New House. New Mugs. New Shelves.

You know it's gonna be a good time when all the kiddo's Life360 dots are in the same place, or when you wake up to midnight mac-n-cheese bowls in the sink. 

Our daughter Annabelle and her hubby, Clark, threw one heck of a party this weekend. A few months back they were forced out of their apartment when the ceiling fell in due to a leak from the apartment above.

😣 Oopsie. 

They couch surfed for a bit, then stayed with some good friends and ended up purchasing a home right down the street from us. An absolute miracle in today's economy. It really is a great house too, with a nice big back yard that's perfect for hosting people, which they love to do and I'm sure will do often!  

And of course our daughter Micah came into town to join in on the party fun and while here gifted us with a couple of new mugs. 

These were just a weeeeeeeeeee bit extra special... 😃 

I am ready ready ready to dish out ALL the baby chub love. 🥹 BRING. IT. ON!

***

And now for a little family history... years ago, the hubs worked with a man from Poland named Przemek (pronouced Pshchemek, helpful huh?). He visited our little part of the world.  A few years later the hubs visited his part of the world. You know how some people are just super easy to connect with, he and his wife are those kind of people. Anyways, when it was time to name our youngest, I was all about naming her "Poppy Jo" until my doctor mentioned that kids might make fun of her and call her Sloppy Jo. 

😒  Ok, then. 

Sophie was another option, except literally TWO other babies at our church had just been named Sophie. 

😒 Ok, then.

Well... Przemek's younger daughter was named Zofia, but they called her Zosia (pronounced Zah-shuh), which basically translates to... Sophie! So we got to name our daughter Sophie after all, just in another language. 

😁 ok, then!

All that to say, Przemek and his wife, Basia, came to visit last week and also gifted us with cute little espresso mugs! 

And speaking of mugs and more mugs... that brings me to the "new" shelves.

No, we didn't get shelves to hold our fabulously overflowing mug collection 😏 Should we? Yes, probably, but that's a problem for another day. 

No, these shelves popped up in my facebook feed Friday morning... 

These shelves are a little bit scary and a little bit exciting... 

These shelves are the first purchase on the path to pursuing a dream I've had for several years...

but more on that next time. Dun-dun-dunnnn.

*ends on cliffhanger* 😏

When Language Decides For Us

So a few years ago I read a book that talked about anchoring bias... fascinating book really, The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt. Anchoring bias simply occurs when individuals rely too heavily on an initial piece of information—the "anchor"—to make subsequent judgments, even if that information is irrelevant or inaccurate. 

Think along the lines of someone making a good first impression or a bad first impression. That initial input of "good" or "bad" will skew the way we treat someone afterwards. We don't really like to admit it, but it will effect the way we think about them, talk about them, interact with them and even what we expect from them, for better or for worse. It can even serve to inform how we view other people not even connected to, but who remind us of, that first person.

It's one of the main reasons, I believe, there is such a disparity in how people respond to current events. I'm convinced its why we might see someone who we know to be a kind and decent human being, speaking up in support of indecent things.

It's way more involved than I have the time or energy to get into today, but the reason I was reminded of it was because of a post that was shared by a friend yesterday. It contains what I call "bias bombing" (an old term I just made up).

Sadly, anything can be turned into a weapon... including anchoring bias or any bias for that matter. Ever notice how quickly an article or a news conference happens in regards to something that supports or dismantles one side or the other... and how quickly an article of the exact opposite comes out as well. Whoever gets the news out first, and with the most emotional impact (you know, to really drive the point home and make it stick with you) will not have to work as hard to convince you of how to view or respond to anything else that follows. Your biases will do most of the work for them. Even your "trusted source" knows how to use familiarity bias, halo effect, authority bias, in-group bias, affinity fallacy, appeal to loyalty, appeal to relationship, emotional reasoning, confirmation bias, availability heuristic, argument from character, narrative bias, and social proof to keep you on their side.  The most harmful part of it all, is that any data presented afterwards will tend to be interpreted through that first lens only. Eyewitness testimony, video footage, documents, forensic evidence, articles, trials, etc... it wont matter how extensive the evidence is stacked, belief perseverance and cognitive dissonance take over and keep you firmly grounded on one side. This is why jurors can't have heard anything about a defendant before a trial. It will absolutely skew their judgement. This is also why we have a hard time believing somebody we've known for years could have committed an unthinkable crime. This is why we often fight over a single issue and give pardon to other areas that are lacking. And so on.

