A Year in Review - Part Two

Hi, friends!

I'm back with the second half of my 2019 reflection. The second half of the year was far more action packed, so I'll hop right into it.

July was another favorite month, and one I'm proud of because I managed to leave the house every day in July. For those of you who know me, I tend to choose staying home over leaving the house, but I left my house over 31 times in a month and it wasn't for school! It started with seeing Spiderman: Far From Home with a bunch of friends, and it's one of my favorite Marvel movies. That night, I pulled an all-nighter with my brother and a few of our friends. We watched movies and played board games all night  then we went to Panera when it opened. Initially we had no intention of pulling an all-nighter, but we realized at three in the morning that we were hungry and nothing opened for another three hours. We would have to wait and obviously that was the more logical option than getting a snack from the pantry then going to bed. I celebrated the Fourth of July with family and friends the day after I turned sixteen! I continued t-ball lessons and babysat plenty. I volunteered at our church's Vacation Bible School, which is my favorite week of the year. Last year I was in the kitchen and loved it beyond belief. This year I was assigned the job of the leader the sixth grade girls. I grew very close with a few of them. I love those girls to death. The week after VBS, my cousin flew into town and came with us on our week long cabin trip. The cabin where we stay is near the lake and away from wifi, so our trip was very relaxing. I absolutely love being in nature, it opens up the mind and imagination and I always return with my creative spark reignited. July flew by but every day was a new adventure (and sometimes more than one!). Looking back at my July journal entries always makes me smile.

August seemed slower than ever and was filled with all of the summer homework I had put off in June and July. I hung out with friends a few times, went to a few parks, got my junior year schedule, and the excitement for the school year grew more than ever. I came home from school on the first day beaming and overflowing with joy and excitement; my teacher and classes this year are fascinating. I've had a wonderful time thus far. I knew from the first day that junior year would be my favorite, so far it's proven to be true. School occupied my last half of August but I loved it so much that it wasn't a pain at all.

In September I was inducted into my schools chapter of the National Honor Society, threw a surprise party for my brothers eighteenth birthday (which proved very successful; perks of being a quiet, private person), started up some fall frisbee practices, joined art club, and visited my friends at one of their tennis matches. I was selected to join the servants team for the junior high youth group at our church.  Our opening night was exciting. I also attended the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome and celebrated the first birthday of a good friends sweet little brother. September was homecoming for my school. While I didn't attend the dance, I had a good time participating in our theme days (the theme was time periods this year, 80's day was my absolute favorite). I also attended the homecoming football game with my friends. That's saying a lot for someone who is not particularly a football fan.

October began with four and a half hours of homework in one night. What a joy. But all was set right the next day when I talked my frisbee team into cutting practice short to get ice cream. I went to plenty more football games as well as some of my brothers' cross country meets, celebrated a friends birthday, babysat a crazy ton, and helped run a toiletry drive at my school. I went to an AJR concert with my brother and his friends as a late birthday gift to the former, and it was amazing. I only got into AJR because of my brother, but after coming home from the concert I had their music on repeat. It's not the normal genre I listen to but I really do like it. My friend and I spent the last ten minutes of lunch for a week straight trying to learn how to tie a tie. I don't know that we ever mastered it but we got pretty close. It took plenty of help from Google, other friends/students and teachers who were passing by. In the last weekend of October, I had my junior retreat with my religion class. I love all of the girls in my class dearly (and yes, our class consists of only girls so you can imagine how fun it is) so those 24 hours with them brought me so much joy. The goal of the retreat was to bond as a class and oh my goodness did we bond! We all left retreat radiating more joy, love, and respect for one another than ever before, everyone was sharing hugs and laughs and it was wonderful. There isn't a week that passes by where someone doesn't sigh something like, "I miss retreat, I wish we could go back" at least once. Our senior retreat has a reputation for being a better version of junior retreat and an inspirational experience, so you can bet we are all dreaming of the day we get to attend.

