Stories from Kristina + Breanne

  Shared by Breanne Smedley Last Spring, I was introduced to the concept of a Bullet Journal. Basically, it’s an organizational system that helps you keep track of everything in your life. Everything from mapping out key dates in the year, month, week, and day to tracking habits, and taking notes. There are symbols to indicate what type of information you’re entering. Dots for “tasks,” circles for “events” and dashes for “notes.” Then another system of symbols to indicate if tasks have been completed, migrated to another day or canceled. The aspect that I love the most is the weekly planner. Every Sunday, I map out the coming week. I first task dump all the things I need to do that week into four categories: Personal, School, Volleyball, Mindfluent Leadership. Then, I create a box for each day of the week, with a timeline running down the page vertically, starting at 5am and ending at 8pm. I then fill in all my scheduled meetings, appointments, and events for each day on the timeli...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley It’s been about three weeks since the measles outbreak in Clark County has prompted a “state of emergency” in Washington. When I first heard about the virus spreading in Vancouver, I honestly didn’t think much about it. Everyone in our family is up to date on their shots and immune to measles. Well, everyone except Charlee, I found out. Apparently, children cannot get the vaccine until they are one, leaving Charlee pretty much defenseless against the disease if exposed to it. Then the list of cases and exposure areas kept growing. This weekend, the Trader Joe’s that I go to every week popped up on the list of exposure sites. Where would it be next? Our school, gym, coffee shops, restaurants? We don’t want to risk it, so we’ve decided to hunker down and keep Charlee out of the public. Simple in theory, hard in practice. Every plan has to be run through the “measles” filter. Coffee runs, basketball games, working out, eating out, grocery shopping. They all...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley I was lucky to grow up with very handy parents; as kids, we learned how to use a hammer, a drill, a saw, and so much more. I’d say, I’m pretty equipped to take care of the basics around the house. But, there are always those projects where looking back, I think: “Well, at least we tried.” I remember one time, like it was yesterday. My dad had been in SoCal for about three weeks helping us totally remodel the townhouse we had just bought. We completely gutted and redid the kitchen and bathrooms. New floors. And more. Sennad was out of town on a business trip a majority of the time. My dad and I had the best time together. I still can’t believe what we accomplished! But unfortunately, my dad had to get home on a certain date, leaving a few key projects on the list. Sennad and I got up the following morning, looked at the next item, and thought… let’s do it! Plumbing. Installing a new tub faucet. It seemed simple enough. Sennad could get it done before lun...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley Do you know what happens after you live in sunny SoCal for four years and then you move home and experience the rainy and dreary Seattle winter? First, you lose all indications of sun-kissed skin! Then, your dog starts to refuse to go on walks. She gets all bundled up in her winter coat, walks outside, sees the rain, and turns back around to glare at us. Well, to be honest, she usually glares at Sennad. Because, I’m bundled up in front of the fire, warming up! She really hates walking around in the rain.  Hang in there, you only have 6 more months of dreariness (I tell all three of us)! Until then, Lexi, you’re going to have to make it work. Through walking around different Seattle neighborhoods over the last several months, I’ve noticed there are two definite types of people passing by me – those who smile back and those who stare straight ahead and pretend that I don’t exist. I remember years ago, some friends from out of state talking about the ...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley When waiting in the grocery line, at the doctor's office, or even at a red light, I’ve noticed there are two types of people. People that are on their phones when they wait, and those that aren’t. You’ve seen it. A waiting area in a doctor’s office. People with their heads down, buried in their phones. In the grocery line. The minute the last item hits the belt, the phone comes out. Then there are the people that don’t do this. When they wait, their phone stays tucked away, out of sight. What do they do instead? Where do they look? What do they do with their hands?! The other day, I was at the grocery store and faced the same, daily choice. All my items were on the belt, and I was behind a family that seemed to be taking a long time to check out. I felt the nudge. “I wonder if I have any new emails…” “Any breaking news I should know about…?” “Wonder what’s going on in the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter world…” I wanted to fill this wait time. I couldn’...