3 hours ago
Showing posts with label Currently. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Currently. Show all posts
(Note: Affiliate links are used for the books in this post. Thanks for supporting my book habit.)
On The Page {Anything I Read}
{Old-school blogs} I'm trying to get back into reading blogs this month. I've been thinking about that fact that sometimes the only reading we tend to count are books, but many other types of reading are valuable. Shouldn't I be able to count an interesting magazine article, or a short story as part of my reading for the year? And yes, perhaps even blogs? There are other forms of writing we can learn from, be challenged by, and find encouragement within, and I want to honor the time I spend on reading those sorts of things as well. I've especially enjoyed reading The Big White Farmhouse blog, and her "This Week Around The Farmhouse" posts have prompted me to try this new format. I would like to write more in 2025, and sometimes amidst this busier season of life, I make writing too hard on myself. A set format helps.
In My Armchair {Projects I'm Working On}
{Wrapping presents} I actually finished most of my wrapping before December began, but we have a few straggling presents that need to be finished.
{Birthday cards} I started out 2024 very strong on sending out birthday cards to my friends and family, and then I totally dropped the ball over the last 2-3 months. I already sent out my Christmas cards this year, but I would like to attempt to catch up on birthday cards.
In The Kitchen {Things We Made}
{Cinnamon rolls} I made cinnamon rolls from scratch recently, from the recipe in "the red book" as a friend once called it. This is the third time I've made cinnamon rolls - the first time they turned out amazing, the second time they were heavy and dense, the third time was a success again. I have no explanation for this.
{Canning apple butter and apple syrup} A friend from church taught me how to water-bath can this summer, and this is the third time I've tried it. All my jar lids popped within seconds of taking them out of the canner, and I took that as a sign that I am getting better at this. I was fairly freaked out the first time I tried canning, but I'm becoming more and more comfortable with it! Pick up this book if you want to learn how to can preserves safely - it is so helpful, will help you understand the process, and set your mind at ease
.
In The Accounts Book {Money We Have Saved}
{Less coffees out} At the end of November, I dropped my kids off at Awana and decided to grab a Starbucks and do a little browsing. I pulled up to the drive through window, and the barista announced the total. It was seven dollars, for a medium-sized coffee. I think the realization suddenly hit me that this is way too many dollars to be dropping on coffee. I could buy a book with seven dollars! I could make the same thing at home for less than a dollar! We've bought far less coffee since.
{Using old wrapping paper} I used to buy new Christmas wrapping paper each year, until I realized that the half-used rolls of wrapping paper were starting to pile up. I decided to not buy any new wrapping paper until I used up our “scraps” - we are now on the third year of wrapping paper scraps! And I think we honestly could get another year out of the wrapping paper we already have. I’m honestly getting a little sick of the same wrapping paper every year. This is what I get for always buying the rolls with the highest square footage, but monotony aside, it does save us money.
Out My Window {Beauty I Noticed}
{Crunchy snow in the trees} We've had more snow than usual this fall, and alot of crunch snow is hanging on back in the trees. Sometimes the "brown months" feel dreary, but it's amazing how even a few patches of snow can make the entire landscape feel cozier.
On My Person {Things I've Worn}
{All the sweaters} Winter is probably my favorite season to dress for - I'm just a sweaters and boots and cozy coats type of girl. These are just a couple outfits I've worn this month - the Santa sweater was for a Christmas sweater contest with my family! I knew I wouldn't win, because my Christmas sweater isn't crazy enough. I first purchased it for a crazy sweater party we hosted years ago, and I thought the Santa's on it were so outrageous back then...but as I get older, I look at that sweater and think, "Is this actually kind of...cute?" My dad says that's a sure sign I'm getting old. But I do kind of like it. I might wear it non-ironically one of these days
Out And About {Places We Went}
{Christmas lights drive-through} We always see this huge Christmas light display on the side of the interstate, and this year we decided to check it out. I let the kids open new Christmas jammies, and after they changed we all piled in the car with some hot chocolate and drove through the display (for a fee). The music that the lights were synced to was nearly unbearable, but it was still pretty cool. We played our own music and enjoyed the experience. I was sure I would get a migraine from all the flashing lights, but I'm happy to report that I didn't.
{Trail of lights} Every year we go to a Christmas "trail of lights" with my family for my dad's birthday, and this year we all wore ugly Christmas sweaters for fun. It was a great time as always. I was appreciating recently how in-sync we are with our extended family - it is a blessing to not have to stress about serious conflict when we get together because we all think alike on so many things
On My Mind {Thoughts I Want To Share}
{A Christmas tradition} I have to mention a tradition we just started a couple years ago. We were in a Christmas picture book phase, and we picked up a book my aunt gave us years ago called "The Last Straw" - it's story about a family that draws names to do special things for each other in secret. My kids decided we needed to try this, so every week of Advent we drew names, and we had a "secret pal" for a week. We each had to do something nice for our secret pal each day (though we nearly always figured out who our secret person was before the week ended). I thought this would be a one-year activity, but my kids have not let us forget it. Every December they look forward to drawing names and secretly doing things for each other. It brings a smile to my face every time I find a cup of hot chocolate precariously balanced on my bed, a baggy of pretzels on my nightstand, or a plate of toast covertly left where I normally sit with my coffee (yes, there is a general trend toward food gifts). I might say that it teaches my kids to appreciate the joy of giving or something, but I'm not going to make it so didactic. It's just a fun little thing we do.
In My Heart {Things I'm Treasuring}
{1} The glow of the Christmas trees, with pajama-clad sillouettes staring up at the branches.
{2} The warmth coming from the wood stove.
