This Present Moment II

Recently, I read Joanna Gaines's book, The Stories We Tell, and it was such a powerful reminder of the importance of writing and sharing our stories, wrestling with and overcoming the vulnerability that comes with showing up as we are in this present moment. I felt encouraged to take a moment to check in. How are you? How am I? It's time for another "Currently," where I write about what I'm currently reading, planning, watching, loving, dreaming, feeling, listening, and celebrating. I hope you'll do the same, and I dare you to share. ☺

Reading

A couple weeks ago, Ben and I took a trip to Pasadena. Last spring, we were dreaming of our approaching, big thirtieth birthdays, and Ben briefly mentioned that Coldplay was performing in October at Rose Bowl Stadium. The thing about Ben is that he has a list, saved on my phone, called Events Ben Wants to Go to. This list has eight items on it, one of which was a Coldplay concert. So this trip to Pasadena became a must-do, despite being inconvenient timing and a bit outside our comfort zone. Besides the concert and the lodging, we planned NOTHING. Luckily, once we were there, we were able to stumble upon not one, but TWO book stores. Both Octavia's Bookshelf and Vroman's Bookstore were delightful. I'm currently reading one of the books I got on this trip, In the Tunnel by Julie Lee. It's a middle grade novel about a boy named Myung-gi during the Korean War.

I just finished my current audiobook, Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds by Rich Paul. I know nothing about professional sports but stumbled upon this sports agent's recent memoir and devoured it. It was an incredible story of loving people as they are and the ways intentionality, albeit quiet or loud, can shape our lives for the better.

My current "school book," the book that waits patiently at my desk for stolen moments of independent reading in fifth grade where I'm not working with students, is World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky. I feel like I'm slogging through it, but the message is clear: overfishing is irreversibly removing fish from ecosystems and having drastic, negative impacts. So, there's another thing we can stress about. ☺

Planning

Oh my goodness, am I excited for Christmas. I LOVE planning gifts for all the people I love, and have already begun shopping. My sisters and I have talked about switching things up on our side of the family this year, which is also exciting. And then there's planning for the MAGIC of a toddler at Christmas. Seeing Quinn growing and playing over the past few months has me especially excited for tailoring some good gifts to her development and interests.

Aside from the gifts, we're about to celebrate our second Christmas in our house. So I'm doing all sorts of planning for decorating and transforming our home into a Christmas wonderland. I try really hard to be intentional in my decorating and gift-giving, asking questions, finding deals, and ensuring things I'm spending money on are worth the investment. This requires planning in order to have clarity when being inundated with deals and must-haves this season.

Watching

At this precise moment, I'm watching Quinn play in our living room on a gloomy Saturday morning. Our little electric fireplace is on, and Ben's got a documentary playing in the background. The windows in our living room face some developing neighborhoods. When we first moved in a year and a half ago, construction was just beginning on one of the houses we can see. Now, they're finally getting grass and landscaping. On this cold, dreary Saturday morning, people are hauling dirt and other things all around.

Ben and I have been working our way through the 90s hospital drama, ER. There's 15 seasons, and we're currently on season 10. I have vivid memories of my parents watching this show. It was brutal at the start, but we are so hooked.

Loving

Last May, I texted seven women and invited them to start a book club with me. Having researched that the ideal group size is around 12, I encouraged them to bring a friend to the first meeting and see where things would go. There are four of us that have met every month to discuss books of all kinds. This past week, we had our October meeting, and we all gave the book four stars and discussed all our favorite book club books so far. Most of the books have not been things I would prioritize reading, so I've definitely grown as a reader. It's powerful to practice choosing books despite my typical preferences and moods.

This group is so fun and life-giving. I've loved getting to know the other women better and have a regular time set aside to hang out with others. Building community in a new place has been so hard, and I'm proud of myself for putting myself out there and inviting people, even if that meant over half of them declined. Aside from just being FUN, it's been a great practice in continuing to show up. Next month, we're reading our first historical fiction book, Everyone Brave is Forgiven, and in December, we're reading Love and Other Words.

Dreaming

Ben and I talk about dreams and cravings at least weekly. Lately, I'm dreaming of simply staying put for a bit. We've been so fortunate to adventure and explore together this year, but I'm eager to settle in and experience home a bit. After a year and a half of living here, we still have so much to try and see, and I'm eager to take things slow for a while. I wonder if the changing season doesn't have something to do with this desire. Fall is all about making preparations for hunkering down and then doing so during winter. Of course, I know the stir-crazy feelings will come eventually, for now, I'm embracing slowing down and staying home.

Feeling

It's that time of year that most teachers simultaneously love and hate - parent teacher conferences. It is overwhelming to prepare for and reflect upon conferences. I'm constantly praying I can express myself well and be well-received by families. I'm also constantly overwhelmed with how much I LOVE these kids and this work. Then there's the stress of making sure everything is in order and prepared, not just for the conferences but for the instruction and lesson plans that don't simply stop because of them. Yet another time in life that is "both-and," wonderful and difficult.

Listening

If you know me well, you know Lion King Broadway is my JAM. My high school choir/band took a trip to New York in high school and saw Lion King on Broadway. It wasn't uncommon for me to scour the internet for different versions of the soundtrack. Ben didn't attend that trip, so when we planned our trip to London, we got tickets to see Lion King at West End. Well, I inadvertantly made Quinn obsessed after our trip. When she is fussy in the car, I play the soundtrack, and she's calm and dancing in the backseat. Unfortunately, there's some construction by our house that's lengthened our daily commute quite a bit, so she's fussy in the car more frequently. So you can probably guess what we're listening to all the time!

Celebrating

As I mentioned, Ben turns 30 this month. We kicked the month off, celebrating in California, but we will definitely be celebrating on his actual birthday. My favorite little sister also has a birthday this month, and our family is celebrating both of them this weekend. Of course, we're celebrating the birth of our second niece, too! The sweetest little bean joined us on October 2, and it's been beautiful watching my sister and brother-in-law step into parenthood.

Ahh, how wonderful it is to sit down and take account of all that we are and all that we hope to be. Life really is made up of present moment after present moment. All we have to do is notice and make the most of each one.

- J

Read my other Currently post