November flew by. I was here on the blog for a good chunk of the month, although I don't know that I really documented all of the events that went on. My Novembers always start with my schools service day which I look forward to every year. My friend started coming to art club with me and it's now a tradition; I think I mentioned it in a previous post. I hung out with friends quite a lot in the first half of November, and in mid-November I'm sure you will recall that we had family in town. One of my friends organized a praise and worship session during one of our religion classes. We went down to the chapel and sang while she played her guitar. Those moments are so raw and beautiful, we all end up holding hands or hugging and just appreciating the community and friendships we've been so blessed with. In November I watched the Netflix adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (called Anne With An E) and fell madly in love with it. It was cancelled mere weeks after I got into it and I'm incredibly upset; I love the show so very much. The third season has yet to be released so the cancellation before the release was unexpected. I would highly recommend it although it's not entirely accurate to the book. I love it just the same. A warning though, it does portray some themes that may not be super friendly to young kids, but for the most part it's very sweet. Anne With an E aside (although is it really a blog post from me if I don't ramble about a current obsession?), November was really lovely.

And here we are in December. This month was filled with board games, books, and walks. My study hall discovered a deck of Uno cards and every day we have a couple of intense games. It's always a good laugh. I started tutoring at my school (as in I am the tutor), prepared for exams, and had a Secret Santa gift exchange with the girls at my lunch table. There was plenty of Christmas preparation, from gift buying to cookie making, decorating, and Christmas itself. I spent the first few days of Christmas break going out with friends; we went to our schools basketball game to see my friends boyfriend who plays, went ice skating, got plenty of food, played board games, and watched a Hallmark movie. If you have my mom on Facebook, you might have seen her post about how noisy we were during the movie. It was a miserably cheesy movie, but I find that watching bad movies with friends is more entertaining than watching good ones. I'm writing this just before I leave to watch the new Little Women movie, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of thoughts to share afterward (update it's been two days since I've seen it and I genuinely have not stopped thinking about the movie since. I loved it with my whole heart and I'll try to scribble down some thoughts to share another time)

And that's a wrap on 2019! 2020 already has so much in store; on the horizon I have ACT prep, frisbee season, a school retreat & other activities to plan, an AP test and Spanish test to prepare for, a couple of friends coming to visit, and countless other events, big and small. It's been a good year & decade, and the next one is already looking bright. I hope 2019 has been as kind to you as it has been to me, and that 2020 is filled with joy and blessings. Happy New Year!

from the AJR concert

adventuring

fourth of July fireworks

airbrush tattoo from the buddy walk <3 

Christmas cookie making

A Year in Review - Part One

Hi, friends!

It's the girl child making a grand return after my disappearance back in November. I had every intention of continuing to write for my mom, but load of school work was dropped on me without notice and I was too swamped to write. Luckily enough, Mom was freed from her duties just in time to pick up where I left off.

I'm on Christmas break currently, it's been wonderful. I've read a number of books, listened to far too much music, gone on plenty of walks, and had the most relaxing time. I figured I would take this opportunity to hop on here to say hello, reflect on the past year, and to release some of the creative energy I currently possess. Also, my mom mentioned the idea of dedicating a section of her blog to me so expect my frequent return. She had the idea of me doing a weekly reflection or post but I think I'll try to do every other week or monthly. I could very well start my own blog, I'm sure I will do so some day. But for now you can find me right here.

2019 was a hectic ride from the start. I'll split it into two posts for the sake of time and ease. I'm opting to only show the highlights because while I believe honesty is good, I am a generally private person. I also have a tendency to be very over-dramatic when describing mishaps and the sort (and just in general), and I don't want you all thinking I'm living some tragedy, because I certainly am not. But don't be fooled, life is far from perfect. Anyways, here are the first six months!

January was fairly calm considering how busy the rest of the year was. I spent New Years Day with some friends and the next three days some other friends came in from out of town. Then a new semester in which I took P.E. instead of Photography. You can bet that I was that student who absentmindedly participates in the activities while reading or studying. Also that month, I helped my aunts and mom put together my cousins bridal shower, watched Stranger Things for the first time (and it was riveting). I attended the March for Life in Washington, DC with some of my closest friends, and it was absolutely incredible. Standing up for something you believe in and are passionate about with a group of people you love and who share the same beliefs and passions is wonderful, and I will forever treasure that weekend. Lots of time spent with those friends this year and let me tell you I don't think I have ever laughed so much with a group of people as I do with them.

