from the floor of a bedroom, part two.

Good morning from Lake Norman. 

Yesterday, Justin, the boys, & I went out for Saturday morning coffee. When it was time to return home, we decided to just keep driving, & this is where we ended up. It has afforded us an impromptu visit with family, as well as a respite from daily life in our own little bubble. 

Life lately has consisted of adhering to nap times, drinking inordinate amounts of coffee, having hummus & crackers with my two-and-a-half-year-old, & trying to squeeze in some sleep here & there. We are currently making our way through the four month sleep regression. I phrase it in that way because I truly believe that this particular developmental milestone demands that you simply survive. Sure, I've read the books, I follow the sleep experts on Instagram (and watch their stories religiously)... but somehow, we are still met with a bit of a challenge in this department right now. 

I won't sugar coat it - it's hard. And unfortunately, I am one of those particular individuals who are grumpy when they lack sleep. 

But, it won't last forever, and we will persevere. 

I'm making it sound far too dramatic, but that's what happens on little sleep & a lot of coffee. 

I was chatting with a friend yesterday via text, and she remarked that maybe, one day, we would look back on this time in our lives and miss it. 

I replied that I thought we certainly would. After all, despite the challenges of our daily lives, there is an overarching tone of joy, of purpose. From moment to moment, hour to hour, I find myself already missing it. The whole-face smile of a four month old baby, the stories told by a nearly-three-year-old, punctuated by the question, "Ee-mem-er?" On two hours' sleep or twelve, nothing could be sweeter, nothing could be more significant. 

on consistency & self discipline.

hastily tapped out in my phone notes while en route from Denver to Raleigh last week - 

I'll never understand why I stop doing things that I like.

Working out. Eating healthfully. Writing on this blog. 

Human nature seems to dictate this weird need to depart from routines and activities and tasks, even if those things are beloved to us. Do we need a break from the monotony? Do we secretly need to rebel? Are we all just that wishy washy? 

Maybe it's just me. But really, drawing from conversations with friends, I'm quite sure that it is not just me. Many of us seem to have to struggle inwardly against ourselves to make sure we are doing - consistently - the things that we love. 

I know people who don't seem to struggle in this way. And a character trait that I observe in them, alongside this faithful, relentless, and unfailing consistency? Self discipline. 

A long time ago, in what was probably 2006 or 2007, there was this feature you were able to install on Facebook that allowed individuals to write anonymous messages to you, that only you could view. I'll never forget one of the messages I got one night (in fact, it's the only message from that feature I even remember at all). It read, 

"I wish you weren't such a flake." 

Even now, I am not sure who of my friends wrote that message to me, though I have an idea or two that would certainly make sense*. At that time in my life, I will admit that I was flaky. I was flighty and anxious and always trying to fit in and please people and be viewed as fun. And now, I can recognize that life - and living a happy one at that - is not about pleasing everyone with what a lively and vivacious person you are, with how many stories you have to tell, with how new and exciting your life is - and remains - day after day. Your real friends and family will love you, even when you're dull, even when you don't know what to say, even when you're in a dark place. 

I wish I would have known that back then, so that I could have been the kind of friend to whomever wrote that message, that I try to emulate now. I wish I would have known how to look deep inside myself and recognize all that I truly love and hold dear. And I wish I would have had the courage then, to be true to myself. I wish I would have had more self discipline, to stick beside plans, to stick beside my friends, to stick beside myself. 

And now, I hope and pray for the kind of self discipline that yields consistency. Consistency with exercise, healthful eating, sharing by way of this blog, connecting with dear friends. 

I hope and pray for that magical, unyielding consistency. 

*If you wrote that message to me, and you are reading this, please know that I am truly sorry that I was not there for you. I sincerely wish I would have been. 

small kindnesses.

Last night, Luke and I met Justin for dinner at a little Italian restaurant around the corner from our house. We had only been there once before, but I had really loved it and had anticipated going back. 

When we walked in, I was struck again with the little joys of this place: green and white penny tile flooring, the glow of tea lights, and these white and pink roses, dotted with cranberries. 