{3} Little dogs that must always sit right down next to me.
{4} Christmas packages from friends.
{5} The way the light shines in our windows first thing in the morning.
{6} A healthy amount of outside commitments.
{7} Time just to be.
It's been a while since I've written a currently post! Honestly, we are at this difficult in-between stage in homeschooling where I know that homeschool is just going to take over my life between the months of September and May - I've accepted it. I have a couple hours this Sunday afternoon, the school week is already planned out, and I am doing a little not-too-serious blogging.
Currently...
Drinking: Holly Jolly coffee. You can see the recipe here.
Wearing: Brand new leggings, because we have a puppy that finds joy in chewing up all my clothes. I have taken something of a break from my no-buy project, because I have had to replace so many items that have been destroyed! She's literally chewed up every one of my workout leggings, among other items (including five dollars - literally, just a five dollar bill she found in my closet). I know this chewing phase will pass, but goodness, at what cost? So far she's dismembered at least $300 worth of stuff. Ouch. At least she's cute.
Reading: Hoax For Hire by Laura Martin. I really enjoy Laura Martin's middle grade fiction - she comes up with such interesting plots. In this one, a family has been hoaxers for generations, fooling people into believing they've seen Bigfoot, Nessie, etc, etc. It is Middle Grade March, so it seemed like a good month to pick it up.
Here are a couple other books I'm reading too.
Watching: Derek and I have been going through Parks & Rec again. Ron Swanson literally (read that the way Chris would say it) makes that show. We've also been catching up on Survivor. We usually wait until after a season has aired and then we subscribe to Peacock for one month and watch it all at once.
Planning: The kids' Easter baskets. I think I might even whip out a separate post about it, just so there's more to read on my poor, sleepy blog. But I found some fun things for their baskets, and I might be more excited about it than they are.
Dreaming: About warm summer days. This is always the stage of spring that drags by for me, as we are constantly teased by warm days bookended by snowstorms. We had a doozy last week, with 27 inches of snow at our house! The kids were thrilled, and I didn't hate it. We took a rare homeschool snow day! However, it's all melting into a muddy mess now, and that is the part that makes me pine for tank tops, pool days, and reading on my porch in the sunshine. Soon.
Listening To: A Johnny Cash playlist. It's just hitting right.
Baking: Alot of bread. I have finally perfected my fresh-ground grain bread recipe for my bread maker, and it turns out perfect every time now. I also was able to experiment at making cinnamon raisin bread and apple bread, and it's been yummy. It's a good way to add some extra protein to our diets, and it takes me about 20 minutes to throw everything into the bread machine. Two hours later, we have a beautiful loaf. Sourdough is nice and everything, but I doubt it can beat the ease of my bread maker recipe ( though I might still try sourdough sometime).
Working On: Cleaning out all the nooks and crannies of our house. When we first moved here, my cabinets and closet were fairly well organized, but the clutter has slowly crept back in. It's amazing how much can accumulate in a short five years! I did a major kid clothes cleanout a few weeks ago, and our SUV is piled full of 8+ bags full of stuff to donate. And I haven't even tackled my closet yet (that's on the agenda for next weekend). I'm looking forward to going through my clothes and packing away the things that I haven't worn this past winter. My method (currently) for getting rid of clothes is packing away items that I haven't wanted to wear over the past season, then revisiting it in a year. If it's packed away and I haven't even thought about it in a year, it's probably safe to get rid of it, so each year I go through my bins and do a final purge. I have to do this two-step process to help me be a little more ruthless on what to consider giving away - it helps me to know I can always undo it before my final purge.
Loving: How laid-back I'm feeling this spring. Aside from the year that I took completely off of social media, this past year I've probably spent the least amount of time I ever have on scrolling. I notice that when I am not constantly bombarded with aesthetic Instagram posts, I feel less compelled to have photographic evidence of everything we do, and hence I'm less stressed and more able to enjoy things and just relax. I've also spent more time communicating with friends through mediums other than social media, and I think that is a really healthy thing. It's just helpful to pause every now and then, and recognize how far I've come in the way I use my phone, and the positive changes I've seen since making adjustments.
Now, I still spend too much time on podcasts and Youtube, but that's a different post. One problem at a time.
Missing...all the beautiful fall leaves! I think we would have had longer fall color this year, but a snowstorm a couple weeks ago took down all the leaves in one fell swoop. Any that were left clinging to tree branches have turned brown. We did get to go out and enjoy the leaves this fall quite a bit, but it still feels like our time was cut a bit short. It's full-on winter in the mountains now!
Thinking...ahead to Christmas season, particularly what books we want to read during December and fun things to incorporate into school. I came up with a bit of an advent morning time plan for our family last year, and I'd like to tweak that and use it again. I also requested an absurd amount of new-to-us Christmas books from the library, and my plan is to sort through them to figure out which ones actually look good enough to add to our Christmas reading plan!
Planning...to start planning out our Thanksgiving Day meal. This year we are hosting my husband's side of the family at our house! This will be the first time I'm hosting a full Thanksgiving dinner as an adult, and I have never before cooked a turkey. I feel this is a rite of passage of sorts, and I'll be researching all the turkey-baking tips and getting everything planned out in the next few days. I feel I'm already cutting things a bit close.
Buying...not alot, since I'm still doing a no-buy project for myself (more on that coming this week). However, I don't like to save Christmas shopping for December, so I need to get moving on purchasing presents. It's weird to be Christmas shopping while still being on guard against buying my no-buy items, and I'm realizing anew how much stress shopping actually adds to my life. But, alas, it must be done, and like it or not, I'm the one who has to do it.
