💬 What made you smile?

Hi friend,

Welcome to another edition of Light News! This is a space where, once/month, we come together and share what feels like light news from our lives. Personal updates, places we’ve been, things we’ve noticed or tried, content we’ve enjoyed, etc. It’s a place for us to step back from everything else we are seeing in the media right now, and try to remember there is more than just darkness in the world.

What “light news” do you have from April? I’ll go first…

When I started thinking about what I might include in this month’s post, the first thing that came to mind was actually a television show. Last One Laughing (UK). Have you seen it? I think it’s only on Amazon, so maybe not… but Tall Man and the youngest had watched the first season together last year, and invited me to watch the second season with them. And omg, it was SO fun/funny, friend. We laughed a lot. And then I went back and watched the first season, and it might’ve been even funnier.

(I am also sad to tell you that I attempted to watch the Canadian version and did not find it funny at all. The humour was too obvious, relied on too many silly props, and the host was terrrrrrrrible. I’m sorry, Canada!)

I’m late to the game on this one (it ran from 2016-2021), but the other show I finally discovered this month is Kim’s Convenience (on Netflix). It is Canadian, and it is both human and hilarious! There have been many moments when I’ve been watching it while walking on the treadmill in the evening and burst out laughing. I love the Kim family so much! And feel like this could become a new comfort show for me. I’m only a few seasons in, and already know it’s one I’ll rewatch in the future…

I don’t think I usually talk this much about TV, but I’m grateful for all the laughter it prompted this month! I was even thinking of titling this one: what made you laugh in April? Which is still a good question, and one you might be able to answer! But when I scrolled through the rest of my photos from April, I noticed I was smiling. It was a really good month, friend! And I took more photos than usual! So I’d like to share some of them with you…

It’s safe to say most of my photos are of sunny days. It is definitely spring now. Where the temperature drops as soon as the sun goes down, but then it warms up to 12-18°C (53-64°F) during the day. We even had a couple 20°C (68°F) days! That’s practically summer here, haha. And we’ve had blue sky almost every day. Something I’ve always noticed here in the UK is how much people LOVE the sun. Like they really, really appreciate it here. As soon as the sun comes out, you see probably 3-5x more people outside than usual. Everyone is in tank tops (or no tops for men), shorts, and sandals. They hang their clothes on the line to dry, spend hours in theirs gardens, and head out for ice cream or drinks on patios. And all of this can happen when it’s just 15°C (59°F)! Haha. I suppose it’s a natural reaction to living through months (and months and months) of grey and rain. When the sun actually makes an appearance, you go out and soak it up! I smiled just laying in bed and looking out to see it was going to be another blue sky day. And I loved going on walks and seeing how happy everyone seemed to be…

The thing that probably brought me the most joy on my walks was visiting the local lambs and watching them grow! We also discovered that while most lambs are usually scared and run away from humans, there is one that lives near us who is very friendly… and would come to the fence for scratches, and follow you as you started to walk away! Lamb season is such a short period of time here, so these kinds of interactions are both sweet and fleeting. I’m grateful I got to meet this little one! And something that made it extra fun was being on a call with a friend when it happened, and having her notice how cool it felt to be experiencing my little life with me through the phone, all the way over in Canada…

Speaking of calls, I had an amazing two-hour call with a long-time reader turned email pen pal (HI ANNA-MARIA!). We somehow got on the topic of workouts/workout videos we do on YouTube, and I realized I felt almost like an expert on the topic of which ones I like, don’t like, and why, etc. And it was FUN to talk about! I also realized that I do workout videos almost every day of the week and I never really share this part of myself/my life!? We both finished the call feeling inspired to try new workouts, which was such an unexpected outcome! And then I got an idea for how I might share some of this with you, one day…

I feels like it wouldn’t be a proper monthly update if I didn’t share some food pictures with you, lol. But it makes me smile! And there were SO many to choose from! Here are some of the highlights for me: I went to a coworking session at the start of the month and ordered eggs benedict for lunch. I adopted the UK tradition of everyone getting a big egg for Easter and treated myself to one! I made a beautiful little stack of pancakes, just for fun. WE DISCOVERED THERE IS A PLACE TO GET SUSHI 15 MINUTES FROM OUR HOUSE! (THIS IS BIG NEWS FOR ME, DESERVING OF ALL CAPS!) I made this coconut lime tofu dish (and would definitely make it again). But before making it, I also learned why you might boil your tofu (rather than squeeze all the water out of it) and omg, I am GOING TO DO THIS EVERY TIME! We made the best nachos I’ve everrrrrrr eaten. Homemade banana bread was an afternoon snack! I had fun making pretty little coffees. And we made a pit stop at Grant’s Bakery before going on a nice long walk near Corbridge. YUMMMMM!

And the last point I want to share is more personal, but I really want to document it: I have felt so in love with Tall Man this month. Like, what you experience in the honeymoon phase of a relationship. And that felt extra special, because we are definitely not in the honeymoon phase anymore. We celebrated 5 years of knowing each other this month! But it feels like I’m in this place where just being around him is bringing me a lot of joy. I’m happy to see him. Smile when we kiss. Smile when we cuddle. Smile when we hold hands and go on our little walks around the block. Smile when we get in the car and go on our adventures, big and small. Smile when we make plans for what we might do when I get back. Maybe some of this is fueled by the knowledge that we are about to spend most of May apart… but it feels worth noticing and noting. I’m so excited to go to Canada! And I can also smile thinking about who and what I get to come back to. ❤️

What made you smile this month, friend?

xx Cait