As we sat down and got settled, I took my phone out and snapped a quick photo, as you see above. As I was doing so, the waitress swept over and greeted us, began asking what we would like to drink. Slightly embarrassed at being caught doing something so vaguely rude and touristy as photographing flowers in a restaurant, I quickly slipped my phone away and stammered an awkward hello (it's true - and I have the "live photo" evidence to prove it). 

Rather than be annoyed at yet another person tinkering with their phone at the dinner table, the waitress smiled and asked, "Are you taking photos of my flowers?" Relieved that I wasn't being quietly chided for this minor faux pas, I admitted that yes, I was, and that they were beautiful, launching us into a polite, light-hearted discussion about flowers. Frivolous? Yes. Refreshing? Also yes.

The night was punctuated by a lady who had been dining with her husband, approaching our table to tell us the following: "What a good baby. He was a delight to watch at dinner. Was that him singing?" 

Anyone who has dined out with a toddler knows that things aren't always predictable. Sometimes there's shrieking. Sometimes there's crying. Sometimes there are loud outbursts of talking. Sometimes there is the throwing of any number of table-top objects. Luke is, usually, relatively good at the dinner table, since he loves to eat and socialize. He hadn't been perfect at this dinner (really, what child ever is?), but I had counted it as a success, because he had devoured the manicotti, drunk plenty of water, and had, in fact, been singing (at a polite volume). 

But for a stranger to approach your dinner table, simply to sing your child's well-mannered praises? Well, that is something very special indeed. A small act of kindness, which definitely does not go unnoticed. 

And as the lady walked away, I smiled and said to Justin, "Really, there is no higher praise than that." I am thankful for the kind of dinner we had last night, because to me, it's the small kindnesses that sometimes make the biggest difference.  

blogging in twenty-eighteen.

Back in December, this kind girl right here commented on one of my Instagram posts (see above). 

She asked if I planned to start writing again in 2018, and to be completely honest, I hadn't even given it much of a thought until her question. And believe me - I'm glad, so glad, that she asked. 

Sometimes, I find, even when I love to do something, miss doing something - it takes an extra external push to have the courage to jump in with both feet. It is often at the prompting of friends, the asking of family, that I press on, keep at it, remember to make time for writing. And when other external forces inadvertently work to quell that desire to write, it becomes more difficult to put energy into it.

First, OT school happened, which took almost all of my mental energy. Then, I became a mom - one of the biggest changes and challenges and joys in my life - and that took all of my mental, physical, and emotional energy. Then, I graduated OT school, and a few months later, started working, and that took up quite a bit of all of those energies also.

It's no wonder that I was absent from one of my most loved hobbies - even though I continually missed it. In addition to the things I mentioned above, I was also happily trucking along with everyday life, keeping up with family, friends, figuring out how to manage my household (still working on that one)... etc. I've been settling into myself, and it has taken some time.

All of this to say... I hope to write more here this year. I've been thinking up some series to start doing, possibly falling back on some older series, and really, just planning on opening up my browser and typing more often, whatever it may be about.

Here's to the joy of blogging, of sharing. Thank you, Emily. 

on loyalty.

It's a funny thing, isn't it, to think of being loyal to a blog. To a place on the internet. 

This blog - siddathornton - & I have been through a lot together. 120 volumes of The Sunday Currently. Many hastily tapped out confessions. Many caffeine-enhanced ramblings. Many days spent tucked into the very back corner of the new Starbucks on Oleander Drive in Wilmington, shivering in the cold, coffee-scented air while I switched between writing in my many journals & planners, applying for OT school, and blogging, always blogging. Mornings at Port City Java, when things felt so new. Afternoons at Port City Java, when I ate chocolate chip muffins, burrowed into a fuzzy, cream colored scarf and tried to write a business plan. Travels to & from Shreveport. A cataloguing of the weddings of my friends, and then, our wedding. 

These things are all the moving parts of the things that I hold most dear: my relationships. 

