Sobremesa Stories

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Five On Friday: Summer Celebrations and Car Troubles

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Happy Friday, friends! I am officially done with week 3 of summer school, which means I am just ONE week away from actual summer.  The teacher life is a good life, y’all!  This week has felt a little crazy since we got back from our Boulder trip on Sunday night and jumped back into work Monday morning.  Here are a few highlights of things I’ve been thinking, reading, dealing with, and eating this week!

The beautiful lake house, even on a cloudy day!

The beautiful lake house, even on a cloudy day!

1. Celebrations with fun people

On Tuesday night, we celebrated the end of a wonderful year leading a small group through our church.  These people have been our people this year, and we are so grateful for the chance to share life with this group of men and women from all across the country.  We’ve laughed, cried, and prayed together on a weekly basis, and knowing them has changed me.  We celebrated the end of our first year together with a dinner at my friend Chad’s parents’ lake house, and it was a beautiful night of laughter, silliness, and good food.  I’m grateful for them!

Friday Jordan Fishing

2.  Refreshing summer salads

One of the foods I made for the dinner on Tuesday (along with my favorite berry almond tart) was this delicious watermelon feta salad.  I haven’t always been an adventurous salad person, but when I made this for Memorial Day it was pretty much life-changing.  The cold watermelon, the light citrus vinaigrette, the salty feta, and the burst of fresh mint…it is amaaaaaaaazing, friends.  You’ve gotta try it! I just make it with a spring mix bag of lettuce and it tastes great.

3.  Growing in our marriage

This week reminded me that loving my husband well is a lifelong process, that apologies and forgiveness will have to happen more often than we want them to and pursuing each other’s hearts is anything but easy.  But even in the midst of the hard conversations, there is joy, laughter, silliness, and sweetness.  I’m grateful for this man of mine and for all the ways he makes my heart beat faster and teaches me how to love someone.

Boulder Silly Selfie

4. Temporarily broken cars

Just because life is sometimes awesome and fun like that, my car decided to stop working on Wednesday after-school.  Another teacher took me home so I could check in our Airbnb guests, and then hubby and I rode his car back to school to pick up mine when he got home.  If our mechanic-friend is right, it might be a pretty big and expensive fix, so shoot some prayers up for that one.  Thankfully, my husband is an avid cyclist and was able to ride his bike to work while I took his car so we don’t have to come up with a crazy carpooling schedule for now!

Boulder Racing

5.  Getting to know some bloggers

This past week I’ve really started to jump into the world of “link-up parties” as they’re called in blog-land, and it has been quite the adventure.  More than anything, I’ve been so impressed by how encouraging and wonderful the women of the blog community can be! I’m so grateful for women like Crystal of Intentionally Pursuing, Britny of Facing Sunshine, and Christi of The Cheerio Trail who have already been so intentional to comment, support, and encourage me in this blogging journey after just one week of “knowing” them online!  In an internet world that feels a bit overwhelming and focused on self-promotion at times, finding women who seek to build others up is so refreshing.  Check out their blogs if you’re looking for some encouragement, vulnerability, and beautiful stories!

The Cheerio Trail    Intentionally Pursuing   Facing Sunshine

I hope you’ve had a good week and are headed into a fun, relaxing weekend! Hubby and I are excited to be at home for a weekend and have some time to get stuff done around the house and snuggle our puppy.  Enjoy some slow summer days!

I’m linking up with A. Liz Adventures, Fitting It All In, Life in Leggings, Grace and Love Blog, and Running 4 Cupcakes.

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Comments

    • Thanks, Cat…I’m hoping that same thing too! Major prayers and fingers crossed over here! I hope you have a good weekend too!

  2. Woohooo for only one more week of summer school, that is so exciting! Sorry to hear about the car, that is never fun! Marriage is amazing, but it’s work and it takes daily commitment. But, the silly always outweighs the struggle and that makes it worth it!
    Pinky recently posted…Bang, Bang Middle of JuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuneMy Profile

  3. You and your Hubby are so cute! 🙂 And I didn’t realize you were a teacher! I used to be a 3rd grade elementary teacher til I quit when I got pregnant with baby boy (10 months old now) and I never went back! I love being a housewife! :0 Anyway, great post! I always enjoy reading these kinds of posts where you get to know the blogger! I think I’m awful because I’m not toooooo personal on my blog – it’s more informational. Maybe I’ll incorporate something like this into my posts. Hope you’re having a good day! By the way, I love your blog design. I’m obsessed with grey and I love the pink accent here! Ok, now I’ve rambled a ton! Have a great day!
    Danielle recently posted…Weekend Wind Down Link Party #76My Profile

    • Thanks, Danielle! We are hoping to start a family soon and I’m excited to be a stay-at-home mama too, as much as I love teaching! I’ve been loving your blog so far too…I’ve already learned so much about blogging and other stuff through some of your posts and am excited to keep following along! Thanks for stopping by and giving some encouragement! 🙂

  4. I love time on the lake – your lake house looks like a great spot! That salad looks absolutely delicious. Stopping by from the linkup – Happy weekend!

  6. As a former teacher, I know that countdown to the end of summer school all too well! 🙂

    Good luck with the car -repairs are never my favorite way to spend money… We actually had to replace all 4 of our tires on my car… on Christmas Eve…. on the way to the hospital for a baby appointment… makes for a good story, I suppose! Anyway, happy weekend!

    • Ha oh my gosh! That’s horrible! We just keep thinking “There goes all that fun extra money we earned at summer school!” But hey, at least we both decided to teach summer school, right? Have a good weekend! 🙂

  8. That lake house looks amazing! Perfect for summer getaways.

    That salad looks amazing! I gotta try that one.

    Yes I agree, it’s fun to find blogging ‘friends’ online who encourage and support one another. It’s so refreshing!

    I’m not married yet, but have been with my boyfriend for 9 years so I know a thing or two about relationships 🙂 it’s a beautiful partnership, relationship, friendship etc. Jack Johnson is so right ” Everything is better when we’re together”

    Happy Friday girly!!

    • Thanks, Betsy. Isn’t mint one of the best summery flavors? Thanks for the good wishes about the car…I’m hoping for some good news this week! Thanks for stopping by!

  11. Sorry to hear about your car..l I hate dealing with car troubles and I always feel like the repair guys are trying to overcharge me and trick me cause I know nothing about cars. Also I loooove LINKY parties… Let’s us all get in touch with people and chat and have fun! I am linking through five on Friday!
    Angelina recently posted…Weekend WhimsyMy Profile