Eye to Wonder

About a week into the month is as good a time as any to look ahead, right? This month, I’m feeling like there are a lot of bigger events on the calendar, and I’m not feeling very motivated to add in any goals or to-dos. There’s a lot of fun, memorable things this month, and I want to enjoy them. I also know that with school ending this month, I will have a lot less introvert recharge time in the next few months. I’m looking forward to having more time for summer fun, but using any extra time or margin for leisure feels good right now. So, I’m doing all the usual things needed to care for our family and myself (cooking, laundry, exercising, tidying etc.), but I’m not really adding in any extras. Big Events: *Legoland trip with Girl Scouts *Friend Visit :) *M’s Bday *Mother’s Day *Joel’s Bday *My cousin’s wedding & rehearsal dinner *Camping Trip--maybe this time no one will get sick? Our luck with this has admittedly not been great. *Last day of school for A! Intentions: *To enj...

I always love to look back on the month and find what books, music and media stood out. My favorite and most well established hobby is reading, but it’s fun to track other things I enjoyed too. Favorite books this month: * Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell (5 stars). I completely devoured this book. I absolutely love Rainbow Rowell, and this book didn’t disappoint. This got mixed reviews on Goodreads and the plot was definitely more slice-of-life than action packed, but I loved the characters: Cherry herself, her estranged husband, her sisters, her mother, as well as a new love interest. Each character felt real and complex to me, and I also enjoyed the dynamics that emerged and evolved throughout the book. *Blue Sisters by Coco Mellars (5 stars). I picked this up on a whim when I was browsing for alternate reads at the library after I left my kindle in Philly. I remembered Stephany recommending about it and picked it up. I don’t know if I would have picked this up on my own, but thi...

Happy Thursday! Life here has been pretty good. We have had a few tricky parenting phases with sleep and school drop offs, but I’m definitely feeling in a better place about it than I was when we began the month. 1. Like I mentioned above, we had some kid phases in the past month that took a lot of energy. Things have definitely improved. I really took Nicole ’s advice to heart. She wrote, “they need their "tanks filled," and so when they are clingy and needy, it's because they just need a little extra, and to give them the extra love and attention.” This really helped me to dig deep and provide that extra love and snuggles. I also tried to make pain points in the day more enjoyable. If we had extra time before school drop off, I snuggled my toddler in the front seat of the car while we listened to Frog and Toad. I packed snacks for the car ride pickups, which I resisted because it seemed unnecessary, but made our afternoons so much more peaceful. Round trip, the whole t...

This is the first year I’m trying to set seasonal goals. Since I have kids, I’m using the quintile system from Best Laid Plans , which lines up with the school yearl calendar. It’s been a helpful way to prioritize what matters and plan ahead. Yearly Goal Progress: *100 strength training workouts. 29/100. Ahead of schedule! *Experiment with the Read Harder Challenge. I've read one book from the challenge, but I'm abandoning this goal since it doesn't feel fun anymore. *Post 52 times or more on my blog. 15/52. On track! *Make a playlist of favorite new songs released this year. I created the playlist, but don't have too much on it. Hoping to find some new music I love soon! *Complete monthly planning and reflection pages in my planner. I've been very consistent with this, and I love it. Marriage: *Find a babysitter. Check! The kids really like our new babysitter, and that has been great. *Go on 12 dates this year. 4/12. It's been fun to try new restaurants ...

Hello after a bit of a blog break! We were away visiting family in Philly where we spent the kid’s spring break. It was nice that the kid’s spring breaks coincided with my MIL’s birthday and Passover this year, since we don’t often get to celebrate with my husband’s family. Joel was already in Philly for a conference, so we flew out and met him. I was worried about the TSA lines being crazy and flying cross country with the kids by myself, but they were happy with all of the snacks and tv/movie time. It was nice to catch up with family and have the week there! March highlights: *Joel’s dad and his wife came to visit at the beginning of the month. It was a fun visit with a beach trip, bbq, and a boat trip to the harbor. *Getting to celebrate my cousin at her bridal shower and catch up was great! I also loved getting to see my 8-month-old niece. *Watching Zootopia with the girls--we rarely do family movie nights/afternoons, but it was a relaxing and cozy Sunday afternoon activity...

About a week ago, we were having a tough morning. One of my kids was really tired and not in the mood to go to school or get ready. Then out of nowhere, she asks, “isn’t there a painting kit I got for Christmas we haven’t opened yet?” My immediate instinct was to say that she had to get ready for school first or that we didn’t have that much time and painting was messy, but then I thought that maybe this was a moment she needed to reset. And while we didn’t have tons of time to paint, we did have a little. So we busted out the paints and both girls were happily immersed in painting with brushes of all different colored textures. As I tidied the kitchen and watched the kids paint, I remembered a phrase from a book I read several years ago, “beware the soul sucking force of reasonableness” from The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. It would have been reasonable to stick to the routine, or push off painting until after school. A lot of days, I would have made that choice. But, b...

Like many here, I loved participating and reading along with everyone’s FIG posts. It was great to focus on the good that’s present, and so I decide to reflect on some recent small good things. 1. St. Patrick’s Day. We have zero Irish heritage, and my main memories of the holiday as a kid revolve around my grandfather’s birthday (which was on St. Patrick’s day) since he would sometimes embrace the theme for his birthday parties. However, this year my older daughter was obsessed with the idea of catching a leprechaun and made a few traps. Seeing her tinker and problem solve on these traps was awesome, and her excitement was contagious. So this year, we embraced the holiday a bit more with green milk and overnight oats, lots of coins and shamrocks left near the trap, and a corned beef and cabbage dinner with beer bread. It was fun to have a randomly celebratory Tuesday! 2. I’ve posted before about trying to find good books for my first grader to read. We picked up a Dog Man book at ...