Does this mean we can't trust anyone or anything anymore? Are we just doomed to our biases like marionette puppets being strung along by media outlets?

No.

I'm convinced we can learn to spot the assumptions we make as well as the ones being made for us. We can learn to ask why we believe what we believe about strangers, about our neighbors, about ourselves, about our world, and we can recalibrate as needed. 

As far as the news or friends' posts and comments go, I've learned to spot the words that attempt to anchor interpretation rather than merely describe an event. Honestly, if any more than 10 percent of the first few sentences contains any of these triggering words, I move along. It's that simple. I know now that its sole purpose is to stir up big emotions with big labels in order to pin me against whoever they want me to be against. They are not reporting to help me draw my own conclusions.

Here's a nice little list of words, certainly not extensive, but a good place to start. Once you start seeing them, you'll notice them being used as the bulk of content everywhere.

Radical

Extremist

Far-____ 

Hardline

Ultra-

Fringe

Anti- _____

Activist 

Dangerous

Reckless

Hateful

Violent rhetoric

Incendiary

Toxic

Unhinged

Menacing

Deranged

Fanatical

Domestic terrorist

Insurrectionist

Militant

Armed agitator

Threat to democracy

National security risk

Violently resisted

Escalated the situation

Conspiracy theorist

Baseless claims

Debunked
Denier

Disinformation spreader

Misinformation campaign

Part of a broader pattern

Echoing extremist talking points

Fueled by online radicalization

Emboldened by rhetoric

Inspired by dangerous movements

Shocking

Alarming

Chilling

Explosive

Stunning

Disturbing

Jaw-dropping

Authorities say

Officials confirm

Experts warn

Intelligence sources indicate

According to law enforcement

Defending democracy

On the wrong side of history

Threat to our values

Common-sense reforms

Reasonable people agree

Here's a little pop quiz.... did you happen to automatically add any of these words to the list in your mind... "left" or "right", "liberal" or "conservative", "progressive" or "traditionalist". Not to bum you out, but it's a sure sign you've been taught to vilify "the other side". You've been taught "Us VS Them". We all have. But it doesn't have to be that way. I will say this, it's more so online than person to person. There's still some hope for real conversations when we meet face to face!

One thing I know for sure, it is NEVER my job to respond to bias bombs with equally charged language. Sometimes I don't respond at all, especially if I know I'm full of emotion and want to word vomit. I've learned (the hard way) it rarely yields good results. I simply use it as a reminder (because I most certainly need the reminder) to always litmus test the language being used, always confirm facts among multiple sources, and to respond with as much love and compassion as possible. No one is my enemy because of something they anchored to in the middle of a storm. 

All this to say, I am convinced that the best defense against anyone weaponizing our biases against us, is in knowing exactly what we are anchored to. For me it's Christ. Christ teaches "Us FOR Them". Always. That's what made him such a "radical" teacher. He is my recalibration.

As an exercise in spotting bias, here's the post that was shared yesterday (and yes, of course you can find the exact same type of article for/against "the other side" using the exact same verbiage). How many bias bombs can you spot? Are they presenting evidence and facts that can be confirmed by multiple sources or is everything an appeal to some type of assumption? Does the language create pictures with interpretation words so that you don't actually feel its necessary to go and confirm the details?