February was a wild one. I stepped far out of my comfort zone by joining my school's ultimate frisbee team and fell completely in love with the sport. Sophomore school retreat also happened this month, a load of school work and spent plenty of time with family and friends. It seems like an easy month as my list is short, but February is a short month and a month in which school always seems to pick up, keeping me very busy indeed.

March was a very lovely month. My cousin got married, the first on my dad"s side. I helped set up and tear down for her wedding, put together the bouquets for the bridesmaids (hire me!) and had an overall wonderful day. I have so many pictures and videos from that day that I frequently look back on; it was a very memorable and happy, happy day. Frisbee picked up in March, as we had our first few games and a tournament. I tend to be very anxious in sports as I'm a part of the center of attention, so I had a rough start with frisbee games and tournaments, but things began to ease up as games continued. I volunteered a lot in March, helped my dad coach my brothers' track team, and had a very laid back spring break.

April was my favorite month of the year. After a two-day frisbee tournament (in which both days I was there for over five hours) I became wildly passionate about the sport. Playing with passion brought out more athleticism than I knew I had. I became less anxious and hesitant while playing, making everything a dozen times more fun. Thus, April was a joy as frisbee season was at it's busiest. I had a huge Biology presentation that I nailed and am very proud of myself for, even to this day. Presentations are not my specialty but with this one the goal was to teach a lesson (on the Tundra, I believe) and with my hopes to become a biology teacher, I fully embraced this one and finished feeling more hopeful than ever about my dreams. I also saw Avengers: Endgame on opening night and goodness I cried. I've never cried over a movie as you don't get to know the characters as well as you would in a book or a TV show where you spend hours with them, but oh man Endgame got me. I've been an avid fan of the Marvel movies since early 2016 and as someone who tends to have a hard time with endings, Endgame really got me, but I loved it.

In May I got new glasses, which meant I could finally see, praise the Lord! I get new glasses about every year, sometimes more frequently. My vision is horrendous but I get tired of glasses frames very quickly so it all works out. I went for a completely new shape than before and I'm very pleased with them even after all these months. Frisbee ended but we had a few laid back sessions after school that only two of my freshmen (now sophomore) friends attended with me. It was a good time. This month was spent on end-of- year projects and preparing for exams which ended the month with my history exam. That exam makes me laugh whenever I remember it; my teacher was not the type to reveal much info about the exams before hand. Our midterm had been essays, everyone was miserably stressed over the idea of having to do another essay. Multiple people walked into the exam room in tears, and a few more broke down when our teacher pulled out thick stacks of papers with lines on the front. Upon receiving the exam and turning the page, we discovered that it was not essays (!!!) instead there were five short answer questions and the rest was multiple choice, the majority of which were from previous tests. We laughed for a good while as we began our exam. I can imagine my teacher enjoyed fooling us.

June began with the rest of my exams, and for my Spanish exam we met with all of the other world language classes for World Language Jeopardy. We played in groups, and I joined a group with two of my really good friends and some of their friends who were in varying language classes. We ended up taking first place and thus winning t-shirts, and it was the best way to end the school year. I started working in June, helping teach t-ball lessons. I did plenty of hiking, shopping, playing ukulele, art, writing, and visiting with friends. June seemed achingly slow, although it was nice after a busy spring.

This brings us to the end of the first half of the year! It picked up rapidly in July, so be on the lookout for a second part. Here's some photos in a random order, because I can't arrange them correctly. We love technology. Have a splendid rest of your day :)

watching my brother's frisbee game

March for Life 2019

spring break adventuring with friends

late night art sesh

Daybook- Christmas Week

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

for he has come to his people and set them free..." -Luke 1:68

Outside My Window - sunlight pouring through the windows. A hint of frost on windshields. It's a calm morning on our street despite the lateness of the morning. Maybe it's because the kids on our street are on break and sleeping in.  Mine are.

I'm Listening To - silence except for all the loud thoughts in my head.

The Week Ahead - baking, gift wrapping, tidying. Christmas Mass will be the highlight of our week.  Christmas dinner at my brother-in-law's house, a sleepover, a play date, and I'm sure many things that my kids have planned with their friends and have yet to tell me.

