July 4, 2026 - Saturday


Happy Independence Day! I have mixed feelings about our country. Things can be pretty gross here, politically, but I'd be a fool to not appreciate the safety, prosperity, and comfort that we have here. If I had been born nearly anywhere else, my life would not be nearly as cushy. I am grateful that I live here and I'm grateful for the life that I live here. I'm not as grateful for our current leadership or some of the sentiments that he seems to bring out, loud and proud, in some of my fellow citizens, but I won't let myself wallow in discontent when I have it SO damn good. Am I proud to be an American? Not necessarily. But am I grateful to be an American? Yes, I am. 

I spent hours and hours prepping food for the cookout this afternoon. We weren't really looking forward to it, but we *kind of* were. It was nice to be included in plans, anyway. Most July 4ths, we're just kind of hanging out alone or finding another straggler family to do something with. I made a ton of potato salad, a caprese salad (with basil from my garden 🤓), and a banana pudding that was INSANE. So freaking good. I also did face paint for both of the girls and they were so excited about it! We headed out around 4 to get up to Dublin and, as we were looking for parking, it starts POURING. And it just doesn't stop. We sat in a parking lot for almost an hour, waiting for a break in the rain, then finally decided to just go eat at Jason's Deli and wait out the rain. We could still bring our food to the party afterwards. They'd all still be hungry! But, as we sat there waiting and watching the forecast, it just looked like more rain to come. We also realized that after an hour and a half of steady rain, the ground was going to be very muddy and we'd end up being wet, sticky, and uncomfortable. We decided to call it and we just went home. Friends were disappointed in us, but we were happy and dry in our pajamas, watching family movies together. The day didn't turn out how we expected, but it was not bad. We have a ton of food though. 😐

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

November 9, 2025 - Sunday

Image
This is my favorite picture from the whole shoot!! I love it.  We went to CT this morning and I actually got to sit in on the teaching! Woo! It feels like that doesn't happen very often. We hung out in the cafe with friends for a little bit, then went to Chipotle for lunch on the way home.  We spent most of the day just relaxing! I started a photo book for our Maine vaca in September, and tried to get caught up with some other stuff, but it was mostly just a chill day. Jonas and Clem went to group and we stayed home, chillin'. Ben and I got in the hot tub with Ruby and Ollie for a little while, which was fun. It was snowing while we were in there!  
Read more

April 27, 2026 - Monday

Image
I'm finally starting to feel a little more like myself again. I can almost feel the energy to work on projects and maybe even see people. We'll see if it continues in this direction or if I backslide. I just never know anymore.  Late yesterday evening, Ben asked if the McKeans wanted to come over for a fire. I was shocked! He never wants to do last minute stuff like that. It was a really good night though. I'm glad he reached out to them and asked.  Today, we just did school and our usual BJJ classes. I cleaned and relaxed in the afternoon, then rode with Christina and Lauren to my CACH class planning meeting for the spring. We stopped at Chick-fil-A on the way and got some grub. It was a good meeting! I think the semester will be wonderful. I'm glad I'm doing this yearbook club thing. I think it's going to be a fun group. I need to put together an application for the kids to fill out!
Read more

May 7, 2026 - Thursday

Image
Today was pretty fun. After we finished with school, we went to the playground with Christina, Sarah, and Mackenzie. I tried to talk Christina into going on a hike and she agreed! But then she asked if we could just switch to a playground, so we did that instead. But the kids had an awesome time, and I had a pretty good time too, so it's all good.  In the evening, Clem had her choir concert. Christina brought her kids, so they were there for her solo and Jaxon brought her a dozen roses!!! Clem was blushing so hard. It was very cute. She did a great job singing again. I'm so proud of her for being brave and giving herself 100% to her choirs, to learning her music, and to practicing daily. She's a good kid. 
Read more