Routines – Page 2 – Melissa Schlies

Five Reasons To (re)Build Routines in Your Marriage

Sometimes, life gets away from us. Work gets busy. Loved ones get sick. We face physical or mental illness. Worldwide pandemics happen. And in the thick of it all, it can be easy to lose sight of each other. Weeks go by and you realize you can’t remember the last time you had a conversation with your spouse that wasn’t a run down of “need to know” type things. You don’t know how long it’s been since you had a date and actually looked in each other’s eyes for longer than five minutes. Maybe, you’ve hurt one another and it’s [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-06-07T11:09:55+00:00June 7th, 2021|Categories: discipline, Habit Making, Health, Marriage, Relationships, Routines|Comments Off

The Real Secret To Our Marriage (repost)

As we're talking about building routines in marriage this month, I'd thought I'd re-share this post on what makes the foundation of our relationship strong--our beliefs. Naming our beliefs and values are one of the first steps in building healthy routines in marriage. Do you remember, in high school, wishing you had the answer key to a hard exam? Even though you knew cheating was wrong, there was a part of you that wished for an easier way. For me, it was always my chemistry exams—which is ironic as here we are talking about a different kind of chemistry. That [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-27T20:10:17+00:00May 31st, 2021|Categories: Faith, Friendship, Habit Making, Marriage, Relationships, Routines, Uncategorized|Comments Off

When Building Routines Means Building Trust

Last week, Tony and I had one of our late night conversations. The ones where we say in the dark, what we didn’t say in the light to each other that day. Things hard to speak out loud, and even more difficult to hear. Yet ones needed to be said. As I shared in April, we’ve been in a time of change these past few months. Our schedules have become very different from what they’ve been since the pandemic began. And as restrictions in our state continue to lift, our daily and weekly routines will continue to shift. This is [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-24T00:55:07+00:00May 24th, 2021|Categories: Adulting, discipline, Habit Making, Health, Marriage, Practice, Routines|Comments Off

Five of Our Favorite Meal Planning Tips

About three weeks into our marriage, Tony and I had a serious conversation about how our life together would go. It was about food. And it happened when a lot of these types of discussions occur; not when we were refreshed and happy, but when we were both tired and hungry. We’d just gotten home from work. I did not have the will to cook. He was willing to cook but didn’t know what we should make. And, for what was probably the second time that week, I suggested takeout. That is when Tony decided to draw a line in the [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-16T19:43:59+00:00May 17th, 2021|Categories: Balance, Habit Making, Health, Marriage, Practice, Routines, Self Care|2 Comments

The Routines Women Struggle With Most

Yesterday was Mother’s Day here in the US. This means, last week, I was out looking for cards to send to some special women in my life who are known to a few as, “Mom.” And at the store, there was an entire aisle full of pink and flowery cards to choose from. Some were simply stated. While others thanked mothers for all the ways they’ve sacrificed for the sake of their children. Giving of yourself for the sake of others is beautiful. Though I’m not a mom myself, I can appreciate the incredible things parents do for their children. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-09T16:24:18+00:00May 10th, 2021|Categories: Adulting, Balance, Body Image, Habit Making, Health, Loneliness, Practice, Routines, Self Care|Comments Off

Reminder: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

For some reason, growing up, my closest friends were always night owls. They never wanted to go to sleep before midnight. When we had sleepovers, as teenagers, it was great. Until the morning, when I was wide awake in my sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling, sometimes waiting hours for them to wake up. I have always been a morning person. I am my best in the morning. I’m the most rested. My brain is clear. And, as a writer, I find the words flow more easily before lunchtime. But this last part, took me a while to figure out. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-02T22:00:03+00:00May 3rd, 2021|Categories: discipline, Freedom, Habit Making, Practice, Routines|Comments Off

Fact or Fiction: You Can Have the Life You Want

A few years ago, I started following some popular online influencers and entrepreneurs. People who not only seemed to crack the code to social media, but who also had upbeat, positive sounding messages for their audience. One thing I heard from them over an over was, You can have the life you want. Then interestingly, whenever these same people made their rounds on the podcast circuit, inevitably they’d talk about routines. Specifically, they’d share the few habits they practice everyday that have enabled them to be the best versions of themselves. Some even made it sound as if their success [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-04-25T20:30:42+00:00April 26th, 2021|Categories: Acceptance, Balance, discipline, FOMO, Habit Making, Routines, Self Care, Success|Comments Off

Five Routines Worth Revisiting This Season

Sometimes, when I talk about routines, I feel what I imagine my mom must have felt when she used to tell us to eat our vegetables. Like I am encouraging you, my online friends, to finish your spinach. I’m so the life of the party. Routines can feel as interesting as eating broccoli, but I have to tell you—when I find myself in a good daily rhythm, life feels more like cake and ice cream. There’s less pushing through. Instead, when I am practicing the right routines, there is more time savoring my life. Like when Tony and I are [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-05-01T11:16:39+00:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Change, discipline, Faith, Food, Habit Making, Health, Mental Health, Practice, Routines|4 Comments

When Spring Means Change

Friends, bear with me for a moment while I celebrate. Winter is over. It actually came to an end. The forecast for today, as I write this, is sixty-eight degrees here in Pennsylvania. And, is there anything better than the feeling of warm sunshine on your face after a long winter? Ok, coffee and chocolate are definitely up there. But come on, we made it through a whole winter of the pandemic. Spring is finally here, which means good changes are coming. Only, with these changes, some of us may be experiencing an elevated level of stress. So much so, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-04-11T20:36:13+00:00April 12th, 2021|Categories: Adulting, Anxiety, Balance, Change, Habit Making, Hope, Making Decisions, Practice, Preparation, Routines|Comments Off

A Year Later: Five Things I Wish I’d Known Pre-Pandemic

A year ago this week, I drove a half hour north to meet a friend at Barnes and Nobles. When I got there, I pulled into a parking spot just as my phone “dinged.” I had a text. I put the car in park, turned off the engine, then grabbed my phone. Tony’s name showed up in a little grey box on my screen. I clicked on it, and there it was: The first sign our lives were going to change because of COVID. In his text, Tony told me that as of the following week, all the offices where [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-03-08T00:33:40+00:00March 8th, 2021|Categories: Acceptance, Change, Routines, Social Distancing, Waiting|Comments Off

Five Reasons To (re)Build Routines in Your Marriage

The Real Secret To Our Marriage (repost)

When Building Routines Means Building Trust

Five of Our Favorite Meal Planning Tips

The Routines Women Struggle With Most

Reminder: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Fact or Fiction: You Can Have the Life You Want

Five Routines Worth Revisiting This Season

When Spring Means Change

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