The Run Down

So many things have been happening in the last month and I haven't blogged about any of it. The main reason is that I've been back on board reading a ton of books. I've read over forty books this year, the majority of which have been read since the beginning of April. Here's a rundown of the favorites so far:

The Giver by Lois Lowery
Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Fire by the same author
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Seaward by Susan Cooper
Age of Fire series by E.E. Knight
and Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I would recommend any of these to my friends who love fiction as much as I do. I've read quite a few others, but those are the favorites.

We've been planning a trip to Anaheim for the last month or so and we're excited to be leaving in a little over a week. We're going to Disneyland, the beach, and to see my brand new niece! I'm so excited and DA can hardly wait. Sandcastles and fun, family and relaxation. Sun, sun, and more sun. That's my kind of vacation.

The hardest thing that's come about in the last few months has been the best thing too. Jake was hired as an intern at Gore in Arizona this summer, but DA and I won't be going with him. We are staying here at our little apartment and Dad will be gone for two and a half months. We're sad to see him go, but very excited that he is going to have a wonderful experience working for a fantastic company. It's exhausting to think I'll have only myself to depend on to take care of DA all summer. Good thing I have the lawn mom's to support me and a promise of a girls' night every week with my wonderful friends. I'm worried about Jake for the most part. I've been taking care of him for five years. How is he ever going to fend for himself? Thank goodness for family. I have a fabulous Aunt and Uncle who have invited him down to their house whenever he would like to go. I love my husband dearly and wish we could go with him, but things don't always work out that way and I believe the Lord has plans for us this summer that require this short separation.

In preparation for our separation, Jake and I have pulled together a good amount of food storage and essential items. I am all about hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Our food storage has more than doubled in the last few months thanks to my parents and the case lots sale at the local market. There is no time like the present to be prepared for the future. Sadly, we don't really have the room for it, so once again my office is a mess. But I can live in a mess for the time being and work out a long term system as long as we can continue to get prepared.

I've made a couple of resolutions which I am now prepared to share.

1) I will do dishes at least once daily - This is difficult because we don't have a dishwasher and I hate doing dishes by hand, but it's so much less overwhelming when I only have to do the dishes from one day as opposed to one week. Okay, I'm rarely that bad, maybe every three days or so I put my nose to the grind stone, but no more. This is going to become an every day habit. And I thank my GoodReads group who recommended many fabulous audio books that help me stay motivated to do my duty as a housewife because I only get to listen when I'm cooking or cleaning.

2) Go to bed early and wake up early - Waking up early really isn't a problem. DA generally has me out of bed by 7:30 at the latest, but going to bed early has become a problem. I finally canceled my WoW account this week, and I haven't played in about a month, so it has been helping with the getting to bed early front. I am hoping that with less distractions this summer, I'll perfect the art of early to bed early to rise again.

3) Prepare food when I buy it - For the last six months or so, I've done a two week menu plan which has been working great. The only problem is I rarely make the time to really make the healthy part of the meals, like the salads. I LOVE salad and I would eat it with every meal if it weren't so darn time consuming to prepare. To make it easier on myself, I took a hint from my mom and have started washing, preparing and storing my fresh produce when I get it. It is so much easier to throw together a nice salad when everything (particularly the lettuce) has already been washed. So, I'm committing to keep up this new way of doing things and preparing my produce in advance for the two week menu when I buy it, just like I've been doing with everything else.

4) I will accomplish my projects this summer - I have several building projects I want to tackle this summer, and I'm revving myself up to get going on them as soon as good weather looks like it will stick around for a while. I also have some organization and craft projects which I want to accomplish while Jake is gone, so this summer is the summer of projects for me. Wish me luck!

I know this is a long blog post, but I had a lot on my mind tonight that I knew I had to get out on paper, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep. Anxiety over Jake and DA, wanting to be a better person, a better mom, a better wife, and a better housewife, and generally not knowing what the heck I'm doing with myself keep me up at night and I want a good night sleep. Sweet dreams!