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I’ve been a mom for almost eight years and have only just begun making exercise a priority. Why did it take me so long to make a solid attempt at getting healthy?

Because I felt guilty about it.

That’s right. I had exercise guilt.

How many times have you thought about exercising but guilt stopped you? You spend all day either working or taking care of your kids, yet you can’t bring yourself to carve out a mere thirty minutes to take care of yourself!

I just love summer, don’t you? I feel much happier and more relaxed during this season. Since the weather is warm it’s so nice to spend time outside soaking in some sun. With each new summer season I always want to spruce up our patio so we can enjoy it as an outdoor living room.

I’m sure you’ve seen photos of amazing outdoor living rooms. I drool over them daily and finally decided to bring the indoors outside where we spend so much time. Here are three things I did to create an inviting outdoor living room.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do with my blog. I’ve only written a handful of blog posts this year and I seriously considered shutting it down for good.

But, as I mentioned before, my husband and my best friend encouraged me to open up and to keep going. This blog is 9.5 years old and it would be a damn shame to stop something that I still love.

Wow. The support on my last post has been overwhelming. Not only have I received amazing encouragement on my facebook page, but I have received messages and emails letting me know friends are there for me if I need anything or they are available to chat and listen.

Just so you know – that means the world to me. It truly does.

It has always been my hope that opening up about my illness could help someone else. I’m still amazed that anything I write would be worthy of saving a life. But apparently it is. And I know for a fact that it has saved mine. Writing is like a life vest for me. I can be drowning in the ocean of depression and writing words will allow me to float until I can reach the shore.

If I tell them, they’ll think less of me. Even I have a hard time believing it happened. But it’s the truth. It’s my truth. And after holding it in for nearly a year I’m ready to tell it. My story is worthy of being told.

I got sick last year. Not the kind of sick you’re thinking about. Not a fever or a stomach virus. No, not that kind. And not the kind of sick that is widely accepted in our society such as cancer or diabetes or even a broken bone.

When Landon was two-years-old he became obsessed with Thomas the Train. This caused a chain reaction of Naaman and I to buy all the Thomas things available at Toys R Us. We also bought a lot of Thomas books to read. It really was his favorite thing. Thomas and reading. Of course Brigham went through a Thomas phase and now Sawyer loves the choo-choo too.

One of the books we bought was called Thomas and the Big Big Bridge. I just read it to Sawyer the other night.

One year ago I laced up a new pair of tennis shoes and went for my first run. I didn’t have any fancy running gear. And I didn’t have any clue how I would feel. But I assumed it would hurt like hell and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

I’m not sure why the trend stuck this time. I just knew I was tired of feeling like shit all the time, physically and emotionally.

This post brought to you by Manwich. The content and opinions expressed below are mine.

I’m a big fan of easy weeknight meals that fill up my family’s tummies. I’m an even bigger fan if these recipes don’t have twenty ingredients and take a really long time to make. For a working mom of three kids it just has to be easy and fast to garner a spot on my weekly menu. In fact, Manwich Monday Recipes are one of the favorite things we’ve implemented!

When I trained last spring for my first 5k it was an 8-week program using an app on my phone. Due to the onset of depression this past fall, I lost steam and have had to go all the way back to week 5 of my 5k training. It’s really hard getting out of bed some days. So you can imagine how difficult it is to tell myself to get up and go running.

By the time Brigham was six-months-old, we had already been to Children’s Mercy urgent care/emergency room so many times we’d lost count. We didn’t understand why our baby was so sick all the time. We were frustrated, exhausted and didn’t know what to do.

Severe double ear infections from the time he was one-month-old. Scary vomiting episodes, respiratory illnesses that included bronchitis and pneumonia, which required nightly breathing treatments. We were told he probably had reactive airway disease. This, because they don’t diagnosis it as asthma until children are older.

This week on the happy list . . .

• 16 Things You Need to Say Goodbye to in 2016: If you read anything this week – let it be this! So good and I relate to so many of them!

• Peanut Butter Pie: I mean, does it need an explanation? I am sooo making this!

• Why is My Daughter Aggressive at Home and an Angel Everywhere Else?: Another great article that I relate to very much.

Mondays, man. Am I right? Especially the Monday after a long holiday weekend! It’s not easy to jump back in.

Since Mondays are kind of a tough day for pretty much everyone I know – I’ve decided to start posting a “Happy List” each Monday. It seems like a fun way to lift my spirits. Maybe it will for you too if you like something I post. Remember, I am trying to focus on the positive and be grateful for all the happy things in my life (there are many!). It’s just a healthier way to live and I’m learning to think more positively each day.