All posts filed under: weekly ideas

week 8: focus on mental health

Week eight of 2022 ended sadly. Another war and more people dying for no good reason. What does war solve? To write about what I was making this week, or to tell you what delicious recipe you should try next, seems completely irrelevant. And honestly, I haven’t been inspired to do either since Thursday. Actually, even before the events of the past few days, I have been noticing myself feeling kind of blah about everything. The pandemic has lasted too long; even after vaccinations and now with the new post-pandemic “normal” slowly setting in, everything has changed so much. I think I’m just exhausted, and it seems like there’s no end to bad news. All this led me to an article by Adam Grant about languishing. He describes it as a mental state in which you aren’t quite depressed, but are not flourishing, either. He wrote it to describe a general lack of joy and direction many people were experiencing in 2021. But in 2022, I can relate. In his article, Grant tells us that …

week 48 – welcoming December, paper crafts, and knitting ideas for cozy evenings at home

Do you agree that it feels like December comes out of nowhere? There you are, enjoying another leftover turkey sandwich from your Thanksgiving dinner when suddenly you need to buy and decorate a tree, put up lights outside, and find thoughtful presents for loved ones! I am not a huge holiday decorator, but I do love a bright and happy Christmas tree! Patrick is the best at getting the lights just right on the tree, and the kids love to add the ornaments. My favorite part is getting the tree, especially when we make it a day trip and don’t buy it locally. When I was little, there was a tree farm not too far from our house. Getting our Christmas tree was always something my sisters and I looked forward to each November. (We got our trees pretty early back then!) My grandparents and some of our cousins lived close by, so some years we would all go together to the tree farm. The farm felt ginormous to us as little kids! We loved …