Stories from Kristina + Breanne

  Shared by Kristina Smedley I’m 26 weeks pregnant! WOW! It seems crazy to say that, especially after the difficulties of the first many weeks. No, I didn’t have any morning sickness. I didn’t receive any scary test results. And getting pregnant wasn’t too far outside our plans… although I really thought it would take months, not just a couple weeks. I’m so grateful and fortunate for this to be our experience so far! Instead, the difficulties were all in my head. Specifically, that voice in my head, that we all have, referred to as our Inner Critic. I’ve been working with my Inner Critic for a long time, years in some ways, and very explicitly for the last year or so. Among other areas, body image and body shame are a couple key areas my Inner Critic historically pops up! I had made some great progress in transforming this voice. Until BOOM, I got pregnant and the Inner Critic came back screaming! “You’re getting fat!” “Everyone is noticing but you can’t tell them you’re pregnant y...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley Spend time around high schoolers and you’re sure to hear the word, “streaks.” More specifically, phrases along the lines of: “I gotta keep my streaks.” Or, “We broke our 100-day streak yesterday!” If you don’t hang out with high school-aged people every day, let me fill you in. “Streaks” refer to the ongoing exchange of photos/messages between two people on SnapChat. If a friend and I snap chat with each other for two days in a row, we have a two-day streak. Three days in a row, a three-day streak. Five days, a five-day streak. And so on until one person breaks it ad the streak has to start back over. Kids get a little neurotic about their streaks. I overheard a student talking about how she gave her SnapChat login information to a friend so that she could “keep her streaks” while on vacation without cell service. That’s commitment and problem-solving at it’s finest right there. While sometimes I don’t get it (because apparently I’m old and I haven’t eve...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley “Now or later…” I once saw a poster in a middle school gym, affixed amongst all the other typical motivational quotes and phrases. There were the standard ones that you’d expect: “There’s no I in Team!” “SUCCESS: It’s the journey, not the destination.” Then, one that said, “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” I’m not sure this would have resonated with me as a middle schooler. Whenever I had a chance, I would ditch my semi-healthy lunch from home and buy what I really wanted: Cheetos, a Hostess Honey Bun, and Reese sticks. This was definitely before the Michelle Obama healthier school lunch initiative. I would just go on and eat what I wanted, because it didn’t make a difference at the time. At least not that I noticed. I could still jump on the trampoline, ride my scooter down the big neighborhood hill, and play sports without skipping a beat. That’s the problem with paths of least re...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley When I was 8 years old, I got my first pet that was “mine.” I spent the months leading up to that point trying to prove to my parents that I would be responsible enough to take care of a cat. “You know, you’d have to clean the litter box daily!” My mom would tell me. “Yes, I will do it!” I’d assure her. “And the cat will need food and freshwater every day!” She’d remind me. “I’ll feed her every morning!” And I’ll brush her, clean up all her cat hair, and take her for walks! Side note: walking a cat with a harness and leash is pretty much like trying to walk an immovable rock. I had eventually done enough convincing, and in the summer of 1997 I brought home a tiny ball of fur that I named Ruby. I had so much fun playing and taking care of her. I was diligent to make sure her cat box was always empty, food and water bowls full. Ruby would eventually start following me around the house and sleeping in my bed at night. She became my little buddy! School star...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley On Sunday, Charlee and I spent the day together while Brett was at football camp. We went downtown and strolled through the Farmer’s market, watching all the people, trying samples of fresh fruit, and enjoying the vibe of the community. We picked up a pint of raspberries and ate them as we continued to check out all the fun and interesting booths. We passed by several stands with enormous, beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers. There was a time in my life, not too long ago, where I would admire the bouquets, but keep walking. Spending $10-15 on flowers that will probably just die within a week? That’s the definition of a waste of money…right? But, every once and a while I would “splurge” and buy a bouquet from the farmers market. I loved the way they looked, wrapped neatly in the brown paper. Big, colorful flowers blooming and smelling amazing. Then, I’d put them in a vase at home and watch as they continued to get bigger and brighter over the next few day...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley “Expectations…” I’ve been digging into the idea of “expectations” lately, both for myself and with many of my female coaching clients. And I’m finding a very common undercurrent – perfectionism. It reminds me of a short story I read recently… Mulla Nasrudin was talking with a friend about his love life. “I thought I had found the perfect woman,” Mulla said. “She was beautiful and had the most pleasing features and smile. She was exceptional in every way, except she had no knowledge.” “So I traveled farther and met a woman who was both beautiful and intelligent. But, alas, we couldn’t communicate.” “After further travels, I met a lady who had everything: perfect mind, perfect intelligence, and great beauty, all the features I was looking for, but…” “What happened?” asked the friend. “Why didn’t you marry her at once?” “Ah well,” said Mulla, “as luck would have it, she was looking for the perfect man.” The idea of perfection is a trick we play on ourselve...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley In high school, a couple of friends and I decided to go hiking. But, not in the typical way that I hike nowadays. You know, by researching the hike and the destination, then setting out on the path that will lead me there. Instead, we decided to just enter the wooded spot near the area that we hoped would eventually lead to a pretty waterfall, maybe a lake, or a river to rest and play in. Looking back, I see this as incredibly dangerous, but at the time, I saw this as the only true way to experience adventure! Why find a trail when you can forge your own?! We will experience and see so much more! As expected, we got turned around pretty quickly. Without a trail guiding us, all the trees, rocks, and groundcover started to look the same. We kept making our way up, trying to follow the sound of water. We eventually did come to a section of river that looked good to take a break-in. The only problem? To get to it, we had to find a way down a 10-foot cliffsid...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley A few years ago, back when Brett and I were living the DINK (Double Income No Kids) life, we took a fun trip to Costa Rica. Nearly three weeks of traveling around, hiking, hot springs, beaches, awesome food, and relaxing. Also, ziplining… It’s what you do in Costa Rica, right?! We thought so, so we booked a tour while we spent part of our trip in Monteverde. The tour was in a cloud forest, which should have given us a clue about the experience we were about to have. The zip lining started with a brief (emphasis on brief) safety overview. “When you see this signal (hand cupped on top of the cable), make sure to brake. If you don’t see it, don’t brake.” Okay, got it. The first few trips went great. We zipped from platform to platform, overlooking the lush green flora below. Every time we would approach a platform, the person waiting would signal to brake. We followed instructions and would glide on to the platform, ready to zip to the next one. There were ...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley I’m reading a book right now called, “Chop wood, carry water” It’s a story of a boy’s journey to achieve his lifelong goal of becoming a samurai warrior and the hundreds of lessons he learned from his sensei along the way. It’s filled with stories and parables that deliver powerful life lessons about the process of becoming great. One of the stories I read in the book resonated with me for days after. One day, the sensei told his student about an evil old witch that was going out of business. The witch decided to have a yard sale to sell all her potions and tools. She was selling all the traditional tools you think of when you think of evil: jealousy, anger, lust, pride, envy, deceit, and adultery. Droves of people flocked to the sale to buy all her shiny tools. Towards the end of the day, all the tools had been picked through and all that remained were a few heaps of old worn-out broken tools. One man dug through the scraps and found a tool that was wel...

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