[[Shocking new details from Minneapolis: Radical left extremist Alex Pretti, labeled a domestic terrorist, violently resisted arrest, reached for his holster, and fired his gun at federal officers. Armed with a military-style pistol, optics, and up to 51 rounds – no permit or ID in sight – he was clearly ready for a firefight. Video shows him struggling to aim his weapon, forcing officers to defend themselves. Ballistics confirm he fired first, debunking left-wing conspiracy theories that he was unarmed. This self-inflicted tragedy exposes the dangers of anti-police rhetoric and proves why President Trump's strong support for law enforcement is crucial. Back the blue and reject the "defund the police" madness! ]]

If we take out all of the bias bombs and interpretive language, what are we left with and what do we do with it? Alex Pretti, reached for his holster and fired his gun (a pistol) at federal officers. No permit or ID.

Now we can sift through what is presented and verify whether it's accurate or not. If something is incorrect, its simply incorrect information. This incident doesn't have to throw us into a frontline battle of right vs left. Our identity isn't being attacked, we're simply trying to figure out what happened and why it matters. With significantly less emotional gymnastics to overcome, we can ALL ask simple questions that have measurable answers. What were the events that led up to Alex interacting with the officers? Did the officers see that he had a gun holstered? Did the officers ask for ID? Did the officers ask for permit to carry? Did they find it on his person later? How is it determined who fired first? How many times did he fire? How many shells were found from his gun? What was the location of the shells? Is this according to eyewitnesses? How many? Is there body cam footage and transcript of the officers interaction? Is there spectator footage? Has everyone involved been interviewed? Do their statements match or are there varying accounts? Do any statements appear rehearsed? Do ballistics reports determine order of shots fired or do they just match a bullet to a gun? How many rounds did the officers fire? Did they shoot to disarm or to kill? Did the officers use pepper spray and/or tasers as a first line of defense? How did they attempt to disarm him? Did they follow protocol?

I'm no detective, but I know that questions like these are valid and worth asking. They aren't attacks, they aren't rhetoric, they aren't anti-anybody, they aren't madness, they aren't conspiracy theories... they're accountability for everyone. I'm sure there's more that would be asked in an investigation as well. We can't assume these questions have been asked just because an article alludes to an answer. In the end, these kinds of questions and answers are important because they help lead to a consensus on truth and then we get to decide what to do with it.

And this my friends is the most "dangerous" thing of all. Its what threatens the narrative of whoever is clawing for power. My autonomy. My ability to question. My ability to search for answers. My ability to think. My ability to spot my own biases.

This is what Ive learned to do. It's brought me insight and peace along the way. I hope it does the same for you.

** Full disclosure, Chatgpt helped compile the list of words and the title of this post**

Trudging Through Trauma Triggers

I'm not a writer, so I struggle to share the full depth of the things going on in my mind. But there are moments when things just have to come out and I force myself to not care what it sounds like. I'm trying to give myself the permission to BE in the moment and allow myself to process.

So I was just on facebook.
And I was going to respond to someone's random post asking for recommendations for something.
And in my thought process, as I prepared what to respond with, my thought jumped to something along the lines of "we're pretty like-minded". It wasn't like an actual thought you know, it was more like a subconscious knowing or affirmation, if that makes sense. but then it jumped to an actual sort of wishful thought and then tears. This happened a couple weeks ago when someone else posted about something they were organizing and I just thought it was so beautiful and exciting, and then WHAM, tears... because the next level of thought process was lying just beneath the surface and that, my friends, is an ocean of trauma. 

ugh, that sounds so pathetic.

You know how you watch a movie and there comes a part where you're like, "IF THEY WOULD JUST SAY SOMETHING IT WOULD ALL BE BETTER". but of course then you wouldn't be able to fill 2 hours worth of comical misunderstandings, am I right? But some things are just so so so difficult to say.

Things like... I was hurt. Things like... I was hurt at the church I attended... and it still affects me. It's like tiny little threads of fungus that attach to ALL the things around it. 

