The end of the first month of 2024 is coming to a close it I still it’s only 2020. I remember how I felt at the beginning of that year. I had such plans, so expectations for the year ahead. It was going to be an amazing year.
Except nothing that year went the way I thought it would nor the year after. Even just the last two years have left me feeling as though I’m trying to make up for lost time while struggling to accept the seasons and relationships that cannot be regained.
January started off a little more unstructured as we continue our journey of family unsettledness. We’re moving forward but sometimes I’m not entirely sure what we are moving towards.
Loving
Our new addition is finally coming together! The heat has been installed, the the old backdoor and window have been removed so that the kitchen is now open to the new dining room. I’m still having a little trouble imagining us living in it. But we are just down to the finishing details which will hopefully be completed in the next couple of weeks. It’s been a long process and getting everything clean and us moved in is going to be a whole other process that exhausts me to think about, but my husband keeps reminding me that we can do it a little at a time before we rearrange all the other rooms in the house.
It’s going to be the great room rotation as my daughter moves into our old room and my youngest son moves into my daughter’s old room. Plus we’re doing some additional DIY work in our kitchen once our primary eating area moves to the new dining room.
It’s been exhausting, stressful and expensive but the end result is shaping up beautifully and I know we’ll love using the space to give our family life a little more breathing room.
Learning
For the last four years, and most intensely for the past two, I’ve been trying to figure out where I fit. I deliberately stepped back from some things two years ago to make room for the next thing. Except the next thing hasn’t arrived yet.
I’m currently learning to discern when to act and when to stay still and wait. I’ve been waiting for a while on some significant areas in my life and now I need to figure out if I’m supposed to keep waiting or if I’m finally supposed to do something, and if so, then what? I’ve been grieving the losses of the last four years while still trying to see a positive future. It hasn’t always been easy. So for now I just keep showing up for the people who need me.
Reading
I’ve been wanting to read another mystery series (despite not having finished the last two Lady Darby books yet), and I suddenly remembered that the British TV show Vera was based on books by Ann Cleaves. I read the first one and it wasn’t at all what I expected. But I’m trying the second one anyway. The books are quite different from the show because the unique way the book is structured probably wouldn’t translate well on TV. But I can’t help feeling a little sorry for the author because I think I like her unique take.
Eating
January is the time when I give up sugar each year with Wendi Speake’s 40 Day Sugar Fast. So I’m NOT eating anything with sugar. However, I accidentally ate a blueberry French toast casserole at a teen hangout I was hosting at my house and it was phenomenal. I ended up remaking it for my family later with a no sugar added version for myself and it was still really good.
My husband has finally begun his new short term contract job and we’ve still trying to stabilize things financially so we’re keeping meals pretty simple. But I’m still adding beans to my tacos and I wish I’d thought of this years ago. I’m actually really enjoying it and I end up putting any leftover beans on a salad for the next couple of days. It’s at easy and cheap way to get some additional protein into my diet.
We have a busy few months ahead but I’m excited. Mostly because I’m hoping soon we can start to get more settled in all areas of our lives and finding times and places of rest that will sustain us in the year to come.
Yay for your husband starting contract work. It is SO hard to be in a waiting season and to not know where you fit or what you should be focusing on. I feel you. I hope you have a good week. https://encounterswiththedavisfamily.blogspot.com/2024/01/share-four-somethings-january-2024.html
Blueberry French Toast Casserole!? That sounds amazing!!:) I completely echo your thoughts here under “learning.” I’ve recently said no to a few things. Hoping to leave room for next thing…..which, like you said, has not happened yet. I’m wondering if it actually will??
I enjoyed hearing about your 4 Somethings. I hear what you’re saying about taking time and stepping back. I had to take a bit of a break around Christmas of all times.
Visiting today from Jennifer’s.