So, I guess it's not really a funny thing at all, loyalty. It's familiarity, it's sinking deep into a warm blanket of memories, of identity, of knowing one's self. I can't think of anything more comforting. So, here we are, ready to make even more memories, siddathornton & I... ready to keep holding on to the old ones, too. 

-- 

siddathornton through the years: 

2012 | 2014 

a milestone.

listening to: beach house, specifically, the devotion album from 2008, which is probably my favorite. beach house has got to top the list of my favorite things to listen to on an overcast, rainy spring/summer day. you should try it sometime.

yesterday was my very last day of class. my last time to walk the halls of the allied health building as a classroom-only student. my last time to congregate with my classmates in that setting. true, in december, we will all be together again for graduation, but, you know, yesterday was kind of a turning point, a big deal, a milestone. 

and then, there's the fact that justin and i have a son coming into this world at the end of august. 

there is so much to celebrate right here in this moment. so that is what i am going to do.

photo: hydrangeas | lowe's home improvement | greenville, nc | may 2016

joyful shreveport.

Well, our Christmas vacation in Shreveport was over in a flash. 

We ate lots of delicious food, spent lots of time with family, went shopping, and saw a couple of our friends. As always happens on these visits, we didn't get to see everyone that we would have hoped to have seen, but that always seems to be the way of it when we're in for less than a week.

This trip was a joyful one, however, filled with memories I know we will never want to forget. And while I'm glad to be settling back into my home routine, I am already missing Shreveport and all that place means to me.

You may have noticed, too, that I didn't blog one bit while there either - I know, slacker. Sometimes you just have to "unplug," right? I am happy to be blogging again, happy to be home, happy to be settling in to see what twenty-sixteen will bring.

home for the holidays.

before the trimmings

There's nothing quite like the time leading up to when we get to travel home to be with family for the holidays. There's a spark in the air, an energy. Everything looks brighter and more festive. 

In the time we've lived over here in North Carolina, I've grown very fond of travel. There's something magical about starting out in one place and ending up in another. Add to that the little details - the wool carry-on bag that I've grown to love even more than when we picked it up in a shop on a sleepy Saturday; the buzz of the airport, with hundreds - or is it thousands? I've never been good with numbers - of people, all going to different, interesting places; watching the planes take off and land in a peaceful, amazing little dance... There is so much about travel to love. 

There's also something so renewing about this time of year. Of course, there is the New Year right around the corner, getting ready to usher in twenty sixteen. But there's just something special about feeling like everything is a little celebration. Nothing is too small to indulge in, nothing is too mundane to be exciting. What a truly wonderful time of year. 

And when we arrive in our beloved hometown, I'm hoping for lots of things, but especially long talks sitting on the cold, comforting wood floors of the Ontario House; the click-click-click of my DSLR and phone cameras, paving the way for memories made and kept; endless cups of coffee enjoyed; long, long talks about the future and where that may take us; but most of all, just love. Love of family - is there anything more fulfilling in this world?

Here's to the holiday season.

three years married | dinner at on the square.

three years married
early celebration dinner
on the square in tarboro
dessert & coffee at plum tree 
a perfect friday night
celebrating today from chapel hill

a companion and a friend.

on her bed in the living room of the ontario house

I lost a friend in July. I haven't written anything about it yet, because I just didn't have the words. To be completely honest, I still don't think I do, but I knew I wanted to write about her, and to remember her.

Her name was Mollie Jean, but that wasn't what we always called her. She had nicknames upon nicknames, but a few of my favorites were MaiJean, Ween, MahJee, Bibi, Johnny Bear, Jonathan Ellington Bear, and MoWee, just to name a few. When she was a puppy, she often clacked her teeth and would "stamp" anything you put in front of her (especially paper). Dad would say, stamp this for me, and she would.

She came to live with us when I was fifteen. She had a home before ours, but that one didn't work out, so then she became a part of our family. Right after we got her, I was lying on the floor on a rug in the living room, and she jumped up on my back, curled up into a ball, and stayed there until I deigned to wake her and get up. 