It's hard because it can come across as blame, but it's not blame, it just is what it is. And the word "hurt" just doesn't really convey the overall experience either. I think that's why people may not always understand "church hurt" cause it's not like hammering your thumb or even stubbing your toe... it's like a constant rubbing that, well, sorta surprises you yourself when it begins to hurt because it's not sudden. My experience simply was what it was, and still there are ripples that can sometimes build into waves and crash into me when I absolutely least expect it. Like responding to a random facebook post lol. Other times there are waves of guilt. Guilt from my mistakes. Guilt from the things I couldn't make right. Guilt from not being different or better. Guilt from the part I played in perpetuating things. Guilt that I didn't do enough to change things. Guilt over so. many. things.

What I've realized over the last 2 or 3 years is difficult to put into words mostly because it feels like no matter how i try to word it, it will come across like blame and accusation. I mean, how do you face things head on and work through them in order to heal without calling them what they are? In my head I know that in order to change something for the better, you have to shine a light on it and examine it and so on... but how do you do that without all the other stuff being attached. Does that makes sense? It's not that I think anybody INTENDED for any hurt or trauma, but I can't help but feel afraid or guilty that if I do say something, the intent will be assumed. I just don't want anyone else to feel bad. But I also don't want anyone else having to deal with the same stuff I did. It's a Catch 22.

And it's not even WHY we left, that's actually the funny part. We left because it was the clearest direction we had at the time. And I like control as much as the next guy, so I don't want people to assume it's why we left. It's simply what started coming to the surface once we did leave, but to address it now can feel pointless and messy. It's just layers of messy. 

What I DO know is that I don't have the answers. I'm still trying to work through so much stupid junk that more often than not I just don't want to deal with it and I have to put it away for a while and just live. But today, I needed to just sit in it and be ok with not being ok I guess. 

In other semi-related growth, I attended an online workshop for a vocal coaching program and the guy said something absolutely profound for me. It was that singing is just crying and that means you have to be vulnerable to sing well. Hearing that took me to the trauma level in a different way... remembering how I was sometimes viewed as not being vulnerable enough, and how even now, i'm struggling to be more vulnerable, but the realization hit me like a ton of bricks that I WAS vulnerable, just not the way I was expected to be. Every single time I got up on that stage and sang my heart out, I put myself and my passion and my emotions out there and always risked quite a few internal struggles being stirred up. I don't think people understand what it takes to do that. It's not just about having a pretty voice. I held nothing back (except what I was told to hold back, and I blame myself for that as well) and it wasn't enough. And the fact that it's so difficult to sing right now, just in my own home, isn't surprising. I have to be in a really good head space to sit at the piano and sing full out. At the same time, my whole body aches to lead worship again, but it also feels like I would have to step back into a cage. The cage of "give us what we want, not what you have to offer" and it's not worth it. It's not worth it. For me, it's like choosing to die by fire or drowning. It's impossible to choose. You simply have to pick which one is less painful in that moment, and right now, singing alone at home hurts, but not as much as it would to compromise and get back up on a stage again. I hope it's not always that way. I think it can be different, I truly do. But about 50 other things have to change, including me. I have to be strong enough to be vulnerable again. I have to know who I am so that I can confidently and lovingly release the expectations others place on me. 

So far to go and it feels like trudging through mud.

So hows your day lol?

Sourdough Experiment #2

Well, apparently it's been over a year since my last major sourdough experiment! It does NOT feel like it's been that long at all! Still, I've been wanting to find a good sandwich bread recipe, so of course it had to turn up through some spontaneous experimentation this weekend.

Here's the Recipe {and THEN you can read about how I got there if you're interested}.

