Hello friends!! Happy Easter season!! I hope this past weekend brought the beautiful light of Christ to you and your loved ones! We had one of the best weekends....and are feeling so very blessed!!
Which is odd because my Friday- did not start off feeling so blessed!! We are heavy in meeting season at work and mix that with the unpacking, busy contract work, and try to train for my upcoming race.....Friday I hit a wall. My original hope was to have some extra church time during Holy Week....but the week got so busy so very quickly- but I knew Good Friday would bring a chance for focus with Stations of the Cross and Confession. Then my Friday 3pm hit and all I wanted was a shower, sweats and my couch. At that point it was not about being lazy or just having me time- I was exhausted.... EXHAUSTED!
After working a little late, I drove home, hugged Dan, sat on the couch and was out. The little nap ended up refreshing me enough to grab my much needed shower, have some pizza and salad, and then a movie. I was not happy about missing my church time, but had literally run out of gas. And unfortunately this little bump in my road ended the night with a bit of a pot hole...my exhaustion turned me to a complete grump! I told Danny I was so exhausted all I could do this weekend was sleep....cancel everything, I need to just hide away!! Luckily, Danny can spot these little melt down moments a mile away…he promised to handle all of Saturday’s errands and cleaning so I can just rest. The perfect offer- that I was not hearing at all……..instead I was grumpy for a bit longer and then SLEEP.
Sleep helped a lot. I woke up early Saturday morning to enjoy the rays of sun streaming across my crisp white sheets and surrounded by my snoring boys. Logged some blog and instagram stalking time and was much better. Once I peeled myself out of bed and got ready enough I grabbed my prayer books and headed to church. At the begining of Lent I promised myself I would take up my cross with Jesus, I would make this time of reflection really count. It has been a quick 40 days….some good, some not so good - but I did make an additional promise amongst my other efforts, to return to confession this Lent. Well with one day remaining I armed myself with prayer, reflection notes and went to church. A little later I will share about my Lenten journey and this moment…..what I will say for now though, I felt renewed, I felt empowered by my choice and my faith - I felt the strength of making the most of my time and the gift of my God and it was good. Walking out of church I finally found that good mood that I had lost sometime around 3PM on Friday and was ready for my weekend.
Next stop after church - bagels with my family! I popped over to see them, grab my mail and a quick visit turned into a little longer stay with some breakfast and catching up . I love being able to see my parents and sisters as a part of my weekend errands just around Ashburn. Plus we had plans to host my good friend and her guy that evening……so pilfering through my mom’s spring and Easter decor goodies…..it came in mighty handy!
After some chatting and my quick swing through the Starbucks drive through it was home to my man and my pup. We made a plan for errands, cooking, house cleaning and then were off to the store. The store followed by cleaning the house, walking the dog, and setting up for our dinner guests seems like the smallest part of the day. Simple tasks that take us from point A to point B in our worlds. But for us, for me - these little moments - they are truly the big ones. I know I say that ALL.THE.TIME…..but right now, with how life is on the up and up and we are in our own place, we are back with our little family - I type these same words over and over again….and yet every time the realities hit me ~ I am overcome with the feeling of peace and content. These moments are not forever….and I am going to soak them all up and pinch myself along the way.
We have loved having our stuff back to enjoy and host with!
That evening we hosted one of my best friend from childhood, Amanda and her boyfriend - Cliff. They live in Pittsburg, but being home to Ashburn to visit her family we planned to have them as our first official guests!! We decorated for Easter and spring, we cooked up some sides and brought in the best BBQ in Loudon! We drank wine, we cleaned our plates, we laughed, played with Shiba, did a house tour, played with Shiba, opened their most generous and thoughtful present - a picture of Cliff’s - and we played with Shiba. Cliff and Amanda have made several blog appearances and what I have said before only continues to hold more true….between Amanda and my similar families, work drive, faith….the topics are endless, and with the boys both as hockey coaches, the conversation is ALWAYS FLOWING! And this time around they were so excited to celebrate our new place and for us to celebrate their new home purchase! I know, I know - I have said it before….but BLESSED! We are all so blessed with the adventures in front of us right now….and this night was a perfect celebration.
And the new housewarming gifts have been awesome too - egg or skates for Saturday dinner??
Sunday was set to be a packed day. Us three in the morning, mass, the Bessette’s for brunch and the Flaherty clan in the afternoon. I hoped to squeeze in a run and Danny wanted to be home early evening for baseball. So this meant EARLY MASS! And as you know…..on time to any mass is a bit of challenge….so early - was a little nerve racking….BUT we made it with 5 minutes to spare and a seat….success! After mass we had plans to get home, do Easter baskets, breakfast and get ready for heading out…..and I had toyed with a run, but before I knew it there were 101 excuses for no run…….thankfully my wise hubby really encouraged me and I squeezed it in…..a win!! Dan was really on point this weekend with knowing exactly what I needed to do to feel good - thanks Hun!
During my run Dan made a little eggs and bacon and after breakfast everyone got their Easter baskets. I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing this sorta thing….. finding the right little trinkets, arranging them, and then the surprise! This year I really nailed it with less little gifts that Danny (aka candy) and I don’t truly “need” and a little more quality gifts - O’s STUFF!! Shiba got a new toy and the cutest spring time milk bones. Perfect!
Finally we loaded up the car and headed out to the day with our families. The Bessette’s was a good visit. We four have been going a lot of different directions so breaking bread and spoiling the pups was perfect. The Flaherty’s was actually a little quieter too! We were down some families, making the chance for all of us to gather on my Uncle’s deck together and actually share stories as one big group much easier. My cousin Kelly and I shared some fashion sense, we all enjoyed fun, food and beverages and before we knew….time to go home.
The weekend came and went quickly…but as we said good bye to our first pretty spring experience Sunday night on the couch, Danny and I smiled and agreed that right now….right here…. we are exactly where we hoped to be earlier in 2015 - and it feels right.
Hope you had a great Easter weekend and the spring season is treating you and your family right too!