Happy Thursday! Does your area observe the time change? Like most parents of young kids, I find this to be a struggle, but we are enjoying more time outside after dinner. How’d it go for you? ` 1. The kids have been home from school a lot this week with an in-service day for one kid, and a kid at home sick one day. Given that I volunteer at school during the preschool slot on Fridays and we had visitors last week, my introverted self is definitely craving more alone time. Parenting can make it really hard to be alone enough to feel my best, but I’ve been trying to find ways to recharge even when the kids are around. While a lot of times this is really not possible, (hello toddler meltdowns), there are definitely times where the kids are playing together independently. Using that time to sit and read a book for 5 minutes helps a bit. A and I picked up a puzzle when we went to the bookstore on her day off, and it was so fun to work on it together. We brought it to the library to the puz...

Happy March! I’m feeling energized by a new month, and excited to look ahead to what’s next. I fell off of some routines in February with all the sicknesses/injuries/visitors/travel, so I’m looking forward to resetting a bit this month. I made progress on some goals from last month including decluttering the entryways and scheduling a babysitter (although we ended up canceling due to sickness), prepping for the overnight trip, and adding to our 1 Second a Day App. We also went on a fun date to a new restaurant that was delicious! I definitely lost momentum on some key habits including reading and strength training. I continued reading, but didn’t have a lot of memorable reading experiences. So far March is off to a better start, and I’m willing to buy more books on kindle this month to help get out of a reading rut. I also took a break from exercising while recovering from a bad cough, and I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine. Here’s a look at the month ahead. Big ...

I want to start out by saying what a positive, affirming part of the month this practice was. All the gold stars to Elisabeth for running this and keeping track of everyone’s posts. It’s been so fun to see the bright spots in so many of your lives, and to focus on what’s good. February at times felt like a slog, and having this practice balanced out the very easy tendency to focus on the negative. We were all in much better health last week, which is a huge FIG in and of itself. Here’s a rundown of this final week of FIGs. Monday, February 23 *We played family charades with our friend who comes for regular dinners. So silly! Love how M participated even if she didn’t quite have all the rules down. She’d pick a card and then just do her craziest jumping or dance moves. We all got super into this. Tuesday, February 24 *We finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with A. Joel, A, and I all curled up to finish this together. *I want to remember lying in the backyard on a pic...

To be honest, this wasn’t the easiest week for noticing the good things and the FIGs challenge, but gratitude definitely is essential on hard/annoying weeks as well as good or routine weeks. We had a few anti-figs this week: I had a gnarly cough, lost my voice, and strained my back, and then both of the kids came down with a stomach bug leading to one of them having to leave a trip to the mountains with a group of friends early while feeling terrible. Luckily all of these things are annoyances rather than long-term problems. Still, it was a lot at once, and I was very happy to start a new week today. I definitely needed to feel like we moved on from last week! Monday, February 16 I’m grateful for our good friends who loaned us their sump pump when it rained and we noticed water in the garage. I’m also grateful they had us over to hang at the house while our power was out. They made hot cocoa, which was a nice treat. Tuesday, February 17 I’m grateful for a long snuggle with A watc...

I've continued to be so glad that Elisabeth is hosting the FIGS collective this month. I think since the last week in January someone in her house has been sick consecutively, so it's been a bit of a slog here, and practicing gratitude has definitely helped in this season. In week 2, I’m trying to be more organized and capture each day’s good things chronologically. Monday, February 9th I’m grateful for the parents in my youngest daughter’s preschool class. It was definitely a tough drop off, and having friends who have been there and were so kind when the morning was a struggle definitely made the day better. Also grateful not to cook dinner since we have all the super bowl leftovers. Tuesday, February 10th I’m grateful for the Olympics! It was so fun to sit and watch the men’s short program with Joel. We both got really into it, and it was fun to analyze the costumes, music, and performances together. Wednesday, February 11th I’m grateful for M’s laugh. Today she asked ...

Happy Friday! The kids are off school today and recovering from a nasty cold, and we have visitors this weekend. Looking forward to a few fun adventures around town assuming everyone is well enough, as well as time to relax and hang with my sister and brother-in-law. Here are 5 things on my mind this week. 1. Decluttering. I made actual progress in decluttering this week! My goal for February was to declutter the entryways of our house (driveway, 2 doorways, broom closet, shelves/shoe rack the door). I felt actually motivated to make work on this and dropped off some donations today (not just from these areas). Things that helped: having a box in my closet to toss donations in when I noticed things we don’t want and listening to the Slob Comes Clean podcast by Dana K. White. I highly recommend her book Organizing for the Rest of Us , which I read a few years ago, and listening to her while I declutter has helped remind me of decluttering practices that helped in other seasons. It wa...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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,...

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...

I love hearing about what media people are engaging with and love seeing the best of the year lists come out. I don’t always go back and review my favorites from the year, but this year I decided to join the fun and list my favorite books and music of the year. Reading is my most established (and favorite) habit, so I had a lot of great books to choose from. I’m trying to get back into listening to more new music, so I had fewer favorites. I hope next year that I have more new music I’ve listened to a lot and love. I also added in the Goodreads graphic of all the books I have read (to date) this year. My favorite books of 2025: 5.) These Heathens by Mia MacKenzie. I really loved this short book set in the south during the 1960s. It follows Doris, a seventeen-year-old from rural Georgia, who travels to Atlanta for an abortion. The story takes place over the course of one weekend, and features several Civil Rights leaders (Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King, and Malcolm X among ot...