600g starter (~2.5 cups)
25g water (25ml)
30g olive oil (30ml or ~2 Tbsp)
50g honey (50 ml or ~3 1/2 Tbsp)
1 egg
10 g salt (~2 tsp)
340g all purpose flour or bread flour (~2.5 cups)

• Mix all ingredients together till it just comes together. 
• Let it sit 30 minutes.
• Knead on medium with dough hook for 10 minutes. (It's a sticky dough but it should pull away from the bowl.) Or mix by hand with a
• Cover with a tea towel and let rise till doubled (time will depend on temperature of your kitchen, I'm in east Texas and mine takes about 2 to 2.5 hours right now)
• Punch dough, and pull out onto lightly floured counter.
• Split into two pieces and lightly sprinkle tops with flour.
• Pat gently into a rectangle.
• Fold sides in thirds, then shape into loaf using a gently stretching-roll motion from the top working your way down.
• Place in a loaf pan greased with ~1 tsp coconut oil, seam side down.
• Repeat with second half of dough.
• Let rise till doubled in size (mine takes 3-4 hours). Check dough with finger poke test.
• Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
• Immediately turn loaf over onto a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel until cool. 

So earlier this week I had started a loaf of traditional bread when I saw that Amber's Kitchen on Instagram had posted her new sourdough sandwich bread recipe. I took a quick look at the added ingredients which were some oil, some honey and an egg and thought to myself, "ok, so its basically an enriched dough. Oh, what the heck"... so even though her flour and water and starter measurements weren't anywhere near mine (she was making 3 loaves and well, I was only going to make one big loaf), I just decided to trust my gut on the amounts and just go for it (even though my dough had already been rising for about 30 minutes.) So I squeezed in some honey, glugged in some olive oil and threw in an egg. Crazy, I know, but a few hours and a couple of loaves later, it was a success!


Of course the problem was I hadn't measured anything, but at least I had jotted down some quick notes. So this weekend I decided to try and replicate what I had done and made sure to measure along the way, and BINGO! I hit the jackpot!

Now... I'm a little bit of an outlier when it comes to sourdough, it just doesn't make sense to wait for MORE flour and water to ferment after I've already waited for the starter to do the exact same thing. So for my traditional loaf I use a higher ratio of starter than most. My "perfect" loaf size is 400g starter, 320g flour, 120g water, 8 grams salt. BUT on the day I threw in the extra ingredients I had REALLY gone crazy and upped it to 600g of starter!! Again with the crazy!! All that to say, this sandwich recipe is based off of that double crazy experiment and when I replicated it today, well... let's just say it was worthy of a blog post.




Now it's totally ok if my recipe is not your cup of tea, just like other recipes I've tried aren't mine. I'm mostly just here to tell you that you should definitely experiment and make tweaks along the way until you find what you like!!! And when we cut into the loaf on the right tomorrow morning (a quick stab at a cinnamon raisin version) I'll let you know how that one turned out too!

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For those really interested and still learning how to navigate starter feeding and baking times, this was my time table...

9:30pm Fed starter

9:00 am Started dough.
9:30 am First rise begins.
11:45 am First Rise complete. Shaped dough.
3:30 pm Preheat Oven.
4 pm Second rise complete. Baked dough.
5:45 pm ATE IT WITH DINNER! ;)

You Have Permission

Large gatherings have a valuable place in our lives... and I'm fairly certain that most folks are really starting to miss them even more so and appreciate the important role they play.

And yet, these days especially, it's beyond easy to find a number of streaming classes, services, concerts... everything. It's almost overwhelming, as if we didn't already have every option available to us for purchase, now a large portion of it is FREE!

If we're not careful, all this availability can easily fall into passive learning. We still end up staring at a screen and not actively doing something. I caught myself starting to do this yesterday... I pulled out a canvas to paint after watching some videos the night before. The day was drawing to a close and I watched more painting videos, haha! So, needless to say, I am currently having to force myself to NOT watch another video until I actually paint something!!!

Don't get me wrong, my kiddos are still very much playing Minecraft and taking advantage of Disney plus in the evenings. But I'm also having to be careful not to throw every online opportunity in their direction... "here watch this free theatre class and this dance class and this art class and this and this and this". I need to remember that they have plenty of things they can self-cultivate without having to watch another video every 30 minutes.

