Sobremesa Stories

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Five on Friday: Sick Days and Lots of Painting

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With Thanksgiving and a short week next week (followed by just THREE weeks until Christmas break!), this week has felt a bit slow.  I know sometimes those weeks are necessary because they force us to take a breath, slow down, and not let time fly by us, but it was definitely a long one.  I’m grateful for lazy nights, sick days, and the time to heal when our bodies wave the white flag of surrender!

1) Sick Days

In my four years of teaching, I don’t know that I’ve taken a single sick day.  I hate making sub plans and usually feel like it’s easier to just tough it out and rest when I get home.  But I got knocked out by some sort of yucky cold this week and that combined with pregnancy (aka the fact that I can’t take my favorite cold medicines of choice due to this whole growing a human thing) meant I had to give in and take a day off.  I spent the day on the couch reading, blogging, and doing lots and lots of grading.  I’m still feeling a bit under the weather but I’m glad I gave myself some space to recover.  And snuggle my sleepy puppy, of course.

Sick Day With Olive

2) Nursery Painting

The nursery is PAINTED, people! We painted it Behr Silver Drop, a pretty shade of gray-white that looks so dreamy and soothing on the walls (this pin off my gray and white paint colors inspiration board on Pinterest is a pretty accurate representation!).  Our entire upstairs is painted in colors off of this paint chip: our bedroom is the grayest gray called Dolphin Fin, the guest room is also Silver Drop (the medium tone), and the hall will be a pale white called Irish Mist.  This is a great way to make sure your house flows well overall and I love love love all those colors! Anyway, after almost a year in this house, we’ve got a pretty good system down when it comes to painting rooms together: I cut in around doors, windows, and outlets, and Jordan goes after the walls with a roller.  It was pretty quick and easy and the room looks completely different.  Yay for progress and for projects with the coolest dad I know! Shameless plug: make sure to follow me on Instagram for more updates like this one! 

Jordan Painting Nursery With Dad Mug

3) Super (Souper?) Soup

I’m pretty sure I share a different soup recipe here every Friday, but with the weather getting cold and me feeling sick, soup is all I’ve wanted! We had a bunch of kale leftover from the soup I made last week so I wanted something I could throw together with that.  I made this recipe on Monday night and I felt pretty stinking awesome eating it all week because it is PACKED with so much goodness.  Quinoa, kale, chicken, and other veggies? And BACON? I was feeling like a healthy hipster superhero, y’all.  Please go make this recipe…you won’t regret it.

Source: My Recipes

Source: My Recipes

4) Scary Blog Posts

My heart has felt so heavy this week as I’ve read so many social media posts and news articles about all the ways people are letting fear impact the decisions they make.  I’m not usually one to dive into politics because I feel like I just don’t know all that much, but I felt a pretty strong urge to write out some of my thoughts in this post I shared yesterday.  I’m grateful for the many gracious responses of people who both agreed and disagreed with me and I hope posts like this one continue to open up conversations about what it looks like to make refugee policy decisions out of humility, wisdom, and compassion instead of fear.

5) A Silly Shoutout

I’ve mentioned it before, but my awesome hubby Jordan started a new job teaching Special Ed at our local high school this year.  And one of the best parts? His “boss” (aka the Special Ed department chair) is an old friend named Chad whom Jordan has known for years and who is a part of our church small group with his wife.  These guys teach together, encourage and challenge each other, and both Chad’s wife and I are having our first babies within eight weeks of each other.  I’m so grateful for how God brings friends (especially couple ones) into our lives that we can share the good, the hard, and the real with.  I’m also grateful for when those friends dress exactly like my husband and Twin Spirit Day leads to a picture as awesome as this.  We love you, Emily and Chad! So excited to meet your sweet baby girl in January!  Also so excited for when our children get married and we can be awesome in-laws forever.  So there’s that. 😉

Jordan Twin Pic

Happy weekend, friends! I hope it’s slow and full of sweet, intentional time with the people (and puppies) you love!

P.S.  Have you gone over and liked Sobremesa Stories on Facebook yet? I love sharing updates about life, new posts, and other great stuff that lets me interact with you readers in a more personal way!

I’m linking up for some Friday Favorites with A. Liz Adventures, The Farmer’s Wife, and Grace and Love Blog.  Check out their blogs for more great posts! 
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Comments

  1. Okay your life….is amazing! First of all, I hope you’re feeling better! I was actually sick this week too and had to miss class! It’s going around 🙁 Second of all- I think it’s so awesome that Jordan is a special ed teacher! It takes a special kind of person to do that…and also that his boss is his friend! How cool is that! So happy for the blessings in your life. Take care of yourself, dear! Glad you took the day off for yourself. 🙂 It’s good to slow things done sometimes.
    Chelsea recently posted…10 Must-See Sights in Washington D.C.My Profile

    • Hahaha you’re so cute 🙂 I’m sorry you were sick too! I hate when illness messes up our plans. I love that he teaches Sped too. He has a huge heart for those kiddos and I love seeing it! Thanks for your sweet words! Hope you’re feeling better too!
      Lauren recently posted…Mocha Pecan Pie RecipeMy Profile

    • It really is crazy! The prep work just isn’t worth leaving sometimes, especially when it’s last minute. I’m all about that gray paint. You’ll have to share pics if you find a good color you like to paint your room!
      Lauren recently posted…Mocha Pecan Pie RecipeMy Profile

  7. I hope you feel better soon!! It has been going around my house too and I have been lucky enough to not catch it …YET! It makes things so much harder when you are pregnant! I can’t wait to see the nursery done! I have no clue what color I am going to paint the nursery for this one. I really need to get on top of things!
    Katie @thebrooksielife recently posted…A Letter to My First BornMy Profile

    • Yuck, I’m so sorry to hear y’all have been sick too! Being pregnant definitely makes it even worse. Ha we are just now starting to think of nursery stuff so no judgment here. It’ll get done eventually, right? 🙂
      Lauren recently posted…Mocha Pecan Pie RecipeMy Profile

  11. Yay!! I’m so excited your nursery is coming along! And that’s such a great idea to use the different colors from the paint swatch. I am also glad that you gave in and took a sick day because not only do you need to fight off this bug for you, but also your little one (: I totally know what it’s like to feel run-down and still want to get everything done, but we need to take it easier on ourselves sometimes!
    Amanda recently posted…How to Stay Productive in Your Free TimeMy Profile

    • Thanks, Amanda! I remember reading that idea about using one paint chip somewhere and thinking it was so smart. Our house is really open so it flows so much better that way! Hope you have a fun Thanksgiving week!
      Lauren recently posted…Mocha Pecan Pie RecipeMy Profile

  12. No shame in the soup recipes, keep them coming! I could eat soup all winter long. Yum! Glad you gave yourself a sick day to get better. I hated taking sick days from my last paid job too, but now that I’m a SAHM/blogger and don’t get them even if they’re needed, I wish I would have taken every paid sick day I was offered! Haha. Soak them up while you got em, girl!
    Paige @ An Uncomplicated Life Blog recently posted…When Bloggers Give Bad AdviceMy Profile

    • I agree! Soup is my favorite in the winter. 🙂 That’s a good point…once I’m home with kiddos the whole concept of a “sick day” focused on my own healing pretty much goes away (or at least so I’ve heard!). I’ll enjoy every last minute of alone time I can get now!
      Lauren recently posted…Mocha Pecan Pie RecipeMy Profile