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In some ways, it's hard to believe that I haven't written a blog post since October of 2021. In other ways, it just makes sense. Last October, when I wrote that blog post, we were just finishing up the first quarter of this last school year. From that point on, it felt like we were meeting ourselves coming and going. This school year, we had a child in high school, one in junior high, and one in elementary. This made for some interesting schedules and lots of nights where Mr. Farmhouse and I split up to attend the girls' activities, often accepting help from the grandparents and aunts & uncles to get the third daughter where she needed to go. I know this is something that parents have accomplished for many, many years...but for us, it was the first time that we were really pulled in three different directions, on top of career and farming duties. If we're being honest -- our home suffered because of this. I don't think we were ever caught up on laundry or dishes and our mud room became a dumping ground for our belongings as we ran in to change clothes quickly and head out to the next event. As Gretchen Rubin states in her book, Outer Order, Inner Calm, "it's easier to keep up than to catch up..." And we are to the point where we desperately need to catch up. However, we WILL NOT spend the whole summer "catching up". We have three more summers left with our oldest daughter Harlee here at home, so we are going to work hard to create beautiful family memories in the midst of taking back our house. Already this summer, we've visited the Kansas City Zoo, toured the Hallmark Visitors' Center & Kaleidoscope, attended a Royals game, and we've taken a mini-vacation to Phillipsburg, Missouri (more on THAT trip later...). We've also already filled a 6-yard dumpster and gathered up over 20 tubs of belongings to sell or donate. We have gotten almost caught up on laundry and have marked off a few tasks off of our "list of things we have procrastinated on throughout the school year".
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You might recall some of my plans for the year 2021 that I wrote about back in January. I shared about using each week to set goals, breaking down our big projects into smaller, manageable chunks -- instead of setting big annual goals that often seem unattainable. We are making good progress on several of our goals for the year, by taking an hour or two each week to work on them. Our detached garage/canning kitchen/man cave is almost finished. It's been a long process, but by knocking out a few tasks here and there each week, we're closing in on the finishing touches. We've done a lot of outdoor clean-up this year, by working for one Saturday a month or so to knock out some big areas of the property.
I wrote daily through March 8th and have 22,179 words in my first draft. My goal is to get to 60,000 words by the end of the year. I think that's still doable. I have six chapters finished, so far. 3. Blog Each Week. Well. This is only my 10th blog post of the year, so as you can see -- I'm a little behind on that. After spring break, school became a whirlwind and I just had to put something on the back burner. Unfortunately, it was blogging. I've got some catching up to do! :) 4. Lose 15 pounds. Following my experience with COVID-19 in September, I realized I had developed an allergy to dairy and sensitivity to gluten. Changing my diet to not include those things helped me to lose 15 pounds with no problem. I have slowly started introducing these things back into my diet and I will admit -- I don't feel as well. So I probably need to remove those things again. Whole30 coming again in August! 5. Read 40 books. As of last week, I had finished my 21st book and am almost finished with my 22nd and 23rd. So I'm right on schedule for the challenge.
Happy Almost August, Friends!
Taking in the last few days of summer break here at the farmhouse, Hannah ♥️🏡♥️ Four whole months. That's how long it's been since I posted over here on the blog. It's like spring break got over and all the sudden, we were flying 80-mph in a 55-mph speed limit zone to the end of the school year. Today is my first official day of summer break. Sure, I'll be back at work once a week or so to tie up some loose ends and to do some preparation for next school year, but officially, I can stay home if I want to. I'm reading a book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It's all about doing little things each day to contribute to happiness. Inspired by Rubin's book, I've decided to embark on my own "Mini Happiness Project". I'll chronicle my plan and progress here to share, starting today. So let's just jump right in. Rubin's happiness project was a 12-month endeavor. I'd like to start TODAY and have my first little leg of my happiness project go through September 30th. I'll do some of the prep-work right now in June to allow me to be prepared to do a 3-month focus with my Farmhouse654 friends from July through September. My Daily Focuses for the Rest of June will be:
It's been just over a month since I blogged on the last day of school. I had big summer plans for the blog. I would share the continuation of our decluttering journey. I would post about our garden. I would showcase our farmhouse projects with everyone, as we finally marked some of the items off the list that we've been putting off all school year. I would finally get those items finished that we had been procrastinating on. And I will say...we have made progress.
I am so excited and looking forward to my new position for the 2018-2019 school year.
I have thoughts and dreams and a vision for what the Special Education department will look like in the future. However, there are still some responsibilities lingering from last school year and I would like to take care of these things before going back to school in August. This is a time of transition and I need to be proactive in my planning and preparing. I need to be intentional in my learning and my personal summer professional development. I need to be "vision-minded" as I close out last school year and look forward to next year. I want to be able to start fresh in August and to offer a fresh start for my staff members and students. And to do that...the groundwork must be laid now. This summer. This last Friday was my predecessor's final day. He's now retired and already enjoying life in Galveston, Texas. (Congratulations, Fred!) We took him out to eat on Friday and then I went back to school and starting moving my personal belongings down to my new office. When I walked out of the building that day, I vowed to not come back until July 9th...taking this week to relax and enjoy my family. Taking this week to watch our town's annual 4th of July parade, to shoot off fireworks, to get some projects completed around the house, to go to the lake, and to just spend time with Mr. Farmhouse and the girls. There is still much to be done...on the farmhouse and in my new office, but those things can wait. Happy "Stop Week" from the Farmhouse, friends. ❤️🏡❤️ |
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