Day 2157 | 15 Years of Marriage

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“A good marriage is one where each partner secretly suspects they got the better deal.”

Fifteen years. Chris and I got married 15 years ago today. It was a crazy hot day surrounded by all of our friends and family with ice cream sundaes and a pretty epic dance party. That day remains the best day of my life (I was in pretty immense pain when the boys were born, after all).

I’m thankful every day that we’ve built this beautiful life together. We’ve gone through a lot in those years, but it really feels like we’re just getting started, you know? This is the life I’ve always dreamed of with the best friend I never could have imagined.

I ran across the quote above when I was contemplating marriage today. It gave me a good chuckle and I thought you might enjoy it. In case you’re wondering, though, in this marriage, it’s clear that I got the better deal.

Day 2156 | Monarch Caterpillars

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We found these beauties at the lake this weekend and decided to bring them home with us (we left a lot of their friends, in case you are worried). Boom. Two days later they’re preparing for their chrysalis. I don’t know why, but watching caterpillars transform is about the most intriguing thing for me. I’m just so in awe of the process.

It goes without saying…I’ll keep you posted on progress!

Day 2152 | Lowes Creek

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We’ve realized the way to beat the heat is to get out early. Today’s adventure started at 8am (we had the added motivation of having to bring our car in to be serviced, so that was nice). We went for a lovely (and very comfortable) hike on some trails in Lowes Creek Park. It was really lovely…even the bugs left us alone. And then we didn’t feel bad running errands and watching a movie to fill the rest of the crazy-hot day. Win-win!

Day 2147 | Last Day of School

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We made it through the 2020-2021 school year. Man, that was intense. There have been some lovely highs along with my some tough lows, but we’re here now and we’re more than ready for a summer vacation. Lake life, we’re coming for you!

In case you’re curious about what school looked like for the boys this year, check out this video I put together as a year-end gift to the school. I’m pretty proud of it. Click here for the video.

Day 2146 | Therapy

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Have you heard my exciting news? I started therapy a few weeks ago. That's right, the mental health variety and I'm super pumped about it. It's been on my to-do list for years but I just didn't have the space in my life or the extra motivation needed to find someone. When Chase went back to school four days/week, I decided making a phone call was the least I could do as a bit of self-care. I did a good bit of research and ended up practically cold calling a local therapy clinic. I gave the receptionist a little info about who + what I was looking for and she matched me with someone who is really great. I've had three sessions so far and she seems like the perfect fit for me.

It's so interesting to go through the exercise of really thinking through my relationships and to start weeding through how and why I make decisions. For someone who internalizes a lot and questions herself constantly, it's been really lovely to hear a complete stranger validate some of my feelings but push me into answering tough questions, too.

I'll keep you posted as my journey continues.

Day 2143 | A Graduation

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My niece (and goddaughter!) graduated today. I remember being at the hospital when she was born and today she graduated. That’s crazy, right?

It was such a beautiful day filled with family (some of which we haven’t seen in quite some time), yummy food, and everything celebrating Skylar. I haven’t fully processed that she’s leaving in the fall, but we’ve got a few months for that to sink in.

I’m so proud of this girl. And I can’t wait to follow along on wherever her journey takes her.

Day 2142 | Culture Fest

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The boys’ school typically does a big Culture Fest every year where the kids form groups and do a ton of research on a specific country or continent. There are posters, and videos, and presentations, and games. It’s an amazing event.

Unfortunately, Culture Fest, in its full form, couldn’t happen again this year, but Robbe’s teacher decided to put a mini classroom version of Culture Fest together. And Robbe loved every second of this project. No group work this time around so Robbe did all the work you see in the photos himself over the course of about a month. He made the poster, created a 9-minute video, and made two 3D visuals. Since families couldn’t attend this year, Robbe set up his presentation at home to show Chris and Chase (I was subbing today so I actually got to see it in person-woohoo!). Robbe was just so proud.

Thank goodness for teachers who can still motivate and challenge these kids after the year we’ve all had.

Day 2139 | Living the Dream

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The weather app didn’t let us down! We had such a lovely summer-y day at the lake house yesterday and it was everything I wanted it to be. There was swimming, fishing, paddle boarding, pontooning, reading outside, napping in the hammock, gardening…it doesn’t get much better in my opinion. I can’t wait to reenact this weekend over and over again this summer.