Hi there and happy Friday!
Pierce and I are going on a mini couples retreat with his bible study group tonight, so my mom is watching the babies and we get to sleep in tomorrow without being elbowed in the face by our four-year-old. Huzzah!
Speaking of four-year-olds, Theo got his very first haircut this week and I have lost all my can evens. Every time I see him now I do a double-take. Where is my preschooler? Who is this middle school boy?
I miss his sweet curls, but the fresh cut is so damn precious that I can’t even be mad he wanted to chop them all off. He was so excited to show his friends at school yesterday and when we walked into the classroom his teachers fell all over him. We’re sure going to miss those ladies when we move.
On that front, PIERCE GOT A JOB! I’ll share more later because the whole story is so sweet and I’ve barely stopped crying enough to write this because we literally just found out, but we are SO happy. (See also: SO relieved.)
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for spending some of your time with me today.
Point #1: You knew this was coming.
HOW EXCITED ARE WE FOR APRIL 19th?!
Point #2: “Even a grocery store needs ambiance.”
You might not have known how much you needed a beautiful post about someone opening a tiny, lovely grocery store, but you do, so here it is.
Point #3: This one’s for the girls.
When it comes time for my period, I’ve never been a fan of tampons or menstrual cups, but (in my experience) eco-friendly brands are either stupid expensive or just not as effective. These pure cotton pads from Always are surprisingly comfortable, better for your body and the environment, and easy on the wallet. Plus, they have five different sizes! Please and thank you.
Point #4: “Be a free human being.”
I think you know what sort of content to expect from me by now, and this post from is another essential piece of reading for those of us seeking less tech addiction and more embodied experiences in our lives. Grab a cup of coffee and get settled; it’s long, but stellar.
Bonus Point: I need this on a print 😭.
Word of the Week
Quiddling: (v.) Busying oneself with trivial tasks as a way of avoiding important ones.
Receipts from My No-Buy Year
Want to know more about my no-buy 2024? You can catch up on everything I’ve written here.
Coffee/Books/Clothes: $0.00
I’ve been on my A-game this week!
House Items: $7.99 + tax
I purchased a little storage bin for fruits and veggies at Lidl the other day so our berries will stop going bad so quickly. (Here’s a similar version.) I adjusted the grocery budget to fit it in so it wouldn’t come out as extra spending. Fifty points to Gryffindor!
Total: $8.06
Reading in The Nook
Oh, gosh, I am fully immersed in the laugh-out-loud funny, romantic, historical fiction of Martha Waters. I finished To Marry and to Meddle last week and am halfway through book four of the Regency Vows series, To Swoon and to Spar. Since I started on book two last year without knowing anything about the series, I already know what happens to the first two characters, so when I finish books four and five I’ll go back and read the beginning. I love a book series you can enjoy in any order!
I also picked up two ghostly YA novels from the library this week: I Am the Ghost in Your House by Mar Romasco-Moore and The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (author of one of my favorite YA fantasy reads of 2023, The Drowned Woods). Super excited to get lost in these supernatural stories!
P.S. To celebrate Black History Month, Bookshop is offering 15% off select titles with the code BHM2024. They have a ton of fantastic reads to choose from, including Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley, one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram back in the day.
P.P.S. Bookshop is a great alternative to Amazon, as it directly supports independent bookstores around the world. Jeff Bezos has enough money, amirite?
(Except for those honoring Black History Month, all book links are affiliates, meaning that if you purchase using them I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
“Keep a little fire burning.
However small.
However hidden.”
—Cormac McCarthy—
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Praise God!!! 🙌🏼 He is faithful. ♥️