Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

I REALLY need to get out. Or away from these kids! I am going a little stir crazy at this point. We got school done, mostly, but I just about walked away while we were working. It was too much! I sent everyone up for a quiet time, just to get a little space and play some video games. I wish my new puzzles would get here! But I guess I can't blame deliveries for taking a while right now.  We checked out that Dublin home church this evening. I don't like that they meet later, but it was just six minutes up the road, which was very, very nice. Going didn't feel like a huge thing because of that, I think. Ben and I were both anxious and we prayed on the way there. It was not a bad time. The group is really friendly and easy to talk to. They had two kind of permanent guests there. People who have accepted Christ, but don't actually go to Dwell, but come to group every week. Their input added some flavor that I really appreciated. I liked the more intimate feel of the group. ...

We got out of the house today! But just barely. 😅 Most things were cancelled, but I decided to take Jonas to Jiu Jitsu, and got stuck in the cul-de-sac. Ben had to come out and dig me out of the snow and I was finally able to get off of our street. I sat at the studio while he practiced and brought some seeds to Marcela. Then, after practice was over, we drove over to Kroger for our groceries and to the library for our pickup. Everyone wanted smoothies, so I spent $25 to get a few drinks, which made me feel very sad.  Ben and I went out to Giant Eagle for a little alone time once he was done work. I think he also just really wanted to get out of the house. There were a few things that I had forgotten in my order, so we got some of that stuff and Ben realllllyyyy wanted to get alcohol because dry January is almost over. I got a little anxious because it felt like he was about to go way overboard on drinking. He assures me he won't but it kind of feels like the whole point of dry Ja...

We did a full morning of school today but were still stuck in the house for the rest of the day. This is one downside of living in a cul-de-sac: no plows come through here! They don't have enough space to turn around and, so, we've just never been plowed. I've never lived in this house when we've had such extreme weather before, though, so this is new - being completely trapped. Thankfully we still had enough food for today, but I had to set up a grocery pick up for tomorrow. We're pretty much at the end of everything, food and drink-wise!  I had my virtual book club this evening, so it felt a little like socializing. I can feel myself getting tired of being stuck in the house with the kids. I'm getting more irritable and just kind of want to hide myself away.  * Ben put a tarp down on the deck before the snow with the intention of having a clear space AND being able to make a big slide or snow fort or something. He worked at picking up the tarp today. It was re...

SNOW DAY!! We skipped school today, like the rest of Columbus, and just hung out. The kids spent lots of time outside, I spent lots of time working on puzzles, and Ben spent lots of time working. Wah. At least it was work from home! Only one person on our cul-de-sac has left the court today. It was clear from the tire tracks! Ben and I had a good talk today, during which neither of us got upset with the other. Yay!

WE'RE SNOWED IN!!!! It snowed so dang much. Just snow, snow, snow alllll day. Ben went outside to shovel over and over again, which I thought was over the top but he thought was absolutely necessary. Haha Jonas also went out to shovel over and over and over again at Craig's house. Craig promised to make it worth his while! But I feel bad. He, honestly, would have done it for free (we would have made him) and I don't want Craig paying him tons of money to do something that he would do for free, but I know he will! How do I tell him not to break the bank without being offensive? I don't know. I guess he can pay whatever he wants.  Today was alllll chill. Puzzles, and video games, and family tv shows. So amazing. It felt like quarantine all over again! Loved it. And, thankfully, we have enough food for a couple of days, so we're all good. 

Sleep last night...wasn't great. Karen and I shared a room. Small, but annoying, detail about last night that I didn't share, but it felt like people were fighting over who wouldn't have to share a room with me! Everyone wanted to be in the bunk room and I had a free queen bed in my room. NOBODY wanted it. Karen and Jenny were the last to argue over who got the bunk bed and I guess Karen lost and had to sleep in my room. *eye roll* Anywayyy...sleep sucked, as it often does when I'm not home, but it's fine. Breakfast was delicious and then I showered and then we went over a verse all together and talked about our thoughts on that verse. I ended up feeling a little bitter, just briefly, as we were talking about belonging to one another. Does Ben belong to this group? Does the group feel the pain of one of its members hurting and drifting away? (some probably do) Do these ladies actually feel like I belong to them? When they're planning their lives, does my existe...

