Wow. Last blog post published on here on February 1st, two full weeks ago!
February has taken. me. out. The crazy thing is that I am not entirely sure why- just a lot of “small” things that carry a lot of weight. We’ve had 1-2 days of fevers, my Grandpa passed away, and one of the young Kindergartners in our community was diagnosed with leukemia, Theo and I have some big life decisions to make this month, and we missed our first Wednesday family hike since August. I just felt the weight of it all, all at once. It’s also gotten miserably cold again and I’m starting to desperately long for Spring!
I honestly didn’t feel like finding any favorites of the last two weeks, but if I really stop to think about it, there have been many! Here are just some of them:
Favorite #1: Family Reunion//Alone Time
Theo and the kids went to our winter family reunion while I stayed home. I had five days at home by myself! What a dream! I honestly kept myself really busy. I cleaned out all of the kids rooms, took a huge load of stuff to goodwill, went thrifting to find any missing clothing in the next size for the kids, ordered/printed family pictures and picked up frames for them at Goodwill, drove all the way to Dayton to sign a paper in blue (since I had previously singed it in black- the pen that they had given me to sign with), got in two long runs and a hike, painted a wall in our house, did some community/work related things, went to a Mom’s Night Out and cleaned our house from top to bottom. I missed Theo and the kids SO much.
Favorite #2: The Life and Legacy of Don Hall
My Grandpa, Don Hall, went home to heaven late on Saturday night, February 8th. He was 95 years old and lived a long and faithful life. He had four children, one of whom died when he was four years old of malaria while they were on the mission field. I cannot imagine carrying the grief of that, but Grandparents were faithful in all that they did. He is now rejoicing in heaven, but we do have grief here on earth. It also hits particularly hard because he was my last living grandparent.
Favorite #3: Solo Hike
I actually HATED this hike, but I am so proud of myself for doing it. I was really nervous to go alone, especially into the woods. I picked a pretty public park, but it didn’t matter because I didn’t see a single soul out the whole time! I went about 2 miles and it was SLEETING and ice-rain bombing me the whole time. It was absolutely miserable, but I’m so proud of myself for doing it. These last few Wednesday hikes have been so miserable that I am literally aching for a 75 degree sunny hike in the woods.
Favorite #4: Basketball Season Wrap-Up
All three kids are wrapping up their basketball season! Ezra’s Kindergarten team just had three games, and they are SO much fun to watch. The entire spectator section just starts CHEERING when anyone makes a shot. It’s a favorite for sure.
Kiah has his tournament games this weekend, and then that will be it for basketball. And Tera’s team had their last game last week. Neither Tera’s team nor Kiah’s team won a single game, but I am calling this season a W because of the character building that happened.
Basketball season itself is a favorite, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also thrilled that it’s about to be over.
Favorite #5: Books
In January, I read some AMAZING books. February has felt much more book-slumpy to me, but I have read some great books already. I also just got my hands on Onyx Storm from the library so I guess this cold and rainy weekend will mean diving back into the world of Fourth Wing. I suspect I’m not going to love it and will abandon the rest of the series, but I’m ok with being pleasantly surprised.
And that’s a wrap for my favorites this week! I hope to be back to blogging on a more regular basis. I miss writing out my thoughts and feelings, but sometimes the internet doesn’t feel like a safe space and I feel too intimidated to put it out there. Or my feelings and emotions about a situation are secondary and I always want to defer with respect for the primary people who are experiencing the hardship in life. As always, it means a lot when I hear from you in the comments or in an email so that I know that you are reading here! 🙂
Your month sounds challenging so far! I hope it picks up. Congrats on walking in poor weather. I am always super proud of myself for exercising in less than ideal conditions :). I’m sorry about the loss of your grandpa.