A Month of Pictures: 07

 

This Facebook memory stopped me in my tracks this morning. 

Six years ago, I wrote this post celebrating six years of blogging. At the time, we had just moved into The House On The Hill, I hadn't experienced a child getting their driver's license yet, and I still had a child who wasn't in school. It's wild to realize that I am currently at the point in time I was talking about when I said, "Frankly, I'm glad I can't see ahead six more years!"

Twelve years ago, I googled "how to start a blog", and hit publish for the first time. Twelve years. Eight hundred and ninety-three posts later, I barely recognize the woman I was then. 

What will the next six years bring? Who knows! Many changes, I can guarantee that. Very likely my house will be emptier than it is now; quite possibly I'll even be a grandmother. Six years ago I said the same thing -- who knows? "But I expect I'll still be here, sharing bits and pieces of it with you."

Well, here I am... just barely. The bits and pieces have gotten smaller and less frequent, but I'm still here. I won't make any predictions about 2029!

PS. I'm curious -- how long have you been with me? Any 12 year folks? 6?

A Month of Pictures: 06

 

The view from my dirty windshield on my daily drive to school.

The pieces of road you see in the distance are all part of my trek to school. 

I grew up on the hills and curves of Arkansas and I've always been grateful that God didn't move me somewhere that it's flat and straight. 

A Month of Pictures: 05

 

The view from inside The House On The Hill. 

As a general rule, I am the first person up on Sunday mornings. I take my shower, work on lunch prep, make sugary biscuits.... That is not as virtuous as it sounds, and I have to force myself to do it almost every time. More often than not though, that quiet morning start is one of the best things about my day. 

This morning was gorgeous! I opened my window to try to capture the beauty, and reveled in the singing of the birds. The picture does not do any kind of justice, but I tried. 

A Month of Pictures: 04

 

Blue sky, puffy clouds, brown landscape, and The House On The Hill.

In a few short months it will be completely hidden from view by the leaves! 

Bring on the green. 

A Month of Pictures: 03

 

Not sure there's anything that makes me feel more Proverbs 31-ish.....

Chris works an hour later two nights out of the week, so supper gets a little complicated those nights. I like to say that the reason I don't enjoy cooking is the fact that I want to make everybody happy, and at my house the differing opinions on food make that nigh into impossible! I digress.

Two of Chris's favorite meals are tator tot casserole and potatoes and ham. A couple of months ago I made a batch of tator tot casserole (minus the tator tots), split it into individual servings and put them in the freezer. Bingo! On the nights he works late, I often make food he doesn't particularly enjoy for the rest of us, and then pop an individual serving into the oven for his meal later (I do a few tator tots on the side to add on top).

Win Win!

Today I did a batch of potatoes and ham to refill my containers. 

A Month of Pictures: 02

I grew up in an area where driving on an intestate meant you were going on a long trip. 

If someone had told me I would become so used to driving interstate every time I go to town that I hardly thought of it, I would have found it hard to believe. 

I still don't love driving, and it's taken many bloopers and repetitions to get to this point, but here I am. 

A Month of Pictures: 01

 

Hehe.

I don't think this is what you imagined when I said a picture a day, is it?

Me either. 

This is what happens when you are sick of your bedroom being the catch all place, and you start the task of decluttering by pulling everything out of the closet. 

And then you discover old notebooks with the scribbles of a very whiney woman you once knew, and you hold your head in your hands, and wonder if she's grown up at all in the last 10 years?

I now have several satisfyingly full garbage bags and a clean closet..... and a long way to go yet on the catch all room...