Monday, May 23, 2016

Reclaiming a life

This is Jason's 10th day of officially being out of school for the summer and it has been great! Of course, he did start his internship last Monday {leaving our house at a very early 5:15 am}. But, it has been SO SO awesome to have two weekends together as a family without any other school/work/travel/visiting commitments -- the first we've had in literally months. I've been reminded how much I enjoy who Jason is and what fun it is to hang out together. Hoping the summer will continue in much the same fashion (only warmer!!!!)

We've been up to Plummer Point on Lake Coeur d'Alene ---





























Hiking at Idlers Rest -- Luke is turning into a great hiker!

























And even jogging a few times all together --






Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Solo road trip (with 2 kiddos)

My first solo road trip with the kids actually went much better than expected. I kept catching myself feeling anxious beforehand and finally just tried to address why I was feeling anxious and to play out what my worst-case scenario looked like ... both kids scream the whole 3+ hours and poop all over themselves and their car seats ... then asked myself if I could deal with that? Decided I could and away we went. So so thankful to the Hayes Family for making this getaway possible!!















We got to stay with one of Luke's most favorite friends, Connor --



























We even managed to be there on the right day to participate at the library story/craft time which we'd gone to every week last summer.



































And, of course .... plenty of time playing at the lake!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

On our way here!

I'm on my first solo road trip with both kids today -- to Priest Lake!! Thanks to an invite from our lovely friends from last summer who live/work there - thank you Hayes family! Woo-hoo! The weather is supposed to be in the upper-70's and I am THRILLED! 

With Jason making his final push to get projects & presentations done before finals next week, our being gone for a couple days couldn't have come at a better time. Fingers crossed the kids will be good little travelers :) 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Missing my adventure partner

I came to the realization last month (while Jason was gone on yet another weekend school field trip, the 3rd one in a row) that for much of our marriage, we have been involved in somewhat life-changing, shared experiences. Then we moved to Idaho.

It feels like those things that we most loved sharing with each other came to a very sudden and screeching halt. Spending the summer at Priest Lake last summer was really amazing, but during the school year it mostly feels like we are living separate lives. Our "shared experience" now amounts to a hurried and chaotic dinner together with our children where its virtually impossible to carry on any real conversation. Knowing we still have another year of this is a bit daunting...I find myself wondering if we'll know each other when this is over and/or how people go about getting to know each other again?

I don't want to be a person who is constantly looking toward what is next to be the "fix" for our lives or forgetting to SEE all the good things I have right in front of me. I am really thankful that next Friday marks the last day of Jason's semester - hurrah for summer (and hurrah for not having to move anywhere this summer!) My summer goal? Figure out a new/different way for us to have some shared experiences next school year in the midst of our lack of time together. Not sure what that is going to look like exactly?