Wanting...to knit each of my kids a scarf for Christmas, but I'm realistic enough to know that is not going to happen. I finally picked up knitting again after a ten-year break, and it's come back to me quite well! I found this book at our little library down the road, and it's giving me all kinds of ideas for cute scarves. I think I am going to start a scarf at least, and perhaps if I work at it I can give all the kids a homemade scarf next year. Why does knitting take so long? I found these funny tags, and these, and after starting to knit again I understand.
Reading...too many books, as always. I am still working on Homecoming by Kate Morton, and I am almost done with The Giant Pumpkin Suite, which is turning out to be pretty good. I would really like to start a Christmas book or two, and I also started reading the Emma M. Lion books after seeing them too many time on Bookstagram (they sounded right up my alley, and I'm enjoying the first book so far). Another book roundup post will be coming once I finish a couple more!
Enjoying...a Veterans Day visit with my childhood friends! Yes, the ones that own a ranch. It's always wonderful to visit with them, and they teach the kids so many things it's practically like a field trip. I always leave wishing we could sell off everything and buy a ranch on the plains! I know how hard my friends work and how much knowledge it takes to be successful ranchers, and I admire how generous and hospitable they are even with all the work they have to do daily.
Loving...quiet weekends at home. Our weeks have been so busy lately, but we've been able to protect our weekends, and it's been so nice. I've been able to breathe a bit and enjoy taking the kids to the park, or reading to them, or getting caught up on laundry. Those are little things, but they give me so much peace of mind in a busy season. I love it when we can work in some weekend adventures, but sometimes you just need to be home, and it's been nice to have a quiet month of weekends before the holiday madness starts.
Currently...
Watching...alot of survival shows. As a family we are watching the latest season of "Alone", and by ourselves Derek and I are rediscovering a series called "I Shouldn't Be Alive". I remember a few years ago catching a terrible stomach bug, and I basically binge-watched this show, and then I forgot about it because thinking about it after that made me feel queasy. I no longer feel queasy about it though, and Derek and I are hooked. I also just discovered this Youtube channel talking about lost hiker stories, so kind of along the same line (except not all of the hikers make it out).
Reading...alot of picture books for the kids, and picking out my favorites for a summer picture book post coming up soon. I'm not sure if anyone needs another picture book list, but I am enjoying putting these posts together because they are lists of our personal favorites - so instead of re-visiting other lists, and trying to remember which books we liked and which ones we didn't, I have my own list to request from the library each year. And hopefully some of you kind find a few winners from the lists too! Here are all of the lists I've done so far.
Sipping...limeade, or homemade virgin pina coladas. I basically just mix together pineapple juice and Silk Coconut, and call it a pina colada. Yum.
Sporting...shorts and dresses, finally, because we've finally had a turn in the weather! It was the rainiest June I remember in a long time, and was quite cold until after July 4th. I still wouldn't say it's as warm as a normal July, at least not in the mountains, but it's so much nicer out than it was. The weather was so unlike summer until just the last couple weeks, so I'm just now getting into summer mode, with less than a month left until we were planning on starting school again. I may just delay our start by a week so summer feels less short.
Trying...to figure out if we can afford a vacation this year, or if we should opt for a staycation. I know everyone is probably hurting financially with this inflation - so many of our monthly bills have gone up in the last few months, and I can't get out of the grocery story under budget anymore. But as I talked about in my last post, we've also had several things break on us this spring/summer - our microwave, Derek's car, our whole tent debacle. And finally, our stove officially died this past week. A few of our buttons were fried by a power surge in June, but we were hoping we could just make do...until I tried preheating the oven and none of the buttons worked. All of these annoying costs are coming out of our vacation budget, so I'm not sure what is going to happen with that now. We will either scrape together enough for an inexpensive camping vacation, or we will do a staycation (which could also be really fun, if we can just sell it right to the kids).
Remembering...that we did at least get to visit an interesting place when we went on a short trip to visit my grandma - Mesa Verde! Mesa Verde National Park has the oldest buildings in North America, thought to be built around 1200 AD (or some maybe earlier). They figured that out by tree ring data - they looked at some of the oldest trees in the park, and then looked at some of the logs used in the building construction, and matched up similar wet/dry season patterns in the tree rings to get to the guess of 1200 AD. I don't know much about the accuracy of that, but it's pretty interesting anyway!
We went on a tour, but a word to the wise, if you sign up for a Mesa Verde tour, it takes about an hour to get from the Mesa Verde Visitor Center to where to tours actually leave. Not knowing this ahead of time, we somehow arrived just on time for our tour, but the tour guide must have left early because there was no one to be seen. We waited until the next tour arrived an hour later, and they pretty much had to let us in since the other tour had departed early. If you ever visit and you schedule a tour there, plan to be at the visitor center at least an hour and a half before your tour time. I thought they should have put some of this information on the website, but really, I should have known better. It's been along time since we had been there.
Looking forward to...taking the kids to the pool in the next couple weeks. We haven't been swimming all summer because of weather and sickness, but I think we might finally make it to the pool next week. There are no outdoor pools near us, but there are a couple in town that have affordably-priced family swim nights. I always stock up on licorice and watermelon before the pool - those are just the traditional pool snacks, I guess.
Growing...a lovely herb garden in our porch greenhouse. My herbs are doing so well this year, despite the cold start to the summer. I want to avoid the mistake I made last year and start harvesting some of the herbs now! My oldest is also growing a tiny straw-bale vegetable garden, and I think it's doing well...we have flowering squash plants right now, so hopefully that's a good sign!
