Life Lately - Spring Please Edition

Well, no sooner did I write this post than our entire family got the Cov. And then mine tapered off with a nasty sinus infection. And I wasn’t yet done with my round of antibiotics when Griffin came home from preschool with a high fever followed by the telltale rash — Hand, Foot, and Mouth.

I caught it too, but no rash, thank goodness. Just what feels like another nasty cold.

I don’t think I need to tell you that I’m over it. White Flag. Spring please!

Smith’s first trip to our favorite pastry/bread bakery, Boulted!

How are you faring?

Honestly, I feel a little worse for the wear, soul-tired, and foggy. It has been hard to look ahead in my calendar, but I do know that spring is coming, and with it:

Fresh new decor to celebrate new life — Resurrection Day, flowers, birds, bees, trees, pastels

Less sickness (please Father in heaven!)

Warmer weather — playing outside, picnics, fun trips out and about

Celebrating our 10 year anniversary (what the!)

Celebrating Griffin’s 2nd birthday! (Very excited about our party theme this year!)

Looking for our next home, and setting up an Airbnb listing for our country cottage (!!!)

Tried to infuse a little spring + hope into our exposed shelves!

So, aside from sickness, here’s what we’ve been up to lately.

I cut my hair and went back to bangs! I get my hair cut with Alli here. I feel a little like I’m getting soul therapy while also getting for real physical ministry. I mean, someone else washes my hair and massages my scalp!!

Smith is 6 months, has started eating solids (and loves it!), has 4 teeth already, and is starting to crawl!

We’ve enjoyed some snow days

We made a traditional English tea time at home (thanks mostly to John for making these scones & clotted cream from scratch!)

We made little valentines for our preschool friends

We visited Gooma & Poopa (my parents… the nicknames had already been decided on by previous grandkids)

Enjoyed my annual Minki Retreat with my besties, this time in Carborro while snow was on the ground!

Bangssss!

Smith’s first snow day!

Our first round of Valentines

We had the babies with us during our Minki retreat : )

Exciting Developments

Although it’s been a rough several months in terms of illnesses, we’ve had some exciting life developments!

I’ve been getting my sea-legs back for standing on a stage and singing! In the last season of life, with owning/running a business, waiting for our kids, and working through some inner stuff, it felt refreshing to experience church without serving on a worship team. It allowed me a chance to experience other parts of my identity, grow character, and make relationships, without that element of the stage. Last fall I felt an open door from the Lord to say yes to that again, and it has been very life-giving!

We rejoined our local YMCA! We were able to get a sizable discount on our joining fee, and our membership includes two hours of childcare any time we come, whether we’re working out or just working. Again — PRAISE!

We’re in the house hunt! And if you know anything about the Raleigh area (like most cities these days) you know that there are all-time low numbers of available homes and an all-time high median sale price! So say a little prayer for us — that we’ll know the right home when we see it and not be afraid to, erhm, throw down.

I’ve been working on an album. Hallelujah praise’m! More details to come, but I’m very excited to get into the studio this spring with one of my dearests Jess!

These precious moments were captured my talented friend Jenna Day

I mean, God’s faithfulness, c’mon!!!

Although I am so thankful for life and my family, I am also feeling very behind. Kicking off the year with 2 major illnesses while trying to take care of my home and kids has felt so hard and humbling. I can see the next month or so, but the rest of the year feels like a wild road trip without a map! Um, hello, life? I like maps!!

So, I’m praying that I’ll remain faithful to all the little things in this mapless moment. I’m praying that we will round out winter without catching another preschool disease! And I’m praying that in our more “normal” week routine, I’ll find some time to look ahead, take a deep breath, and start planning things out a bit. It’s a good reminder to stay humble and depend on Jesus in the ups and downs.

Currently Revisiting: Downton Abbey. Edith is getting herself into a pickle with the Drewe family.

Currently Reading: Carl Sandburg Harvest Poems (so good) and Creativity by Matthew Fox (SO GOOD!) If you are a creative soul or a maker of any kind, I now consider Creativity required reading!

Currently Listening To: Cageless Birds new album The Land I’m Livin’ In, especially this song!

Sickness VIPs: Theraflu for me, Peppa Pig for Griffin. You know you’re in deep when you pay for a season of Peppa on Prime. Honorable mention goest to crying sessions with friends on Marco Polo, and John taking over bedtime in order for me to sneak away to the YMCA.

So here’s to winter 21-22 being almost over. We are ALMOST there! Grace for the moments in between, space to let ourselves do what we need to do!

Tell me, what have you been reading, watching, or listening to lately? What are you looking forward to this spring?

Sending you all my love,
Sam

P.S. — Here’s a random assortment of Life Lately and Loving Lately series posts, for fun! May-June 2021, March-Apr 2021, Jan-Feb 2021, Sep-Oct 2019. Spring Inspo from last year!