I was not prepared for the cat keyboarding to Sign of the Times. I ended up laughing so hard tears were streaming down my cheeks while I repeatedly whispered 'gah it's so stupid' to myself. PERFECTION!
Sweet Brendan Fraser!! Get me in that bear hug!
With the exception of the occasional Reddit doom scroll, I've been very careful about the voices I allow into my online life. Thankfully most of them come from the PMG network and have helped me lean into my weirdness and feel my feelings about the state of Christianity in the US. ❤️
A prayer practice that helped me this week was praying The Divine Mercy chaplet in the car on the way home from school drop-off. It's a fairly common prayer in the Catholic Church (repetitive like the Rosary, but without the Hail Marys), and the closing prayer is like a hot cup of tea. Here it is, in case anyone's interested:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
On a personal level it's been a pretty good week and I'm just trying to remember that in the midst of crying on the way to work about all of our horrible national and global news.
😊 things are going well with my new therapist
😌 my antidepressants have been great for the everyday, but it's finally helping more with the pmdd. It's a blessing not to feel like I'm losing a week every month
🌞 the sun was out yesterday! Sunshine makes me a better person.
🎤 Empty Netters- a hockey pod that recapped Heated Rivalry and fell in love- has been bringing me joy during some sewing marathons this week.
🏫 My coworker and I were accepted to present at a state conference which is really exciting
It has been a tough week. I was born and raised in MN and my family is still there. They are outside the Twin Cities, but I have some friends that are in the thick of it. I've been trying to balance being informed, figuring out what I can do from KS, and also trying to not spiral into despair and "othering."
Some ways I've been finding joy/taking brain breaks:
1. Reading "The Bible is for You" with a group of friends.
2. The Worship Initiative's daily worship devotions https://sing.theworshipinitiative.com/auth/login You need to set up a free account, but then they text you a link to the daily devotional. Singing songs with or just listening to Shane and Shane sing has been a good start to the morning.
3. Re-reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion series. If St. Crispian's was a real place, this would be my recommended reading on your pilgrimage, Erin.
4. Planning a trip to England in 2027 - completely coincidence, but old friends from our San Diego days are living in London now and invited all of the San Diego crew and families to Dorset in 2027. English countryside! Castle stay! Something to look forward to! I am so excited and it is still so far away. Honestly, if the dates work out, I'll figure out how to stay for Erin's pilgrimage.
5. Memoirs on audiobook. I just finished Awake by Jen Hatmaker and We've Decided to Go in a Different Direction by Tess Sanchez. Both were excellent.
Have the best weekend you can, folks. Much love to the MN Swipes.
It feels weird to whine about this considering the state of the world, but I'm drowning in self-pity. After 8 weeks of not walking due to an ankle fracture I got my walking boot yesterday. Like the delusional woman I am, I just thought I'd take off walking. Um, no. I have yet to take a step without using a walker, and even that I'm not putting all my weight down. I.Just.Want.To.Walk. I've cried more over this stupid ankle in the past month and I'm so tired of it. I know it takes time and blah blah blah, but I want to walk NOW. Gah. I'm unsufferable.
Unrelated ... are all 7 year old girls insane and sassy or did I just luck out?
Perhaps I need to go back to thinking about starting therapy. In positive news, we have friends coming this weekend and maybe we'll get to leave the house for something fun.
Good morning Swipes! I really wanted to get a Brick device to control my mindless scrolling and win back my free time, but I didn’t want to pay the $50-60 to get it. Then I found out about a FREE alternative! There’s an app called Foqos and it works just like Brick, and they don’t collect data and the guy who created it promised it will always remain free. I have it set up to where Insta and Facebook are blocked every day from 6pm - 8am and if I want access during those hours I have to get up, walk to my purse, and scan an old QR code in my wallet. I’ve been using it for a week and it’s amazing what I’ve been able to do when I can’t get on Instagram.
In other news, my husband and I intend to begin fertility treatments next month. I had to do an intense test Wednesday to make sure my fallopian tubes are open, and they are! Wahoo! All of our tests have come back normal, so we are hoping and praying the first round of treatments will be successful, especially because our insurance doesn’t offer fertility coverage and this is turning out to be quite expensive. Any prayers you can spare are appreciated 🩷🩷🩷
I hope everyone has a peaceful and restful weekend!!!
Did you have to mention Lent?! 😖😖😖😖😖😑😑😑😑😩
I was not prepared for the cat keyboarding to Sign of the Times. I ended up laughing so hard tears were streaming down my cheeks while I repeatedly whispered 'gah it's so stupid' to myself. PERFECTION!
Sweet Brendan Fraser!! Get me in that bear hug!