Today was a little crazy. I was hoping it wouldn't be, but I guess any time I'm leaving the house for an overnight without the kids, it's bound to be that way. We woke up and did school in the morning, then I realized that I was about to have a house full of people and I really needed to clean up a little! I cleaned like crazy, my vacuum BROKE 😭, I ran and did a Target pickup, and got home just in time to greet five teenagers for Jonas's new Dungeons & Dragons group. The kids had a great time hanging out, playing, and snacking, and I was so proud of Jonas for all of his hard work prepping! He had it all planned out. Looking forward to having them over again in two weeks! One mom hung out while her kid was here because she lives all the way across town. I didn't want to be rude, but I had to finish up laundry, pay the bills, AND pack for my weekend away while she was here. We visited for a little while and she said she didn't mind me taking care of stuff. I ...

School was good, but we had some behavior issues that I got extremely frustrated with this morning. It was just stupid bickering, but I'm so over it. Here's the story: each of the kids gets one of the breakfast necessities each morning: bowls, spoons, milk...and I guess one person gets lucky. Except they have favorite/easiest things to grab, so it's a rush to be the person who gets the easiest stuff every morning. I guess spoons are the least easy, since they're always still in the dishwasher. On top of it being the worst thing to bring to the breakfast table, everyone also has strong preferences as to which spoon they want to use. SO, the person who has to get the spoons is also supposed to sort through all of the spoons in the dishwasher and find everyone's favorite spoon. Well, Ruby got spoon duty today, which she feels like she gets an unfair amount of the time because she's the slowest to get to the table. She did not feel like getting everyone's favori...

Today was a busy day, but not bad. We started school at home in the morning, then I packed work up for Ruby and Ollie and we all went to the Hilliard Library for Jonas and Clem's speech club. It was actually pretty fun to get a change of scenery and do our work somewhere else. The girls did great with it and neither Jonas nor Clem complained about speech club too much, although Clem did say that people laughed at her and that made her really mad. Jonas tried to tell her that nobody was laughing at her, but it can be hard to believe that when you feel like that's what happened!  We rushed out of the library, grabbed some smoothies for lunch, then went to Gracie Barra for Jonas's noon class that he loves so much. He had a great time and some really good matches. I feel like he fought a little dirty, honestly, but I guess he was just trying to use his weight to his advantage against a much more athletic sparring partner. I'm hoping he doesn't use that move too much, th...

Wow, I finally had a day with nothing planned and it felt WONDERFUL. Wild & Free was still getting together, but inside a nature center and that kind of meetup just doesn't work for my kids anymore. They don't want to play with puppets and hide in big, fake trees anymore. They just sit around, bored and staring, when I try to get them to places like that. So...I skipped! And we had the entire day at home. We got school done in a good amount of time, I finished wallpapering the hallway and re-hanging all the pictures. I ordered frames for a couple of prints I've had sitting around for a while, to add to the wall too. I'm excited for the project to be about over for now! I still have to do the big stuff, like flooring and trim, but I won't be doing that until I move downstairs and I feel like this update is good enough for now.  We had pizza and a movie night tonight and continued watching The Mysterious Benedict Society, which has been really fun. I did some laun...

Today was like a soft start back into the week. Ben was off of work and I did a half-day at school: just math and reading. Jonas had to go to Lighthouse, though, and he was very mad. He wants to go to Jiu Jitsu on Mondays at noon, and instead, he has to continue on with his obligation to his science class. It's already paid for and we have to put his education about his current obsession, but I really did feel bad. I know how into he is and I know how much he loves those noon classes. They're emptier and he gets a lot more individualized attention during them. He also likes the guys more. Alas, it's not always going to work!  I had lunch with Cina today and it was great to catch up with her. We went to Bravo!, right near me, which was a treat! I wish we made it a point to get together more often, but we're both so busy lately. I'm thankful that I always still feel loved and wanted (obvs as a friend) by her, despite the length of time between our hangouts! I went to ...

Ben and I drove separately to CT today because he needed to be home by 11:40 to get together with Jason and drive to Travis's to play MtG! I'm glad he got to hang out with his friends and it gave me a little more freedom to not rush after CT. Of course, Jonas was ready to get out of dodge, but I made him wait! I ended up talking to Julie O'Donovan for about 20 minutes after CT, getting more information about the new Hilliard bush group that she's hosting. I don't know. It really could be the answer to all of my prayers over the years. It would be so good to have a group that's close to home that I could invite neighbors to! It would be even cooler if we were hosting, since we've had a couple of people who said they'd "come every week if it were at your house!" to us over the years. Just a lot of things to be praying for with these groups! I don't want to leave my friends, but I do want to be in a better position for evangelism with friends ...

