Weekly Wrap-up #16

Hello there!

I hope January is treating you well so far. We are chilly but doing well. Advent is over but I’m still walking! I really loved the 100 Miles to Bethleham program to get me going. It had been a looooong time since I exercised regularly but, honestly, the hardest part was just making the commitment to start. Now every night as part of my bedtime routine I lay out my walking clothes, shoes and socks for the next morning. I make sure the coffee machine is loaded and ready, my water bottle is handy and my headphones are charged. I’m not doing the mileage I was doing in December when I was following the program but I am trying to do 1.5-2 miles every morning. I have a walking pad up in my husband’s office and it’s been saving my life! So right now, my morning routine is wake up around 5:30. Have coffee and work on my Blessed is She bible study (currently doing the book of John). Read a few pages in a novel. Update my planner. Get on the walking pad with an audiobook. It’s great to get moving first thing!

I am currently reading Hunchback of Notre Dame for my book club next month but wow, it’s a slog. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to read it at night right after reading Charles Dickens aloud to my two older sons. Dickens + Victor Hugo + tired mama = eyes glazing over and me falling asleep on my kindle. Speaking of Hugo though, my oldest son and I have tickets to Les Miserables in a week! I have been looking forward to this for months and months!! It isn’t first time to see the play but it’s my first time experiencing it with my son. I have loved Les Mis since I was a very little girl and my parents brought me back the cassette tape from when they went to the play in Washington DC. I think I played Castle in the Sky on repeat for many years. It’s just so good!

I am loving these exercise pants! They are so affordable and fit great. I would never buy expensive name brand leggings again. I have them in the crimson color and black. They are perfect for walking and online workouts.

Also really enjoying this planner. I am a planner girl and like this one a lot. It has large blank pages at the beginning of every week and that’s where I make a little grid and keep track of my personal morning time habits. The paper quality is very good (a must have) and there’s enough room to write what you’re thankful for daily - something I am trying to do every day in 2026. It just takes a minute or two right before bed but it’s so nice to be intentional about it.

And now for the heavy stuff -

We are slowly getting all our Christmas decor down (the wreaths are still up as is all the greenery). I love fresh starts and new years but this year is starting on a heavy note as we recently learned one of my closest friends here has cancer and will be starting chemotherapy in two weeks. I’ll be accompaning her soon to her hair appointment where they will shave away all of her beautiful curly hair. Her kids will likely be homeschooling at our house on occasion when their mom is too sick to teach. I’m sad but honored to stand by her side during this time.

A situation at the church we had attended for the past year and a half escalated to the point of us leaving that community behind and joining a new parish a little further from our home. Sometimes the right decision is still just so darn difficult, and change feels weighty and uncomfortable. Especially with kids. Sometimes - absolutely - the right thing to do is to stick it out through the hard for the sake of family, community, friendships, ect. Sometimes though, the healthiest thing to do is to walk away and try something new.

Life is fragile and bittersweet, friends. One of my favorite Emily Dickenson poems keeps popping in my head -

Hope is a Thing with Feathers

Hope is a thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity.

It asked a crumb - of me.

Have a lovely week, dear friends. I appreciate each one of you reading and supporting this little Substack. Thank you!