Planning...to start doing a few hikes before summer is over. The mountains are in rare form this year, with all the moisture we got in June, and there are flowers and tall grasses everywhere. It's very lush and colorful, instead brown-tinged and dry like July so often is. I'm loving that we have no fire bans, and I want to take the kids out for some nature journaling and picnics in the next couple weeks.
Preparing...for the school year, but only lightly because I don't want to get myself out of summer mode quite yet. I've mainly been putting together a history syllabus for my 7th grader, and requesting some historical fiction books from the library to screen. I'm hoping to find a few winners for him to read. He'll be studying ancient history this year, for the first time seriously, including the Greeks and Romans. I want to give him some interesting books set in that time period, but books that don't over-glorify those societies either. I know they are important foundational to our current culture and political structure, but they were also Godless, so I'm hoping for something that will give him a realistic (but appropriate) feel for those eras. Open to suggestions if any of you homeschool moms have already studied ancient empires.
Drinking...hot chocolate, in my freshly decorated house, twinkly lights sparkling.
Excited about...telling you all about the big event of the week...we got a puppy! I thought we would wait a while after Harvey before getting another dog, but as I mentioned, I found it particularly sad to come home to a quiet house. I just like having something living at home waiting for us. I was ready for another dog quicker than I thought, but I still thought it would be a while because I wanted to get a dachshund, and whenever we looked at breeders, the prices were $2500 or more. I'm sorry, but that's a little absurd to pay that much for a dog. I'm still a bit flabbergasted that they can actually charge that much.
My mom suggested we look on Craig's List, and despite my general suspicion of Craig's List, we checked it out. We found a dachshund puppy that was ready to be adopted within a week, and for MUCH less than $2500 dollars, I'll tell you that!
We decided to name her Cindy Lou Who, Lulu for short, and she is completely adorable. We got her right around the 9 week mark. It's brought alot of freshness and fun to the house to have her trotting around, climbing on our laps, and yes, chewing on things throughout the day. She's our little Christmas puppy, and we are enjoying our new furry family member.
So, fair warning, all the pictures in this post are pretty much going to be of Lulu.
Relieved to...be done with Christmas decorating. We got everything set up in stages last weekend, and now we can sit back and enjoy it! I don't know why, but Christmas decorating was stressing me out this year. There is just so much to set out, and so much to have to put away again later. But now that it's done, I'm loving the lights and I'm in a festive mood. Thanksgiving should have it's time, but we've always decorated the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving advocate though I am, I prefer decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. That way we can move right into the Christmas season without too much stress!
Working on...figuring out what Thanksgiving pie I want to bring to my mom's house. I think I might try a lemon meringue.
The notorious lemon meringue. I've written alot about it before, so I won't get into it again.
Speaking of pies, I watched this video of Irish people trying Thanksgiving pies for the very first time, and it just made me feel happy! (Warning, there is some bad language in this video.) Plus, the cherry pie they used was weird, no wonder they didn't like it. And they did NOT try a lemon meringue, which I feel is very much a Thanksgiving pie. There was some debate in the comments about whether a cherry pie actually is a Thanksgiving pie, and now I'm wondering if people eat lemon meringue on Thanksgiving, or if that's just a thing in my family. Do you eat cherry or lemon meringue on Thanksgiving? Or just pumpkin and pecan all the way?
Planning to...wrap Christmas presents within the next week or so. Wrapping presents is one of those tasks that Derek and I often leave until it's Christmas Eve, when we suddenly remember that there is still a present stash under our bed. It's just not satisfying to wrap presents when you know all that hard work is going to be undone within 24 hours. I've decided that early is actually way better than late in this instance, and I'm going to get them done sooner this year.
Watching...the PBS version of Little Women that came out a couple years ago - Little Women seems like such a Thanksgiving movie to me, in every version. This version is pretty good so far - I like the guy they got to play John much better than the one in the 1994 movie.
Buying...I'm actually trying to abstain from most of the Black Friday shopping this year - I already bought Christmas presents, and I need to try not to blow the budget. We are strongly considering buying this theology curriculum to do with the kids though, because it's supposed to be 25% off on Monday. And I did succumb and buy more of my favorite foundation. I was going to need to buy some more in a month or two anyway, and this kind lasts me for 4-5 months easily, so it's a pretty good deal even when it's not 30% off. I feel like it looks very natural and skin-like, and it covers really well, but don't get the matte product! It's not nearly as good, and I learned that the hard way. What sales are you eyeing for the coming week?
Listening to...this playlist of rather obscure Christmas hymns that I put together using the list from this book from G3 ministries as a reference. Some of these I had never heard before, and some I only have a vague memory of. The kids and I became attached to "Good Christian Men, Rejoice", and we've been humming and singing it all over the house. It's fun to add good, Christ-centered songs to our Christmas repertoire! Note: There are multiple versions of some hymns on the playlist because I'm still trying to decide which one I like best.
Thankful for...so many things, as I'm sure I say every year.
I'm thankful for Jesus, for His death to pay for my sin and His resurrection to blot them away forevermore.
I'm thankful for my family always, I'm thankful to live in America. I'm thankful for our new little dog. I'm thankful for the crisp cold weather, and I'm thankful for a cozy home to snuggle into as winter sets in.
I think I'm particularly thankful for home this year, and everything that entails - good food, warm blankets, children laughing from the other room and running through the house, a dog to sit at my feet, stacks of books, songs sung all throughout the day, hot drinks, the clicking of laptop keys as Derek works in the loft, kids sounding out words and math books spread all over the tables, craft projects and masterpieces and messes to pick up, five heads of hair to cut and fix, cold cheeks to kiss, and snowy boots on the floor.