The guys went to play games with the small group men this morning and had a great time. Me and girls chilled here. I cleaned a little, but mostly relaxed and played my video game! In the afternoon, we grabbed some lunch at Chick-fil-A together and then went to American Eagle, where Ben annoyed the crap out of me because he couldn't find a single thing to buy with his gift card. After that, we went to the furniture store. I feel like we had already made a decision on furniture and I do not want to do another second of shopping around. Apparently, Ben feels like we're back at the starting board! Another thing I felt irritated about. Third irritation of the day was the store, itself!!! Oh my gosh. The "closeout sale" deals sucked. A whole 25% off of everything? You get better deals when stores aren't closing! Not impressed. Also, their bathroom was broken. Like, all of their bathrooms were out of order, somehow. So I had to walk all the way down to the Staples to tak...

Today went so much better than I expected it to! I was ready for my craft at CACH and the class seemed to enjoy it. Then, I had a good time helping with the "Ready to Rumble" class, which I was also anxious about. So glad everything went well! I enjoyed catching up with a few people too. It was great!  We got home and hung out for a little while, then I went to my dermatologist appt., which went smoothly. She said I don't have to come back for two years! Yay! 

I wish I had written about each experience right when they happened today, rather than waiting until the end of the day, because I am SO done with socializing at this point that I'm super grouchy and cannot stand to be around people for another second. But I'll try to be impartial as I write! This morning, I met HC ladies at the indoor playground and Kylienne came too. It was a typical playdate with some hectic moments and some distraction from what I really wanted to do, which was just talk to friends, but it was good! I think Ky felt comfortable and enjoyed the morning. She seemed in really good spirits when we left, initiating plans for next week, even!  After the play date, I got home, picked Jonas up for Jiu Jitsu, and drove him to class. I officially signed him up and made the first payment. 😭 So much money!!! Trying not to be stressed about it. I really like the people there, though. A lot. They seem great.  So, I left him there, then ran over to Valentina's for lun...

This morning, I got to lay in bad a little longer than usual since it was a Wild & Free day. We headed over to Anne's for our "Winter Celebration" and I was so grateful that she hosted! It was nice for the moms to be able to sit on couches and visit with each other, rather than standing around in the freezing cold. Sadly, our time ended very badly. Anne's dog, Silas, BIT Ollie on the hand when she went to pet him and broke through her skin, so she ran into the house screaming and bleeding. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it first appeared to be, but there wasn't much that Anne could do to make Ollie OR me feel better about what happened. She checked on Ollie and offered her first aid, which Ollie refused. She put Silas into a back room, but Ollie was so terrified that she didn't want to leave the bathroom, so I had to usher her and the other girls out right after the incident. Anne, of course, felt terrible and now Ben is talking about reporting the do...

Today was the busiest day ever. We did school in the morning, then I took Jonas to his first Jiu-Jitsu lesson! He loved it SO MUCH. When I left him there, he was doing some exercises that seemed way beyond him. When I got back, he was being straddled by the instructor. 😅 I knew it was a very wrestly kind of sport, but daannnng. I would not be able to handle being touched and manhandled like that! Me and Ruby watched the last 20 minutes of class and then I dropped them off at home and ran over to Kylienne's as fast as I could. We're trying to hang out every other week or so, and I had made plans to visit while her kids were napping. I almost missed the window with Jonas's class! But I managed to get both done, thankfully. My time with her was nice. It was just an hour, but we sat and drank our tea/coffee together on the couch and caught up on life a little.  I left Ky's then rushed home to get bread into the bread machine and quickly headed out to grab the grocery picku...

We had our "family fun day" today! I woke up and tried to book our tickets to Zootopia 2 and saw that the entire theater at the 12:15pm showing was full. I mean, I could have gotten six seats, but they would have been all over the theater! Crazy. This movie has been out for months. I can't believe it's still selling out! So, we got to go to the 9:15am movie instead, which was wild. I mean, being in the movie theater at breakfast time was not a thing I wanted to do at all. What was crazy was how many adults were in there. What are you all doing at the movies this early in the morning?? It was so weird. But we all enjoyed the movie and there were no issues. Ben usually gets mad at the kids while we're in the theater and he didn't today, luckily.  However...I brought a big refilled soda into the car after the movie and since it was so big, I really shoved it down into the cup holder. I did narrate this, so it shouldn't have come as any surprise to Ben, when ...

