I’m not sure I’ve ever been more ready for Spring!  Can I get an “amen?”  Maybe it was the polar vortex thing, or maybe it’s just that this year I had TWO kids to bundle up with coats, gloves, hats, socks, boots, etc., but winter feels long where I live, and January through March are not exactly my favorite.  So, Spring, I welcome you!  I don’t even care if you bring a ton of rain, just please bring warmer temps!

So, yes.  It is April, and I did just wake up to a light coating of snow on the grass, but mostly we are through it, and it is SO great.  We’re back at the park here and there, and getting out the door for a twenty minute errand does not take an additional thirty minutes of bundling.

With a new season, I like to write about what I’m into lately.  So, here we go!

Read

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read this book upon the recommendation of a friend.  I had always ignored it because I don’t use the “count to three” approach with my kids (I don’t threaten, warn, or suggest obedience), but then I learned that she’s actually just being facetious.  If you enjoyed Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Tedd Tripp) which is kind of like hearing about Biblical discipline from your pastor, you’ll love this book which feels like it’s coming from an older and wiser mom friend.  It is gentle and encouraging, but it does not shy away from the Biblical principles of discipline and instruction (and how those two fit together and are not mutually exclusive!).  It has really encouraged me in my parenting lately.  Training up little ones is hard and exhausting, but it pays off!  I find myself praying, “Lord, let me not grow weary in doing good” every single day (Galatians 6:9).  This book reminds me of my why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as fiction goes, I am still over here reading The Count of Monte Cristo!  I started this one back in the Fall, but it is 1200 pages, people!  Other than the Bible, I’ve never read such a long book!  There was a period of a couple hundred pages where I was not really into it (but bound and determined to finish what I started), so this book has been slow-going.  It’s really picking up again, and I’ve been enjoying reading a chapter each evening after the kids go to bed and before I start my evening work/chores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, the Hubs and I went on a little spring break vacation, and I read Room (Emma Donoghue).  I wanted an easier beach read that I could just get lost in and blow through in a few days.  Oh my dear goodness.  This book was just that!  I loved it, and now I can’t wait to go watch the movie.

Watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crown!  I know.  I am late to this viewing party, but we don’t watch a lot of TV (usually just one episode on Friday night and maybe something on Saturday), so I try to stick to just one show at a time (and that tends to take several months to a year).  I’m only two episodes into this show, but I am into it already!  I love British television and also television about Britain, so I was bound to love this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And also this guilty pleasure.  It is really cheesy.  The acting is not great.  You kind of already know what’s going to happen five minutes into episode 1, but I don’t even care.  I just put this one on when I’m making cards, and it’s been fun.  Also, it’s super clean, and that is just nice.  (Both of these are Netflix-able.)

Cook/Bake

I tried my hand at chocolate croissants again before we went to the beach.  I used this recipe (which is easier to follow in print form in the Tasty Ultimate Cookbook), and it felt less overwhelming than my first all-weekend attempt to make these things.  Oh my.  It’s probably good that these things take two days to make.  Otherwise, I’d make them every single day of my life for all of eternity.  BUT, good to know that the hard work pays off here and they are delicious!

The hubs and I made a royal mess of our row on the airplane chowing down on flaky croissants on our way to Jamaica, and then we ate them again with friends on the porch of our place on our first morning there.  Not a bad start to vacay.

Also, I am currently obsessed with this book!  It is part cookbook, part science lesson, part food memoir, and it is fantastic!  If you want to learn how to cook, this is hands-down, the best book I’ve come across.  Plus, it has all these delightful and super helpful illustrations that make it so fun and totally remove the “oh this is a big book on cooking” feel.  I enjoyed the Netflix series by the same title (I really just want to go eat something delicious with Samin Nosrat.  She seems like a fun person to hang with.), but the book has a lot more information in it to truly teach you.  Go buy this book right now, home cooks!  You won’t be sorry!

Play Sports

Soccer season is wrapping up with the final two games in the next two weeks.  It’s been a fun challenge for me athletically and a ridiculously good workout, but now I’m ready to do some more running!  I think I’m going to start training for some 5Ks and then do a half-marathon or two in the Fall. I’d like to break 18 minutes in the 5K and 1:30 in the half-marathon, and I think this year may be my year to do it!  I’ll continue with my minimalist approach to running which works really well for me these days.  I plan to only run a few days per week, focusing on speed work and maybe one long run per week, and then supplementing with cross training (yoga and swimming mostly) and remaining consistent with strength training.  We’ll see how it goes!

Workout

This blog!  A friend of mine told me that she mostly just uses these workouts for all of her training, so I recently tried it, too.  It was great for a morning where I had to be at school early and needed a quick workout that combined strength training and HIIT.  I didn’t think it did a whole lot until the next day when I was sore!  I’ll continue trying her workouts this spring, probably on school days!

Be Crunchy

As I mentioned, the Hubs and I went on a little spring break vacation to Jamaica.  We were off the beaten path a bit, as we went with some friends to an Air BnB away from the more touristy parts of the country.  We really enjoyed the delicious, authentic Jamaican food that we ate all week, but our stomachs felt a little wonky when we got home.  We’ve been doing some essential oil “shots” at night to fight anything we may have encountered on our trip (like, parasites…they are real and they go unnoticed sometimes, wrecking silent damage to your gut!).  We’ve been taking three drops of oregano, three drops of a digestion blend, and one drop of lemon in a bit of water.  It is very not tasty (why don’t I have some veggie capsules on hand for oils like this?).  I will say that my digestion has seemed very happy since we started this (we’ll continue for probably seven “treatments”)!  I also took this activated charcoal on the trip whenever my stomach felt a bit off (I’m somewhat paranoid about stomach bugs.  They are the worst!).

Kid Stuff

Landon and I are loving this curriculum!  Even though we’re not currently planning to homeschool, we do our “preschool” at home.  To guide our learning, I’m just trying to latch onto anything that Landon is curious about (i.e. SCIENCE!) and just explore things as he has questions (can someone come answer a few octopus questions for me?).  I thought he would love to learn to read, so we started on this curriculum in February.  It takes 20ish minutes per lesson, and we really aim to do it every day Monday-Friday, so that consistency helps it click.  At first, he was resistant to it because he does not like to make mistakes, but we stuck with it, tried to make it really fun and lighthearted, and, by golly, he’s reading three sentences at a time with good comprehension.  We are about 40 lessons in, so I’m excited to see how the program helps him learn and grow and develop as a reader.  The farther into it we go, the more and more convinced I am that Landon and I are truly nothing special!  This is a great program that’s been used by so many because it really works!

Beauty & Style

I am loving this lipstick lately!  I discovered Beauty Counter two years ago or so and have found several products that I really like.  It seems easy to me to find safer skincare products to love, but makeup can be trickier.  However, this lipstick really delivers.  The coverage is sheer, so I can wear it everyday to look put together without being overdone for, say, the grocery store, the park, or wherever I’m out and about with my kids.  My lips don’t have a lot of natural pigment, so this lipstick makes a big difference as far as my normal, natural beauty look is concerned.  I love “Terra” for winter, but now I’m breaking out “Petal” for a soft, spring look.  I’ve tried the Color Intense lipstick which I like as well, but the sheer colors are my everyday go-to.

Well, that’s a wrap!  Tell me what you’re into lately and what you love about Spring!  I love to hear from you.  🙂

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