Well, sometime mid-Summer I realized that my life was changing in some big ways. Most notably, we decided to send Luke off to high school. I've written about this before. So, I won't spend time on that, but I did spend this summer savoring our last moments of home education. I hoped that I'd accomplished my mission of teaching him the joy of lifelong learning. I hoped he'd always bring a book with him. I hoped that he would find time for all the things he loves since he's away most of the day now.
One of my closest friends commented that my blog, in a few previous posts this year, sounded ominous at best. I had hinted at change and transformation. I didn't mean to be vague, but we had a little upheaval this summer getting ready to send two boys to school and moving kids to different bedrooms and me getting ready to be home with the littlest ones all day. I acknowledged that I would not really be homeschooling this year with the exception of teaching little Tess to read and some math. I guess I can see that my blog thoroughly moved into the blah-g variety.
If I'm honest, I realized that blogging really started to drop off for me with increased use of Facebook and Instagram. It's easy and quick and well, I reasoned that I didn't have much time to sit and compose all of my thoughts like I used to. For the most part, I stopped reading so many blogs and especially blogs devoted to home education. With the demise of Google Reader, I now read only five blogs with consistency.
We're about a month into the school year and we're starting to feel our way into a Fall rhythm, but I'm still a little bit off-kilter. There's still that feeling that time is controlling me rather than the other way around.
So, here's what happened this summer:
I didn't knit quite so much (I'll be back to the Yarn Along soon.)
I read a lot of YA fiction. I'm still reading YA.
I thought about increasing happiness.
I went to the movies a lot. I really enjoyed The Way Way Back and The Sapphires.
I decided I needed way more exercise.
I bought pink running shoes.
I bought paint in a nice Barn Red to paint our front door.
I canned pickles.
I learned that all five of my kids can handle being in the car for 15 hours. (We drove to Virginia this summer driving two 15 hour days. Yes. We are crazy like that.)
If you're interested, here are the blogs that inspire me every day:
In the Heart of My Home
Elizabeth is my kindred spirit. She writes about everything. Food. Time Management. Home Education. Reading. Knitting. Home Life. Faith. Jesus. Children. Eerily, often, I will find that I will have thought of something and when I go to read her blog, she will have written something about that very subject. She's my very fellow introvert. I won't give her up.
Modern Mrs Darcy
Anne is also another kindred spirit. She writes about everything. We tend to read a lot of the same books. She writes about happiness, fashion, home education, and well, being the best version of yourself.
Happiness Project
I've read both books on happiness by Gretchen Rubin and she really kicked me into high gear about increasing happiness and teaching me that I really need to know thyself to be really happy. I wrote about it here. I'm learning a lot about myself by reading Gretchen's blog.
As Cozy As Spring
I love Jenn. She makes beautiful things. She thinks deeply. She confesses her shortcomings. She makes me laugh. When I want a dose of cozy, I'll spend a little time at her blog. We both hate the same thing in By the Shores of Silver Lake.
Small Things
Ginny takes beautiful pictures, but she's honest about life outside those pictures. She hosts the Yarn Along. She knits and reads voraciously.
I also spend a fair share of my online time at GoodReads because I really enjoy both reading about books and reading book reviews. My to-read pile never shrinks.
There. Inspirational reading. Every day.
Back to my blog. I'm thinking about revamping my corner of cyberspace. It definitely needs a makeover. I started this blog in 2007 and well, life moves pretty fast and it's time for this space to reflect now. I'll think about that tomorrow. I'm thinking about writing more about what I'm reading and what I'm watching. I'm thinking about photography and diversifying my crafting. I'm thinking about where our family life is going.
Right now, I'm going to go and think about a pumpkin spice latte and enjoying everything Autumn!
