I’ve seen a few bloggers doing “12 things Tuesday” posts and thought it would be fun to hop on the trend today! It’s just 12 off-the-cuff, in-the-moment thoughts. Here goes!
1. I’m sitting at my little desk drinking homemade hot cocoa (that I mentioned in my last post) and it’s super bright and sunny outside and I’m feeling like… 15% anxious/worried about life and 85% excited about it. Not bad, right?!
2. The boys were soooo hype after their valentine’s day parties at school this morning and now they won’t nap. Kyeler is singing “I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy” at the top of his lungs and CJ (I just peeked in on him) has taken off his socks and is playing sock puppets. It’s kind of cute but also… it’s gonna be a longggg afternoon.
3. Josh got me the prettiest roses for v-day along with some green juice, a snack, and a handwritten love poem!! Ahhhh! Also he put the flowers in a vase on our front porch this morning because he wanted them to be a surprise for me after he left for work. I was in the other room and I heard him whispering to the boys, “This is a secret, don’t tell mommy,” and I got legit upset and yelled, “Please don’t teach the boys to keep secrets!” But then the big secret turned out to be a beautiful vase of roses on the porch. Oops.
4. The pink pine smoothie at Village Juice is so yummy! I think it’s only there for the month of February so I’ll have to go back one more time and get it.
5. Lately I have been writing down ten things I’m grateful for every day. It’s such a quick practice that has been helping my mental health so much, I hope I can stick with it!
6. Speaking of mental health, I really love the therapist I started seeing in January. I think everyone should go see one if they can!
7. I have been eating so much dark chocolate lately and even made these tiny chocolate hedgehogs just for fun! I usually buy bars from Trader Joe’s but will occasionally treat myself to Hu Kitchen—their hazelnut filled chocolate is my favorite.
8. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: window clings! The boys are so into them. These cute heart ones were sent to us from my mom!
9. I absolutely loved this blessing that went out in Stephanie Duncan Smith’s newsletter today:
10. Last week two of our sweet friends from church babysat the boys and Josh and I went out to a fancy dinner at Six Hundred! I got the salmon and he got the duck gnocchi. We shared the brussels sprouts which were surprisingly the star of the show.
11. Yesterday the boys and I made M&M cookies and put them in bags decorated with hearts and delivered them to some of our older neighbors who are widowed/single. It was so special and I could tell the boys knew that what they were doing was really meaningful even if it seemed small on the outside!
12. Ok gonna end on this poem from Derek Walcott called “Love After Love”… it’s so beautiful and kind of makes me want to cry, but in a good way!
“The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.”
A Continual Feast 