Life Lately | March

Hey guys. Another month gone. Recently, I have been getting my life together in exactly one category - photo storage - and as I was backing up pictures from 2018, it occurred to me how not that long ago it felt. I stand firmly at the front lines of believing that having even a single kid makes life fly by, but as I looked at pictures of us doing our regular stuff, I couldn't get over the fact that it was three years ago. 

For some reason, I can still remember summers as a kid feeling like they lasted six months. Two and a half decades later, there are years that go by that feel like they lasted six months. 

Alright, I'm done lamenting the relativity of time. It's all imaginary. We're having a blast over here because March was not that bad. 

First thing - we traveled! Hallelujah. 

Ryan and I went to Chicago for an entire weekend. Sounds like not that big of a deal, but it's the first time we've gone on a trip together, without Duke, since becoming parents 4.5 years ago. It was glorious! We usually cover for each other while the other goes on a trip with friends, and of course we've gone on trips as a family, but getting to hang out together and enjoy that grown up, spontaneously stop to grab a drink anywhere lifestyle for two days was pretty nice. Plus the river was green for St. Pats, which is cool. 

And Duke had a grand old time at Grandma's. He talked about it for at least a week prior and "sleeping at grandmas for two nights" lived up to his dreams. We walked in the door on Sunday night and he wasn't even close to ready to come home. 

Right around the same time, I bought a new car. This is a little bit more of an event for me than it is for Ryan. The last time I bought a car was in 2014 and honestly, I wasn't even ready to start looking for something new yet. I still love my old black VW, but its getting up there in miles and I was persuaded to make the switch while it still has some resale value. 

The good news is I pulled the trigger on a new car that I love just as much! I wound up with a Jetta, so basically just got a newer version of what I was already driving and I'm enjoying the familiarity of it along with the new stuff, especially a moon roof. That's what sold me for sure. 

The best part of March is easily the weather. In like a lamb, out like a lion, right? But whatever. The snow is just about all gone here and the sun is out most days. We had our first 60º day last weekend and I was tempted to be one of those people fully out in flip-flops and a t-shirt. It just feels good to get sunshine on your skin, you know? 

Other things -

Our neighbor recently sold their house, which is a bummer because we like them and it's such a gamble when someone moves into a super small neighborhood like ours. But maybe they'll have kids. When we bought our house, literally nobody in the neighborhood had small kids -- it's mostly summer cottages on our street with just a couple full-time residents and everyone's kids were pretty much grown up. Then last summer, a house was sold to a family that has a son who is Duke's age, down to the month! We were gone all last summer and didn't get to meet them more than a couple of times, but I am hopeful that someday that will turn into a nostalgic movie-style friendship complete with bikes tearing down my drive-way and a couple little boys stomping up the stairs to play with monster trucks. 

ANYWAY, man I digressed. The moving neighbor dug up some toys in their garage that haven't been played with since their grandkids grew up and Duke was the lucky little boy to inherit. He literally jumped for joy when he found it on our front porch. 

I ate this fancy rolled ice cream in Chicago. 

And Duke's been dyeing eggs all week long. Deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches for Easter!

Other than that, we're just cheerfully and not very patiently waiting for Spring. Or honestly Summer, if we can just skip ahead to some 75º weather. That'd be cool too. 

Dealer's choice!