here from virginia - want your faith renewed google older man and strangers on I-95. Poor man didn't have a map and was trying to get to Florida and made it only with the help of 7 strangers!!!
Happy Friday everyone! Congratulations on making it through the first week of 2022! I was supposed to have a glorious weekend (part creative energy alone time/part girls trip) at our families lake house, but stupid Omicron had other plans. Next time! (Please tell me another a-hole variant is not going to ruin my plans!) I still have hopes of spending a few hours at a coffee shop tomorrow and digging into my new planner. Send prayers because I'm already having avoidance issues with this one and have only managed to write the numbers of the months in. Hahaha!
I want to leave you with this sweet little treasure, my nephews, Sully and Kit, enjoying their first romp in the snow this winter. They are 3,000 miles away in Boston, but I can just feel their cold little cheeks on mine! Have a great weekend!
Bear Moon looks like the best dog ever! New Year's was quiet, but good around here and went on a first day hike in the redwoods and saw a salmon spawning and it was THE BEST moment ever! Here in Northern California, now is the perfect time to visit - everything is green and so, so pretty! I love just looking out my window - after the drought years and dry brown hills, it is balm for my soul to see all the green. Hoping and praying we get some more rain before winter's end.
I've been having high anxiety lately and couldn't figure out why until this morning. My annual exams for heart (4 years post transplant at the end of the month!) are this month, and they always bring worry about what might be going on inside of my beautiful donated heart. That combined with the fact that fully 40% of my friend group has Covid now has got me on high alert. Now that I've named it, working on dealing with it. Surprising my hubby for his birthday this weekend with an outdoor lunch with the friends that aren't sick in the redwoods - magical! And then two camping trips to look forward to amidst all of the medical testing!
If Bear Moon (I feel compelled to use his full name) is half as sweet on the inside as he is handsome on the outside, I can guarantee that he will quickly become very popular with the vet staff, so do not fear! (We don't pick favorites only in the sense that so many of them are our favorites as to mostly nullify the concept.)
Thanks to a change in Hulu plans, I now have Disney+. I stayed up way past my bedtime NYE, and so spent the whole of New Year's Day in bed watching WandaVision and am now on Falcon and the Winter Soldier. When Marvel is good, they're very, very good. The timing is also perfect as Star Trek is on a mid-season break until next month.
I had two more shifts at my new job this week and while the commute is a killer, I'm really enjoying the work. My boss was under the impression that one of the wellness vets that works 3 days/week would be dropping to 2 days, therefore opening another shift for me. That hasn't happened, but my boss has assured me that she is working to find me enough work for me to be able to move in the next few months. I'm really hoping this happens soon or my savings is going to start taking a bigger hit. Also I would like to get out of this trailer ASAP. It has been getting very cold at night, and by some miracle of physics, the propane only ever runs out in the middle of the night. Jesus be a heater.
I have never in my life kept track of my reading, but I think I might start doing it this year on IG (@egharrison08 if you care about what some rando is reading).
Happy New Year! Today was our first snow day in MA and even though I work from home, I still balanced that with the normal snow day fun ❄️
Treasures
✨ I just moved to a new town and visited the library on Monday (it’s across the street from my apt!). I walked in and immediately felt like I was Belle walking into Beast’s library. Three floors and beautiful...so dreamy!
✨it’s my third week into my new job and I feel so good in this role. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so at peace in a job. Grateful, grateful!
✨ I bought a sweatshirt and sweatpants combo from GAP last week and I’ve worn it at least 4 times this week. And it was on clearance 👏🏻👏🏻
That Tamagochi tweet killed me. I was watching Schitta Creek yesterday and Alexis and David were arguing about the time Alexis let his tamagochi die and it brought me back.
