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Currently: April 2025 – Peanut Butter Fingers

    Hey friends. How are you? How is your week going so far? It’s been a bit of a funky week for us as Rhett had off of school for a teacher workday on Monday and my allergies are absolutely raging. I honestly don’t ever remember them being this bad but I cannot stop sneezing. The roof of my mouth is also incredibly itchy and I’ve had a dull headache for the past few days. But man oh man the springtime blooms in our area are gorgeous! Yesterday was April Fool’s Day and a local Instagram account shared a fake post from our local school system saying we were having a remote learning day due to excessive pollen. Everything is coated in a light blanket of yellow.

    We had a little break from the intense dusting of pollen over the weekend when we went to Florida!

    We spent as much time as possible at the beach, soaking up every minute we could with my parents and my sister and her family. It was just what we all needed, especially after the past few months.

    rhett 4 years old

    julie ryder

    (Top: Amazon / Jeans: FRAME / Sandals: Target) 

    As for today’s blog post, I am feeling a little all over the place with my thoughts at the moment, so I figured a “Currently” blog post would be a good one to share, as it’s been a hot second since my last one!

    Currently: April 2025

    Currently wishing I could be there for… My mom’s radiation treatments

    I owe you guys an update on my mom. Thank you so, so much for thinking of her, praying for her and reaching out to check in on how she’s doing. You guys are the very best. She’s doing well, all things considered. Her surgery was deemed successful and so, so many of our prayers have been answered. In terms of treatment, she will need radiation and she’ll go in for treatment every weekday this month.

    After her first breast cancer diagnosis 16 years ago, she had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, as well as lymphedema which she has said was even more challenging to deal with than chemo. We were hoping and praying her post-surgery recovery would not include the need for any lymphedema treatment and were even more grateful to learn chemo would not be necessary either. So many answered prayers, I’m telling you. I’m not going to lie, it can be very hard not living super close to family, especially during the big things like this but sitting next to my mom on the couch last weekend made everything feel a little less intense. It felt comforting and helped put me at ease to have her next to me, chatting away like normal, with parts of our conversations drifting onto the topic of cancer and our worries but always drifting back to our gratitude.

    Currently celebrating… Baby #4 for my sister and her family

     

    (Dress: Amazon / Sandals: Target) 

    If living on this earth for nearly 40 years has taught me anything, it’s that good and bad, grief and joy, celebration and sadness… all of it can coexist. A little over a month after my sister told us she was pregnant with baby #4, we learned of my mom’s breast cancer diagnosis. We’ve all admittedly been a little distracted but a baby is such a gift and when I had the idea to host a small diapers + wipes sprinkle for my sister during our visit to Florida, she seemed excited.

    My mom and I planned a small gathering at a local coffee shop that has a gigantic courtyard and invited Leslie’s friends to pop in anytime during a two-hour window to say hi and help her stock up on diapers and wipes. We kept things very simple, buying everyone’s drinks and supplying some breakfast treats, and the whole morning felt laidback but super fun. It was a great fourth baby celebration in that it felt small, intimate, not too “over the top” and wonderfully celebratory for the little boy or girl we cannot wait to meet in June!

    Currently reading…

    • By myself: Demon Copperhead. Ooph. You guys, this book. I’m three days into reading it (it’s longgg) and every single night since I’ve started reading it, I’ve stayed up way too late reading and then woken up at 3 a.m. all stressed out and worried about Demon. I adore this boy and my heart aches for him and all the while I’m finding myself absolute mesmerized by the author’s storytelling.

    • With Chase and Ryder: Cam Jansen. Oh my gosh I cannot tell you how much fun I am having reliving one of my childhood early reader series with the big kids right now. Cam Jansen was a favorite of mine in early elementary school and I adored her photographic memory and her creative propensity for solving not-at-all scary mysteries. This series holds up in a big way and Chase and Ryder love guessing what is going to happen as we fly through each small novel. (Chase can also read this one on his own but it’s been fun to read together.)
    • With Rhett: Elephant and Piggie. Hallelujah we are on a break from Daniel Tiger. I never thought it would happen but the Elephant and Piggie series has proven funny enough to woo Rhett away from his beloved collection of “Daniel Tiggie Tigg” books.
    • With Chase: The Underland Chronicles Series. This series by Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, is captivating not only Chase but me and Ryan as well.

    Currently drinking… Kombucha in a fun glass

    heart icon wine glass

    It’s been years since kombucha was a regular part of my diet and I’ve missed it. I picked up a bottle on a whim earlier this year and have been adding a couple of bottles to my grocery kart every week since. I’ve enjoying sipping on about a third of a bottle every day after lunch and you all know I am a sucker for fun glassware.

    Currently (re)watching… Friends

    During my flight home from Scottsdale back in February, my laptop ran out of  battery and I forgot my charger. Time I figured I’d spend working blew up in my face but in a way it was a gift because I cannot remember the last time I chilled out and watched a show in the middle of the day. I ended up streaming the Friends reunion show (I had never seen it!) as well as two old episodes and arrived home telling Ryan how much joy it brought me. Friends has always been my favorite show and is such a “comfort watch” for me. It makes me laugh out loud and Ryan and I are now picking random episodes to stream together which makes both of us happy! I miss the days of 24-minute episode shows because we can watch and episode without it taking over our entire night and still have plenty of time to read before bed. Bring back short TV, pleeeease.

    And yes, White Lotus is still on my radar. I’ll get there!

    Currently planning… Upcoming travel

    Florida again in April (x2!). Jellystone Golden Valley in May. Hilton Head Island in June. And of course our biggest ever family adventure to Alaska in July! I am feeling extra ready for some adventure!

    Currently crafting… Rhett’s 100 days of school hat.

    100 days of school hat

    This one may be a bit of a fail. Rhett’s teachers sent home hats for all of the kids to decorate with 100 of anything they wished to celebrate their 100th day of preschool tomorrow. We opted for 100 tiny ducks because Rhett’s class is the Lucky Ducks class and he was thrilled with the idea! After we hot glued all 100 ducks onto his hat, I lifted the hat up and knew immediately this little project may not be the hit we were hoping for, as the bill of the hat felt awfully heavy compared to the rest of the hat. If we could get the hat tighter on his head, I think we’d be in good shape but it’s a little too big for him and falls forward everytime he puts it on. Open to suggestions as to how to make this too-heavy hat stay on his tiny head for the big day tomorrow!

    Question of the Day

    Pick a “currently” or two (or makeup your own!) and share below!

    • Currently wishing I could be there for…
    • Currently celebrating…
    • Currently reading…
    • Currently watching…
    • Currently drinking… 
    • Currently planning…
    • Currently crafting… 

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