Bits of Life
Outer Sunset | Ocean Beach /
Yesterday we needed something to get our minds off of the tragic 49er loss {!!!dreadful!!!} , soooo: beach day!
Definitely did the trick. Seems San Francisco has decided to channel its best southern California and have perfect weather this year, and we're soaking up every bit until the mist and fog returns. I'm daily going back and forth in my mind about whether I'm happy or disappointed about that particular day being 75 degrees and not rainy, because obviously we need rain... but HEY! I'm choosing to be thrilled about the weather and enjoy every tiny bit.
Apparently the rest of the country is having beautiful days-- mostly WHITE and fluffy days, full of school cancellations and late-to-work mornings. Probably hot chocolate and moist chocolate chip cookies too... Equally appealing in different ways, of course. I love that there is so much variety around...
Does a place ever just jump out at you from nowhere and suddenly become a favorite? I grew up a few miles from this crazy delicious Beachside Cafe, and only discovered it this week.. voila! New favorite. This whole neighborhood is full of candy-colored pastel homes, and the cafe fits perfectly. Delicious! Fried egg sandwich, yes please.
And now: pictures!
I absolutely love this: A+ for effort, Maggie... on distance..... not so much!
ps. I'm sore from running around... a sure indication that it's time I get running or gym-ing or something.
Day-to-Day Loving /
Photo by Pictilio
Valentine's day is coming. I have always loved Valentine's day... and I didn't have a Valentine until college. It was never about what we don't have, it's just a day reserved to show people you love that you adore them and are thinking of them.
My husband and I don't go big for Valentine's day, but we like to let each other know the little things we appreciate about one another.
One simple idea is to keep tiny notes with kisses. I write things he does that make me smile, and keep them handy to drop in his bag for him to find at work, or place them by his coffee mug for him to find when I head out of the house for a run in the morning {REALLY trying to get better at taking those morning runs!! ha!}...
It's just a thoughtful way to remind him I care on a regular basis!
Today /
Dear Diary / Internet,
The weather this week has been insane. Like, insane in a good way.. sunny + 75 degrees good. I haven't had the willpower or brain cells to stay inside and type anything.
I'm working on these resolutions to DO rather than thinking forever about what I should be doing, to eat more veggies, get organized, and to enjoy each moment. We just passed the mid-January point... today, I want to lay on the couch, not DO anything productive... eat a giant pan of brownies, let the mess linger, and well... enjoy this moment of doing so.
It takes 30 days for adults to form good habits or to break bad habits. I'm more than halfway there and it's at that tricky point where I REALLY want to "call it" and retry resolutions again in 2015 when I'm 32 and far more mature and capable of handling them properly.
I'm not really going to give up, but it's tempting.
I AM going to give the home a rest today-- tidy, but save the extra laundry for tomorrow, refrain from finding a new corner of my home to tear down and rebuild, have a sweet cup of coffee with some strawberries to squelch the sweet-tooth, and get some rays.
Tomorrow I'll be back with a bit less of a "hey fall off the resolution wagon with me" post, and more of a "let's be better in 2014" post.
xoxo,
Kate
Green Grass /
Sometimes we get this grass-is-greener mentality.
I hear it everywhere from perfectly healthy & blessed individuals. I hear it regarding work, I hear it regarding relationships, I hear it regarding children. I hear that if my scenario was like another's day-to-day, I'd understand. I hear if their scenario was like this or that person, they'd have it better. If they had more of this and less of that, they'd have it better. If life hadn't handed them this or that, it'd be better.
Here is the truth about life: though there are plenty of things out of our control, we all make choices. We choose to work where we work {or not}, we choose to live where we live, we choose to cultivate and commit to certain relationships and not to others. We all make sacrifices to do the things we want to do, and we need to be grateful for the good things that are happening, rather than the have-not mentality.
Our little family together made the sacrifice for me to stay home and raise our girls during the day-to-day. This isn't common around here and it isn't easy. We've also decided to live in the city, which brings with it good & bad. For years, we lived in a small one-bedroom to make this work for our family. I don't have a car to get here and there. We chose this lifestyle, and we're living it.
Was it simple for us? No. I remember when I had Sophie and none of my friends were pregnant or even close. I lived in our small home with no dishwasher or modern amenities, with all my local friends working during the day, and my life including walking our laundry blocks to get to a laundromat and then had coffee dates with my girl while we waited. I also hauled the laundry back home balanced on the stroller while I was 8 months pregnant.
Is that the scenario I would have painted for myself at that time? It really wasn't. I had lonely thoughts, and thoughts about how sad it is that my coffee dates were with a small child who couldn't even form complete sentences yet. I look at that time, and though it felt like a sacrifice at the time- we were striving for greener grass; today those days feel like some of the most precious and lovely moments of my life. It feels like God gifted me with solitude during those days so that I could experience the slow-moving, sweet days of toddlerhood with my little girl, and cultivate a beautiful mother-daughter relationship with Sophie.
The grass was sufficiently sweet then, whether I was noticing or not.
Today, the grass is also sweet. I am sleeping full nights. My children can play together without me completely devoted to every moment and movement. I have bigger days because my children require a bit more runaround than they once did. I end each day a bit wiped from the chaos and often feel like simply a hired hand to cook & clean and grasp at straws to make things work and I get so tired.... There are many things I would adjust if everything was painted my perfect way {like hiring a housekeeper, perhaps?}... but the fact remains: this is green grass we're living.
These days are so long and years so short. It just seems that we shouldn't be pining for perfection when we have so much lovely around us now.
xoxo.
Resolution 2014 /
A new year. I'm writing this a week early because I really like to spend time thinking about resolutions, and New Year's Eve and day is reserved for late night memory-making parties, and slow, easy mornings.
Resolutions are a fabulous thing. I'm so glad that we reserve the first of every year for a clean slate that we can practice introspection and strive for betterment in our lives. 2013 was a decent year. We played hard, we worked hard, we did a LOT. The first half of the year felt long and gloomy and challenging; the second half lovely and full and warm. It's not a year I'd choose to repeat, but I do believe there was character built, and obstacles overcome, and I'm grateful for that.
There is a lot I'd love to improve in the next year, but most of all, I'd like to resolve:
To become an intentional person in 2014.
Does that sound too vague? Maybe. I actually look at it the opposite way. I'm kind of a free spirit sometimes. I like leaving my options open, having no schedules, letting things flow and play out the way they "should." Before having children, this was no big deal, but this year I began to feel loose and scattered rather than organized and put-together. I'm an organized person, so "loose and scattered" is not the day-to-day I picture for myself.
There are things we say we'd like to do. We say it until we're blue in the face, but until we get something on the calendar and make it happen, it's not just going to happen.
To be intentional is to change "Hey, let's hang soon," to "Hey, are you free on the 20th to get dinner at ___ with me? Let's put it on the calendar now!" or "Oh, I need to grab this that and the other to start teaching Sophie some kindergarten prep" to "Sophie let's do a lesson, and while you work, I'll order those books on Amazon."
Sometimes I spend far too much time THINKING about what I should do and far less time DOING.
To be intentional is to adjust that mentality daily.
{Starting with a calendar I'll be ordering riiiiiight now!}
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
xo,
Kate
Ps. You might also like: 2013 Resolutions
