April Recap + What I’m Looking Forward to in May
I’d say spring is officially here! Here’s what we’ve been up to this past month, plus a peek ahead at May.
April Recap:
The month of April wasn’t as busy as our month of March was! (See our March recap for proof of that!) But I’m okay with seasons of busyness intermixed with seasons of calmer times. So much of life works that way, you know? And things will pick up again in busyness for us in May, but the month of April has been a nice in-between season. 🙂
^^ Sophie at her 6 month doctor’s appointment this month ^^
April started off with Easter, followed by a snow day that added onto Bjorn’s Easter break. We’ve certainly experienced a bit of cold and ornery weather around here this past month!
We cleaned out our guest room closet (which has been a big project just waiting to be accomplished, haha), so that feels amazing! The house we live in doesn’t have a lot of storage in terms of closets (it was built around the year 1900), so it is difficult to find places to store things we don’t reach for often. But Bjorn and I committed to organizing and cleaning out the walk-in closet, so it’s much more workable now! Plus, we now have some items we can sell at an upcoming rummage sale.
My mom came down here to visit for a few days, which was awesome! Sophie and I took her to a coffee shop in one of the neighboring towns, and we did a few other fun things during Mom’s stay here. 🙂
Bjorn had more army training over a long weekend in April. Sophie and I were able to come along and stay at my parents’ place, which is always a special time. Actually, we were a bit worried about the weather to get up to my parents’, because a huge snowstorm was supposed to hit that day, and we’d be leaving that afternoon after Bjorn taught. But then at 6:00 am that morning, Bjorn got the notification that school was cancelled for a snow day. He woke me up, we decided we should just get up, get packed, and get out of town! We got 100% packed (including Sophie and even feeding her before we left!) and out the door by 7:00 am! It was an awesome feeling to totally beat the crazy snowstorm out of town.
While staying with my parents, we ran errands and went out to eat with my mom, and Sophie got some fun cuddle time with her grandparents, too! Sophie and I also went over to my friend Jordan’s house and had a fun playdate with them and supper with their sweet family. 🙂 What a blessing these friendships are! And I wrapped up my time at my parents’ with a long-awaited Target run (since here at home, the nearest Target is over an hour away!).
^^ our girls — the best kind of little audience as we adults made supper! ^^
I had a good friend and fellow teacher, Pam, over for supper in April as well. We had a great time and it was fun for her to see Sophie – Sophie has grown a lot since Pam held her last! 🙂 I shared a classroom with Pam last school year, and we know each other well, so it was great to catch up.
Have you heard of the movie and the book called “Wonder?” After many people around here read the book as part of a community reading program, the libraries hosted a speaker who was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome to come to our schools and our libraries. We loved hearing him speak and hearing him share more about his life and his personal experiences!
Just as a quick check-in: I’m still meal planning successfully every week! It’s something I got extra committed to at the start of 2018, since I’m home with Sophie now as opposed to teaching all day every day. I’m happy to report that we still have a workable system! I just wrote a post about it as well, since I was getting a lot of questions on Instagram about my process. You can read more and hear all the details of my routine here!
I had mentioned BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) in a past monthly recap post. I am still loving my BSF group and the study so much! I’m in a virtual discussion group (because an in-person class is too far of a drive), and it has gone so well. We meet weekly for 1 hour on a Skype-type video call platform and discuss the Bible study questions. And we have notes to print out, as well as a weekly lecture available to us as a podcast. It is actually a pilot class that I’ve been a part of this spring, and I have fun news! …They are opening up even MORE virtual discussion groups for next school year! BSF registration is open right now for next fall’s groups!! I heard they’re opening a lot of time slots for next year, but I also hear that they’re expected to go quickly. If you’re curious at all, you can learn more HERE or just shoot me an email at justbeeblog@gmail.com. It’s an amazing Bible study – interdenominational, open to people with all levels of Bible knowledge, and it’ll stretch you and grow you! It’s already been so worth it to me.
I’m pleased to finally be able to say that spring is here. Goodness, even today hit 70! Hooray! The snow is gone, the birds are chirping, and we’re enjoying all of the sunshine! I’ve been going on walks as often as I can with Sophie – it’s good for both of us! (For my mood and exercise, and for her, to hear the birds and feel the sunshine and fresh air!) My goal is to get us outside every day if at all possible! I like to make a thermos full of delicious Thai Iced Tea (here’s the recipe) and take it along on our walk. Before we know it, Sophie will be big enough to really enjoy the swing and the little-kid part of the playground at the neighborhood park! (By the way, yes, we live in a tiny town, but we have a wonderful park nearby! It has so many fun things to do, it’s well-kept, and it has beautiful soft grass! Perfect for future picnics.)
^^ We may live in town, but we have super awesome access to those peaceful country roads nearby! ^^
Speaking of Sophie, she is just blossoming. She celebrated her half birthday on April 16th, which still amazes me! How is time passing this quickly?!
For her 6 month birthday, I bought her a new tutu dress and a fun 1/2 birthday hat. She received a darling balloon bouquet and bear from her Auntie Signe, who is her godmother. So so sweet!
And that night, we went out to supper with Sophie’s Grandpa Stephen, who shares a birthday with her! So they got to celebrate their half birthdays together. We loved discussing the fact that Sophie was halfway to age 1, and he was halfway to age 111! 🙂 It was a special day all around.
RELATED READING: Sophie’s 6 Month Update
Sophie and I shopped a lot of the city-wide garage sales going on this last weekend in the community! We found some cute clothes, some books (of course! never too many books, right?), and a couple little toys for her. I love the city-wide garage sales. You can map it out using the listings in the newspaper, or you can just drive aimlessly all around the town, looking for balloons or signs marking where the sales are. 🙂 Sophie was such a sweet little buddy to go shopping with. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that I ever ran errands without my buddy!
What I’m Looking Forward to in May:
- May is farming season for sure! I’m looking forward to supporting Bjorn as he farms this year. I’m so proud of him and all the work he does with farming; he always perseveres through whatever obstacles come up. Farming is hard work, with many challenges big and small, but we always push through to make it happen. That’s what is so beautiful about marriage – Bjorn and I are really, truly in this together. <3 (PS – he is the absolute BEST daddy our little girl could ever ask for!)
- I have several collaborations coming up, either here on the blog or on Instagram, so you’ll want to be watching for those! I’m excited about them, and again, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with companies to share products with you!
- My brother, Tyler, is graduating from college in May! I’m so proud of him! I really admire my brother in a lot of ways, and it’s exciting to see him on this next step of his life journey! My sister, Maddie, is also coming to town for Tyler’s graduation, and since she lives out of state, it will be special to see her and get to spend time with her, as well!
- I’m also looking to make some more outings and get-togethers happen with friends! With the warmer weather, I feel like outings are even more feasible here in Minnesota, and we all just want to get outside! 🙂
- Have I mentioned I’m grateful for the warmer weather? And I’m certainly looking forward to more warm weather in May!
How was your month of April? Was it a really busy one, or a bit slower like ours was? And are you looking forward to some special things in May?