Week In The Life 2024 | Ali's Thursday

Thursday was a pretty quiet day overall which is representative of lots of days in this particular season of life. 

Today I'm giving thanks for this very ordinary day working from home and getting Anna where she needed to go. I don't long for anything different. 

We woke up to rain which is just fine with me for a couple days. It means I can wait a bit longer to turn on the sprinklers and all the things that are growing will be super happy to have a good long drink. 

I got a note from someone on IG yesterday reaching out to make sure everything was okay because my eyes looked sad and something about the shower photo from Wednesday made her feel like maybe I was in a challenging season. I appreciated her concern and believe she was coming from a place of kindness. 

Honestly, I love the season I am in and am actually really, really happy. 

I choose not to wear much, if any, makeup and I think sometimes that might come across a certain way especially as I get older. Some days I wear mascara but probably most days I don't. I've never really loved how it feels on my face. 

The girls, on the other hand, are super into makeup and skin care and all the things. I love that for them. 

But first coffee. 

Both girls were in the kitchen at the same time this morning and both were wearing top knots and hoodies. 

Audrey got a really nice compliment about her bun skills at volleyball practice yesterday so she was excited to wear her hair like that to school today. 

I was talking to a friend on the phone yesterday comparing last year and this year. One of the big differences is that the girls are both in high school now. They have always gone to separate schools but have generally had more time to spend together outside of school. This year they are both busy with sports and friends and there's a lot of coming and going - not always at the same time. Weekends have been full of volleyball tournaments (not in the same location) and then they spend every other week with their other parents. I'm excited for summer when they will have a chance to hang out together a bit more. 

Betty is always trying to crowd someone out of this seat. 

Evidence of rain. 

On the way to school today Anna and I were talking about her math test coming up in her first period class. She was running down some of the things the test was going to cover and I had zero recollection of any of it even though it was probably something I learned in high school too. 

We had a good laugh about that. 

After dropping her off I did a quick walk around the yard. These rose buds are so big!

Next up was an Instagram live with Lisa and Linda talking about this project. You can find the conversation here. Lots of good sharing about where we are at and how things are going and what's next for each of us in this project. 

After the live I made myself some breakfast - back to the avocado and tomato toast. This time I ate it with some grapes at my desk. 

Decided to call this one done (or at least done for now) and start a new canvas. 

Today I worked on designs for next year's Story Play collection. I'm using an iPad for some hand drawn words. 

The new canvas. 

Sammy can get very bossy about pets. 

I went outside to capture a few things happening in the yard on this rainy Thursday. Raindrops on strawberry leaves. 

Lilacs blooming. 

The Japanese tree peony showing off. 

Another David Austin rose getting ready to open. 

Big fat peony buds that will most likely bloom sometime next month. 

A Christmas Cactus that decided now was a good time to bloom. 

Who's to judge? Now seems as good a time as any. 

I also love that my neighbor gave me this cactus a number of years ago and it's still happy. 

Headed back over to pick Anna up from school and chatted with a friend on the phone along the way. 

Anna had a short turn around time before needing to go back to school for a lacrosse game tonight. I made her some spaghetti.

Aaron was having his late lunch while Anna was having her early dinner. 

I went back to my desk to work on this post before heading out to Anna's lacrosse game. 

She scored her first goal today which was super fun. I love her team and her coaches. They have been super flexible with her club volleyball schedule which has made it so she goes to practice and games when she can and she's really enjoyed being able to play. 

I also had fun letting some of Anna's friends test out my big camera. I love when kids have an interest in photography - they took some great photos! One of her guy friends took the above photos (way to go Jayden). 

I wrapped up my evening here at my desk editing the photos taken at the lacrosse game so Anna could share with her friends. Technology is amazing. 

Before heading to bed I snapped this one of Audrey + Aaron setting Audrey up with a point + shoot camera. I love these people so much. 

Thank you for being here today.