What's Cooking - my mother's world famous cheesecake. I think I'm baking at least five today.  It's a secret family recipe.  It's a lot of work but I see cheesecake as a work of love.  Love in a pie pan.  As for the rest of the week, we haven't even yet decided what we're having for Christmas Eve dinner.  I was hoping to do prime rib but couldn't find a reasonable price. We might end up with a baked, brown sugar-glazed salmon. We love salmon over here. I'm not too concerned about Christmas Eve dinner. 

Mom Treat - Christmas is the biggest treat a mom can ever have.  I hope as a busy mother, especially this season, you get time to yourself with baby Jesus. There's something about babies that forces us to slow down and be in the moment. When I became a mother Christmas became more meaningful to me. Jesus as a baby became more meaningful, Mary as mother became more meaningful, Joseph as father...Oh how I love St. Joseph. I hope this week, you find that peace and quiet that this world, this busy season and this busy life cannot give.

Prayers - the Canticle of Zechariah. There is mercy, salvation, freedom and peace in such a short hymn of praise. Zechariah made me cry so early in the morning. Whatever is in your heart today, your joy, your sorrows, your worries, your anxieties, the troubles of your heart and soul know that Christ was born for you, to bring you mercy, salvation, freedom and peace.  Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season - photos, as usual

Daybook- Baking Week

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Outside My Window - snow on the ground, on the trees, on top of ornaments. It's a winter wonderland and I can't wait to go for a walk.

I'm Listening To - the swishing and gurgling of the dishwasher and the steady hum of a space heater. Our heat went out last night. Someone is coming to look at it this afternoon. Fortunately, it hasn't been very cold so we are not in danger of freezing to death. I do fear freezing the Christmas spending account if heating repair gets costly.

The Week Ahead - it's exam week people! My highschoolers are ready, able, and just done with school for the year. My homeschoolers are officially out. It's a week of cooking, baking, and decorating. Yes, decorating! We still only have outdoor decor and a tree bought last night. We got our tree from a tree lot which is not our usual. I should say I handed my card to the kids and have them walk over to the tree lot. Like I said, unusual. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, you just roll with it. And that's been the theme of my year, rolling with life and settling in to a possibly new normal.  

Homeschool Is Cool - it's especially cooler this week because we are officially on Christmas break.

What's Cooking - as I sit here my kitchen smells delicious! I am slow roasting a Boston pork butt for eight hours. It just so happens that the heat of the oven is also keeping my house warm. It's a win-win both for empty tummies and cold bodies.  Also, daughter and I are having a baking marathon. Her list is mostly breads and mine sweet treats.  It will be so fun. I may have bought all the sale butter at Aldi. The oldest child also asked if we can have a "beef stew party" to celebrate the end of exam week. Apparently, my beef stew is legendary amongst his friends so who am I to not live up to my fame?!  I would like to make beef stew for the world, it may initiate world peace. I'm pretty sure feeding teenagers a good stew is my path to saving the world 😁. The question remains though, of how much stew to make to feed a horde of athletic teenage boys. I will report next week.

Mom Treat - so I made a Christmas list, which is something I haven't done in years.  I really want things this year.  My consumerist heart beats once again. This heart is currently always enamored with everything sparkly.  I have a sequined clutch purse on my list, a sequined midi-skirt, a sequined memory pillow (kidding about the sequined part!), and a few other sparkly things that might burn my family's retina. And to them I wish a happy shopping, get those sunglasses on the ready.

Prayers - for you.  You all know who you are.

'Tis The Season - photos!

be still my beating heart!
found on Pinterest where I should really stop searching sequined everything

baking plans, daughter's list is longer than mine!

pre-gaming the Christmas nails

even my nails were gaudete-ing

Daybook - Second Week Of Advent

Outside My Window - the usual December drear, rain with a slight breeze. Rain means more time indoors to face my home life that currently requires a tidying.  I tend to ignore these things when the weather is bright and I give in to the siren song of mother nature. Today the rain is forcing me to stay home and clean. I'm not angry about it.

I'm Listening To - My Advent/Christmas playlist on Spotify.  I have many but this one is mostly original Christmas music themed music.  There's a classic here and there but mostly modern stuff.  One of my faves is Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by Meredith Andrews.