She had an attitude. You could always tell what she was thinking by looking at her extremely-expressive face. She sometimes bullied our bigger dog, Riley. She wanted everyone to know that the was the pack leader. We sometimes joked that she knew English, and that we were lucky she couldn't speak her mind. We joked, but sometimes I think it was real.

She ate ceiling tile once. We were doing some remodeling work in the Ontario House, and somehow she got ahold of some of the debris. We found her hunched over in her kennel (which she would never enter willingly) one night and knew she had to go to the vet. Luckily, she came out of that event unscathed, but probably a little bit embarrassed. 

Her favorite show was Gilmore Girls. She would lay in bed all day with me while I was on break from college, and watch it. 

She was always there.

When I traveled home to Shreveport in August, before the fall semester of my second year of grad school started, it felt so weird when she wasn't waiting for me to come home. Mom would always tell her when I was coming home, and she would always sit and wait on her perch on the first few steps of the staircase. It felt weird when she didn't stand guard on the edge of the front porch while we sat outside. It felt weird to not hear her crowing bark throughout the day, as mailmen or neighbors or strangers walked by on the sidewalk. It just felt weird that she wasn't there.

I'll always miss her. She was a companion and a friend, and that kind of unconditional love only comes around once in a while. Here's to Mollie Jean.

--
siddathornton through the years:
2014 | 2012 

so that's what i'll do.

into New Bern

"No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses is playing and we are sitting in Coffee Shack reading and writing and emailing. 

I keep having that out-of-body feeling, even when I'm talking to R or D, like I'm floating above myself, watching us interacting. Sometimes this feeling happens when I start to realize how fleeting these moments really are. It's as if it's my body's way of telling me, this won't last forever, so here's what it will feel like when it's a memory.

I've always known that this wouldn't last forever. We're given two years of classes together, and then we have six months of being in the field, preparing for when we are actually part of our profession. And during those six months, we might be in the same place, but we might not. 

It's hard to imagine what life will be like after we graduate. I've grown so comfortable in my rhythm here, in the patterns of studying and talking-instead-of-studying and running races and doing projects and sitting together in class. It's become home to me, and I know it will be hard when everything shifts, like I know that it will.

All I can do is soak in the moments of the next eight months. All I can do is attend as many gatherings as I can. Participate in as many service opportunities as possible. Meet up for coffee as much as my schedule allows. 

So that's what I'll do.

--

siddathornton through the years:

2012 

inspiration: found. searching for discipline.

serendipitous photographs  

My mom and I ran into a friend while out shopping today. 

We talked about so many things, and it felt so great to reconnect, but it struck me [as it always does when this topic comes up in real life conversations] when we talked about blogging.

She shared that she herself was interested in getting into blogging.

"My blog has been paid for for a few months now," she said. "But it's blank - there's no content."

I want her to start blogging. She's witty, she's funny - she has the BEST kind of dry humor. 

And it made me think. Maybe if I want her to blog so badly, I also want me to blog just as much. And I do. I want to be here. I miss sharing. I miss connecting. 

With the rebirth of The Sunday Currently, I've felt so much joy. That means something, doesn't it? Yes, it does.

Long live blogging. Long live the written word. Long live siddathornton.

around here lately.

Hello. Happy two thousand fifteen! It's been quite a while since my last around here lately post, so I thought I would share some images from the last month or so with you all today. It's been a whirlwind holiday season, and I feel nostalgic poring over these particular images. Enjoy!

my family, arriving in raleigh for christmas at RDU

festive decorations in downtown greenville

the road from smithfield to new bern

shopping in raleigh

breakfast at big ed's city market restaurant in raleigh

roaming duke's campus

lounging at the starbucks in chapel hill

our christmas tree stays up until the new year

two thousand fifteen: the year of lipstick and bangs

christmas at the ontario house

drinks at bird cafe in sundance square in fort worth with justin, jesse, & brian

slumber party with austen jane and jordan in frisco

january's book: a moveable feast, by ernest hemingway

a west shreveport sunset

remembering justin's grandma with this north monroe sunset

we started friends from the beginning

lunch at dawg house in ruston with justin's mom

the obligatory travel strawberry cream tea latte while on layover at ATL

Today marks the beginning of spring semester, and with that new beginning, I will also be launching into my new years resolutions/goals for the year. I hope to share them soon! What are your resolutions and goals for this year?

photos via my instagram

a pre-thanksgiving pop-in.

