’t mean I need to go get manicures or go out shopping for me. It’s the people I choose to surround myself with who really re-energize me. It’s taking the time to reach out and just be with others. It’s calling that friend you have meant to call for weeks. It’s dropping a quick note to your friend you haven’t seen in awhile. It’s a text asking to get together when you’ve had an icky week. It’s those huge hugs you get from your friends when you see each other. It’s laughter. It’s chatter. It’s comfortable. It’s relaxing. It’s what we need to get through this crazy life. It’s another way to find our quiet.

As the day went on, I cheered for Punky’s basketball team. On our drive home, I called friends of ours and invited them to come over. They spent the afternoon in our living room laughing and talking. Did we solve the world’s problems? Nope. Did I get my Saturday to-do list done? Nope, but it was so nice to sit, chat, laugh and share parenting stories. Another “self-care” checked off today.

After dinner … okay…..I am going to interrupt this part to tell you what we had for dinner… wowsers! My family loves this and it is so tasty! The recipe is called a “Sheet Pan Steakhouse Dinner.” I do have the link on my recipe page here on my blog under “Keto Family Meals” , but here’s a quick link to the recipe that will help you love dinner one night. You can thank me later.

Any way…….After dinner, I sat and thought about what an appropriate word this was for today…Leap Day. It was the perfect “extra” day to just practice self-care by doing what my soul wanted and needed today. Spending time with awesome people today was exactly what I needed to re-energize and recharge for the upcoming week.

Here’s a photo of our coffee cups this morning at Daily Dose. It was satisfying to “capture” my photo so early in the day…and with my peeps.

Here’s to being more mindful of what takes up our time each day…here’s to doing more of what we need in our busy lives, for that is how we find rest for our weary souls.