The Week Ahead - The usual craziness of my homeschool/brick and mortar school hybrid life. The highschoolers are preparing for exams before Christmas break so there will be a lot of studying, stressing out, and possibly late nights.  As mother my job this week is to soothe frayed nerves, provide some tasty meals, hold my tongue, and practice the kind of love that I usually preach.  Pray for me lol. Oh, and that Christmas shopping list need to be worked on. And did I tell you some of my Fall decorations are up and Christmas is still in boxes?!  Definitely pray for me.

What's Cooking - so my husband is coming home from a business trip in the foodie continent that is Asia.  He has had some of the best meals these past few weeks.  How exactly will my cooking compete with five-star establishment menus?!  I may need to bring him down to reality that is meat and potatoes!  But I'm just so excited for him to be home. I don't know how those of you whose husbands travel regularly do it. I am giving him the biggest kiss at the airport today! 

Mom Treat - I'm planning to drink something alcoholic this week lol.  I hear my husband is bringing me some strong stuff from the motherland.  I must admit to being an alcohol snub which means I hardly indulge unless it's the good stuff because the good stuff is outside the scope of my Excel budget spreadsheet. It's looking like a good week for mom treat. Let's drink to that!

Prayers - oh girl...so much to pray for!  Advent always brings these petitions out of the woodwork.  But I've also focused my prayer life towards thanksgiving. The good, the bad, the ugly, they are all tempered through tge lens of gratitude.  The Lord is merciful and worthy to be praised.r

'Tis The Season - baking and playing with friends this past week

exploding snowman experiment

the makings of a scientific discovery

caramel makes a really good glue for graham cracker house

Daybook - First Monday Of Advent

Outside My Window - early winter feels with the dark and damp. A gentle swinging of Christmas ornaments hung on our maple tree outside. It is my favorite view this time of year, Christmas cheer shared with my neighbors.

I'm Listening To - two boys getting ready to go back to school after a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. They are discussing ultimate frisbee practice and not wanting to go back to school.  I feel their pain. This weekend just magnified for me how short these years are.  So for those of you who are homeschooling your littles, I encourage you, just for today, don't give in to the stress of the holidays.  Love those babies, read to them, cuddle up on the couch, maybe ditch the books and worksheets and watch a movie together. Today, rekindle what you love about homeschooling and what you love about your family time.

The Week Ahead - I guess I should seriously take Christmas shopping. A few things here and there were bought but I need to make a huge dent on the list. Fortunately most of them can be purchased online.  

What's Cooking - I'm taking requests today.  Usually I have a solid meal plan but for this week I need the kids to give me some ideas. Since we did not host Thanksgiving this year, there are no leftovers to gnosh on. After a weekend of treats, food is currently not high in my priorities.

Homeschool Is Cool - Christmas and Advent reading books have been released from the vaults.  My youngest is a natural book lover so as soon as I laid it all out on the table he started reading one.  For our assigned reading we picked St. Catherine Laboure by Ignatius Press.  

Mom Treat - I need the silence of Advent so at some point this week, once everyone is in bed I will watch Into Great Silence. That is an Advent and Lent staple for me.  Silence is my favorite mom treat of the season.

Prayers - multiple novenas! One is thanksgiving novena with no material intentions attached. The other, the Christmas/St. Andrew novena, for preparation, reparation, and conversion.  Because we all need some form of that in our lives, right?

'Tis The Season - a couple of photos before I go about the rest of my day

late night hot cocoa service with a smile

30 Days Of Thanks - November

What a month! Busy, stressful, crazy, and fun.  Writing thankfulness really saved my sanity on days when I wasn't up for the challenge.  Thanks also goes out to my kids who wrote for me when my family came to town.  To Jacob who was quick to say yes when I asked if he would write an entry for me. To all of you who visited everyday to read.  To those who gave me feedback.  To all of you, thank you! I won't be completely silent in December as I will still write the Daybook.  I hope you all have a blessed holiday season and that your Advent is beautiful and prayerful.  Happy feast day of St. Andrew.  Don't forget the Christmas novena begins today!

