Six on Saturday

1. Good news! We survived our first week of post-holiday re-entry into normal life. We are all tired but we made it. I'm grateful for a weekend without much on the calendar. Pretty sure all five of us are grateful for that. I'm banking on a mid-afternoon nap today and tomorrow.

2. Last week was actually a really good one for me. I was chatting with John after dinner one night this week (let me be clear here: I was speaking a thousand words a minute and he was patiently listening) and he looked over at me and said "Mer, I'm really glad you're happy". And that's the thing. I was happy. I am happy. I'm in a really good season of life right now.

3. Don't get me wrong. It's not always sunshine and roses around here. Yesterday morning before school was downright hard and it got pretty ugly with one of my children. I am easily pulled into a cycle of negativity and blame and I have to fight like mad to snap out of it. Or exercise. Exercise definitely helps me find my way back to joy.

4. My January No-Spend Challenge is proving to be just that--a challenge! I've goofed up a few times this week, mostly with eating out for lunch. I also wasn't counting on some out of pocket medical expenses and class fees for my high-schoolers but overall, I'd say I'm/we're spending considerably less than in December! My main purpose in doing this challenge was to pay attention to unnecessary spending and build our cash reserve back up. I'm still on track with that so I'm not beating myself up over lunches. {I can justify almost anything, anytime, anywhere. It's a gift. Ha!}

5. I'm meeting a group of friends for coffee this morning and I've been looking forward to it all week! This seems to have been a week of social catching up for me (hence the lunch expenses) and I love it. I am blessed to have some amazing friends in my life. It's a gift I don't take for granted.

6. And finally just a couple of pictures that I took this week. The first is of Abbey and Jack-the-fat-beagle after school one afternoon. She's always happy to see him at the end of her school day. The second is a random pic I snapped while driving home from my morning carpool round. I love that this is my daily view. Mountains make me happy!
Happy weekend, friends. YAY! Saturday! :)