Thoughts of the moment (while making dinner)

Shepherd's pie (actually cottage pie, with beef instead of lamb) is delicious. Adding celery and peas, because I have them.

Three of my favorite fruits are avocados, kiwis, and grapefruit. All three of these you can easily eat by slicing them in half and scooping the fruit out with a spoon. I am attempting to decide whether this fact is part of what makes them favorites, or if it is incidental to my love of them.

I actually don't have any fruits that I dislike. Except olives, which I don't count anyway. Condiments aren't a fruit.

I don't care as much for pineapple or cantaloupe as for other fruits. They are what I consider "not my favorite fruits" - I don't generally get them because I love all the other fruits so much.

Why don't more savory American dishes call for cinnamon? This is a horrible slight to a wonderful seasoning.

Yes, Pandora. I'm still listening. Like I have been all afternoon. Baby needs his Chopin, you know.

Blessings on your travels,
Emily

New Year

Yeah, so I'm really bad at this. Sorry.

In my second-to-last post, I gave a year's update which essentially said, "hey I didn't post for a year because my life was radically changing and I just got married."

Now, four months later, it's time for another one of those. See, soon after my last post, I got pregnant. Yay! Babies! Womulets! (that one's for the Reynolds clan.) Despite my excitement, I have been exhausted and unwell for the last several months. I am only now getting a chance to catch my breath. During my online silence, real life has been pretty crazy. Quick overview:

• I got more and more depressed at my job, working for B&N as the digital sales lead. In September, my husband got a great full-time job at a stable company, so I resigned from that position, taking a huge cut in both salary and hours. This was a big leap of faith, but as my husband told me - the money was not worth the pain it was giving me.
• I found out I was pregnant.
  
• Dropping to a part-time bookseller helped my stress and anxiety attacks, but I was still pretty miserable. It used to be that I loved working there. I mean...a bookstore! What more could I ask for? But the nook has destroyed the soul of the company, and is now destroying the souls of those who work there, who have loved the bookstore in the past and hurt to see the changes in policy and priorities.
  
• At the beginning of November, my husband's workplace hired me on seasonally - full time at good pay. I quit my job at Barnes and Noble. Just over two years ago when I started there, I would not have expected to ever quit to leave for another job. I figured I would work there until I became a stay-at-home mother. It breaks my heart, how soulless the store has become. I hope that not all of them nationwide are becoming like that, that it had more to do with our specific management, but I fear for the worst.
• Working at my new job allowed me to get out of retail before the holiday season. This was wonderful! I was able to spend Thanksgiving weekend with family, and we had a week off for Christmas, during which time we visited my husband's family, and spent the day before Christmas at my parents' house. I'd forgotten how nice it is to actually have a break at the holidays. Or maybe I'd never known - after all, during school it was more a time to crash or catch-up on school work, and I'd been in retail ever since then.
• Now that the seasonal job has ended, I am staying at home. I am a housewife and soon-to-be stay-at-home mother. This has been the best thing for my mental health that I could have asked for. I am finally able to start getting our home into order, to cook good meals, to keep things clean and organized. To rest. To read again. To spend time with my husband in the evenings. To gestate :D

Our current situation is much more difficult financially. I freak out about it about twice or three times a week. My darling husband has so much more faith than I do - he is so strong for me, and I need that so much. I am so thankful to have him by my side.

Now it is a new year, and time for goals. I hope to write on this blog at least once a month. I have done it before. I know I can do it. Perhaps I will update more often, but I won't feel bad if it is only once a month. I hope to have an efficient organization system in place before womulet number one comes along (I'm due in late May). I hope to have enough faith to give first, then budget from what remains after our tithe. And to live off that budget, and not ever dip into savings for daily needs, and to NEVER charge to a credit card. Also, I'm stopping picking my nails. For real this time.

I hope the new year finds you well, dear friends.

Blessings on your travels,
Emily.