Eye to Wonder

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We're Going Camping!

This weekend we are going camping! This will be our second camping trip as a family of four and our first two night camping trip. Joel and I didn’t grow up camping. We have only camped a handful of times before having kids, so this definitely feels new, exciting, and somewhat daunting. Our last camping trip was about an hour away for one night (my daughter’s 6th birthday, actually). We had a great time, but it felt like a lot of work and set up for one night, so we decided to plan a slightly longer trip and go further away. This weekend we are going about two hours away to Agua Caliente in the Anza-Borrego Desert. I’m really excited about this site for a couple of reasons: 1. They have hot spring pools at the site! I think this will be a huge hit for all of us, especially my oldest. 2. I’ve heard the stars are incredible in the desert, since the nearest town is about 45 minutes away. 3. I’ve never visited Anza-Borrego, so I’m excited to go somewhere new. That said, I’m start...

October Favorites: Books

I always enjoy reading people's end of month reading recaps, so I decided to join in! Favorite Books of the Month: This was not my favorite reading month ever. I reread more than usual, which is atypical for me. I think it made me feel a bit stalled. BUT there were a few books I loved this month: * The Correspondent by Virginia Evans--a fabulous epistolary novel. I really recommend it if you like character-driven novels with complex characters and a unique format. * Heart the Lover by Lily King--A story of two people who meet in college and where the relationship goes from there. Also character-driven, and it almost reads like a series of novellas. I think I read the book in about two days, so it's a quick read. * A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnson--An enaging memoir that really helped me as I was trying to build a new habit of strength training. I finished this book feeling motivated and like strength...

5 Memorable Moments from October

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo! Trying out the 5 things format today. I just finished filling out my October reflections in my planner . I don't always do this, but I'm glad I did this month as it made me realize how many fun/memorable things happened. Especially in the little kid stage of parenting, a lot of life feels repetitive. Taking a minute to review last month's calendar and see all the fun and novel things that we did helps refocus my attention and see the bigger picture. 1. Our trip to Laguna Beach! We spent 2 nights in Laguna Beach, which is about 90 minutes from our house. It was awesome to go to the beach every day, hang in the hot tub, and see lots of family (both mine and J's). It was great to see my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law for a short and sweet visit while they were in town for a wedding. We see my family more regularly, but it was still great to catch up with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and hold my new niece! 2. Halloween. Our neighborhoo...

And 3 Years Go By

Kind of impulsively, I've decided to attempt NaBloPoMo after about 3 years of not blogging. Lately I've been drawn to the idea of writing more, and I definitely benefit from the outer accountability of a challenge. I think posting every day for a month, even briefly, might help me build a more regular habit of blogging and just writing more generally. So to kick things off, I thought I'd introduce myself, why I stopped writing, and why I'd like to change that. I'm Sam. I live with my family of 4 in San Diego. We moved here 3 years ago from Colorado,and I absolutely love it here. I grew up on the Central Coast, so moving here has felt like moving to the big city version of where I grew up. I live with my two daughters, A (6) and M(2) and my husband (J). I taught for 9 years, but am currently staying home while my youngest is small. I both really miss teaching/working, and also love that right now there is more margin in our lives and I get a lot of time to spend...

Adventures Big & Small

Photos from a recent adventure I just started listening to Tranquility by Tuesday by Laura Vanderkam, and one of the ideas she mentioned was planning 2 adventures each week: one big and one small. As I was listening to her describe the rule, I thought about what I had planned this week and realized that I had a few adventures planned without thinking of them in that way. It really helped shift my mindset to realize that I do have some fun and novel things planned, and I'm curious to experiment with adding this to the routine, particularly as we are settling into a new city. I feel like I've plateaued a bit the last few weeks even though things are finally starting to feel settled down. I hit a point where I missed our Colorado friends and my old job, even if I feel like this move and taking time to be at home is right for us in the long run. Thinking through new adventures in this new phase of life is a way to balance some of this feel...

Peace with the Senses

We've essentially spent the last quarter of the year moving. From packing up our old life in Colorado and consolidating all of our stuff into two compact cars to our summer sublet was one big transition. Then we moved to our new house and spent all the time unpacking and making small repairs. It's been exciting; it's been an adventure; it's been a lot. Throw in a very disoriented toddler with early wake-ups and two tired parents, and some days have felt long. This fall I enrolled in an online Montessori course called Child of the Redwoods to help me learn more about practicing Montessori at home (plus the nerdy educator in me has always been curious). Recently, we studied sensorial learning, which is basically creating opportunities for the child to isolate each sense and articulate and notice differences in sensations. For example, with a sense of sight you can determine shortest to tallest, or lightest to darkest...