I don't always love every bit of that, I don't feel as thankful as I should, but when it comes down to it, I am grateful for all of it. Even the messes that I get to pick up, because the Lord gives me that chance to do even a small task for Him. All of it is a gift from God, tiny little blessings and evidences of His grace to sinners, reminders that He loves us and gave us the ultimate gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and a perfect Home to come with Him.
There is always more to be thankful for than you think there is, and thanksgiving is a beautiful form of praise. Maybe even more beautiful when you find yourself in a season when it's hard to offer. So I hope you all are overwhelmed with the abundance of blessings He gives you every day, but even if the blessings are harder to see for whatever reason, know that thanking God for what you have is just as beautiful a sacrifice of praise when it's bittersweet.
But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:29-30
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together! Psalm 34:1-3
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
Feeling...Really good about how our start to the homeschool year is going. I started using Sarah MacKenzie's notebook scheduling method, and it has honestly changed everything! We are getting SO MUCH done, way more than in years past, and it's been pretty easy to keep on top of, even three weeks into the school year. It's helping me keep the kids' work organized and not forget about things I wanted to do, and I am loving it.
Organizing...lots of clothes, and not because I'm switching to fall clothes - not yet. No, I have been sorting through everyone's drawers and packing things for a vacation to North Carolina! I wasn't sure if we would be able to take an official vacation this year (New Mexico was a long weekend trip), but we finally got everything finalized! We are going to be driving with five kids across the country, WHILE trying to homeschool in the car. Wish us luck. (I'm sounding nervous, but actually I have a pretty organized plan for carschooling, which I will share on the blog soon!)
Baking...a key lime pie, because my parents are coming over for dinner tonight. I tell you, I'm really getting into baking pies. Pies feel so domestic and homey, and they're surprisingly quick to throw together once you get a recipe down. I love it when the kids come up to the counter, peer over the edge of the dish, and then run off yelling "Mom is making a pie!" Do I want my kids to have memories of their mom making pies? Absolutely, yes.
Reading...I have really been loving the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series lately. The characters are so lovable, and the mysteries are not terrible at all. It's a cozy mystery series, but with a fun twist of being set in Botswana. I've also been listening to Skeletons On The Zahara, also set in Africa, but the complete opposite of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in every way.
Watching...Derek and have been re-watching the documentary from the History Channel about Ulysses S. Grant. I love it just as much the second time around. It's so well-done, and it makes me reflect on how the Lord really does choose the times and places where we live (Acts 17:26) for a purpose. I don't know if Grant was a believer, but from the documentary, I know that he was mediocre at pretty much everything, barely scraping by for most of his life to support his family, and had very little gifting or talent - except in the exact qualities and skills he needed to be an amazing general and win us the Civil War. I have no doubt God placed Grant exactly where he was in history just for that purpose, and gave him the exact talents that he needed to help the country get past that dark time.
Worried...that we are going to miss the fall leaves on our trip. Usually, I was thinking we would be back in time for the peak week of leaf season, but things seem to be changing a little early this year. All the trees and bushes started getting a yellow hue a couple weeks ago, and there are some bright gold leaves popping up on the ends of scattered tree branches. Here's to hoping that the fall colors will hold off until we get back! I told Derek that we are never going on vacation in Autumn again. I get too stressed about the leaf situation.
Loving...that I think my sense of smell is mostly back. I can't remember if I've mentioned it on the blog, but my smell has been wacky since last November, which is when I'm pretty sure I actually got Covid. I really have very little trust in those tests, because we supposedly had it in September 2021, but I'm almost certain now that wasn't correct.
Anyway, I couldn't smell anything immediately after our November illness, and after a couple weeks of being very stressed about it, I started doing smell-training - which is basically choosing a scent that you know very well, and sniffing it very hard while concentrating on smelling for 20 seconds, and doing that daily until something starts to happen. I got quite a few smells back that way. (What were the first smells I worked on? Coffee, and books.)
However, for a long time, I had to be really concentrating to smell things - I couldn't just walk into a room and tell if it smelled good, I had to focus on smelling and then I sometimes could. I then had a brief period in the summer where lots of perfumes smelled completely terrible.
That weird experience lasted a couple weeks, and has mostly gone away. I can smell pretty much anything now! Sometimes without even trying! I did have to sniff-train myself to smell this scent from Bath and Body Works the other day, but it only took me a few hours to be able to smell it.
Enjoying...fall soaps. Speaking of Bath and Body Works!
Planning...on ways that I can preserve the herbs in my little herb garden before we leave on vacation. It just occurred to me that if I don't do something with them now, I'll probably return from our trip to a garden of dead herbs. I'm planning on freezing the mint leaves in ice cubes, freezing the rosemary sprigs, drying and crunching up the basil into basil flakes, hang-drying the lavender, and making mint and lavender syrups. Should be a busy couple days of work! Next year I'm going to harvest and preserve all through the summer and build up a little herb cabinet, instead of waiting until fall. I'm by no means a gardener, Derek keeps my herbs alive, but each year I get better at figuring out how to make good use of them.
Currently...
Celebrating...The end of the school year, and to mark it our crazy mountain weather dumped 1.5 feet of snow on us, with several other smaller snowstorms in the last two weeks as well. It put a damper on our summertime feelings, but I am very grateful for the moisture. The grass greened up significantly since that big snowstorm, and before that it was scarily dry. Here's to hoping for no fires this year!
Trying...to recover from our Memorial Day weekend trip, which was so fun but also took all my energy. We took a road trip to New Mexico, to see a couple of the National Parks down there - Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands (with a brief stop at Guadeloupe Mountains National Park in Texas, and Petroglyph National Monument and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on the way home).
