Well hello.

This weekend Stephen had off and having him home for two days felt like such a luxury. We didn’t do anything too crazy, but we did make a Costco run (Stephen is known for saying his favorite flavor is “bulk”), as well as try another Venezuelan restaurant in the area. It was so nice to get out together, and the weather was perfect.

We hosted some friends who are leaving the area Saturday evening, and Sunday we were invited to a post-Mass brunch and mostly relaxed after that.

It was wonderful.

I hope your weekend was peaceful. Here the five things I’m excited about this week.

THE HOBBIT

After about a billion recommendations, we finally started reading JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit together. Reading out loud has been one of my favorite things for us to do together since we started dating, and it had been a while since we’d done so. Thus far I’ve greatly enjoyed Tolkien’s charming writing about Mr Baggins.

LESS SCREEN TIME

Since Lent started last Wednesday, my screen time has gone down 65%!!! I deleted YouTube and Safari off my phone and put my screen in black and white. Turns out your phone is a lot less desirable when you can’t scroll through Poshmark and see allll the pretty colors. I definitely have cheated a couple of times and still accessed the Internet…but still. Progress is progress in my book!

TUNA AVOCADO

You knew it was coming…the food I’m going to talk about this week is another great one for Lent! My sister-in-law introduced me to a great mix with tuna, celery, mayo, relish, onion (I used green) salt and pepper. I added that on top of avocado halves and it was so yum!! I used three cans of tuna for three avocados. I love it for a quick and easy Friday lunch or dinner.

LENTEN WREATH

The older I get, the more I love living the liturgical season. This means inundating my life with signs and symbols of what is going on in the Church: music, food, reading, and even decor. Saturday we made a stop at hobby lobby and I picked up a wreath which I then wrapped purple ribbon around a few times and placed it on our dining room table with our statue of the Pietá in the center. I like how it looks, but more importantly, it’s a constant reminder of what season we are in.

SMALL THINGS OFTEN

Since Stephen has been working longer days + sleeping 1-2 nights/week at work, podcasts help me manage some of the loneliness. One I came across is put on by the Gottman Institute and it’s called Small Things Often. The episodes are five minutes or so each, with one or two tips on how to nurture/improve your relationship/marriage. I like the concept and have found their advice to be highly practical!

Well that’s it for me. What’s on your list?

Cheers,

Miranda