It’s weird that I would be excited about a Monday, but I am. I feel like this is the real first Monday in August and I’m giving it plenty of love. If we were on a coffee date, I’d tell you that…
School starts tomorrow and I’m so glad. I’m not usually that mom shoving her kids out the front door with a grin on my face, but this year it’s different. Summer was hard and the lack of a schedule has done a number on me. We’re all over-tired and suffering from a summer hangover and I think school is exactly what we need to kick ourselves in gear. Sophie is in first grade this year and Ella is in the fourth (what in the actual heck?) and they are both so excited about their teachers and being back at school with their friends. We’ve dropped off school supplies, bought a completely new wardrobe (because girls) and got a tour of their new classrooms. I’ll be back tomorrow with back-to-school interviews, one of my favorite posts of the year!
I miss my husband. A lot. He’s been working a second, more creative job, for the last six weeks. He’s been leaving the house before we get home in the afternoons and not getting home until well after dark. Our quality time has been relegated to fifteen minutes at a time and the girls (and I) desperately miss our daddy. I can’t wait to show you finished pictures of what he’s been up to. His concrete countertops are crazy beautiful and this job, in particular, is gorgeous. It makes me super excited for our forever house’s kitchen and bathrooms.
Our anniversary is on Wednesday. It’s a little surreal to consider that we’ve been married for fourteen years and that it’s been nineteen years since our first date. I do NOT feel old enough to say that out loud, but it’s true. We’ve grown up together and the life we’ve built together is beautiful. I’m not going to lie, marriage is hard and it doesn’t look at all like I imagined at the age of seventeen, but that’s only because I didn’t know how good it could be. We aren’t doing anything fancy this year, but I pretty much just want to be in the same room with him for more than a few minutes at a time. I told him that a Netflix date with wine and pasta sounded like the best thing ever.
We’ve had some movement on the homefront. Isn’t always weird how things always change the moment you get settled in? Our house has been on the market for a year with very little interest. The market has been weird around here and I’ve fluctuated between extreme frustration and peace that God knows exactly what he’s doing. A few weeks ago, I told Josh that I was tired of waiting on things and that I was going to love this house for as long as we live here and stop putting off projects. I spent last weekend completely redecorating my bathroom and I’ve been working on updating the girls’ rooms all summer. It’s funny because Josh & I had a conversation on Friday about what we would change if we lived here forever and we put a tentative list together. Then my agent called us first thing on Saturday morning. I don’t know what will happen, but they didn’t have anything negative to say and it was so nice to get a little validation. I adore this house so much and just want someone to love it just as much as I do.
I love redecorating my house. Since Josh was traveling this weekend and the weather wasn’t looking good enough to swim, I decided to clean, organize and redecorate my house while the girls watched the Olympics on Saturday. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that I took every item I own off the walls and off of shelves and out of furniture and decided to start from scratch. Sometimes, it feels so good to completely change the way your house looks without spending a single dollar. Right about the time I was dusting all of the empty furniture, our real estate agent called. She had a potential buyer who wanted to see our house. Immediately. I had to laugh out loud because the place was a wreck. She managed to buy me six hours and I was able to get everything restyled, cleaned and put back together just in time to take the kids out for dinner while she showed the place. As overwhelmed as I felt, I likely got much more done with the pressure of a deadline and it all looks so good.
We cut the cable cord. We’ve been talking about it for months, but I finally called and cancelled our satellite subscription last month. It ran out on Wednesday and I’ve finally packed up all the boxes and have them ready to drop in the mail. Nobody around here ever watches live television and it seems really silly to spend $100+ a month for nothing. We upgraded our internet services instead and we’ll be relying on streaming services to keep us entertained. I’ve already had a few emails/comments about what we’re using, so I’m planning to share a post later this month about how we’re watching all of our favorite shows.
We are in LOVE with the Rio Olympics. Obviously, I didn’t consider the timing when I cancelled our satellite service. It ended just two days shoy of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. We had been debating a streaming service anyway, so we grabbed an Amazon Fire TV on Friday afternoon and Josh had us all set up in time for the men’s rowing at 7 o’clock the next morning. Ella sat right there in the same spot until she fell asleep during the swimming finals fourteen hours later. I don’t normally approve of constant screen time, but we’re making an exception this month. I’m so glad they are finally old enough to appreciate the Olympic games. So far, Ella’s favorites are beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and rowing. Sophie isn’t as interested, so we page her any time the American athletes are on-screen.
I completely redeemed my diet this week. After completely butchering July, I’m so thrilled to be back on track. I’m planning a cheat meal for Wednesday (anniversary, remember), but otherwise I’ve been eating pretty clean for the last week. I think with the kids back in school and Josh back on a normal work schedule, it will be much easier to be accountable. I’ll be back to cooking every day and we can actually sit down and enjoy a meal together at night! Josh and I had also been hitting the gym together, 4-5 mornings a week, but his schedule in July kept us from going together. I’m looking forward to that time together again and I’ve already been adding miles to a few other mornings a week. Half marathon training starts in October (yes, I’m actually going to run it again) and I’m looking forward to adding some longer distances once the weather cools off a bit.
We’re going on a trip. We’ve been planning for years to take the girls to NYC on Spring Break this year, but a family wedding caused us to postpone that a year. Instead, we’re going to take the girls out of school for a week in February and head to California. We’ll be in San Diego for a few days for the wedding and then we’re planning a train ride to Los Angeles for a few more days of sightseeing. Our itinerary is still a bit up in the air, but we’ll be booking plane tickets later this month and firming up our dates and plans. We know we’re going to visit DisneyLand for a day, but otherwise, we’re pretty flexible. Any must-sees while we’re there? We need kid-friendly adventures and lots of yummy restaurant recs!