Again I will say, this community is freaking amazing. Thank you SO much. And here’s a funny little tidbit of how my son reacted to everyone’s graciousness. Backstory - he’s 11, autistic, and VERY by the book on eeeeeverything. He tries to keep a tight squeeze on our finances, even though I don’t share diddly squat with him about it. 😂 So as I’m hooping and hollering that things are flying off my classroom wishlist, he is going “MOM someone spent $100 on us?!? What it they don’t have that much money? You have to give it back! Oh my gosh! Someone bought that for $35?! That is way too much! What if they can’t afford that!” So while I am floored by grace, Paul is working on a plan to mail everything back to get y’all a full refund. 😂❤️🤣
Checking in for the start of (my) new year. My pen pal best friend (who is an Internet-friend-don’t-tell-me-those-aren’t-real-friendships!) and I just completed our 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange and I’m still floating from the content. Every day was a letter exchanged via email – with attached PDF because the letters needed to *look* perfectly designed, don’t ya know 😊 – and they featured topics like Fave Skincare Products from 2021, Newest Celebrity Crushes, Best Reading, Most Played Music, Word That Guided My Year, and (my friend’s entry) Favorite Drawings from the 5-year-old Niece [which always included a farting figure 😂]. When I tell you the Christmastide season gave me life! 🙌🏻 It was our solution to reducing Amazon purchases and not giving all the cash to the postal service for shipping of gifts. IT WAS THE GREATEST. I’m exhausted because (a) I never got ahead of the letter-writing and did them all the night before 😩, and (b) I’m too ambitious for my own good and made each day’s letter include the same number of items (Day 3 = 3 skincare products, Day 8 = 8 fave purchases of 2021, Day 12 = 12 fave reads) with photos and links and paragraphs of commentary. 🤪 So I was writing every day for weeks, just to keep up. But then…
A funny thing has occurred. I’ve slept *at night* for 2 weeks straight and woken in the mornings. Y’all. I’ve not seen vampire hours in two weeks! I’m hoping a switch has been flipped.
Yesterday was the Day of Epiphany and I spent it being *still*, collecting my thoughts on year’s-end and planning for the new year. I’m looking at Jan 10 as my New Year’s Day (the beginning of Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar), and it’s just the most precious feeling to be easing into 2022 without the influx of pressure that seems happen that first week of January. I’ve loved reading everyone’s resolutions and intentions and jumpstarts while also giving myself space to sort through my own ideas about the next year. Highly recommended!
This weekend is about year-end journaling, new journal setup, and deciding what devotional time will look like (hoping my mom wants to continue a joint practice in ‘22 🤞🏻). And we’ll also make time for the new Matrix movie. That trilogy is in my top 3 favorite movie experiences of all time (along with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars). What a way to begin the year. 😊
Good afternoon Lil Swipes! Being in California can be tricky because I feel like I get here so late on Fridays. 😂
😴 I am sipping on my coffee after sleeping in this morning because I had a weird bout of insomnia last night. My eyes were tired, but the rest of me was wide awake until almost 3 am! 😵💫 I am a bit of a night owl, but last night was something different. Anyone have any favorite insomnia hacks?
🤑 On the treasure side, I was kept company by Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians. I loved the movie, so it has been fun to find the book so utterly delightful! I am feeling like I need more fiction in my life in 2022.
🧢 I am currently in a training to become a Flourishing in Ministry leadership coach. It has been a really interesting and challenging experience and I feel like I am learning so much. As part of my training, I am asked to do 20 hours of pro-bono coaching. So I want to reach out to all my lovely Swipes and see if anyone is interested! You don't need to be in leadership or in ministry, but if you feel like you'd like an hour to talk with someone about goals, life, or a specific issue you can't wrap your head around, I'd love to walk alongside you. I also want to note, that I am not a trained therapist, but I am a trained pastor. :) (That being said, I'm open to talking about faith struggles too). Anyway, sorry if this is a weird offer! Haha. I just wanted to open it up here first. Also, if you're intrigued, but have more questions, feel free to email me. (juliana.gh.ford@gmail.com)
I'm looking forward to jumping into the comments with you! 💛💛
I am so bad at getting into the comments with comments; I always try to read but by the time I can get the log in email to download from the server I’ve forgotten what I was going to say or have had a child request my soul for their collection and I am going to try and be more intentional about being in the community this year instead of a lurky-loo like I tend to be 😬
I am currently waiting on merengue mushrooms to bake to add to my daughter’s “goblin core” aesthetic 13th birthday cake, which is only just I thing I learned about this week when her father decided to share all his thoughts on her fashion choices with me after her visit with him over Christmas break. Suffice it to say, I truly am not sure how we were ever married. 🥴 But anyway as this is birthday 2 inside a pandemic and omicron taking over our lives, we are doing low key again this year since our original plan was to go to the selfie museum. We will go later, when it isn’t quite so precarious to hang your face out for photos. Fingers crossed the under 5s can get vaccines soon so I can feel more confident about everyone pulling through an infection with little to no problems.
