here’s the return of my wednesday thought posts! i wrote the first of these over two and a half years ago. it has been fun for me to share a smattering of tidbits and photos in these posts, and after a long break from them while catching up on the purely documenting part of this blog (its main purpose), ten thoughts on a wednesday is back! 

one.
i love the weather in london so much. my only, only complaint is how short the days are in the winter. in the fall as it gets darker and darker, starting especially with daylights savings time, i notice myself feeling darker too. this year, inspired by my sister, i have decided to deliberately embrace our winter days as i make efforts to practice hygge … to see the short days as exciting opportunities to really cozy up. i got a really nice smelling candle to burn, bought an assortment of herbal teas and hot chocolate mixes, am shopping around for the perfect fuzzy blanket to keep on our couch and filled our calendar with fun activities in the (increasingly darker) afternoons. we now eat dinner by candlelight each night (fake electric candles, definitely the way to go with a 1 year old and 3 year old at the table!) and i’ve been cooking lots of soups and other warm comfort food. i’m cozying up and hunkering down and am determined to just love winter this year. 

two.
over the past year or so, our community here in london has grown so much. a while back a few friends and i started a whatsapp group intended for any young moms in the city to join, connected mostly through church but also through other means. this group has grown to many dozens of women, and discussion is active every day – asking for and receiving all kinds of recommendations, coordinating meet-ups, sharing favourite things or events or ideas. there are now a bunch of smaller groups that have broken off from the big one: book club, travel chat, swap meets, recipe club, parent education nights, mom workouts at the church, age-specific playgroups. it’s really awesome (and sometimes hard to keep up with!). i’ve been doing morning babysitting swaps with two neighbors, so i have 3-4 hours every week without either of my boys and i’ve been able to be so productive with that rejuvenating time! i really feel like we have a village now in raising our children, far away from family members. community is a wonderful thing. 

three.
in parenting, i feel like i am often trying to figure out a balance between teaching my children about the ideal and about the real. my sister talks sometimes about being a “durable object” with our kids – staying calm and safe and just walking them through things patiently, without breaking. i think of this often. my sister was telling a friend about this concept and her friend said, “forget that! my kids are always going to live in a world full of humans, not durable objects!” true! i think it’s so important for our children to see our humanity, while we are trying to teach them how to be a really good human.

 

four.
i love ian so much. the other day we had some friends over for dinner – some members of the young single adult ward that ian serves with – and they commented to us that we seem like we are really in love and still dating, not at all staled from the few years of marriage under our belts. this made me feel so good, haha! ian is a really, really amazing person and so many nights i lay in bed next to him (he always falls asleep so much faster than me!) thinking about how incredibly lucky i am to share my life with him. 

five.
i recently discovered an amazing artist that i want to tell everyone about! her name is victoria jane kearney and she has created an album of music about birth and becoming a mother. her voice is incredibly beautiful, and the music videos she makes with her husband, who is a cinematographer, are incredibly moving. check out her “cradle” video here. and check out her victoria’s instagram here. the way she captures the crazy emotions of birth and new parenthood is just stunning. 

six.
i’ve been trying more earnestly lately to remember and embody my “word” for 2019 – easy. honestly, the stage i’m in with my boys currently feels pretty hard. both moses and gabriel are experimenting with different new behaviors and our days get exhausting and often frustrating really quick lately. i’m trying to see this as a great opportunity to really exercise my easy-going muscles and just take everything in stride, finding joy along the way. there is a lot of joy along the way. 

seven.
a few weeks ago, i put my phone away for an entire sunday. and that turned out to be just what i needed to jump-start a real, significant decrease in screen time, and honestly it has been life-changing. 

 

eight.
i really enjoyed reading the book where the crawdads sing recently. i read almost half of it on the airplane ride to cyprus, and i had tears streaming down my face several times. it was just so beautiful – the story and the writing – to me. i was pretty upset when i read the ending though. if you’ve read that book … how did you feel about how it ended?! i can’t stop thinking about it. 

nine.
i believe that god is all about diversity. the diversity of this earth – its plants and animals and humans – is a testament of this to me. 

ten.
whenever i feel like we’re kind of having a crazy/hard day, i ask our “alexa” to play the song “good old days” by kesha. and i dance with my boys and they giggle and groove and it’s a good reminder and reset! 

happy wednesday. isn’t life beautiful?!