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley Tomorrow I start a new job. And today, I had the chance to say “bye, but chat with you soon” to colleagues. Over the last week, I’ve had delicious meals with close work friends. Quick coffee runs to catch up and provide some closure. A lot of hugs. And some deep and personal mentoring conversations. One hit close to home. A work friend shared that she felt alone at work. Like no one was looking out for her or had her best interests in mind. There wasn’t a vision for her role. Did anyone even notice everything she was doing and the stress her and her team are under? She didn’t have any energy in the morning and had to drag herself into the office. Then, put on a face like everything was fine. In many ways, I felt like she was telling my own story. Relating to how I’ve felt over the last few months. I thought for a second and decided I would share some of my deeper struggles. And how I knew mid-December that I had to move into a new role. I just couldn’t ...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley August 1st, 2017 Brett and I were about to leave on a two-week vacation up the Washington coast and into British Columbia. Brett had left the house to grab some last-minute things, while I stayed back to finish packing. For whatever reason, it crossed my mind to take a pregnancy test. Brett and I were not trying to conceive at the time, but were also “not, not trying,” if you know what I mean. We envisioned starting a family within that year, but in my mind, I was thinking it would happen around Spring 2019. Another full year of fun to do all the traveling and date nights that we could before they were replaced with diapers and figuring out how to work a breast pump. We even dubbed this time “the year of fun” before we started to get serious about trying to start a family. Well, that pregnancy test told a different story. I remember looking at it after the two-minute timer went off. There was a dark blue horizontal line, but then a really light, faint bl...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley Over the last year, I’ve been incredibly proud of my parents and their navigation of many life changes. In January 2018, my mom retired.  After going to work every day for ~5 years, while my dad was basically retired. I always wondered what my mom was thinking. Did it annoy her that my dad was at home? That he got to walk the dog, take a nap, do a few phone calls, and look forward to her return. As she was going to work and dealing with nightmare employee situations. I guess I should have asked more directly. I always hoped it wouldn’t pull them apart. Now, almost a year later, it’s like they have a whole new life! First, they sold their house in Denver, where they had been living the last 4 years. And moved back into the house we grew up in, in Vancouver, WA. And when I say they “moved back”, I mean literally that they drove multiple trips and moved all of their stuff home. Unfortunately, their renters had caused quite a bit of damage. And it’s an...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley A few volleyball seasons ago, I was doing some goal setting with my team. One of the tasks was to share out specific long-term goals that players had in various areas of their lives. One of those areas, of course, was in volleyball. Most girls shared things like: “Beat my number of aces from last year” “Have the highest passing average on the team” “Average 10 kills a match” As they shared, they would be met with some head nods. Then the next person would go. Then, one of my players stood up to share. Her paper was shaking a little as she looked down at what she wrote. She paused for a second, before starting. “Umm..I want… (cough)” her voice cracked a little. “I want to play volleyball at a Division I college.” She finally finished. It was bold. At the time, this player was entering her sophomore season. She hadn’t yet played a massive role on the team. I watched as other girls on the team perked up as she shared her goal. Some of their eyes widened. So...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley I just finished reading “Learning to Breathe Fire – The rise of Crossfit and the primal future of fitness.’ It’s a great book! I’ll be honest, it did make me miss my Crossfit and RepX days. I miss the friendships, the cheering, and support, and trying things I’d never done before. Like a strict pull-up Or 100 straight 35lb kettlebell swings for time.  (which I learned are actually my superpower!) I was certainly the strongest I have ever been. I also had a different kind of confidence in myself, one that seems to come with physically achieving a new milestone. See, these achievements aren’t just of pure body strength.  These achievements come through the determination of the mind and body. And the connection between the two. When everything in me was screaming, “just stop. stop. now!” I kept going. I finished the workout.  Absolute exhausted.  But proud of myself. It started with being committed to the final outcome – finish the work...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley A while back, I had a membership to 24 Hour Fitness. My routine was to go in, hop on one of those machines (elliptical, bike, or stair stepper) and set out to burn as many calories as I could. Sometimes, I would do my own thing with some free weights in the back. Other times, I would attend a spin, yoga, or weights class. I always felt like I gave a little more when I was in a class. I wanted to keep up, and it would be pretty obvious if I was the only one not busting through my dumbbell curls. I even felt like I was performing at a pretty high intensity when I would hit the gym. I mean, I would leave sweaty, feeling pretty good about myself. My body “looked” how I wanted it to, and I weighed what I felt was normal for me. Mission accomplished, right? So I thought. Until I was introduced to CrossFit in early 2015. Like all who experience their first WOD (workout of the day), I finished gasping for air, laying on my back. Feeling like I had just completed...