Silly Conversations

I’ve seen it for a couple years now- instead of creating resolutions, people have been choosing one word to focus on for the year. Maybe you have seen this, or have done this yourself, but this alleviates the pressures to keep a resolution all year long.  So I’ve been praying about my word for a while now. I started asking myself some questions to best narrow down my word. What do I want to accomplish? How do I want to live? What do I want to focus on? What has been lacking? How do I motivate myself to get the correct word? Where do I even begin? Should I make a list? I’ll google it. Then I’ll narrow down the options. Then for sure I’ll have a word. Should I post it? Should I make like a cool graphic to post in my house? Should it be specific to being a better wife, parent, teacher, or all three?  I started to really “Elisa” the situation. In this sense my name is a verb meaning to over complicate, and overthink something, that is actually pretty simple, to where yo...

Really? A health blog? It's literally, not even Christmas yet. Please don't preach about your New Year's Resolutions to lose weight and gain muscle. Okay. I wont. Instead, I want to show you something. What do you see? Don't answer too quickly. I'm not fishing for compliments; in fact I reject anything you have to say about me looking good. Because that's not what this is about. Things have been coming across my social media pages with this idea of "getting your body back after having a baby." The ideas come through saying multiple things: get healthy, burn fat, eat right, don't stress about it, reject the status quo, don't work out, focus on your family, work out all the time, devote yourself to your diet, cut out gluten/sugar/meat/cheese.  I've vehemently shared the posts promoting body positivity. I have enthusiastically cheered on moms that share their stretch marks, their post baby bodies, in hopes that we will shatt...

You would think that our first Christmas with a baby would be the most exciting, over the top, Christmas ever. And yet, our tree is not up yet. Chock it up to 2 working parents if you must, but I have a strong feeling that it's a little more than that.  The holidays have been a strange mix for me, the last couple of years. I've been equal parts "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." It could have been just a getting older thing, it could be because my mom passed away a couple years ago, or it could be that seasonal effective disorder thing people often ignore during this time. It's probably a mix of all 3. No matter what it is, I usually just ignore it and try to focus on the Holly Jolly Christmas stuff. It's hard though, right? There's a lot of stuff going on. I'm not going to bore you with a list, because you all have a list too. We all have a lot of stuff going on. I'm not going ...

This title is a little misleading. This blog will actually be about work. You know, that thing we all look forward to having a day off from. It’s still weird to think that I have an actual “career.” I mean, not as weird as being a parent, but still a strange concept for a person who still doesn’t feel like she’s made it into the adult world. This is my 5th year as a full time classroom teacher. It’s definitely not been easy. I’ve been through anxiety, depression, coming in early, staying super late, grading on any free time I have, crying on my lunch breaks, quitting mid year, parent complaints, thousands of hours of professional development, long term sub problems, breaking up fights, de-escalating situations, sassy teenagers, hormonal teenagers, emotional teenagers, hard situations, mandatory reporting, and of course getting BARELY above the minimum wage for all of this. I don’t go through that list to get pity or sympathy or encouragement. I go through this to let ...

I’ve been shook recently on this idea of eternity. I’ve been a follower of Christ for probably around 20 years. I’m familiar with the biblical ideas and principals of eternity, but have I honestly lived like this here is my temporary home? I haven’t. How much energy, stress, and time do I spend on things that have no impact on eternity?  Oh you want examples? How about all that stress about baby sleep? Where he’s gonna sleep? How long should he be sleeping? Should he fall asleep while nursing? How about my house? We need a nicer kitchen. We need new and nicer barstools. Make sure the baby doesn’t mess with this thing or that thing because it can’t get ruined! How about my wardrobe? My last spending spree was long before I had my baby- so I need an update. Y’all. God never promised us nice things. He promised to provide for us. What if, every time we start to worry about something we ask: what’s the impact this has on eternity?  If the answer is a big fat “none,” then maybe sto...

I sit here nursing the Bebe, trying to get him to sleep, I can’t help to reflect on all the things God has been teaching me recently. I think about things a lot while nursing. Because, yes it’s such an incredible bonding experience, but it’s also a quiet time of peace for this mama. I can’t help but wonder, how am I doing? Not as a mama, but as Elisa. How am I doing as Elisa Hernandez? It’s a weird question but I’m often wondering about it. Too often I’m just going through the motions. Too often I’m left sinking in the shadows of what my mission is here on earth. I want more than anything to persue my mission here on earth, which is clear to me as a Bible believing follower of Christ: make disciples. What would happen if all those who claim the name of Jesus started acting upon the mission God has called them too? What would happen if we stopped just taking from God, and gave back to Him in our efforts? God doesn’t need us and yet He chooses us. What if we stopped putting God...

Parents. Remember your "exhaustion" prior to having kids? I miss that.  I remember looking at parents around me and thinking, "Dang, they complain about being tired all the time. Can having a kid really be THAT taxing on a person?" Oh, how I wish I could take back those thoughts! And I just have the ONE kid. I can't even imagine more!  Let me back up a little. Since week one, until about month 7, Leo has slept in bed with us. We, of course, did it as safely as recommended by doctors and such. I feel like I always need that caveat because y'all moms and non moms out there trip over the littlest details, I swear. We weren't planning on doing the co-sleeping thing, we just kind of fell into it. It worked with nursing, it helped me not worry too much about his breathing patterns, and it was really sweet to cuddle my sweet boy all night. For those wondering how Elias felt, he actually made the initial suggestion to do it, so there ya go.  So it wor...