I feel adrift in most things starting off this year as it is seeing me have big life changes regarding health and wellness and all that and I’m hoping we can make it work to get a lot of these issues checked out and put in check if needed this year. I feel very much like I’ve fallen quite apart in the past year or so and it makes me worry if this is a major issue or maybe something simple like a deficiency that would be easily rectified. I guess I’ll know when I know 🤷🏼♀️
Mostly I’m disappointed that I haven’t had some peace that passes understanding descend upon me where I can just transcend all my worldly troubles but maybe that will come tomorrow. Lol
Wish me luck on ushering my oldest into the teen years tomorrow! 🍄
Like Erin & Jackie (& perhaps, hopefully more of you once I dig in there), I am also seeing some positive happenings here in the new year.
- we have a beautiful snow day today, and I have been able to enjoy it from the depths of my NEW (old) COUCH that I finally found after many, many months, and perfectly matches our old loveseat, and is just my favorite thing
- sometime in the fall, a friend asked if I wanted to be part of a triad (a thing our church does) with a new friend; this has been such a blessing! We got together last night, and the new friend asked what I have been doing lately about personal faith practices. I decided to fess up and reply honestly not much, but that the dis/entangle breath prayers were really valuable to me. Turns out, all 3 of us are kind of in the same place in this regard! One friend shared that she & her husband read a psalm each evening, and the other friend uses an app that has a 3 - 7 minute reading/practice each day. I just feel like these are exactly the kind of in-real-life friendships I need heading into 2022.
- husband & I booked a 4 day getaway in the redwoods next June using points/miles. (did I already share this? maybe). This will be our first flight since February 2020, and I am so excited to GO SOMEWHERE
- PODCASTS ARE BACK! I had saved a bunch for the week after Christmas, and they saw me through, but just barely. Felt so seen when Jamie said we are wanting Farrow & Ball kitchens - we painted our cabinets Mole's Breath a few years ago, and everyone always asks us what paint we used. Highly recommend!
- Thank you for honoring Betty White; I think because I repress my real life emotions so much, I get overly emotional about celebrity deaths. When QE2 passes, I will not be ok, you guys.
This is somehow almost my first time in the comments, despite Erin talking them up every week… excited to be here!
Treasure: TJ Klune. I just finished Under the Whispering Door, which was a delight. I read House on the Cerulean Sea a few weeks ago and liked it even more!
My eldest just headed back to school far away and probably won’t be back until summer. But the treasure is that we get him all summer because he just got an awesome internship at a nuclear power plant nearby🎉.
I’m also apparently going to spend the next 9 months getting choked up every time I contemplate the departure of kid #2 to college in the fall. Seriously, I get teared up every time it comes up, which is a problem😂.
The nest is quickly emptying (youngest is a freshman) and it’s not entirely okay😂.
In silly news, I’m on day 84 of the #100daydresschallenge And I am OVER IT. But, only two weeks to go, so I’m sticking it out:).
Little late getting here today, but I just wanted to say hi, friends!! I have loved reading through and catching up with you all this afternoon.
A few updates/treasures from me:
💜 I found out a few weeks before Christmas that I HAVE CURLY HAIR. WHAT. All of my hair struggles now make sense. I noticed a huge change in my texture toward the end of my second pregnancy in 2019, but never put two and two together that I might have curls. It’s been an interesting month watching lots of YouTube and IG reels, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of things. 🤞
💜 Still on a No Way Home high. What an absolute delight of a movie. My older son is VERY into Spider-Man right now (he’s in his costume at this very moment), and it is a true joy. I’ve always been a huge Spidey fan, so passing the love to my kiddos is ridiculously fun. Can’t wait for the day when they are old enough to watch alllllll the movies with me. 😎
💜 Reading through the Bible this year with some Swipes has already brought me so much comfort and softened my heart toward the Word. I went pretty dark last year with my faith, so I’m very grateful to read and walk alongside ladies I know and trust, near and far!
