We had snow for the first time this season. I was not ready, but it was pretty! We still have a little snow on the ground, but each day has been progressively getting warmer, so it will be gone soon. If you are following along on the house saga, we are officially under contract again, but they still have to sell their house. We are praying that their house sells and they fulfill the contract to buy ours, and that God would provide the right house for us, in His timing.
.png)
October went fast! And I feel like November is starting to get away from me as well.
I first saw this idea on Jennifer's blog and thought it was a great idea. The idea is to pick one photo from the month, a photo to highlight the month. Jennifer is using the photo to recap the month and at the end of the year see a recap of the year.
.png)
This has felt like a long week and with it rainy and dreary this morning my motivation got up and walked away. I should have worked out this morning, instead, I offered myself grace and the ability to get ready a little slower for work. My body is very kindly getting me ready for time change by waking me at 4 am 😬. Despite being tired and on the edge of grumpy, there are things I can and am thankful for.
I went back to the doctor last Thursday. He extended my antibiotics by another 10 days, added two nasal sprays, ordered me to get 15-30 minutes of sunshine each day we have it, and go back on my inhaler (that I rarely use because it's for "as needed.") I am finally feeling better (the cough and some congestion are still here), but I am definitely improving. I have started getting back into ALL my routines this week, and was thrilled to be back with my ladies Bible study group yesterday morning.
I had a health setback this week. I started getting sick again last Wednesday, which means I never really got over what I had. I went back to the doctor on Sunday and I have a secondary bacterial infection. She put me on an antibiotic, but I am still sick. This crud does not want to go away.
This has been a get back into the normal routines week (but add a few extra appointments). I have been tired this week and realized the new med my cardiologist put me on was causing me to have trouble sleeping. So, I have weened myself back off of it, and am hoping for better sleep, or at least for my sleep to regulate to where it was. I am already looking forward to the weekend, even though we don't have any plans.
I went to the doctor on Friday and I had some wheezing in my bronchial tube. She did an xray, and thankfully I did not have pneumonia. I was still pretty sick on Monday, so my boss gave me another day off. I am thankful for all the days of rest because this virus has kicked my butt. I finally feel like I have turned the corner and am healing.
.png)
.png)
This week has been something else. We left for TN last Friday for my family reunion. It has been over a decade since all my siblings and mom have been together. It was important for us all to be there. Before we left the kids I was working were sick and I just kept praying I didn't get sick. Saturday was the reunion and I praise God I was not sick, and to my knowledge, neither was anyone else. It was a fantastic day. Sunday morning I woke up feeling like I had the flu. Thankfully, I didn't, just a nasty virus, but it knocked me out all day on Sunday, I slept most of the day. We got back from TN yesterday evening and this morning I woke up with a fever and my cough is worse.
I used to do Thursday encouragement posts weekly, but I got derailed. I need all the encouragement I can get. So, I am going to try to resurrect this practice in the hopes that I can offer you some encouragement, or if no one reads it, a place to put things that have encouraged me, or that I am thankful for, or that made me laugh. So, it's probably going to be more of a catchall post.
Welcome back to hiking the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, edition 3 😂. Today we explored the Ledges Trail. We saved this particular hike for a time that Elijah could join us. He has ALWAYS loved anything to do with rocks and this hike has so much to see.
I used to do Thursday encouragement posts weekly...but my last one was in 2021! I am not sure what got me derailed, but I need all the encouragement I can get. So, I am going to try to resurrect this practice in the hopes that I can offer you some encouragement, or if no one reads it, a place to put things that have encouraged me, or that I am thankful for, or that made me laugh. So, it's probably going to be more of a catchall post.
For the last 3ish years since he graduated, Elijah has been working. He worked at the Chick-fil-A in Monroe, then when we moved here, he got a job at the local Chick-fil-A.
September 6, 2025
Today we decided we didn't feel like driving all the way to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to hike, we wanted to be closer to home. We were tired and didn't want to be out all day. So, we decided to stick closer to home and start the Trekking Through Autumn program. We heard about this program last year and it was a fun way to get out and hike, learning new trails in the area. We missed getting the beginner's backpack by one hike! This year, we are starting earlier, so hopefully we will have the right weather, and the time to complete it. If not, we will still have gotten out and exercised, so still winning!
.png)
.png)
We hiked another trail at Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Sunday. We hiked the Blue Hen Falls, which is supposed to be a 3-mile hike, round trip. According to my watch, it is less than that. According to my body, it was way more than that 😂.
I heard the song, "I Made It" by Cain when it first came out...I think in May. I have been meaning to do this post ever since, but we all know how quickly time goes. So, here's the thing. We have ALL been through hard things. I wish this song had come out YEARS ago. But, when I heard this song, I praised God for the opportunity to thank Him in worship for the hard things that I HAVE made it through.