With the exception of the occasional Reddit doom scroll, I've been very careful about the voices I allow into my online life. Thankfully most of them come from the PMG network and have helped me lean into my weirdness and feel my feelings about the state of Christianity in the US. ❤️
A prayer practice that helped me this week was praying The Divine Mercy chaplet in the car on the way home from school drop-off. It's a fairly common prayer in the Catholic Church (repetitive like the Rosary, but without the Hail Marys), and the closing prayer is like a hot cup of tea. Here it is, in case anyone's interested:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
I will probably have to rob a bank in order to go on pilgrimage with you, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes!
On a personal level it's been a pretty good week and I'm just trying to remember that in the midst of crying on the way to work about all of our horrible national and global news.
😊 things are going well with my new therapist
😌 my antidepressants have been great for the everyday, but it's finally helping more with the pmdd. It's a blessing not to feel like I'm losing a week every month
🌞 the sun was out yesterday! Sunshine makes me a better person.
🎤 Empty Netters- a hockey pod that recapped Heated Rivalry and fell in love- has been bringing me joy during some sewing marathons this week.
🏫 My coworker and I were accepted to present at a state conference which is really exciting
It has been a tough week. I was born and raised in MN and my family is still there. They are outside the Twin Cities, but I have some friends that are in the thick of it. I've been trying to balance being informed, figuring out what I can do from KS, and also trying to not spiral into despair and "othering."
Some ways I've been finding joy/taking brain breaks:
1. Reading "The Bible is for You" with a group of friends.
2. The Worship Initiative's daily worship devotions https://sing.theworshipinitiative.com/auth/login You need to set up a free account, but then they text you a link to the daily devotional. Singing songs with or just listening to Shane and Shane sing has been a good start to the morning.
3. Re-reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion series. If St. Crispian's was a real place, this would be my recommended reading on your pilgrimage, Erin.
4. Planning a trip to England in 2027 - completely coincidence, but old friends from our San Diego days are living in London now and invited all of the San Diego crew and families to Dorset in 2027. English countryside! Castle stay! Something to look forward to! I am so excited and it is still so far away. Honestly, if the dates work out, I'll figure out how to stay for Erin's pilgrimage.
5. Memoirs on audiobook. I just finished Awake by Jen Hatmaker and We've Decided to Go in a Different Direction by Tess Sanchez. Both were excellent.
Have the best weekend you can, folks. Much love to the MN Swipes.
Jen Hatmaker is SUCH a good audiobook narrator. I loved that listening experience!
Awake is SO good!
It feels weird to whine about this considering the state of the world, but I'm drowning in self-pity. After 8 weeks of not walking due to an ankle fracture I got my walking boot yesterday. Like the delusional woman I am, I just thought I'd take off walking. Um, no. I have yet to take a step without using a walker, and even that I'm not putting all my weight down. I.Just.Want.To.Walk. I've cried more over this stupid ankle in the past month and I'm so tired of it. I know it takes time and blah blah blah, but I want to walk NOW. Gah. I'm unsufferable.
Unrelated ... are all 7 year old girls insane and sassy or did I just luck out?
Perhaps I need to go back to thinking about starting therapy. In positive news, we have friends coming this weekend and maybe we'll get to leave the house for something fun.
The ankle boot gets your hopes up, but isn’t really for walking. Been there! Sympathizing from afar!
I feel like there are some people here who will get a kick out of this article.
https://open.substack.com/pub/grainnemaguire/p/its-giving-topshop-corset-4-thoughts?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=34rdo
Good morning Swipes! I really wanted to get a Brick device to control my mindless scrolling and win back my free time, but I didn’t want to pay the $50-60 to get it. Then I found out about a FREE alternative! There’s an app called Foqos and it works just like Brick, and they don’t collect data and the guy who created it promised it will always remain free. I have it set up to where Insta and Facebook are blocked every day from 6pm - 8am and if I want access during those hours I have to get up, walk to my purse, and scan an old QR code in my wallet. I’ve been using it for a week and it’s amazing what I’ve been able to do when I can’t get on Instagram.
In other news, my husband and I intend to begin fertility treatments next month. I had to do an intense test Wednesday to make sure my fallopian tubes are open, and they are! Wahoo! All of our tests have come back normal, so we are hoping and praying the first round of treatments will be successful, especially because our insurance doesn’t offer fertility coverage and this is turning out to be quite expensive. Any prayers you can spare are appreciated 🩷🩷🩷
I hope everyone has a peaceful and restful weekend!!!
Oh, thank you for that rec! I've been wanting to find a free app for this but have not had time to research. Praying for you guys and treatments!
Oh SOLID REC on Foqos, Lauren! Praying right now for this fertility journey! 💙🩵