My kids especially loved Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We saw Mammoth Cave with them last fall, and I think Mammoth Cave was a good starter cave - Carlsbad was the ultimate goal though, and they were ready for it. We walked over two miles of trails inside the caverns, and the kids were fascinated with all the formations. Clarice frequently reminded us "Don't touch the formations!", and Georgie quietly walked through the trails and occasionally declared that she was "kind of freaking out". But no one was too afraid, and we all enjoyed the adventure! We also enjoyed watching the bats fly out in the evening, while marveling at the inability of some people to understand what "silent" means. Any little noise can spook the bats and prevent them from flying out of the cavern, and yet still people were fiddling with bags, opening food wrappers, knocking around water bottles and allowing their children to cry without taking them away from the amphitheater. I'm proud to say our kids were silent and still though, and we did get to see a little flurry of bats anyway.
White Sands National Park was also impressive and a little mind-blowing - the sand stretched for miles, and if you didn't know better, you would think it was snow. We tried going in the middle of the day, but if you are going to visit this park, this time you want to be there is 7-9 PM. The light turned pretty, the wind died down, and the park was relatively quiet! Here are a few photos, but these are just the ones I took with my phone - when I get my big camera photos edited, perhaps I'll share more.)
We came home to 3 inches of snow on June 1st, which thankfully melted off immediately. I can't be too bummed about the incongruent weather when I see sparkling water trickling along the road and quenching the dry grass. We even had some flowers springing up despite the cold!
Giving...some thought to sharing the homeschool posts I promised a while back. I intended to write a few homeschool-related posts in March, but for some reason March and April became extremely busy. Maybe it just comes with getting older, but I find myself drained alot more easily in recent months by too many days out of the house or excessive socializing. I have thought of myself for years as an "ambivert", leaning toward an extrovert, but the pendulum has seemed to swing back to the introverted side for right now.
May was a little frantic because my dear friend moved away to another state (yes, I cried a few times), we were trying to wrap up school, and then I immediately had to start switching out the kids' clothes from winter to summer and prepare for our trip.
All that to say, my homeschool posts never got written, but I hope to rectify that soon. I still have some ideas swirling around in my mind, and I may even make a rare foray back to Instagram to share a few thoughts or curriculum videos in the next couple months! A couple people have specifically asked me what we've been using for language arts, so that's the first topic on my list.
Wearing...I really can't decide what to write here. I'm still wearing long pants (the snow, you know), but with sandals, wearing my hair curly (which I like better now that my hair is longer), wearing this eyeshadow palette (so light and pretty). Wearing this body spray (smells like summer laundry), this lip oil. Wearing out my earbuds from listening to a bunch of chic-lit audiobooks (thanks Katherine Center and Chanel Cleeson).
Taking...charge of the budget. I have been a little lazy about my budget over the last year, but in 2022, with this ridiculous inflation, there is no more wiggle room for that. My method is to plot out every event I have going on each month on one of those little $1 monthly planners, estimate how much each event is going to cost me in gas, eating out, etc, and then work around that. I've also gone back to our repertoire of cheaper meals so I can stock our pantry a bit each month, as so many people seem to be doing. We already have quite a good amount of noodles, grains (for flour), oatmeal, rice, and dry beans - this month I want to stock up on sugar and coffee. You can make all kinds of things with those essentials!
Reading...alot of fiction, especially on audio, and it's been great for getting out of my reading rut. I think I was just getting bogged down in too much nonfiction - my brain gets tired, and then I don't want to read at all. Re-finding my fiction/nonfiction balance has been good. I just got The Lost Man by Jane Harper from the library, so hoping to start that this week, and I finished a bunch of books in the last couple weeks, so a book roundup is coming!
Watching...this amazing video about fractals. Apparently the solutions to certain mathematical equations can be graphed, and when they are, they create amazingly complex shapes that repeat themselves for infinity. You have to watch the video to fully appreciate how complex and crazy this is. It's amazing to me that God hid these incredible shapes in math, for goodness sake! It reminds me of this verse:
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
Indeed.
How has the start to your summer been, friends?
(I was thinking about doing a post with "Sunday best" spring outfits, but who knows when that will actually happen, so I'm just going to use one of the pictures here!)
Currently...
Reading...A book called The Mistress Of Mellyn by Victoria Holt. If you like Daphne Du Maurier books, Holt's books have a very similar gothic vibe! I like gothic-feeling books in the fall, but somehow they also work for me in the spring. Maybe it's the contrast between the cool, bright air, and the moody book.
Planning...to get back to the gym more this spring. I have been slacking on working out since February, but I was feeling generally yucky the other day, and decided it's time to step it up again. I even had Derek go to our little mountain gym with me and show me how to work some new machines.
Getting...tired of the non-stop spam calls and "we're taking a survey" texts, not to mention the RELENTLESS emails from the GOP even though I've tried to unsubscribe from the emails 20 times since 2020. I'm THIS close to voting for a Democrat out of spite. (I'm also 100% kidding about that. I could never vote for a pro-abortion candidate).
(Got this tumbler as a surprise in the mail yesterday - it makes me chuckle!)Going...a little crazy as a homeschool mom. It's the end of the school year, subjects are dropping off left and right, and my little tribe is DONE. We have three weeks of school left, we finished our math and reading curricula, and it's getting harder and harder to wrangle them in the mornings. I wanted to finish out a couple of my goals for the school year, but I'm strongly considering just giving up and doing some unit studies until we fulfill our days.
Thinking... alot about how we as younger women (let's just say under 40) tend to look at the wrong people for our cues on how we should be living life. 