Clem had her big audition this morning! She sang, danced, and did her lines beautifully. There is a ton of competition, so I still think there aren't good odds of her getting a part, but she did as well as she could have done and I am so proud of her. We got home from the auditions around 1:30pm, then I rushed to get a load of wash in and we headed over to Mara's birthday party! Jonas decided to come too, and I'm glad he did. He ended up hanging out with these three guys from the small group the whole time and had a blast. The girls all had a great time too! Surprisingly, I had some really good conversations and enjoyed myself a lot.  On the drive home, the kids begged and pleaded for me to PLEASE take them to small group on Wednesdays. Ben and I had our date tonight and we talked about it over dinner. On the one hand, the kids all love it there and this small group is super close knit and has welcomed us in with open arms. But, on the other, we know that Meadow Park is not...

Today we did school and just hung around the house for most of the day. The girls were playing black widow...where they married men and then killed them so...that was very imaginative. 😅 I keep looking forward to the weekend, but it looks like I'm actually going to be busy the whole time, so I'm not sure what I'm even looking forward to at this point. Just another two busy days that will segue into the busiest week ever! Woo! I dragged myself out of the house to go to cell tonight and I'm so glad I did. I loved this new series we just started, and I really enjoyed the conversation afterward. I think this will be a good one! Such a wonderful night. 

We had our monthly parent meeting today and it went SOOOO smoothly. It was such a relief. I didn't feel a ton of anxiety in advance of this one, but this morning I was pretty wound up. I had full staffing, though, which was extremely helpful! I wasn't needed in the rooms at all. I just checked in a few times, especially to offer support to my kiddos, who were working in there.  When that was over, the kids talked me into McD's and World Market, because that's our 'tradition', I guess. Jonas had Jack over in the afternoon and I spent some time doing school with Ruby and Ollie, but I feel really out of it today. I've struggled to focus and pay attention to the kids when they are talking to me. I'm thinking I'm just sleepy and off schedule. I need to get back to normal soon! We did pizza and a movie night tonight, but just watched an episode of Percy Jackson and now Jonas and Ben are playing their video game together. Thankfully, Ben is feeling a lot be...

Today was a little stressful. Ben is going through some kind of emotional/psychological tailspin and I'm not really sure how to handle it. I know that being supportive would mean to not take it personally and to not apply something he's going through to my own life, making it all about me, but, hard as I try, I still do those things! He is feeling too much pressure and too much responsibility and, when I question further, it feels like it's about having to provide for me and the kids. I worry that he'll walk away. Or that he'll do something stupid enough that I struggle to forgive him and then force him away. I don't want to take it there though! I'm sure he'll get through this and I just need to be supportive, but it's hard. He's mean and standoffish and cold and I don't want to be near him right now.  Aside from the emotional turmoil of that situation, it wasn't a bad day. I took the girls to Wild & Free this morning, just for an ho...

Ugh. Back to school today. I thought I'd take it easy this week and do kind of a half schedule, but it was just too hard to pick and choose what was important and what I could leave out, so I ended up deciding to do it all. So sad!!! Wah. All I want to do is nothing! I'm struggling over here and so is Ben. He is having a really hard time. I don't know if it's our trip to DE, or burnout, or loneliness, or what! But that man is not doing well.  He and I went to home church tonight anyway, and I was surprised he wanted to go. I pulled Rachel aside and told her that we're going to visit another HC soon, because I know how perturbed she gets when she's the last to know something. She was pretty upset and started tearing up, but I feel like we can't take this too seriously! We're JUST visiting. I have no immediate plans to leave Ohio HC. In fact, I'd rather never leave Ohio HC, at least not for now. Ben joined the conversation and I'm glad he did. He g...

