// josh graduated from 9th grade. the boy is thriving in high school and i love watching him round out his academic success (and struggles) on the basketball team, on stage in drama, in the band playing percussion, and socially with his peers. recap: we homeschooled him full-time K-5th and now he's in a private Christian classical university model school where he is in school 2 days a week and homeschooled the other days. i miss him on the days he's in school but remedied that by getting a job at the school so yeah this schooling arrangement works wonderfully for us. he is such a fun teenager and i'm thankful that i bucked the parenting narrative that the teen years suck. PSA: THEY DON'T. the teen years are when we start to see evidence and glimpses of fruit of the foundation we laid in their toddler and elementary years. as with any phase of parenting: you'll get out of it what you put into it.
// we got a puppy. i fell in love with someone else's french bulldog named winston in december. immediately, i became obsessed and started a search on petfinder for frenchies. in march, by way of divine circumstances, The Winston Himself came to live with us! the Lord hears our prayers. winston is such a sweet little snuggle bug, has no trouble keeping up with his big doggy sisters, and has been such a fun addition to our family. i laughed when my bible study teacher said she gets a new puppy every time one of her children graduates and moves out of the house. look at me now.
// my parents are selling the b&b. my hair stylist knows my true feelings about it but otherwise i'm just praying God's will be done and waiting with a smile.
// i learned that the puffy make-a-wish flower things are dandelions.
// sinusitis, vertigo, ear infection, oh...ugh. i remember when i was a kid, there were days when my mom would stay in bed with lights off and curtains drawn, and a household understanding to be quiet and do not disturb until the vertigo spell subsided. recently, after a bout of sinusitis, i had the opportunity to experience my own vertigo spell for the first time. and prayerfully the last! what is vertigo? oh it feels something like being on a tilt-a-whirl ride on a boat in the ocean during a storm. having motion sickness when i wasn't even in motion seemed really unfair. we're not entirely sure what triggered it (hormones! stress! sinus infection?) but what helped was a full week of stillness, prescription motion sickness meds, and never turning or tilting my head to the right. just when my world stopped spinning, i got an ear infection. AND! a side of guilt when josh caught an ear infection, too. ugh. and now that's behind us, we are looking forward to a HEALTHY SUMMER!
// subscribing, unfollowing, and reading what makes me want to write. most of my email inbox is tuition invoices, ads, Baylor 'bear'ents updates, and order shipping notifications, it's fine. but the emails i legitimately look forward to opening and reading/studying lately are from Letters of Note. my fascination with reading other people's letters began with THIS children's book, was sparked by THIS website/book, and is currently being fed by Letters of Note. a letter written in 2013 by British journalist Caitlin Moran to her preteen daughter lives rent-free in my head. it's free to subscribe to Letters of Note but the heart-brain stimuli i get from reading other people's letters is priceless. and because i like to live by the way of "one in, one out" principle, i lately appreciate the "least interacted with" feature on instagram. afterall, if we aren't interacting, then what is the point? interaction is reciprocal by definition, so sorry but it's not just you, it's also me. so instead of scrolling and not interacting, i have been spending time both reading and enjoying reading things that make me want to write, including God Be In My Head, The Pilgrim's Regress, Austin Kleon's blog, and Walk It Off. on my to-read list is this book because i want confirmation on what i think is the profession in which people within it -by choice!- complain the most about their jobs. any guesses?
// frequent date nights are still a thing and we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in december ❤️ intentionality is hot.
this is a lot of words, my time is up, and that's pretty much what's been going on around here lately:)
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