It's really a bit mind-boggling, how busy I've found myself in this first semester of OT school. It's been a wild ride, and I wouldn't trade it for anything (despite my somewhat-constant grumbling as of late - stress'll do that to ya). 

I'm sitting here in my dining room. Tahoe is asleep on the first landing of the stairs, and the blustery rain is continuing its incessant beating outside. The ham was picked up earlier today, and I have an 18-item to-do list immediately to my left, none of which includes school tasks. Our first Thanksgiving guest arrives later this evening. 

It's our first Thanksgiving to host with non-family members in attendance - though we will, thankfully, have one family member in attendance! - & to say that I'm thrilled is an understatement. I love the holidays. I love food. I love friends. I love having people over. But I'm a little bit nervous, too. Cooking for these friends that have so quickly become family is a bit intimidating. I'm not known for my cooking skills, but I'm going to put my best foot forward. And, of course, Justin will be contributing his mad kitchen skills. I just can't wait to make holiday memories with these wonderful, hilarious, sweet, awesome people.

I'm rambling, I know. But it's the only way I know how to talk/write right now. 

I just miss this space. I miss sharing. I miss blogging. 

I plan to take photos tomorrow, which will hopefully be shared in this space in a timely manner. I have plans brewing on the horizon for this blog, and it's my great hope that they come to fruition.

There's so much school work to be done, but I think a couple of days off will do my body and mind some good.

So, I guess that's all for right now. Except for the fact that I'm wearing - and rocking, if I do say so myself - red lipstick today. And later, I'm getting bangs. But I guess those are very small things in relation to everything else. So, I will leave you on that note.

Happy Thanksgiving!

two years married.

Today, Justin & I have been married for two years. This past Friday, we jetted off to to Florida for the LSU-Florida game, one of Justin's favorites to attend. We stayed in Jacksonville & commuted in to Gainesville. We had a wonderful trip! This weekend, plans are still in the works, but I believe we are going to stay in Wilmington, on the water. As we walked out of lunch at The Scullery in downtown Greenville today, the church bells were playing, and we talked about how it feels like we got married a really long time ago. Maybe that's because we've been together for so long. Maybe that's because a lot has happened in our lives between the years of 2012 and 2014. Either way, all I know is that I hope there are many, many more years in store for us. Here's to many, many more anniversaries!

wilmington snapshot: fort fisher aquarium.

During Justin's mom's visit to Wilmington at the end of June, we finally managed to make it over to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. As we perused the halls, the rain was pouring outside. It was a steamy, humid summer day, & it was nice to escape into the air conditioned bliss among the fish. I do hope that you enjoyed what I shared of our visit. Looking back makes me want to go back. Maybe one day, we will.

Want to see more photos from the afternoon? They're all here.

big buildings yield big thoughts.

sometimes i feel like my life is simultaneously coming together & falling apart.

i don't even know what that means, but i just know that i feel 

this yearning for life & love that feels bigger than myself. 

there's so much i want to do & see.

there's so much i want to say, so much that i want to share with others. 

sometimes i feel like i can, but most times i feel like i can't. 

photo: the tutwiler in birmingham, alabama | operation: tata | more on instagram

life update: ot school & moving to greenville.

Well, here we are, at 3:40 p.m. on a Monday, & I am finally sitting down to write about a couple of things that I've been wanting to & meaning to write about since MARCH here in this space. Let's skip the small talk & get to it.

I AM GOING TO OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOL THIS FALL.

And in conjunction with the statement above, comes another.

JUSTIN & I ARE MOVING TO GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, ON JULY 28.

Obviously, because that is where I will be attending school.

I haven't been especially forthcoming here on my blog concerning either of these bits of news, mainly because Justin has been working here in the Wilmington area, & for professional reasons, I needed to keep our plans private until arrangements could be made & notices could be given. However, with this being Justin's last week of work at his current job, I thought this was the perfect time to become fully transparent about our future plans!

