While I work on compiling my thoughts and photos from all the things we’ve done recently (and all the things we’ve done NOT recently that I need to catch up on), I figured I would take a second to write another life update for anyone who is here for more than just my “go do this fun thing” plug. The pictures are always completely related to the post, but sometimes I just need a place to put some of the millions of photos I take on the daily. So, without further ranting from yours truly…
The Now: November 2024 Edition
| Summer | feels like an ETERNITY ago, but I never wrote about any of it. Summer vacation was fun and exciting and busy and hot. Even though we lived in Missouri five years ago, this was our first experience with living the entire summer here. The humidity isn’t my friend, but I have learned to deal with it (because what other choice do I have?). The kids loved being out of school and they loved the many trips over to Six Flags that we took (check out our honest review of Six Flags St Louis season passes). I also got my fill of camping in over summer break. I was able to attend the Young Women’s Camp for the girls in our church congregation and it was so fun. In addition, I was able to go on a 3-day canoeing trip with some of the older young women. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced (I’ll post about that too at some point) and I hope I can go again next year! As a family, we camped in Lake of the Ozarks and for sure by the time all the camping was finished I was content with no more camping for a while.
| School | is going well for the kids. C is in 7th grade (WHAT!?), E is in 5th, L is in 2nd, and little M started Kindergarten this year. We’ve been enjoying the routine and the kids are thriving. Of course, we’ve had our hard days, hectic mornings, and days when the kids don’t want to go to school, but for the most part, it’s been great. As for baby H, she is enjoying one-on-one time with Mom, and I enjoy the ease of grocery shopping with only one child.
| Grad School | is still going for Brandon and it is still the bane of his existence. I give having a husband working full time while also going to school full time zero stars. I’ve complained more than I should probably be allowed, but there is an end in sight. Brandon will graduate in about a year, so I’m counting down the months until I can have my husband back. It’s really amazing to see him balance work, school, and his family. He’s incredible and I never doubted him for a second. Still, it’s been hard on all of us and I’m excited for the day when he’s not working 40-50 hours a week while also taking a full semester of classes.
| Brandon is old | (haha) and so he hurt his back a few weeks ago. He’s thrown out his back a few times before, but this time was really weird. His spine was crooked and even when he tried to stand up straight, it looked like he was leaning to one side. Thankfully, with the help of the chiropractor and physical therapist, he’s been able to get so much better!
| I’ve been working out | a lot more than usual. I’m not trying to reach any specific weight (I’m not really trying to lose weight at all), but I’ve realized that if I continued with the habits I’ve been in, I probably won’t be feeling too great in the future. I’ve started adding more weights into my routine and already I’m feeling changes in my level of strength. It reiterates to me just how amazing our bodies are!
| I’m writing a book | that probably nobody will ever read. If you’ve known me a while, you’ll know that creative writing was something I used to do DAILY. With kids and moves and mental health struggles, my hobby of writing has been placed on the back-burner. But I recently had a dream (literally, it came to me in a dream) about a story that I was wanting to write. I started and it’s been so much fun. Will I finish it? Hopefully. Will I get it published? Unlikely. But writing is so therapeutic and creative writing is such a good creative outlet for me. Maybe it’s not going to be any good, but if I enjoy the process, then who really cares? (But also, I’m really excited about the storyline – Brandon is probably getting tired of me talking about it all the time.)
| We got rear-ended | WAAAAAAY back in August on our way back from Idaho. Truthfully, it could have been so much worse. And while we weren’t thrilled about having to make repairs on our car, we acknowledge that the fact that nobody was injured (or worse) in any of the cars involved is a huge blessing. We were involved in a three-car pileup thanks to a random hail storm that hit (and sorry, Idahoans, but ya’ll do NOT know how to drive in hail). I won’t bore you with all the details, but it ended up causing about $3,000 worth of damage to our car, which was significantly better than could be said for the other two cars. It’s moments like that that I’m grateful for insurance, as we didn’t have to pay a penny of that.
| And speaking of Idaho | the big thing for us this summer was making the 24-hour drive over to Idaho to see our families and to be there for my sister’s wedding. It was fun to see our families again (the last time we saw them was at Christmas last year) especially since we aren’t sure when we’ll be able to make it back again. No matter where we go, Idaho is always kind of going to feel like home and it’s always a treat to be able to visit!
| M’s Surgery | was also a while back (2 months to be exact) and I mentioned it in my last post. And then I promptly fell off the face of the earth for a while because -WOOF- that was a crazy few weeks of recovery. To put it simply, M had what is called vesicoureteral reflux – which is just a fancy-shmancy term for urine leaking up into her kidneys. Me and our oldest daughter also had the same condition, which we corrected with the same surgery that M had. The surgery consists of making an incision (similar in location and size to a c-section incision) and detaching the ureters from the bladder, and attaching them somewhere else on the bladder. With how much experience we’ve had with the surgery, you’d think I’d understand more about it, but there are still things I don’t get. The recovery comes with a lot of discomfort, bladder spasms, and in M’s case – vomiting and feeling all around terrible for two weeks because of the stents they put in her ureters. Once we got those babies pulled out, she was good to go! She still has appointments coming up to determine whether the surgery was a success or not (likely it was), but she’s been doing so much better and it’s such a relief to have that all done with!
| I went to DC | to visit my friend, Marie, and to explore a city I’ve been dying to visit ever since I was a teen. We hit up all the major spots: the National Mall (all the monuments, the White House, and the Capital), Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon, the works. It was an incredible experience and I’m hoping to get it all blogged-out soon. Marie and her family were so sweet to host me and they really made my dreams come true. We even got to spend a day with my brother and his wife (who live near-ish to DC) and it was so amazing to see them for the first time in about 3 years! Brandon was a good sport about me ditching him and the kids for a long weekend, and I’m so grateful he was able to hold down the fort at home!
| Year End | is coming and I’ve been reflecting a lot on 2024. It’s been the hardest and longest year of my life to this point. We wandered way less than I would have liked (partially due to finances and partially due to living in the middle of nowhere), but we’ve grown closer to God and Jesus Christ in ways that I didn’t think was possible. I’ve leaned on my Savior more this year than in any year to date. And so, while I’m ready for 2024 to be over, I can’t help but feel incredibly grateful for what we’ve experienced this year. It all has pushed me to my breaking point and then PAST my breaking point – proving to me over and over again that I can do ALL things with God’s help.
Well, there you have it: another edition of “The Now” in the books (or, ya know, on the blog). Life hasn’t been the most exciting as of late, but it also hasn’t been boring. We’re entering the most magical time of the year and I’m definitely ready for it!
’til next time…
Ash
