Page 6// To Be Satisfied
On paper, yesterday looked like one of those stressfully full days that would cause everyone to be crabby and edgy. But surprisingly, it wasn’t.
I got up really early (maybe that’s the key??), “journaled,” and baked pumpkin muffins for breakfast. About the exact time they were done, three little neighbor girls showed up on our front stoop to play so they joined us for an impromptu fall breakfast party. I served them breakfast and lit a fall candle on the table. I made a point to mind-freeze that quiet moment of girlfriends at the table and fall scents and spontaneity as Elizabeth Mitchell radio crowed in the background. Its one of the things about living right here that I’m thankful for: the relationships my kids have made…well, and me too. There’s neighborhood kids and then there’s our neighborhood. When everyone’s house is connected, it brings on a whole new aspect of neighborhood…it can be good and bad, but yesterday I made an direct point to pause and be thankful.
Jarrod tootled around with his honey-do list, spraying bug repellant (what is UP with these stink bugs this year!?!), sweeping the garage, and dealing with the garage garbage can with a summer’s worth of sticky melted icey pop in the bottom. I love a busy man on a Saturday. Acts of service is my love language.
Learning Well LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links from Amazon or other programs are used on this website. For more info, please refer to our disclosure statement.
Most of the afternoon was full of Octoberfest at a family friend’s house that the kids met through Scouts. It was a huge party. It made me miss entertaining at our old house. I loved backyard parties there like this one and that one. They served all German food and even their own beer they’d made. We talked about how much different things would feel right now if we hadn’t thought that Asheville was just temporary from the get-go. If we had bought a house right away, if we had really engaged right away….but all that was implied to us was to not get comfortable here. So we didn’t. Moving rule #101 that we would not ignore again.
We came home, we got pretty, we went to dinner. We love the Biltmore Estate. So many great restaurants and the ambiance is perfect. Of all things though, a flipping mouse ran across the sidewalk right in front of us as we walked to the restaurant. I can never escape.

Get the 6 Secrets to a Simpler Mom Life
We ate and talked. I wanted to talk about deep things…future things, but it never really went there. And that’s ok. We laughed and told old stories. And came home tired. But satisfied.
This season is not easy but it is also not boring…and who wants to be boring? We fully recognize that we are so blessed in this chaotic season.
———————————————————-
Thankful for today:
1. baby noises
2. nights out alone
3. old stories
4. a full day of fun and productivity
5. a slow day planned today: a Parkway drive and school planning and extra cups of coffee
6. friends that love me through my seasons…dark and light
7. a man with a list
8. a clean garage
9. handwritten anniversary cards that put Hallmark to shame
10. encouragement on this writing journey I’m on
๏ปฟ
๏ปฟ
![]() |
click here to read from the beginning |
๏ปฟ
me too! acts of service. it fills me UP BIG:)
oh girl…you are sooo blessed. so thankful you were able to stop and mind freeze.
trust me when i say someday you will want this time again. ok..ain't gonna lie..maybe for a day or two..jk i am enjoying being little"less" i have had kids since i was 18..5 of them. but they grow up so fast and you are older. i swear i couldn't tell ya how that happens but it makes me sad on somedays…hugs..xo
Girl. 6 days in and I've yet to hear a swear. Just saying ๐ xo
what in the world with the mice??
Happy Belated Anniversary!! Glad you got some alone time. And those mice must be following you
What a lovely morning to always remember- fall…pumpkin bread and little girls around a table.
I also find it a huge act of love when my husband gets some honey-do's done for me- love that.
And wow! Doesn't God sometimes have a strange sense of humor with that mouse running across the side walk?
I love your thankful list at the bottom. I started a perpetual journal and have found that some days it is really hard to find SOMETHING to write down but it is good for me to dig deep and find something to be thankful for each day worth remembering and writing down.
I've been reading each day of this series. I love it! I don't comment each day but wanted to let you know that I think it's great you are doing this. Hope the mice leave soon. I know its no fun!
happy 11 years, you hot couple, you!!!
i love this journaling you're doing. such a beautiful and real glimpse of your heart and daily's.
xoxo!
So happy the two of you were able to go on a hot date.
Elizabeth Mitchel, pumpkin muffins, needing to wake up early, acts of service being a love language- you and I really do have the same brain.
Thank you so much for sharing your heart. It truly is a beautiful journey! Hope you're having a delightful relaxed day!
Happy Anniversary, you two.
Fondly,
Glenda
ps. Are the mice gone?
I'm a big journaler, too! What a huge gift this has been to me … sanity giving, calming, clarifying, prayerful!
Enjoy the journey!
;-}
that mouse has GOT to be a sign! ๐
also, i'm LOVING your journaling.
and for some reason, this song just popped into my head…i feel like even though you are in a darker season of the ebb and flow of this one crazy life, there is a blessed quietness that comes in trusting in Him.
"Blessed quietness, holy quietness,
Blest assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea, Jesus speaks to me,
And the billows cease to roll."
i feel it today, myself, as i entertain thoughts of loss and afflictions that are heavy on my heart within my family.
i cant explain it, but i just have this blessed quietness within, knowing that Hes got this.
xoxo
love you.
Very cool. I enjoy reading through your journal. Thanks for sharing.
It sounds like a perfect day. I love a busy man on a Saturday too, acts of service is definitely my love language. Maybe that mouse heard you were going to the Baltimore and hopped a ride in your car….you now the country mouse visiting the city mouse. ๐
Sounds like a night that was needed by both of you. I always have big plans for conversation when the hubs and I make it out every 6 months or so….but then we just end up chatting and talking about the kids!