Okay, that’s it for this week! Love to you all & praying for safety and health this year.
Hi friends! The new year has been good so far and here are a few quick highlights!
🍝 One of my besties and I got dinner at my favorite restaurant last night and I got my favorite mocktail and pasta and ice cream and to process our lives with each other and ugh, I didn’t know how much my soul needed it until I drove home after the fact.
😴 Not quite a treasure but not quite a turd, maybe just a human thing? I had every intention of starting my morning routine at 5:45am, I woke up to use the restroom and saw that it was very bright and shiny through my windows and I knew what it meant. I looked at my phone and it was 7am on the dot. I had to quickly scribble into my gratitude journal and read my Bible devotional at a stoplight (I am on the book of Job, lol how fitting) and then I was half an hour late. Thankfully, so was my boss! I ran over to the bakery and got us consolation croissants.
📖 I am working really hard to try and make sure my morning and evening routines are on point, and I am learning to try again the next day, the next meal, the next moment of margin time, instead of just giving up altogether. I’m very much a “if I can’t do it perfectly, don’t even bother” black and white thinker and I’m really trying to change that mindset, especially when it comes to physical and emotional health.
💫 I need to watch The Book of Boba Fett, thank you all for reminding me.
I’ll be in the comments after work! Gotta wrap up my lunch break!
Hello Lil Swipes! I am still pretty new to the comments section of this and love reading as much of them as I can! :) I have noticed some of you have been giving "Green Lights" is this something that is new or it has been done for a while? Is it for the year or for the week? I love hearing about what everyone is watching or reading. I do enjoy both those activities plus I love to crochet! Any other crocheters out there?
Hello dear friends! I lost the password to my other email, but I am figuring out life! I am honestly in a fantastic mood rn. My friends are all coming back in town this weekend, I get to hang with all of my other friends next weekend, it’s snowy and pretty and LIFE IS GREAT!! Anyway. I listened to the December Patreon of the Big Boo Cast and came up with my favorites of 2021 along with them. I have so many treasures! Most of these definitely did not come about in 2021, but they’re things I discovered last year.
TV: I loved both The Good Place and Signed Sealed Delivered (Hallmark, it’s THE BEST). *VERY* different vibes, but very good shows.
Movie: Crip Camp (Netflix) changed the way I view the world. I am obsessed with it and I think that (most) everyone should watch it. (Definitely NSFJM)
Books: I devoured two nonfiction works this year. Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams both really shaped a lot of my life this year. They will always and forever hold a special place in my heart. Also, That Sounds Fun by AFD was great!
Skincare-ish?: I really enjoy a good eyebrow razor. I started really taking care of my brows/sideburns this year and it’s made me feel better about life.
Hair: I have had a VERY EXCITING HAIR YEAR! I was quarantined and decided to experiment. My current magic mix is hair glue, curl mousse, anti-frizz milk, and leave in conditioner. But the biggest and most important trick is to wrap it in a t-shirt and let it air dry! Perfect waves! It’s magical for my hair!
Music: Has to be Into The Mystery by NEEDTOBREATHE. That album will forever and always be the soundtrack of my 2021.
Content Creator: Safiya Nygaard. She does some stuff on Instagram and TikTok, but I adore her livestream channel. Her main channel videos are great, but the livestreams are just so soothing and yet chaotic!
Food: Peppers! I discovered that I love peppers this year and they’re my favorite vegetable ever.
here from virginia - want your faith renewed google older man and strangers on I-95. Poor man didn't have a map and was trying to get to Florida and made it only with the help of 7 strangers!!!
Oh my goodness. That coffee cup just makes me giggle so much.
Happy Friday everyone! Congratulations on making it through the first week of 2022! I was supposed to have a glorious weekend (part creative energy alone time/part girls trip) at our families lake house, but stupid Omicron had other plans. Next time! (Please tell me another a-hole variant is not going to ruin my plans!) I still have hopes of spending a few hours at a coffee shop tomorrow and digging into my new planner. Send prayers because I'm already having avoidance issues with this one and have only managed to write the numbers of the months in. Hahaha!
