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State of the Blog Address

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Hello.

It’s been a while.

I’ve been distracted.

And I don’t just mean I’ve been pregnant and having a baby. Or changing jobs. Or blending a family.

Recently, I realized how out of touch I have been. I’ve been on a ride. The past few years post-pandemic have been rife with change and constant adjustment. We have been out of routine for so long… what even is a routine? And the coping skills and mindset I had when my world fell apart and I got divorced have escaped me. In the midst of all these things, I have felt like I was doing little more than surviving. Going with the flow in a way that wasn’t positive. Being shackled to a schedule I wasn’t managing.

After the baby came, I had some time to reflect. And while the world looks lots different today than it did years ago, one thing is for certain- motherhood, wifehood, and family remain my number one priority. And this has dictated all of my choices the past few years. And it is time to prioritize the things that ensure that I am my best in order to serve my family. That includes prioritizing my health and home and being the best example I can be to my family.

I have been wrestling with a scarcity mindset lately. Feeling less than, feeling like I didn’t have enough, that I wasn’t enough. I think that’s been the biggest difference between then and now- when I was afraid of having nothing, I practiced gratitude for what I did have and it made all the difference. Lately, I have gotten away from that. And in the face of this economic and emotional climate among other things, I need to get back in touch with that.

I have a lot of art supplies sitting at home. I’ve been part of a Book of the Month subscription service and haven’t read the books. I have a billion hikes saved and recipes and family activities pinned that I haven’t hiked or made. Instead of searching for what’s next, I’m looking for what I’ve got. I’m resourceful! I’m creative!

I’m cooking through my Pins.

I’m reading my books.

I’m creating my art.

I’m using clearspace to manage my phone time.

I’m hiking my hikes.

I’m doing FHE.

I’m getting back to me so we can be us.

This blog has been a lot of things over the years. And I really love blogging. It’s easy to get caught up in what’s popular or gaining traction. What’s making money. My blog has never been a money-maker. At its height, I have had several thousand followers and received free products. That was years ago. Then I thought it could be a helpful tool for families and people trying to engage with the outdoors. Now, I think I want it to just be what I want it to be. And I want it to document my/our journey through cooking through my Pinterest board. Making family memories with less. Regulating myself so I can help my family do the same. And I’m going to blog a little as I go as well.

I don’t know that I really need a big announcement to change direction, but I wanted to express what’s been on my mind for so long.

Welcome back.

Kirtland Ohio Church Sites

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Our other stop in Ohio was the church history sites at Kirtland, Ohio.  We love historic sites, and the church sites are always so wonderful to visit. They are always free to visit as well!

At Kirtland, they have a really small but nice visitors center.  They show a film and there are some exhibits as well.  There are sister missionaries there to give tours of the six historic buildings available to visit.   

We did the tour and the kids were very interested in the historic buildings.  The ashery was of particular interest to them, as they showed us how they would burn wood and make potash and pearl ash there and what they did with those products. 

We also visited the temple in Kirtland which is owned by the Community of Christ, but we were unable to visit the visitors center as it was closed at this time. 

After exploring the grounds of the temple, we headed to Pennsyvania and spent some time by the lake.  We got pizza and ice cream and watched the sun go down.  A lovely end to a beautiful day.

Goal Recap 2022

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I read this the other day- or something similar- Not hitting the goal doesn’t mean you didn’t win.

I absolutely have pretty much always lived by this. It’s not win or lose, it’s win and/or learn always. This year was unique by a mile. And we did not hit all of our hiking goals for this past year. But we still did some amazing things in our hiking world.

One of our goals was to hike out west. For spring break, most of us went on a trip out to New Mexico. One of my favorite trips of all time! This trip involved a TON of hiking. And some really gorgeous and special hikes for our family.

Another goal was to hike in every state that borders Missouri. If you aren’t aware, Missouri has the most states that border it in the union! We did Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois and that was it. Not a great showing.

We did not hike Taum Sauk this year and we did not do any backpacking. Both of these I had thought were low hanging fruit.

One hike per week is what we averaged, but it didn’t actually go one per week. So sort of yes, sort of no.

All in all, I learned a ton this year. We had a lot going on this year. I know everybody does, but one thing that was unique was that both Kareem and I had big professional shifts that had big repercussions for how we were able to spend our time outside of work. The world also opened up, and our kids are getting older. We had more social and extracurricular obligations. We learned a lot about balance.

Not hitting all our goals though didn’t mean we didn’t have some major wins in our hiking world. I did a couple challenges, and in the fall, I was able to really do a lot more hiking than I had up until that point.

Another thing I definitely learned was how much I truly value hiking. I missed it. We bond so much as a couple and as a family during our regular hikes. And I personally gain so much from it as an individual. I am looking forward to a new year- the kids have some great ideas for hiking goals this year! I am hoping to blog more about it this year (as I say every year), but I am not sure how much- every hike, some hikes, a monthly recap? If you have ideas, let me know!