Before I leave here are some snapshots of my month -

30 Days Of Thanks - Holidays

Happy Black Friday! I hope you found good deals today and you are done with Christmas shopping.  I'm not a Black Friday shopper primarily because I have yet to see anything that is worth the effort. I saw a few things online that might grace my Christmas list but there was no driving out to the stores for me today. I'm in dire need of a good winter coat though.  The last really good one I had from Lands' End is eleven years old and two sizes ago. I got it for a steal from a clearance sale and seeing how much things are now eleven years later, even on clearance, the sticker shocks makes it very hard to part with the money.  So I wait, and wait, and maybe wait some more. 

With no shopping pressure, I got to enjoy the sleeping in! Once the bliss of a good sleep was over it was time to tackle some chores. We attended to the yard work that needed to be finished before the rain and the long winter prevents us.  Outdoor Christmas decorations were put up by the oldest and I wrestled with an overgrown and neglected rose bush. The younger kids tackled the also overgrown and neglected once upon a time vegetable garden. I have yet to put away the fall decorations so it will be a busy yet enjoyable weekend. Tomorrow we are putting up indoor Christmas decorations and at some point in the next two weeks, cut down a Christmas tree.

I love this time of year.  I know people find the constant Christmas carols tedious and some don't even do anything Christmas-y until after Advent.  But that is just not how I'm wired.  I think there's enough joylessness out there in the world. Advent brings me joy.  Christmas brings me joy.  Christmas things give me cheer.  I have yet to tire of Christmas and Advent and Christmas music and Christmas things.  Each year I look forward to the change of pace, slow some years, incredibly busy at others.  But still the same joy remains.  The joyful hope from a child born in a manger. Don't let anyone steal that joy from you, not even yourself!

Today, for this glorious holiday season, I am so ecstatic and so very thankful!

30 Days Of Thanks - Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for family, food, drink, and designated drivers 😃

cheers!

star of the show

hot apple cider with fireball and red wine

siblings and cousins

apple crisp in the making

the girls

30 Days Of Thanks - Eve

I had something else in mind to write about today.  And then my kids decided we should go for a late night drive to look at Christmas lights.  I love this time of year with all its eves - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year. The joyful anticipation of good things to come makes me feel young and hopeful. Or maybe it's just the youthful hope of my kids.  It was cold and windy but we endure everything for a little bit of Christmas cheer.  Tomorrow we feast but tonight we enjoy the lights.  For the joyful eve's of this holiday season, today, I am very thankful.

30 Days Of Thanks - Technology

I'm taking a break from online Christmas browsing to write this post.  My children do not know what they want for Christmas.  This is a good thing, yet this could also be a bad thing.  When they get in this "don't know what I want mood" it tells me they really don't care what we get them. This is good.  It also means I have to dig deep in my memory bank (or my photo archives) to figure out if they have mentioned anything (or took a picture of something) in the past year as a possible gift.  This is bad, because it requires effort on my part lol.

It's amazing how much technology has progressed in my lifetime. I have a background in information technology and despite being rusty, I can still appreciate some of these new things that were not even in our radar when I worked in the industry.  Or at least, in my line of work, it wasn't.  I remember one of the instructors in my computing class who was the first one to own a wireless laptop.  We were so thrilled as she demonstrated how she can print from her laptop without wires to the printer across the room. This was in the late 90's. Touch-technology back then, I believe, was limited to military and government use. What was so amazing, pricey, and unavailable to the common man in my early adulthood is now the norm for my children.

Speaking of pricey, our long-distance bill back then was ridiculous! With my then boyfriend (now husband) in the US, British Columbia Telephone (now Rogers) owned my bank account.  I got somewhat smart and started buying phone cards.  Not sure how much I really saved but knowing we can only chat for so long on the phone card helped control the poor student budget. If Messenger, Hangouts, or Skype was available then, the only thing I would be losing is sleep.

I'm not up to date on technology the way I was in my student/working days.  Sometimes I have to ask my kids to do things for me.  But consuming is not the same as proficiency.  As much as my kids can consume these technologies I can run circles around them in how to troubleshoot and fix issues. And for that, I still claim bragging rights.  

For technology and how it has made my Christmas shopping easier, my long-distance bill non-existent, and tech-mom credibility in the eyes of my kids, today I am really thankful.

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