I want to leave you with this sweet little treasure, my nephews, Sully and Kit, enjoying their first romp in the snow this winter. They are 3,000 miles away in Boston, but I can just feel their cold little cheeks on mine! Have a great weekend!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYcbF7LFrSw/
Bear Moon looks like the best dog ever! New Year's was quiet, but good around here and went on a first day hike in the redwoods and saw a salmon spawning and it was THE BEST moment ever! Here in Northern California, now is the perfect time to visit - everything is green and so, so pretty! I love just looking out my window - after the drought years and dry brown hills, it is balm for my soul to see all the green. Hoping and praying we get some more rain before winter's end.
I've been having high anxiety lately and couldn't figure out why until this morning. My annual exams for heart (4 years post transplant at the end of the month!) are this month, and they always bring worry about what might be going on inside of my beautiful donated heart. That combined with the fact that fully 40% of my friend group has Covid now has got me on high alert. Now that I've named it, working on dealing with it. Surprising my hubby for his birthday this weekend with an outdoor lunch with the friends that aren't sick in the redwoods - magical! And then two camping trips to look forward to amidst all of the medical testing!
Have a great week!
If Bear Moon (I feel compelled to use his full name) is half as sweet on the inside as he is handsome on the outside, I can guarantee that he will quickly become very popular with the vet staff, so do not fear! (We don't pick favorites only in the sense that so many of them are our favorites as to mostly nullify the concept.)
Thanks to a change in Hulu plans, I now have Disney+. I stayed up way past my bedtime NYE, and so spent the whole of New Year's Day in bed watching WandaVision and am now on Falcon and the Winter Soldier. When Marvel is good, they're very, very good. The timing is also perfect as Star Trek is on a mid-season break until next month.
I had two more shifts at my new job this week and while the commute is a killer, I'm really enjoying the work. My boss was under the impression that one of the wellness vets that works 3 days/week would be dropping to 2 days, therefore opening another shift for me. That hasn't happened, but my boss has assured me that she is working to find me enough work for me to be able to move in the next few months. I'm really hoping this happens soon or my savings is going to start taking a bigger hit. Also I would like to get out of this trailer ASAP. It has been getting very cold at night, and by some miracle of physics, the propane only ever runs out in the middle of the night. Jesus be a heater.
I have never in my life kept track of my reading, but I think I might start doing it this year on IG (@egharrison08 if you care about what some rando is reading).
Happy New Year! Today was our first snow day in MA and even though I work from home, I still balanced that with the normal snow day fun ❄️
Treasures
✨ I just moved to a new town and visited the library on Monday (it’s across the street from my apt!). I walked in and immediately felt like I was Belle walking into Beast’s library. Three floors and beautiful...so dreamy!
✨it’s my third week into my new job and I feel so good in this role. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so at peace in a job. Grateful, grateful!
✨ I bought a sweatshirt and sweatpants combo from GAP last week and I’ve worn it at least 4 times this week. And it was on clearance 👏🏻👏🏻
That Tamagochi tweet killed me. I was watching Schitta Creek yesterday and Alexis and David were arguing about the time Alexis let his tamagochi die and it brought me back.