It's not the easiest to say "no" to free and readily available things. Sometimes we just have to focus back in a little bit and utilize the fact that we can still learn through self-practice and from each other. I realize that not everyone is surrounded by 4 kids and a spouse, so I can't speak into your exact experience right now, I can only speak to mine. We happen to be a homeschool family all of the time, so while this season is definitely a bit strange for us, it's not that entirely different from our normal routine. But, I'd like to share an encouragement that's more from our recent past experience than from our current situation regarding church gatherings.

I've been through the stop-cold-turkey in attendance, and I've been through a couple years of navigating what life looks like without the weekly services. I want you to know its been a bumpy road but it's been a good thing. I'm not saying it's for everyone and I'm definitely not saying church gatherings are evil and should be stopped. I'm saying... a season of family teaching family, family discipling family, confessing with family, worshipping with family can be a really good thing.

Its a good time to remember that spiritual gifts are not just found in your church leadership, they are found in your very own home. This is a wonderful time to cultivate the gifts you have; to grow in them in a way that won't happen when surrounded by others who are often appointed to work that gift for you. The thing is, our gifts though they might fall into certain categories (shepherd, apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist), are going to be manifested differently through each individual personality, experience and context, and that makes each individual person vital to the whole church body regardless of age, gender or position. It's important that we are all continually growing in our gifts and at the same time strengthening others in their gift AND in ours. We can each be versed in all the gifts and we can learn this from each other. The gifts aren't given to simply have one person be the best at that gift, but to invest it into others so they can function in that area as well. We should always be replaceable. We should always be working to equip others to do what we do well and learn from others what they do well.

The way many churches function doesn't necessarily make it impossible, but it certainly makes it more difficult, to avoid the tendency to rely on a handful of individuals for everything. Sometimes, in the name of "being prepared" or "properly trained first" we hold off on releasing folks to function in their still developing gifts. Gifts are constantly being developed, though... there's no official line or mark of readiness. Everyone who steps into a gift constantly make mistakes and will constantly learn new things from them. I'm here to tell you that right here, right now, you have been released to function in your gift. You have permission to do what the Lord has been calling you to do despite not having a position or a title. You don't need a title or position, (and of course you don't actually need my permission) you just need to obey Christ teachings and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit right where you are.

If you've ever been on a short term missions trip, you'll know how it is; you get thrust into a small group of people and spend almost every waking hour with them and then together you get thrust into situations you're not normally in and you're basically forced to do what needs to be done. Yes, you have leadership walking you through some stuff, I'm not saying get rid of leadership at all, I'm saying that leadership should push you out of the nest and then support you in that experience. And what usually comes out of a time of short term missions? Often, you come home empowered to walk in a gift you may have discovered was waiting to burst out given a chance... and maybe you come home realizing you were relying on others for certain things that you had the ability to do all along... you got thrust out of the nest of constant care and were forced to do the work yourself. This is what the work of the church and the equipping of the saints can look like, but this often what the church often fails at doing (is there such a thing as helicopter churching?!). Not intentionally by any means, but simple because we're good at organizing things to function well, but then they function so well that it's hard to allow it to be a little awkward and grow a little wild.

In a time where every resource is available to you, books and podcasts and commentaries and worship albums and so on... don't feel guilty or be afraid to take this time to say no to all the extra stuff for a good bit of time and simplify to just you and the word, or your family and the word. I'm not saying DON't watch you live-streaming church service, that's just silly. What I am saying is don't let that be all there is if you do. Just go for it... read the Word together cover to cover, I know you have the time and yes, even all the "boring" or "weird" parts! Pray the Word. Sing the Word. Speak the Word. If you're going to obey the teachings, you have to know them, not just what someone else says about them. If you rest in and spend time with the heart of God, your heart WILL be transformed.