I Love a Challenge

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It’s World Watercolor Month this month. July. For me, typically, this would mean that I would look up the prompts, write them all in my day planner, and then do all I could to create AT LEAST thirty-one works of art that match the daily prompts, all in watercolor. I would post them with the hashtag. If I missed a day, I might do two the next day. If I knew I had plans that would get in the way, I would plan (in my day planner) how to make up that prompt.

January. A lovely month. Fresh start, new year, all that. For me, it means the yearly daily yoga challenge. I started a Facebook group of anyone who wants to encourage each other. And I post the calendar, and I do the days, and I love it.

I love a challenge. No spending challenge? I’m down. DIY date challenge? Count me in. That ice bucket challenge? I totally did it! 52 hikes- let me do 146! Daily yoga, daily painting, read the books, take the walks, whatever. I’m in.

This year, it’s July 5. I haven’t even started World Watercolor Month. Today, I looked at the prompts and my calendar. I started to put them in. I whited them out. I made a list of things I want to create myself. When I got home tonight, I knew I should paint. I spent 20 minutes on Tik Tok. (I’m currently doing an indefinite no social media challenge except Facebook and TikTok. It’s completely arbitrary, but it’s going well.). Then I got out my palette and began gathering my supplies. Then I couldn’t find my tracing pad. I couldn’t find my box of new paints I wanted to use. I didn’t have any more paper towels and I couldn’t find my painting towel. So then I sat next to the supplies I gathered, and painting seemed like a chore. It did not feel like what I wanted to do at all.

But the challenge! Today’s prompt? “Welcome.” Today’s plan? A window with a flower box. I grabbed my computer and started to write instead.

Why is a challenge not intriguing me today??

I think it’s just because life has been challenging lately. And I just feel like doing me. At first, I felt a little like a failure, not rising to the challenge. But then I thought, who’s gonna know? Me? And who cares? Me? Do I really care about this? I’ve risen to lots of other challenges this year. How bout the my husband lost his job with the holidays around the corner challenge? How about the got Covid for the second time challenge? How about the my kid’s having trouble at school challenge? How about the we’re blending our families challenge? How about the career challenges? The life challenges? And were these fun? I mean, sometimes. There was definitely a lot of fun to be had amongst these challenges, whether they themselves were fun or not. And did I learn a lot? Heck yes. But maybe there’s not room for these other challenges right now when I’ve got other challenges to tend to.

Or maybe there is, but I’m filling that up with other stuff. Maybe it’s time to enjoy that invincible summer inside me for a while. Maybe these little not-so-little moments that make up the fabric of our lives, the weeknight ordinary evenings amongst the challenging times- the trips to the library, the walks around the neighborhood, a quiet evening hike, a couple hours volunteering at the food pantry, a fire in our backyard, a selfie stolen between moments watching our kids play in the park, friends tie dying in the backyard with us, a snuggle, a reading session outside together, tending the garden, making a new recipe for dinner- maybe those are the things I want and need to focus on right now. Or maybe I just want to hike however many times I want, do yoga as often as I want, paint however many paintings I want. And maybe I’m just going to do them on Wednesday. World Watercolor Month, I’ll see ya when I see ya.

Homebody// Love at Home

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In February, we wanted to go away for Valentines Day. We were saving money for it. And when it came down to it, it felt burdensome to even attempt. Kareem thought, well for the amount of money we were going to spend, we could buy our own inflatable hot tub! And that’s what he did. If you’re rolling your eyes right now, I was too. It sat in parts until my birthday in late April. Finally we assembled it, filled it, and let it heat up. The first night in the hot tub was truly blissful. I could not believe how much relief I felt.

Last year for my birthday, Kareem got me a treepod. Have you seen these? It’s ridiculous, kind of expensive, and incredible. It’s a “hanging cabana.” So he got this for me against my will and then it just sat around. Kareem and a friend were going to build a contraption to hang it from. Anyway, this year for my birthday, he got a stand together for it. And it is amazing!

My backyard is an oasis. My backyard dreams have really been coming together over the past few years. I got these ridiculous pieces, but I also wanted string lights since we moved in. Check. Trampoline. Check. Swing set. Check. Raised beds. Check. It is becoming my favorite place. And between every busy thing we have going on, I just want to hang out in my backyard!

We have been traveling less. Not only because it seems like our time is not ours and stuff is happening constantly, but also because pandemic and the joy of my perfect backyard. (jokes) But seriously, I am itchy to travel. It’s really the T I M E that is holding me back. I have no idea how I used to do it!

I guess one could say that I made time for it, but also I think the circumstances of life have changed. My job has changed and the commitments of my children have changed. Another huge change is sharing my kids with their dad and my stepson with his mom. There are just a lot of moving parts.

I flew twice in 2020, which I didn’t share much about at the time because it was somewhat a controversial choice. I flew to Utah and Orlando in the fall. Since then, we have mostly driven, though I did fly a few times last year. But I have not been out of the country since pre-pandemic. I had two international trips planned for 2020, but did not get to go of course. Now the world is opening up, but my schedule is not.

In the meantime, we are making things happen and at the end of the day, I have my backyard paradise. Adventure is out there, but it’s also right here. The kids are always singing the song Love at Home (sometimes by choice, sometimes by force). They’re right- there is beauty all around when there’s love at home. <3

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