Happy weekend, all!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Again I will say, this community is freaking amazing. Thank you SO much. And here’s a funny little tidbit of how my son reacted to everyone’s graciousness. Backstory - he’s 11, autistic, and VERY by the book on eeeeeverything. He tries to keep a tight squeeze on our finances, even though I don’t share diddly squat with him about it. 😂 So as I’m hooping and hollering that things are flying off my classroom wishlist, he is going “MOM someone spent $100 on us?!? What it they don’t have that much money? You have to give it back! Oh my gosh! Someone bought that for $35?! That is way too much! What if they can’t afford that!” So while I am floored by grace, Paul is working on a plan to mail everything back to get y’all a full refund. 😂❤️🤣
Checking in for the start of (my) new year. My pen pal best friend (who is an Internet-friend-don’t-tell-me-those-aren’t-real-friendships!) and I just completed our 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange and I’m still floating from the content. Every day was a letter exchanged via email – with attached PDF because the letters needed to *look* perfectly designed, don’t ya know 😊 – and they featured topics like Fave Skincare Products from 2021, Newest Celebrity Crushes, Best Reading, Most Played Music, Word That Guided My Year, and (my friend’s entry) Favorite Drawings from the 5-year-old Niece [which always included a farting figure 😂]. When I tell you the Christmastide season gave me life! 🙌🏻 It was our solution to reducing Amazon purchases and not giving all the cash to the postal service for shipping of gifts. IT WAS THE GREATEST. I’m exhausted because (a) I never got ahead of the letter-writing and did them all the night before 😩, and (b) I’m too ambitious for my own good and made each day’s letter include the same number of items (Day 3 = 3 skincare products, Day 8 = 8 fave purchases of 2021, Day 12 = 12 fave reads) with photos and links and paragraphs of commentary. 🤪 So I was writing every day for weeks, just to keep up. But then…
A funny thing has occurred. I’ve slept *at night* for 2 weeks straight and woken in the mornings. Y’all. I’ve not seen vampire hours in two weeks! I’m hoping a switch has been flipped.
Yesterday was the Day of Epiphany and I spent it being *still*, collecting my thoughts on year’s-end and planning for the new year. I’m looking at Jan 10 as my New Year’s Day (the beginning of Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar), and it’s just the most precious feeling to be easing into 2022 without the influx of pressure that seems happen that first week of January. I’ve loved reading everyone’s resolutions and intentions and jumpstarts while also giving myself space to sort through my own ideas about the next year. Highly recommended!
This weekend is about year-end journaling, new journal setup, and deciding what devotional time will look like (hoping my mom wants to continue a joint practice in ‘22 🤞🏻). And we’ll also make time for the new Matrix movie. That trilogy is in my top 3 favorite movie experiences of all time (along with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars). What a way to begin the year. 😊
Good afternoon Lil Swipes! Being in California can be tricky because I feel like I get here so late on Fridays. 😂
😴 I am sipping on my coffee after sleeping in this morning because I had a weird bout of insomnia last night. My eyes were tired, but the rest of me was wide awake until almost 3 am! 😵💫 I am a bit of a night owl, but last night was something different. Anyone have any favorite insomnia hacks?
🤑 On the treasure side, I was kept company by Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians. I loved the movie, so it has been fun to find the book so utterly delightful! I am feeling like I need more fiction in my life in 2022.
🧢 I am currently in a training to become a Flourishing in Ministry leadership coach. It has been a really interesting and challenging experience and I feel like I am learning so much. As part of my training, I am asked to do 20 hours of pro-bono coaching. So I want to reach out to all my lovely Swipes and see if anyone is interested! You don't need to be in leadership or in ministry, but if you feel like you'd like an hour to talk with someone about goals, life, or a specific issue you can't wrap your head around, I'd love to walk alongside you. I also want to note, that I am not a trained therapist, but I am a trained pastor. :) (That being said, I'm open to talking about faith struggles too). Anyway, sorry if this is a weird offer! Haha. I just wanted to open it up here first. Also, if you're intrigued, but have more questions, feel free to email me. (juliana.gh.ford@gmail.com)
I'm looking forward to jumping into the comments with you! 💛💛
I am so bad at getting into the comments with comments; I always try to read but by the time I can get the log in email to download from the server I’ve forgotten what I was going to say or have had a child request my soul for their collection and I am going to try and be more intentional about being in the community this year instead of a lurky-loo like I tend to be 😬
I am currently waiting on merengue mushrooms to bake to add to my daughter’s “goblin core” aesthetic 13th birthday cake, which is only just I thing I learned about this week when her father decided to share all his thoughts on her fashion choices with me after her visit with him over Christmas break. Suffice it to say, I truly am not sure how we were ever married. 🥴 But anyway as this is birthday 2 inside a pandemic and omicron taking over our lives, we are doing low key again this year since our original plan was to go to the selfie museum. We will go later, when it isn’t quite so precarious to hang your face out for photos. Fingers crossed the under 5s can get vaccines soon so I can feel more confident about everyone pulling through an infection with little to no problems.