Also, be encouraged... it will NOT look like a service designed for a large group. Trying to copy one just leads to awkwardness and boredom quite frankly. Let it be simple. Let it be genuine. Let it be flexible. Let it be creative. Let it be functional. Let it be what the Spirit leads it to be and see what happens!

and we're back

Today we are officially back into the swing of school and routine. We semi-tried to do so last week, but the week ended up feeling more like waking up after a long nap and feeling groggy for a while, know what I mean?
That was partly due to the fact that 3 of us spent last weekend in Dallas so that Micah could attend 2 auditions for summer dance intensives. She did extremely well considering she was sick the two weeks before, and still recovering, meaning she had zero dance prep and low energy. The extra surprise was that normally a class has about 45 minutes of flat work and the rest will be en pointe, and an audition is just a class that's run by the auditioning company so they can see what you can do. NOPE. This one, Micah's first intensive audition ever, was ALL EN POINTE! That's 1.5 hours of pointe, when she normally does no more than 1 to 1.5 hours a WEEK! And again, she hadn't danced for two weeks. It wasn't easy, but she pushed through. And then pushed through again for the next audition the next day. Thankfully that second class was more of what she's used to and wasn't complete torture lol. We ended up asking the gentleman who ran the class what level he would put that first class at, his response, "HIGH! Very high. They told me to give them a hard class and I did." Yeah basically she's a beast.
Then we started the week off with a long assessment of where she is health-wise with my good friend who is a Naturopath. Lots and lots of inflammation throughout her body is just making it extra difficult to recover from all the things. So she's on a restrictive menu to reduce inflammation and quite a few supplements to help her body heal fully. That takes an amazing amount of brain function to keep up with and that's about all I had room for for the week.
I've also still been limited in what I can do because of a wrist injury Christmas eve, and not being able to do certain things has made my brain super foggy. Blech! It hasn't felt like a nice start to a new year, but I DID get to start my Texas Master Gardener Classes on Thursday! We learned about soil testing and how all the minerals and ph effect what you're growing, etc. It was very helpful! I really like that they are community focused and I've always wanted to help start up community gardens, especially in a food desert like south Longview. I'd love to have one as a part of a tea shop someday as well!
Almost forgot, we also ended up driving to Houston on Saturday because Annabelle's pointe shoes were completely dead and the best fitters we've found are in Houston.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon decluttering my desk and dresser and cleaning the bathroom, which has helped me feel a little less overwhelmed for the start of a new week. We'll see how long that lasts lol!

The Hubers' New Groove

Just when you think you're about to find some routine and things are about to settle down a bit... our family goes and auditions for a musical lol. Thankfully their roles are all on the smaller side, but Dave, Sam, Micah, Annabelle AND Zosia were all cast to be a part of the ArtsView Children's Theatre production of Newsies!

And thankfully, my work schedule has been consolidated mostly to the weekends, so it'll help a bit with having to adjust to rehearsal schedules for everyone else and painting schedules for me.

I had a chance to get started on painting a couple things for the set last night (The stuff above will look nothing like what they look like now lol) and even though my arm and shoulder do not agree with my enthusiasm, I'm super excited to get some more painting done asap! And since I'll be painting for the next few shows, I have a chance to get the paint room organized mwahahaha! I am determined to use up ALL the old paint I possibly can!!!

In other news, I spent the last couple of weeks trying to work out a gardening plan for the front yard. I'm almost done with it. My brain likes things to be in order, but my heart wants something "Different" and "Creative" more "organic" in how it flows... so it's hard to agree with myself sometimes and make a final decision.

I'm pretty confident on where I want the compost bin to go, so I'll at least get started on constructing and placing that, hopefully this week. I don't plan on having anything planted for the fall; anything i can do over the next couple of months will just be preparing the ground with layers of cardboard, shredded paper, compost and mulch. I've learned its worth the wait to prep the ground properly, rather than waste time, money and frustration on stuff not growing well.

Thanks to our added comings and goings, I'm going to be riding my bike to work once a week. I'd love if it our south Longview streets were a little more conducive to bike riding, but it's only 2.5 miles, so it'll be just fine. I need the exercise anyways!!

And last but not least, I'll be participating in a latte art throwdown friday evening, so here's hoping my "painting" wrist will let my "pouring" wrist do it's thing when the time comes.