For instance, on social media we follow aesthetically pleasing accounts, or read words that are well put together, and we want our lives to look just like that. We can even see someone in real life who has it together, or has achieved something we wish we could do, and we think we need to take advice from that person. And so often these pictures of life that we are looking up to are people that are our PEERS - the same age or life stage as us. They really don't have any more experience in life than we do, but they LOOK like they have it together, so we seek their advice and try to emulate them.
But the Bible says we are supposed to be taught by the OLDER women, women who have that life experience and have learned wisdom, what it means to be faithful. Why don't we younger women look to them more? Why do we think that the person who is the same age/life stage as us is qualified to give us marriage, mothering, or homeschool tips when she's right in the thick of it and doesn't have any more perspective than we ourselves do? Why don't we find wise, OLDER Christian women to emulate? I might hash this out more in a future post, but I've been thinking about it.
Taking...a deep breath. It's stuffy in my house, and I just went out on the porch for a minute. The air outside is cool and refreshing, and my breath finally reached the bottom of my lungs. I like Spring more and more as I get older.
I am going to attempt to type this up while the kids are listening to their science textbook on audio. Right now the narrator is talking about narwhals. Aren't narwhals interesting animals? I'm already getting distracted.
It's a good day for a "currently" post.
Currently...
Listening to...Well, at this very moment I am listening to a very cheerful narrator talk about baleen whales, but I have also been listening to Martin Luther by Eric Metaxes on audio this week. I highly recommend that book on audio - I had a hard time staying focused when I attempted to pick up the hardback last year, but it's hard to hit pause on the audiobook! I've also been thinking about how difficult it must be to write a biography of a person that lived 500 years ago. You'd want to make sure your information was right, but I imagine there would be a lot of digging through legends and misinformation.
Watching...I've been watching a lot of Gilmore Girls this month, and I am remembering anew how much disappointment comes with the later seasons of Gilmore Girls. They ruined Rorys's character for me at the end of Season 4, I despise Logan, and why can't the characters just be happy for goodness sake? It's been years now since I watched the reboot movie on Netflix, so I may have to track that one down again, because I can't remember what happened to Lorelei in the end. I remember what happened to Rory, but the weird ending was not a surprise since I gave up on her finding love a long time ago.
That was a lot of thoughts about Gilmore Girls, but I have been watching other things too. I recently rediscovered American Gospel TV, and there are a lot of great videos on there for free! I've been considering a subscription, because I'm a documentary nerd, and everything I've seen from them has been edifying.
It's definitely time better spent than all the Gilmore Girl nonsense, but I've been enjoying both overall.
Wearing...All the things in this post, but especially warm flannels, and I've officially broken out my sweater collection this week. It's cold lately! We finally got our wood-burning stove working properly as well, and we've been enjoying cheerful fires this week. Now just to dig out my fuzzy socks.
Reading...I have been in a major reading rut this month, unfortunately. I am attempting to read Lianne Moriarty's new book, but it's just not grabbing me at all. I'm going to attempt to give it a proper go this weekend, but I'm not optimistic. I think the other problem is that we have been ridiculously busy this month. This is the first week where I don't have more than two days spent out of the house during the week (two days is still too much for me right now). And then this weekend we have plans to visit a pumpkin patch, go to the kids' last soccer game, have lunch with Derek's dad, and possibly go on a hike. Now that I'm thinking about it, planning for any reading time this weekend is probably optimistic in itself. I think things will start to slow down in November.
My morning books (ie. books I read after devotions, before starting my day) have been going much better, and I'm making good progress on In The Year Of Our Lord. I should be able to finish that one this month.
Drinking...More chai tea and coffee. Not a lot new there. I will say, however, that Derek and I have both decided that the International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer is particularly good. It does not taste like a pumpkin candle, but has the appropriate amount of cinnamon and spice in it.
Prepping...For lots of thankfulness activities with the kids in November. I've been feeling like I need to put more effort into celebrating Thanksgiving. Not only is a uniquely American holiday, but it's a Christian holiday that has not been corrupted as much as even many of the others. It's difficult and unnatural to be "thankful" without recognizing Who we are giving thanks to, and there's not much else to the holiday except being thankful. I actually bought a Thanksgiving tree, and plan on decorating it with "leaves", pieces of paper expressing all the blessings God has given us. We have friends who do this with their kids each year, and I have been wanting to start a similar tradition leading up to Thanksgiving - this is the year it is going to happen. I've also been searching for gratitude worksheets, Bible studies, etc, and I'll probably have more on that in the next couple weeks.
Planning...For Reformation Day next week! I got this great new Reformation Day guide that I am going to work through with the kids this year, and it has all kinds of treats and activities that will keep the celebration fresh. I'm planning on heading to the store this weekend for a few ingredients and supplies to make it a fun week.
Borrowing...Derek's big flannel shirt coat. I told you, it's cold out there!
Buying...Christmas wrapping paper! I mentioned earlier this week how I am concerned that wrapping paper may be one of those things that becomes scarce because of supply chain issues. Our Hobby Lobby has no wrapping paper right now, which is unheard of this late in October. Thankfully on Tuesday I found a couple mega rolls of double-sided wrapping paper at Sam's, so we should be set!
Eating...Derek and I went to this really cool ice cream shop last night while the kids were in Awana, and we tried rolled ice cream. It was just too impressive not to share. Please enjoy this 30 second video, and try to watch to the end if you can, because that's when it gets interesting!