I did not know until recently that we had National Parks here in Ohio. It might be dumb, but I didn't. Does every state have them, or just certain ones?
.png)
.png)
Yesterday, Kayla took a big leap and moved to Columbus! She will be an hour and 40 minutes from us. I've had multiple questions and I will do my best to answer them in this post. (the black marks on the house are me marking out the address)
In June, I did a google search looking for the beach closest to our house. Imagine my surprise when it is only 15 minutes away!!! It's called Wallace Lake-so obviously not a beach with an ocean, but a beach with a lake, no matter, I will take it! It is in Berea.
I was pretty excited about being able to go to the Columbus Book Festival this year. Granted, there were only seven authors I was familiar with, but I planned to try and meet a few of them, and attend the Summer Big Book Sale that was going on at the same time, in the same place! (I only realized they were in the same location the day before, LOL!) We (me and Matt) had planned to leave our house at 7:30 so we would hopefully be there in plenty of time to park at the library. We got started a little later than planned because we had a showing scheduled for that afternoon, so had to leave the house show worthy.
In May Matt and I went to another Cain concert. We were celebrating our anniversary, and I love Cain's music. The concert was at the Akron Civic center, which is a beautiful venue. However, I think the acoustics were not as good there as other venues. The openers were John and Caleb, Ben Fuller, Joseph O'Brien, and Katy Nicole. My favorites were Cain and Katy Nicole.
June went by in such a blur I can't really tell you what all happened! July completely snuck up on me, and I am still struggling to remember it is already July, LOL! June was a blur of house hunting, house showings, job hunting, and lots of cleaning.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
As I mentioned in February I am do
ing a book blanket with classic granny squares. Instead of doing a classic granny square with five or six rounds, I am choosing to do mine with four rounds. In the post I shared last month, I had pictures from seven squares that I had completed.
I figured if I planned out what blog posts I wanted to write in April, that I would be more consistent with publishing them.
I have been wanting to do a bookshelf quilt for a year and a half (ever since I saw the idea in a quilting magazine!). But, with running our own sewing business I always had things to prep for that and didn't have time to start it. As we have gotten better organized (and decided not to do camps this summer), I have had more free time. Once I finished my Ohio Quilt, I couldn't wait to dive into my bookshelf quilt. It's been up a few weeks, so I am glad to finally get around to finishing this post!
.png)
.png)
I bought tickets back in September for the Toby Mac Hits Deep tour as one of our Christmas presents. Matt has always enjoyed Toby Mac (back when he was with Third Day), and Elijah has kept up with his music as well. I had the opportunity to see Cain in concert in the fall of 2023 while on a ladies retreat. I LOVED it and have been wanting to see them in concert again. So, they were the band I was most excited to see. Ryan Stevenson, Crowder (another of Elijah's favorite's), and Terrian also performed. We had a blast enjoying our final Christmas present 
.png)
.png)
Today, 2/22/25, we went out to Edgewater Park in Cleveland to see the frozen Lake Erie! It was partially frozen earlier in the year, but we were not able to make it out there. This is the first time since we've moved here that it has been frozen. We went to the part of the park where there is a sandy beach and a swim area. It was 19, sunny, with a brisk wind when we got there. Most of the sand is covered with snow, and the lake is as well. In case you are wondering what frozen sand feels like, it feels like frozen dirt (Elijah made that observation 😂). We went a decent way out onto the lake, but not as far as other people had gone. The snow was pretty deep on the lake, and it was hard to walk in, plus super cold! I would love to go again and see it when it is frozen without snow, which I think would be even cooler than it was today. I will make comments on some photos, but basically all the uneven terrains are frozen waves.
Winter seems to be here to stay. We had snow the entire month of January (which made for a lot of great pictures!). We've had a wintery mix several times recently, which left our sidewalk and driveway covered in ice for quite a few days (even with salt having been thrown down ahead of the storm!).
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Before Christmas, I was talking to Matt and I told him that I had come across a blog talking about reusable paper towels. I LOVED the idea and couldn't believe I had never thought of it before. Essentially, you use old towels, washcloths, or flannels to make the paper towels. Who doesn't have old towels laying around? But, you can pretty them up with other fabric. To see how it is done, you can click here. I love how the blogger lists all the reasons you should switch to reusable paper towels, it is a great article and they are so easy to make.
Brunswick Lake Nature Preserve-one of the first places Matt and I hiked/walked after moving to Ohio, but I never got the post posted. So, here are pictures from September 2023 (gah, how has it been that long?!)
