THE KIM'S GET TOGETHER

We have all the Kim's -who are in the States- on the East Coast currently and that means it is more likely that we can get together for important things to give each other squeezes, consume good food, and recognize ourselves in each other. That kind of thing is good for the soul. We made a day trip up to northern Virginia for such a day this past weekend and here are some photos!

ANOTHER FALL TO DO LIST

Is everyone doing OK? 

What is happening with the world these days? What am I doing with my life? Some questions that have been keeping me up at night lately.

I’m angsty these days. Undoubtedly, some of it was brought on by Sloane starting kindergarten. Yes, I’m still processing it and for some reason this is one of those things that make me wonder if all this is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life. (...but the luxury of being able to wonder! And also the annoyance! Enneagram 7, remember?) By ‘all this’ I mean being a parent of a kindergartner, who will then go on through 12th grade, and then college, and then she’s out on her own...all while I am working 8 to 10 hour days, trying to keep the house together, trying to have meaningful relationships and community, trying to keep on top of what’s happening at the school, trying to pursue my own creative endeavors, trying to raise my other child, wondering if I’m doing enough, not getting enough sleep at night, paying off the mountain that is my student loan...do you see? That kind of angst.

I finally figured it out the other day. It's not just the change that’s throwing me for a loop (I usually love change). It’s the prospect of being ‘trapped’....it’s complicated, like all of our insides are, but this has always been a thing with me that will rear up once in a while. And hey, now that I’ve identified it, I’m working through it. 

I think everything will be fine. I know it will. THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS...defining your own success. I think it’s true because that’s when I feel the most content and at peace - when I define my own success. 

Here is me defining my own success for this fall: a very short list of things that I love and want to remember to do during this season.

1.  Go apple picking. Check! These photos are from a trip to the orchard this past weekend. We are hoping to do it again next weekend.

2. Eat a lot of apples. 

3. Spend as much time outside as possible.

4. Make fires in the fire pit, frequently. 

5. Go to Narnia! 

A DAY TRIP TO OBX -A VIDEO!

Oh Friday, I'm so happy to see you I could just squeeze you until you pop. 

This weekend, I will rest! I will clean things that have been begging for a cleaning! I will do my grocery shopping and meal prep leisurely! Maybe I even get to read! I will report back. 

Up there is a video I made of our day trip to Outer Banks this past weekend. I love this place so much; I'm daydreaming of being able to go back. 

TWO CHEETAHS

It is hard to be a grownup. These days I want to be flat on my back on the floor with the music turned up really loud…for as long as I want. That activity/non-activity is on my wish list right now. That, and a giant bowl of spiced brown butter pappardelle pasta. 

This may explain why my favorite pretend game to play with Sloane is the one where she is the mom and I am the kid. It is so fun. I can lay down on the floor and ask her to bring me things, which she does, happily.

The girls playing together these days is giving me joy beyond my wildest dreams. When they are in this mode, it's magic: they play pretend together enthusiastically, Sloane wants Logan to come alongside her, Logan wants to copy everything Sloane does, they unleash the tickle monster upon each other, show each other things, and whisper into each other's years. It's not like this 100% of the time, obviously. They have moments when they are cranky and argue about who gets to hold cheetah, but they both hear me when I talk to them about taking turns, and for the most part they will readily share with each other. I knew being able to observe blossoming sisterhood would be good, I just didn't know how good. It's a great vantage point from here, even if I'm not laying down on the floor. 

These photos are from a few weekends ago, when breakfast time evolved into them turning into cheetahs that lived under the dining room table. They pretend it was a cage that they were not allowed to leave, and requested books, toys, and strawberries. There was a lot of "meowing" from Logan, and a lot of narrating by Sloane: "When a cheetah does this, it means they are hungry." "When a cheetah does this, it means they want more books." etc.

They started slowly turning into cheetahs!

VISITING OBX

We went down to Virginia Beach this past weekend and made a day trip to Outerbanks on Saturday. This was a rescheduled trip; we were planning on doing this during the weekend of our anniversary but due to a change in plans we made it happen this past weekend instead. It didn't hit me until we were on our way down there that it has been seven years since we had last been there, for our wedding! We visited Duck, to go see where we had our wedding, drove down to Manteo, and stopped by the sand dunes on our way back up. Everything felt so familiar that it didn't feel like it had been so long since I had been back, and I quickly remembered how much I love this place!



A very adorable little fruit and vegetable stand. We should have gotten more of the plums and muscadine grapes! 

This is the backyard where we had our ceremony - look how it has changed! We kept remarking at how much smaller it seemed than what we remembered. Here is the post about our wddding, for reference.