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Back around the end of 2012 & the beginning of 2013, I was really struggling in which direction to take my professional life. I had been job searching in Wilmington for a few months, & the search was turning up dry, to put it nicely. I was in crisis mode. I even considered opening my own business. I considered law school. I wrote this post. Lots of tears were shed, & many dreams felt unattainable. 

Justin was at my side for all of this struggle. He got behind my ideas, even when they changed daily, & he supported me no matter what. Having a stronghold in those rough seas was a God-send. I'll never be able to thank him adequately for putting up with my hemming & hawing & wondering aloud & crying. 

And it was him who just said it one day. We were sitting in one of the hospital corridors during one of his lunch breaks. We were talking about what I should do with my life. You know, just regular small talk. 

"Why don't you just go back to school?" he asked. "Why don't you just do it?"

This wasn't the first time those words had been uttered by him. Nor was it the first time I had thought of it. Nor would this have been the first time I went back to school. I had done the same thing, in 2010, my sights set on Physician Assistant school. Life got in the way that time, I thought to myself. But maybe, this time, things would be different.

Things certainly felt different this time around, when I heard those words. It felt like this was it. 

And it was.

In May, I started taking prerequisites so that I could apply to Occupational Therapy schools around North Carolina. And in June, I wrote this post. And through all the time that I was enrolled at Cape Fear Community College, I shared bits & pieces of my school journey here, especially about my conquering of the beast that was Statistics. From June to December, I talked about tests, midterms, finals, papers, & classes. I even think I mentioned things about applying to schools. But I never said it aloud: I never said, "I am doing everything I can to get into Occupational Therapy school."

But that's what I was doing. Rising early to study for anatomy tests. Staying late to work on Statistics homework in the Math Lab. Spending my free time shadowing at various OT practices around town. 

In December, I submitted applications to three schools. Two in North Carolina, & one in South Carolina. And in the end, by March of this year, I was accepted to two out of those three, one school in North Carolina & one school in South Carolina, which is a fact that brings me extreme pride & joy. I am proud of myself, & I am so very happy that all the hours & hard work that I put in, paid off. Because there were times when I wondered to myself, & other times when I wondered aloud to Justin, "Will all of this be worth it?" [Keep in mind these thoughts usually occurred as I sat in front of Statistics homework with tears streaming down my face. Ha. I can laugh about it now.]

As you may have gathered, I chose the school in North Carolina. And on the twenty-eighth day of this seventh month of two thousand fourteen, we are packing our bags & hitting the road to Greenville, which is a town about two & a half hours northeast of here. We are leaving Wilmington, forever. And as I've mentioned in my last few posts, I am getting pretty wrapped up in nostalgia & sentimentality over the whole thing. I am going to miss this place. We are going to miss this place.

In fact, we may even look into purchasing a place here one day, so we will always have a place to stay, so we will come visit often. We are cherishing our last few weeks in this city. Because although they've been a bit of a struggle at times, they were our struggle. And we have gotten through this together. 

And now, it's time for us to tackle a new adventure together. Justin will be starting a new job in August, & I will be starting Graduate School. And we will work & study & live life to our fullest together in this new journey. And we are excited.

But for now, in the stillness that is the rest of our time here in Wilmington, we are going to soak in every last little joy from this place that we can. We will eat at our favorite restaurants, go to our favorite shops, I will run at my park as much as humanly possible. And when we drive away on July 28, we will do so knowing that a road will always connect us back to this place in our hearts. All we have to do is get in the car, watch the beautiful Carolina country scenery for a couple of hours & some change, & then we'll be back here, ready for more Dixie Grill, or Sawmill, or Hugh MacRae Park.

Here's to the future.

happy birthday, mom!

Enjoy your weekend in Dallas!

I hope you have the best day ever.

the sunday currently, volume 91.

happy father's day!

here's my dad with his first car.