I feel adrift in most things starting off this year as it is seeing me have big life changes regarding health and wellness and all that and I’m hoping we can make it work to get a lot of these issues checked out and put in check if needed this year. I feel very much like I’ve fallen quite apart in the past year or so and it makes me worry if this is a major issue or maybe something simple like a deficiency that would be easily rectified. I guess I’ll know when I know 🤷🏼♀️
Mostly I’m disappointed that I haven’t had some peace that passes understanding descend upon me where I can just transcend all my worldly troubles but maybe that will come tomorrow. Lol
Wish me luck on ushering my oldest into the teen years tomorrow! 🍄
I can't wait to dive into the comments!
Like Erin & Jackie (& perhaps, hopefully more of you once I dig in there), I am also seeing some positive happenings here in the new year.
- we have a beautiful snow day today, and I have been able to enjoy it from the depths of my NEW (old) COUCH that I finally found after many, many months, and perfectly matches our old loveseat, and is just my favorite thing
- sometime in the fall, a friend asked if I wanted to be part of a triad (a thing our church does) with a new friend; this has been such a blessing! We got together last night, and the new friend asked what I have been doing lately about personal faith practices. I decided to fess up and reply honestly not much, but that the dis/entangle breath prayers were really valuable to me. Turns out, all 3 of us are kind of in the same place in this regard! One friend shared that she & her husband read a psalm each evening, and the other friend uses an app that has a 3 - 7 minute reading/practice each day. I just feel like these are exactly the kind of in-real-life friendships I need heading into 2022.
- husband & I booked a 4 day getaway in the redwoods next June using points/miles. (did I already share this? maybe). This will be our first flight since February 2020, and I am so excited to GO SOMEWHERE
- PODCASTS ARE BACK! I had saved a bunch for the week after Christmas, and they saw me through, but just barely. Felt so seen when Jamie said we are wanting Farrow & Ball kitchens - we painted our cabinets Mole's Breath a few years ago, and everyone always asks us what paint we used. Highly recommend!
- Thank you for honoring Betty White; I think because I repress my real life emotions so much, I get overly emotional about celebrity deaths. When QE2 passes, I will not be ok, you guys.
Very excited to move into 2022 with all of you!
This is somehow almost my first time in the comments, despite Erin talking them up every week… excited to be here!
Treasure: TJ Klune. I just finished Under the Whispering Door, which was a delight. I read House on the Cerulean Sea a few weeks ago and liked it even more!
My eldest just headed back to school far away and probably won’t be back until summer. But the treasure is that we get him all summer because he just got an awesome internship at a nuclear power plant nearby🎉.
I’m also apparently going to spend the next 9 months getting choked up every time I contemplate the departure of kid #2 to college in the fall. Seriously, I get teared up every time it comes up, which is a problem😂.
The nest is quickly emptying (youngest is a freshman) and it’s not entirely okay😂.
In silly news, I’m on day 84 of the #100daydresschallenge And I am OVER IT. But, only two weeks to go, so I’m sticking it out:).
Little late getting here today, but I just wanted to say hi, friends!! I have loved reading through and catching up with you all this afternoon.
A few updates/treasures from me:
💜 I found out a few weeks before Christmas that I HAVE CURLY HAIR. WHAT. All of my hair struggles now make sense. I noticed a huge change in my texture toward the end of my second pregnancy in 2019, but never put two and two together that I might have curls. It’s been an interesting month watching lots of YouTube and IG reels, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of things. 🤞
💜 My gluten-free journey continues to be a major help. I haven’t had any debilitating hip pain for almost three months now, and I am so grateful. Some of my favorite recipes have come from jessicaeatsrealfood.com and allthehealthythings.com. My boys and I made these NYT cookies this morning too and they were REAL GOOD: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020871-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies
💜 Still on a No Way Home high. What an absolute delight of a movie. My older son is VERY into Spider-Man right now (he’s in his costume at this very moment), and it is a true joy. I’ve always been a huge Spidey fan, so passing the love to my kiddos is ridiculously fun. Can’t wait for the day when they are old enough to watch alllllll the movies with me. 😎
💜 Reading through the Bible this year with some Swipes has already brought me so much comfort and softened my heart toward the Word. I went pretty dark last year with my faith, so I’m very grateful to read and walk alongside ladies I know and trust, near and far!