Looking forward to...Is it awful if I say I am looking forward to the end of my 31 Days Of Old-School Blogging challenge? On the one hand, I've been enjoying taking more time to write and share posts on the blog this month, and I think this is the first year ever that I've made it this far into the month of October without missing a day. I actually feel quite accomplished, and I know it'll be so satisfying to finally make it 31 days after 3 or 4 years of trying! But on the other hand, I have let a lot of things fall through the cracks this month - reading is a good example, and finishing my photo album project is another. There are cardboard boxes of photos scattered on shelves and counters, waiting for me to get my act together. I also wanted to get my Christmas newsletter written (I figure taking a year off social media calls for sending out an actual newsletter), but I have no writing time left to spare until this month is over. I love October writing challenges because it kind of gives me a burst of writing energy and creativity at a point in the year when I usually need it - but I'm ready to catch up on everything that I've put on the back burner.
Currently...
Reading...a book called Lit! A Christian Guide To Reading Books by Tony Reinke. Reinke wrote another book I loved called 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You. I've had Lit on my shelf for a couple years, and I'm finally getting around to finishing it. It is really good! If you are a reader, or want to be a reader, or want a Christian argument for a healthy reading life, this book might be for you.
I'm also re-reading Jane Eyre with my bookish friends, and I treated myself to this pretty copy.
Surprised at...how much it already feels like fall at my house. When I sit on the porch in the mornings now, I can just feel it in the air. There is a slight whiff of fall spiciness now and then, and my wax current bushes have sections of leaves that are starting to turn golden. Usually I am ready for fall before the fall is, but this year the fallishness is catching me by surprise. I don't know why, but it feels too early.
Smiling about...the memories of last weekend, when we took them to a local amusement park as a reward for finishing their library reading challenge. This amusement park is fun for all ages, but also accommodating for younger kids. Georgie (3) and Clarice (5) were able to go on most of the rides. Seeing the smiles on the faces of all my kids as they shrieked and shouted on the rides was so satisfying, and I was surprised by how much the little girls loved the rides! Georgie especially had a look of pure joy on her face whenever the rides started going fast, and I hope I never forget it.
Ignoring...the fact that we are supposed to start school next week. Another odd development is that I don't feel ready to re-start homeschooling with the kids this year. Usually by August all the back-to-school buzz has rubbed off on me, but this year I find myself wishing that I could push it off a little longer. I think my compromise is going to be that we are going to start slowly. More on that next week! (Edited to add that as I was typing this, I realized the kids are playing school with their stuffed animals in the other room. Maybe they are more ready to start than me!)
Anticipating...a fun trip that we are going to be taking in less than two weeks! I must admit, I'm also a little anxious about it, because it seems that there are any number of ways that our trip could be canceled or messed up (What if the government puts on some new mandate?, What if we get sick and have to cancel?). I'm going to not say anymore at the moment, and just pray that nothing interferes. You'll read more after it happens! (Sorry, this whole section is a little unfair, isn't it?)
Spending...money on photo albums. I decided that during this last week before school, I needed to try to accomplish some of the projects I have been putting off all summer. One of those projects was to organize the photos I had printed last year into albums. Let's just say that project ended up being a general disaster. I spent hours yesterday reorganizing some of the albums I already owned to make room for more photos, and then when it came time to actually put in the printed photos (from the year 2013 - that's how far behind I am), I figured out that I had missed a bunch of photos that I wanted from that year. So I then spent hours trying to find them on my computer, re-load them onto the Walmart website, and order the missing photos. Do you see why I've been putting this project off? I was still struggling with the Walmart website at 10:00 PM last night! The uploading is going smoother today, and I ordered pretty albums for the 2019 and 2020 photos that have been sitting in a box in my closet for over a year. Maybe someday I'll catch up. I just need a month of days with nothing else to worry about but this photo project. Is that too much to ask?
Also, found this scary photo when I was sorting yesterday - I can't believe I let Derek go to bull-riding school! What was younger me thinking?
Saving...I have been attempting for a couple years to save money for a surprise for Derek's 40th birthday (actually, this is the thinking that led to the aforementioned bull riding school - it was Derek's 30th birthday present). Saving is not going well. In the last couple months my fund has been devastated by a variety of things that came up (some necessary, some that should have been avoidable). So now I'm trying to save double-time to repair the damage. The ridiculous gas prices have not helped my saving efforts. I told Derek the other day that I couldn't figure out why I was struggling so much with my budget lately, and then he reminded me that it costs twice as much to go anywhere these days, and since we live in a rural area we have always had to spend more than average on gas. The silver lining is that with the school year starting up, we will be staying home more often, which should reflect in my bank account.
Enjoying...the hummingbirds. I think we have had more hummingbirds this year than in years past, and if we just step outside the door, in less than a minute we will hear one whizzing past. A couple of them have even got trapped in our house! We find that the best way to get them back out is just to ignore them until they figure it out - when we try to wave them toward the open door they just beat themselves harder on the nearest window. They are even more active lately, and I know they are zipping around, finding the last bits of nectar before they had back south. I'll miss them when they are gone.
Admiring...the beautiful blue skies today! Our state has been covered in a blanket of smoke most of the summer, from fires in Oregon and California. It's been a little gloomy, honestly, with grey smoggy skies and hot weather - it hasn't felt much like summer. Every day that we have a clear blue sky, I am thankful. It makes everything seem more cheerful.
Watching...I've weirdly been in the mood to watch Jaws lately. I haven't seen Jaws in probably 15 years. We haven't watched it yet though - mostly I've been watching Youtube videos of my favorite political podcasts, but I'm feeling the need to ease up a bit on that. With everything going on with various mandates and Afghanistan, I'm starting to feel that bit of anxiety creep in, so I think it would be better to switch to sermons for a while. I can't imagine how much more stressful everything would seem if I wasn't off social media (see what I did there?).
Drinking...chai tea - like real chai tea with honey and cream. This is my favorite chai tea, FYI.
What are you up to lately?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
