Proof of Life
Hi! Hello! It’s me!
Proof of life that I survived the epic road trip that I alluded to in my last newsletter. And really it was far beyond just “survival.” It was a more than two weeks of road trip that encompassed fifteen states, came in totaling over 5,000 miles, and left us filled to the brim with memories.
It also left me a lot of time to think in the car as we drove across the country. Somewhere in the middle of Kansas I had almost talked myself out of writing this newsletter and letting it quietly fade away to be filed under the category of “Things I Did During That One Season.” However by the time we had been home for a few days I had talked myself out of being talked out of it.
I know I had said I would be back mid August. But when mid August rolled around, an extra week slipped by. Then another. And another. And before I knew it I found myself adding an extra whole month onto my newsletter/social media sabbatical.
That extra sabbatical gave space for me to start our homeschool year off on a good note. It freed up time for me to work ahead on several large work projects. It allowed several full family days at Disneyland. It also gave me a chance to pause for reflection and clarity.
If you are a creator of things, or an entrepreneur, or a parent who is second guessing themselves or is looking to cut things out of their jam-packed schedule, then maybe you know this feeling well. Maybe you’ve even tried this yourself. You feel frazzled with that thing so you make list of all the things and start ruthlessly trying to cut and slice your to-do list until that thing is either gone or the other things are more manageable. Or until you have cut out that thing and then regretted it and ripped up the all the things list and have just gone back to square one after taking a little bit of a breather.
I think I mention all of this not so much for your benefit, but more just because I’m thankful that you’ve so graciously given me the space to take a breather and because I’m thankful that you still allow me to pop into your inbox on Tuesday mornings: sabbatical or no.
All that to say, thank you reader! Thanks for allowing me to have space in your life. Thanks for opening up and reading this little newsletter, and thanks for letting me change my own rules sometimes.
Thanks for still being here.
October
One of the bigger projects that I worked on this past month was coordinating with a graphic designer to set up a customized monthly e-magazine for our Young Living community. She did a great job and I love how this month’s edition turned out!
October’s edition is filled to the brim with a few fire safety ideas and how to put your diffuser to good use if you are in “fire season” yourself, a few coloring pages for HallOILween for the kids, some beauty DIYs, a few yummy fall recipes to whip up in your kitchen, and some tips to get a jump start on your holiday shopping! Browse through the October Lookbook just like you would a magazine! It’s a great resource for general healthy living even if you don’t yet use oils or Young Living products in your home. (Spoiler: I think you should!)
Click here to view October’s e-magazine. I love the “You’ve Been Boo-ed ideas on page 37. So cute!
Snippet from my week the past few months
Our route was I-40 which was built on Route 66. We stopped for one hot meal each day trying to make our stops fun and “road-trippy” and places we hadn’t been to before. The first day stop was an old A&W Root Beer attached to a gas station in Holbrook, AZ.
The first crew of family that we got to see in Chattanooga, TN. We snapped a picture of everyone after church on Sunday morning.
American History was covered last year in seventh grade, and Lily had mentioned she thought it would be cool to see a Civil War Battlefield. We did a driving tour of the Battlefield of Chickamaugua. It was highly informative and really brought what “charging across the field” meant.
Our last night in Tennessee we were treated by Mom and Dad to amazing shakes from the Whistlestop. Housed in an old railway station, the shakes were fantastic and an entire meal in themselves!
After Tennessee we headed to the St. Louis area. The morning after we arrived we tackled Six Flags. The kids loved it. The grownups realized they are no longer teenagers. Ha!
Near St. Louis we stayed with my brother-in-law and his family. He’s a firefighter and gave us a tour of his fire house. This is a picture of me and the kids taken from the top of the ladder of one of his fire trucks.
When it’s in the high 90s and quite humid… you find indoor activities! Bowling with the STL cousins.
I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve visited the arch in our trips back to St. Louis. Another for the scrapbook!
In August we started our school year! 8th grade, 6th grade, 2nd grade, 2nd grade, and 11th year of teaching!
We’ve decided to not renew our Disneyland passes this coming year. We squeezed in our last three visits in the last three weeks. The teacups are always on my “must ride” list!
Thanks for reading! All of that reflection did leave me wondering, what do you wish I would talk about more? Share about less? I would love to hear about it! Just hit reply if you’d like to respond. (When you hit reply, your message goes directly to my email. It’s a private conversation between just us.) I read all your messages and try to respond, but not always in a timely manner. Sorry! And if you enjoyed this email, you’d be doing me a favor by forwarding it to someone else who might like it.