We went to CT this morning, and it feels like it's been FOREVER. But it was a great morning and so good to see so many friendly faces! I just enjoy our CT so much. I love getting so see all of the friends I've made through my work and volunteering there. I've had so many meaningful conversations with so many people and it feels great to get to catch up with them, since this is the only place I can do it. God has blessed us so much with this church, and it's so sad how quickly we sometimes forget that! Ben and I are going to discuss when to try out this other HC at some point tonight or tomorrow. It's the new year and I know he's eager to go see what it's all about. I talked to Sarah about it today, briefly, and she told me that the little worker team that started in Hilliard is actually going to become a bush group in the next few weeks. A few couples that I know (and, actually, love!) are going to join the group and see if they can get it off the ground. I ...

Today was a busy day for Ben, but another relaxed one for me! I went to get Jonas around 12:30, but Ben hung out at MtG for most of the day. Then I showered (woo! Big excitement!) and Ben and I went out to dinner. It was delicious, as always. We also ran out and did a few errands while we were together: Goodwill drop-off, Home Depot for a couple of essentials, and Target for some cold medicine, because I'm getting sick. It was a good day, though, and a good date. Things between Ben and I are comfortable and fun right now. So thankful for that! 

We didn't do a whole lot today. Just trying to cram in as much relaxation as possible! Jonas went to spend the night at Max's house and, since I never hosted the sleepover Jonas requested, I asked Brittany if she would celebrate Jonas's birthday while he was there. She agreed enthusiastically, thankfully! I'm hoping that goes well and it's not awkward. I did bring a cake over, but he got all quiet and said, "I just don't want them to sing to me." I'm guessing they won't? Haha we'll see!  Ben and I took the girls to dinner at Jason's Deli in the evening, which was delicious, as always. I can't believe how resistant we were to trying it, when Jonas and Clem kept telling us how great it was. Ben took this picture. Not great, but at least he documented it! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Let's take a look at last year's resolutions and see how I did. It looks like I didn't set the bar too high! 1. Date nights with Ben.  2. Build muscle.  3. Be more adventurous!  4. Read the Bible every day.  Truth be told, I didn't do great with these. I barely read the Bible at all in my own, personal time. We read a lot of Bible in homeschool, but I need to have my own routine set. I was relatively adventurous, but by November/December, all I wanted to do was be at home, doing nothing, and seeing nobody. I'm still feeling like that, sadly! I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to work towards building muscle. I honestly don't think I worked out once! haha oops. But Ben and I did do date nights very consistently. Nearly every weekend, all year! And some weeks we went out twice. Gooooo us!  Okay, for this year, here are my half-formed thoughts:  1. Read the Bible every day. haha If at first you don't succeed...?  2. Get more active/build muscle!...

It's 2026! 2025 was so good that I don't want to let it go, but I know there will be more great times to be had this coming year. That might sound ridiculous, considering how much I complain, but it was a good year marriage-wise, in general, homeschooling was great, mostly, and I maintained a weight I'm happy with all year. Things with church have been decent for me this year...at least, I know I want to stay at Dwell, and I'm generally content with my life. In some ways, it feels like this has been my best year yet! Haha maybe I just have a terrible memory. Either way, good for me!  Today was pretty fun. We went to the Shaul's house for a NYE "party", but mostly we just had dinner together while the kids played. It was a good time, though, aside from Riven punching Ruby in the eye and dealing with that fiasco for a half hour. We got home around 7:45 and broke out the games! We played Ollie's Christmas game, Exploding Kittens the Board Game, which was ...

Time to drive home, already. :( Boo. It went smoothly again, aside from about an hour of snow in the mountains of Maryland/West Virgina. Just sad to be away from everyone already. It was too short of a trip! Hopefully we can figure out how to stay for longer next time.  We got home right before dinner, so decided to make it a pizza and a movie night. We ordered Jets and watched Black Panther for a while, then headed to bed!

We woke up and did Christmas with dad and MJ this morning! It was fun and the kids were very excited. We opened up stocking stuffers, ate breakfast together, then opened gifts. Ben went to go visit Dwight shortly after, which turned out to be a really good time for him. They spent hours together, just catching up. Ben is worried he may not stay clean because he seems to lack conviction, but he doesn't really have the money for it right now and he has been clean for a year, so we're just going to be hoping and praying that it sticks. Also praying for his salvation like crazy. He has such an addictive personality. How awesome would it be if he were addicted to Christ?? In the meantime, MJ and I got to go out for lunch and our food was really good! We had a great time visiting with each other. TBH, I mostly just complained about Ben and she complained about dad, but we both felt a lot better afterwards. Sometimes you just have to get stuff off your chest. I don't know if that...