Happy Sunday! And Happy Father's Day! I have been spending my weekend in solitude, since Justin is currently at the U.S. Open! I know he's been having a great time with his dad & brother, & I'm so glad that they will all get to be together on Father's Day. I have been doing a lot of house cleaning, a lot of working out, & a lot of watching YouTube vloggers, Pretty Little Liars, & other such things. While I've enjoyed being able to get things done with no distractions [like watching a million episodes of One Tree Hill with Justin], I am ready for him to come home!

Happy Father's Day to any & all fathers who may be reading this, but a special Happy Father's Day goes out to my very own Dad. I hope that he is having a lovely day, & I definitely hope that he will like his Father's Day gifts! They have been in Shreveport since Wednesday, but he was not allowed to open them until today. I wish I could be in Shreveport with him today, but I suppose FaceTime will have to suffice. 

C U R R E N T L Y . . .

R E A D I N G  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as An Object of Beauty. This is the first of Steve Martin's novels that I have read, & I have to say, I really like his writing style. I am going to have to pick up some of his other titles to read. I am still not caught up on my Bible-reading, & I feel awful about it. I am making that a priority this week. No excuses. 

W R I T I N G  a novel has been something that I have been thinking very seriously about lately. In fact, while I was walking at Hugh MacRae Park yesterday afternoon, I lighted upon the premise of what I think will be my first novel. As some of you know, I started writing a novel many moons ago, but I have put that one on hold indefinitely. It deals with something I am not sure I want to put "out there," so to speak. Who knows, though? Maybe one day, it will feel right. In the interim, I will be focusing on my new book.

L I S T E N I N G  to my Weezer Pandora station was on point yesterday. I ran a lot during my five miles, & I have the soreness to prove it today.

T H I N K I N G  that there is much, much to get accomplished today. Some items of note? I want to get Justin's car cleaned out so I can take it to get washed tomorrow before his arrival home. Can you think of anything better than coming home to a spotless car? Well, maybe there are some other things that would be better, but I think that's a pretty good thing. Also? I need to de-scale our Keurig & coffee pot so I can start having my morning coffee at home, & so that Justin can begin having his afternoon tea again. He loves Tazo Awake English Breakfast Tea with honey in it. We have some vanilla almond milk on hand, so maybe I will put a dash of that in there & see if he likes it.

S M E L L I N G  our American Boardwalk candle burning in the house in the last week has been heavenly. For some reason, Bath & Body Works always sees to it that my absolute favorite scents are discontinued [I'm looking at you, Sensual Amber & Brown Sugar & Fig], & this particular candle has really gone missing, so I was happy to find a couple medium sized ones in the semi-annual sale this week.

W I S H I N G  I was being more successful with waking up super early. It just hasn't been in the cards for me this week, even though I included it in my first Weekly Wishes post. I've just got to make up my mind, & do it. Once again, no excuses.

H O P I N G  my Dad has the BEST Father's Day! And I also hope that I enjoy my diet-allotment of a biscuit & jelly, as well as Chipotle for dinner, as much as I'm thinking that I will. Also hoping that I continue to lose weight & reach my goal soon. I think I may write a post about the healthy living changes that I've made, as well as my progress, soon.

W E A R I N G  minimal makeup just isn't going to work out for me, I've decided. I just love eye shadow - & blush - WAY too much.

L O V I N G  life. 

W A N T I N G  Justin, Landon, & Craig to have safe travels home tomorrow.

N E E D I N G  to get caught up with Bible-reading, like I said earlier in this post. It really, really needs to happen. And it will.

F E E L I N G  very good lately. I'm so thankful for that. You have no idea. 

C L I C K I N G  a few of my favorite bloggers lately, & trying to get caught up on reading & commenting. It's an unofficial goal of mine to really make more of an effort to connect with everyone, which I've really been falling down on the job of lately. Well, here's to new beginnings!

Well, I'm off to have a very productive Sunday! Once again, Happy Father's Day!

this week's posts:

recent reading

on listening

i choose the light

jackson snapshot

a wilmington weekend

weekly wishes one

TSC, volume 90

Care to link up? Join in below!

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Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!