Produce with Amy

Happy New Year! Today marks Produce with Amy’s FIVE YEAR anniversary. In that time I’ve shared over 120 healthy recipes and have made connections across the globe. My life had made many twists and turns (both traumatic and triumphant) throughout these five years and I look forward to what the future holds.

I anticipate that 2018 will bring on a writing streak, because I miss blogging. As an English teacher I daily tell my students that our stories matter and I want to be a role model for their words. Recording the world helps us understand how everything is connected and that our path, intentions, and deeds are relevant and important.

If you are so inclined, please like my Facebook page and subscribe to my blog here too.

To be honest, I have had a difficult year. I hit what felt like a huge roadblock when I was diagnosed with Hashimotos disease (thyroid). I have been on meds for going on five months now and feel like I am getting some of my energy and stamina back. I really want to kick things back into gear and get moving on projects. I am a full time high school/middle school teacher, am a step mom to two energetic kids, and my husband and I own a farm. Therefore, I have been feeling overwhelmed by things that need to be “caught up” at home. This summer we are taking on a HUGE project and adding an addition on to our home. It would help immensely if I could get our household organized and get back into writing, creating recipes, and being overall creative. Does this sound familiar at all to you?

Do you have a project that you have been meaning to work on? Do you have a linen closet that needs straightening? A wardrobe that needs to be organized or items donated that no longer fit? A guest room that looks more like a junk room? How about a pantry, cabinets, or drawers that need some attention? Well, I have a challenge for you!

Five years ago I launched “Produce with Amy” to serve many purposes. Ultimately, I wanted to share my healthy recipes with the world, but I also wanted to keep myself accountable to eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. I knew that this would serve my health well and that a diet rich in nutrients would propel me to be more productive. Guess what? It worked.

For the month of January 2018, I challenge all of us to be PRODUCTIVE. If you want to participate all that you have to do is pick a number of minutes each day to work on a project. It may be as little as 10 minutes or as long as 60. Set a timer and get to work and when the timer goes off you are done for the day. I guarantee you will be pleased with the results after 31 days. I know that this challenge will help inspire me to do some household chores after a long and exhausting day at work. I also hope it will help me carve out some time to write a weekly blog post.

Today I started off this challenge with a HUGE project. I am organizing my clothes closet and makeup table. I’m putting my spring/summer clothes and shoes in totes (it’s never too late) and going through all my fall/winter clothes and selecting outfits for the next several weeks. I did some New Years shopping yesterday and bought some beautiful new wardrobe pieces and I want to maximize my mix-and-match options. I LOVE clothes and I want to simplify my morning routine (sleep is very valuable to me) and feel great when I go to work each morning. Tomorrow I will commit to 20 minutes of another project and hopefully my productivity will snowball from there.

If you let me know you are interested I can post a daily thread on my Facebook page and to stay more accountable we can post what we accomplished in our daily time-frame. If it is a large project (like a guest room) you may want to take before and after photos to help celebrate your victory.

I hope that you join me in celebrating Produce with Amy’s Five Year Anniversary with a burst of productivity. Please share this post with others who may be interested in joining us.
 Happy New Year! May it be healthy, productive, and full of insight and direction.