Eye to Wonder

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FIGS Week 1

This month, I’m joining Elisabeth and other bloggers in the FIG collective. I’m trying to look for and notice the good things in life. The beginning of the month snuck up on me! But I’ve been adding small (and not so small good things) to a google doc for the past week as I notice the good that’s around me. A list of FIGs this week: *Hanging out with friends while kids play on the front sidewalk. I’m always grateful to live near friends and have those easy unplanned moments of community. *Playing hide and seek with the girls makes me feel like a kid again. I also think it’s hilarious that my youngest always finishes counting and then says, “mom, where are you?” *Right now whenever M tries to say “tag, you’re it!” it sounds like “tag, carrot!” Toddler phrases are the best. *Seeing a Western Bluebird and Red Shouldered Hawk at the park. *Reading Everyone is Lying . It’s kind of a candy read, and I am here for it. If the idea of a trad wife muder mystery sounds intriguing to you, I...

Look Ahead: February

I’ve really enjoyed reading everybody’s monthly recaps, and I will write my own soon. I’m looking forward to completing my monthly reflection in the new cute keepsake book that came with my planner, but for the past week or so I’ve felt a little out of sorts. I’m not quite sure what’s at the root of this, but I think a lingering cold with low energy is not helping, nor is a toddler who has had several intense tantrums this week, nor is the sense that the world feels tumultuous. I’ve broken some of my good habits around phone usage, and have been scrolling news headlines again, so I’m going to reinstate my phone experiment rules of no browsing on safari or using the substack app. I’m going to keep exercising, reading, writing, going outside, playing with my kids, and seeing friends and trust that this mood will pass as all do. In the meantime, I want to look ahead to big events this month. There is actually a lot to look forward to! I’ve been trying to focus on monthly planning this y...

Friday Favorites: January

Happy Friday! This week has been more routine than usual, and I’ve been trying to notice and appreciate all the ordinary, sweet moments: the kids playing with dolls on the trampoline, a little free library find I'm enjoying, So much Mo Willems, and my older daughter reading to her little sister. The news and current events are horrifying, everything wasn’t perfect, but there were lots of good moments in our little corner of the world. In the spirit of noticing the good, I thought I’d share a roundup of some favorites this month. Here they are, in no particular order. 1.) Listening to the New Music Friday playlist by NPR on Fridays and throughout the weekend. One of my intentions this year was to listen to more new music and make a playlist of favorite songs for the year. One easy thing I’ve been doing is throwing on the New Music Friday playlist each week. I don’t listen to the entire thing since it’s really long, but I usually find one or two artists with new music that I enjo...

New Year Catch Up

Last week, I wrote a lot about big picture goals and themes of 2026. But, like many of you, we had our share of post-holiday pain points that piled on! So today, let’s do a quick catch up. Here’s what’s been going on lately. *Last week where everything broke, all at once, and all the small annoyances piled up. While we were potty training my toddler, our oven broke, the car got a flat tire, the bumper broke after the car was towed, our garage flooded, and I got food poisoning. Many dollars and repairs later, everything is fixed minus the garage which we still need to trouble shoot to avoid future flooding. There were a lot of days last week where I plopped onto the couch after the kids went to sleep and felt completely wrung out. Fortunately this week is much more routine, and I’m feeling grateful! *It definitely felt cognitively dissonant to spend time setting goals amidst what felt like a less than ideal week, but I think the process of writing about goals and having them fresh in ...

2026 Goals

Earlier I wrote about my word of the year, and how I haven’t set annual goals in a long time. This year, I decided to try it out again and see how I liked it. I tried to focus on goals that related to habits or things I was already doing that I wanted to maintain or deepen this year. Other goals are more focused on things I want to try or experiment with. A lot of them tie back in with my word of the year, place : connecting to the place I am in (home, neighborhood, and environment), putting everything in its place, and having my important relationships in a good place. Personal: *100 strength training workouts. I’ve been averaging 3 strength workouts a week in the last few months of 2025, and I want to continue this habit. 100 seems like a manageable goal that accounts for weeks traveling, sick, etc. but still demands a regular routine. *Experiment with the Read Harder Challenge. I used to love doing Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. It has many different prompts for the year,...

Word of the Year: 2026

I’m generally a person who enjoys the energy a new year brings. I find it helpful that the new year prompts me to reflect on life as it is now and any changes I hope to make. However, since having my younger daughter, I haven’t set annual goals or a word of the year. I did use a planner and would sometimes set monthly goals and overviews, but a year seemed like such a long time to imagine with two little kids, and I got out of the habit. As 2025 came to a close, I found myself listening to many of the year-in-review episodes and feeling inspired. I always love the Happier podcast’s end of year episodes, and the Girl Next Door reflection episode is often one of my favorites of the year. Then I read the first few chapters of Best Laid Plans , and felt inspired to delve into annual planning since it hasn’t been part of my routine the last few years. So, this year I decided to pick a word of the year and set goals. My word of the year this year is place . I have a couple of associations...