Okay, that’s it for this week! Love to you all & praying for safety and health this year.
Hi friends! The new year has been good so far and here are a few quick highlights!
🍝 One of my besties and I got dinner at my favorite restaurant last night and I got my favorite mocktail and pasta and ice cream and to process our lives with each other and ugh, I didn’t know how much my soul needed it until I drove home after the fact.
😴 Not quite a treasure but not quite a turd, maybe just a human thing? I had every intention of starting my morning routine at 5:45am, I woke up to use the restroom and saw that it was very bright and shiny through my windows and I knew what it meant. I looked at my phone and it was 7am on the dot. I had to quickly scribble into my gratitude journal and read my Bible devotional at a stoplight (I am on the book of Job, lol how fitting) and then I was half an hour late. Thankfully, so was my boss! I ran over to the bakery and got us consolation croissants.
📖 I am working really hard to try and make sure my morning and evening routines are on point, and I am learning to try again the next day, the next meal, the next moment of margin time, instead of just giving up altogether. I’m very much a “if I can’t do it perfectly, don’t even bother” black and white thinker and I’m really trying to change that mindset, especially when it comes to physical and emotional health.
💫 I need to watch The Book of Boba Fett, thank you all for reminding me.
I’ll be in the comments after work! Gotta wrap up my lunch break!
Hello Lil Swipes! I am still pretty new to the comments section of this and love reading as much of them as I can! :) I have noticed some of you have been giving "Green Lights" is this something that is new or it has been done for a while? Is it for the year or for the week? I love hearing about what everyone is watching or reading. I do enjoy both those activities plus I love to crochet! Any other crocheters out there?
Hello dear friends! I lost the password to my other email, but I am figuring out life! I am honestly in a fantastic mood rn. My friends are all coming back in town this weekend, I get to hang with all of my other friends next weekend, it’s snowy and pretty and LIFE IS GREAT!! Anyway. I listened to the December Patreon of the Big Boo Cast and came up with my favorites of 2021 along with them. I have so many treasures! Most of these definitely did not come about in 2021, but they’re things I discovered last year.
TV: I loved both The Good Place and Signed Sealed Delivered (Hallmark, it’s THE BEST). *VERY* different vibes, but very good shows.
Movie: Crip Camp (Netflix) changed the way I view the world. I am obsessed with it and I think that (most) everyone should watch it. (Definitely NSFJM)
Books: I devoured two nonfiction works this year. Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams both really shaped a lot of my life this year. They will always and forever hold a special place in my heart. Also, That Sounds Fun by AFD was great!
Skincare-ish?: I really enjoy a good eyebrow razor. I started really taking care of my brows/sideburns this year and it’s made me feel better about life.
Hair: I have had a VERY EXCITING HAIR YEAR! I was quarantined and decided to experiment. My current magic mix is hair glue, curl mousse, anti-frizz milk, and leave in conditioner. But the biggest and most important trick is to wrap it in a t-shirt and let it air dry! Perfect waves! It’s magical for my hair!
Fashion: This is the cutest, most comfy sweatshirt ever. I dress it up (necklace, big earrings, tucked in, flare jeans, booties) or down (sweatpants). It’s a unicorn sweatshirt in terms of comfort to style ratio. https://www.maurices.com/product/plus-size-navy-tie-dye-crew-neck-sweatshirt/123579?camp=PLA%7CRTN%7CGOOG%7CBRAND%7CPRODUCT%7CMaurices_SHOP_BR_Brand_GGL_PLA%7Cpla%7C472946821369%7C11367950324%7Clocal%7C26075291%7C1369%7CUS%7C&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8ICOBhDmARIsAEGI6o2Z_1hcnRtSw8HtOjrPB6EfmeDaBKoOE9323XNESEDWS_KqeXVCoagaAsDmEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Music: Has to be Into The Mystery by NEEDTOBREATHE. That album will forever and always be the soundtrack of my 2021.
Content Creator: Safiya Nygaard. She does some stuff on Instagram and TikTok, but I adore her livestream channel. Her main channel videos are great, but the livestreams are just so soothing and yet chaotic!
Food: Peppers! I discovered that I love peppers this year and they’re my favorite vegetable ever.