The Best I Can
(The sunrise on Christmas morning. I snapped this when I took Marnie out first thing.)
Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were wonderful and restful and you are enjoying the first days of 2018. I’ve stepped away from blogging lately, and have busied myself with other things. My writing has slowed throughout the last several years, and I think that’s a natural progression, since I initially started blogging as a creative outlet when my children were very young. Now that they are older, I have more time to myself and less of a hunger to write everything down. My journey within ethical fashion gave me new insights and perspectives to share on a regular basis, and now that I’m in a comfortable spot there (not really shopping much or promoting brands), I’m not writing much about it. I’m still a huge fan of ethical bloggers and brands, and I encourage you to follow the Ethical Writers and Creatives for more information. The group is filled with incredibly talented writers and activists.
(Celebrating Ryan’s birthday at Hopfields, Austin.)
I’ve been volunteering a lot at my sons’ school, and it’s been a very busy semester. Recently, I met the wife of Ryan’s co-worker, and she runs a local non-profit called Classroom Connection that provides supplies to teachers in Title I schools. She’s a former teacher in my local district, where I also taught briefly years ago, and since my boys attend a Title I school, we worked together to organize a supply donation day for the teachers at our school. In addition, she is in contact with tech conferences that meet at the Austin Convention Center, and picks up their leftover swag and promotional items to donate to local schools. With a bit of clever organizing, we were able to deliver 50 beanbag chairs, plastic shelves, whiteboards, and other items to the teachers, too. It was really a wonderful thing, and my boys and I spent one cold December night unloading a rental truck alongside other parents and teachers. I was so proud of all of us!
(Part of the beautifully restored Pearl Brewery complex.)
We had a nice, long break (18 days!) and celebrated Ryan’s 40th birthday. We also took a quick trip to The Pearl in San Antonio and stayed at Hotel Emma one night. Ryan and I were incredibly impressed with the beauty of the historic, restored brewery and it was a really fun experience. I can’t wait to go back and explore a bit longer next time. If you are in San Antonio, I highly recommend visiting The Pearl. You can also walk around Hotel Emma even if you aren’t a guest and step back in time for a few hours. It actually made me a little homesick for my hometown.
The boys went back to school this week and we are all getting back to our regular routines, which feels really good after such a long break. I still feel a little restless, but I find comfort in my daily rituals and I’m looking forward to the promise of a better year.
Happy 2018!
