Double Digits for Rose

Rose turned ten yesterday! She was so excited:

January Clips

A few journal clips from the past week:

Sunday, January 24: Before church, Jay came into the kitchen all dressed in his khakis, white shirt, and self-tied necktie. "Are there any fashion laws that I'm breaking?" he asked. I laughed and told him "nope, you look good." 

Monday, January 25: When I picked up Amber from school today, I resisted asking the classic "how was your day?" while we walked to the van because she often doesn't want to answer or seems uninterested in elaborating about her day right away, and I was trying to give her a break. When we were halfway to the van though, she said "aren't you going to ask me how my day was?" So I asked, and she told me all about it.

A work in progress

We are all works in progress! It's uncomfortable! Most of the time we adults do a good job of putting on a competent front, and in many areas we are actually competent. The reality is, however, that nobody has everything figured out. We are all constantly changing, learning, and growing every day, and even though growth can be uncomfortable, our potential for growth is an encouraging fact. We can learn and change and make changes! One of the topics I have been working to learn more about is structural racism and how to pull it down to create equality for people of all colors.

"We have to learn and fight at the same time. Because people have been waiting far too long for their chance to live as equals in this society." --Ijeoma Oluo

Green Exercise

For the past week I have been listening to The Joy of Movement by Kelly McGonigal on audiobook. It talks about all kinds of fascinating psychological intricacies of exercise and other forms of movement. Basically, it's my kind of book! Maybe it's confirmation bias, but the book explains many different exercise phenomenons that I have personally experienced, from the runner's high to the joys of moving my body outdoors. The book defines green exercise as exercise performed in nature. The psychological benefit of exercise is vastly increased when it is done in nature. I prefer to exercise on a mountain trail, but country living does provide other ways to access green exercise. That's my intro to another post about my endeavors to coach, run, and bike while healing an ankle injury. 

Inauguration Inspiration

We have a new president! The inauguration was so inspiring. I don't consider myself a super political person in general, but didn't all Americans become a little more political over the past year? I don't even support an official political party; I vote based on individual candidates and policy over party. Talking politics makes me nervous because it's such a charged topic. Since I'm not super experienced discussing politics, I hope expressing my political opinions here doesn't come off as condescending to the "other side." That's one of my least favorite parts of politics, when people get on their high horse and look down on everyone else who has different horses. Or something like that. Basically, I hope this is a hopeful post and not a whiny naggy cranky post. Back to the inauguration!

Milk shots and meatloaf

It has been a good week for family laughter. For example, the first half hour of my day today contained three back-to-back conversational gems:

After our morning family prayer, during our traditional post-prayer family hug time, Amber chased Jay down the hall saying "where's my Jay huggy? Where's my Jay huggy?" Once she had caught and hugged him, she let him go and then proceeded to chase him again, this time saying "where's my Jay-kissy? Where's my Jay-kissy?" Jeff and I could not stop laughing. That girl! 

Uphill

Hill #1: While the kids were in the midst of their various online school Zoom meetings on Wednesday morning, I had a sudden inexplicable urge to clean the aerator on our basement bathroom faucet. I had been putting that task off for months, and suddenly it was time--I had to strike while the mood lasted! The water pressure was down to an annoyingly tiny trickle, and past experience taught me that the easiest way to fix that problem was to remove and clean the aerator screen from the head of the faucet. I had vague memories of using a flathead screwdriver to pry off the faucet head last time, so I employed the same method on this go-round. The thing would not come off! 

Mud Mechanics

The Shaina self-school of novice mountain biking is [still] in full force over here, and Tuesday's ride this week added another lesson to my messy self-taught arsenal of understanding. There is something both deeply satisfying and slightly mortifying about learning simple, seemingly-obvious lessons through trial-and-error. Jumping in and trying something without learning the ropes beforehand is generally not how I prefer to learn, but I can't deny the sheer potency of hands-on, figure-it-out-on-the-fly, physical experience as a teacher. Those are the types of lessons that I am unlikely to forget. I'm accumulating quite a list.

Reading in 2020

The events of 2020 inspired me to run more, write more, and read more than ever before. In 2020, I: ran 1,322 miles (and biked 331 miles), wrote 225,000 words (135,000 words in blog posts, 90,000 words in my novel), and read 173 books (101 new/72 re-reads, 34 audiobooks). These "three R's" are my hobbies. I always run, write, and read a good amount each year--it's fun, freeing, and fulfilling. However, my reasons for running, writing, and reading sharpened, shifted, and solidified in 2020. 

Running always clears my head, soothes my body, and helps me process life. In 2020, running continued helping in those ways, and I even began to glean some of those benefits from the new-to-me world of mountain biking. Running also took on a fourth role in 2020: trail running filled my thirst for adventure, travel, and beauty! Hitting the trails in reaction to the demands of 2020 added another dimension to my love of running. 

The Young Man

Jay had a big day on Sunday, January 3rd, 2021! He graduated from Primary at church and was ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. We watched sacrament meeting over Zoom and Jay "walked up front" when his name was called. There are twelve kids turning twelve in our ward this year! NINE of them are boys! It's the same group I had in my cub scout wolf group of yore. They are great guys. 

After we watched sacrament meeting from home via Zoom, we drove to the church for Jay's ordination. Due to the high volume of boys advancing, it was chaotic while everyone divided up into rooms to be ordained. It was just our family of five and one bishopric member in the room when Jay was ordained. I felt the spirit fill the room as Jeff and Brother Rodriguez laid their hands on Jay's head. Words can't describe the warm maternal feeling that filled me while I watched my own sweet son take the next step in his spiritual development. Jay is growing into a young man with faith and compassion and goodness! He is a bright light in our family. 

BYE, 2020

The final week of 2020, aka the second week of Christmas break, was spent sleeping in, lounging, playing games, and watching movies, with a smidge of daily exercise tossed in to make the lounging feel cozier. On New Year's Eve, we did a family 5k, watched 4 movies, and had snack foods for lunch and dinner. It was a very laid back day--so laid back that I struggled to stay awake until midnight! Also, watching four movies in one day is a LOT. In fact, we watched four and a half movies, finishing up a movie that we had started the previous day. I couldn't even watch the last movie--I was overstimulated and exhausted! Somehow I managed to stay awake until midnight. The kids were all tired, but they would not admit to it. We toasted the new year with Martinelli's sparkling cider and then went straight to bed. 

Silver Linings of 2020

2020 was a year of cancellations, restrictions, unrest, and uncertainty, but it was also a year of introspection, slowing, seeking, finding, and discovering. At the end of each year, it's easy to list all of the reasons we're glad to turn over a new leaf and begin a fresh new year. Human nature always finds it easier to say goodbye to discomfort and sadness. Remembering the good is what makes parting ways hard, but the comfy happy good isn't good without the uncomfy tough blah to define it. So while I am completely ready to leave 2020 and all of its difficulties in the past, I have also taken some time to think of what gifts 2020 gave me. It was a unique year with unique challenges, the kind of refiner's fire that burned hot and bright in multiple areas at once. 

What parts of me came out of those flames brighter, cleaner, and stronger? In other words, what did I learn from navigating the rigors of 2020? Here's my list: