ten thoughts on a wednesday |3|
1. london has got to be the prettiest big city in the world. whatever it may lack when compared to another big city, it makes up for tenfold in sheer prettiness. i took these photos while on a long walk in notting hill – moses had fallen asleep and i wanted to keep him asleep as long as possible so i ended up walking miles and miles and miles – but not without a lot of really lovely things to look at!
2. i am so freaking excited to be at bear lake!! every july for the past forty seven years, my entire family (my parents, eight siblings and their spouses and children – now there are forty seven of us in all) gathers at this mountain lake on the utah/idaho border – and last year i had to miss it since i had just given birth to our moses! i just cannoooot wait to jump into that aqua water, to feel that dry air, and especially to see little mo playing with all his eyre cousins! everytime i think about it, an electric thrill runs through my veins. can’t wait!!
3. we have been working as a family on improving our personal scripture study and it has seriously been awesome. we have a chart up on our door where we can mark off if we’ve done thirty minutes of true study each day (moses gets a check for five minutes of read-aloud from the book of mormon at bedtime), and this has truly blessed our lives. everything goes better when we take time to read and think about the scriptures.
4. speaking of studying, we are in full-blown exam-preparation-season over here. ian takes the second round of the cfa exam on 3 june and he is needing to spend pretty much every spare minute with his head in his books. ian is an amazing human – he works really hard in his job (which definitely has its crazy stresses), does a lot of service among our church congregation, is currently studying like mad, and is a total superdad (he takes little mo on regular daddy dates, is in charge of baths, feeds and changes diapers at any opportunity, and absolutely adores his son). balancing it all can be tough and we are both still learning how to deal with everything, but i am so grateful for my husband and all he does.
5. last week on a rainy day, moses and i went to westminster abbey! we can go inside for free because we are westminster city residents, and since i hadn’t been since ian and i came to london for job interviews two and a half years ago, i thought strolling through some history there would be a fun little outing. man, that place is incredible. so so soooo much history in the spot – it blows me away.
6. moses has officially discovered the wonders of independent mobility. he hasn’t quite mastered getting up on his hands and knees to crawl (getting that darn belly off the floor is tricky business!) but he scoots/drags himself all over the place and i can tell he is delighted to realize he can get around when he wants to! he has also discovered the joy of bubbles, splashing hard in the bath, and tipping over his basket full of toys.
7. i think i’ve finally figured out a system for organizing my photos. i had a big debacle this past week when i realized that when i was deleting photos on my phone, they were also being deleted from my computer and the cloud (because everything was synced)! i spent two (precious nap-time) hours on the phone with apple and it was so frustrating! i wrote down a whole step-by-step system for myself so that moving forward i won’t be so overwhelmed by photos from different sources and being backed up in different places.
8. i think we need to invest in some blackout blinds for our living room/kitchen/moses’s room because homeboy is waking up so so early these days! i looooove the extra daylight of this time of year but i sure could use a couple more hours of sleep in the morning!
9. i daydream about mochi ice cream balls pretty much everyday. the whole foods in kensington just started selling them individually so you can pop in and grab a few of different flavours, and i want to go there every single day that i’m eating sugar!!
10. every once in a while, moses falls back asleep after his first morning feed. when that happens, we snuggle and snooze together in the big bed, and it's just the best and the sweetest thing ever.
happy wednesday! life is beautiful.
2. i am so freaking excited to be at bear lake!! every july for the past forty seven years, my entire family (my parents, eight siblings and their spouses and children – now there are forty seven of us in all) gathers at this mountain lake on the utah/idaho border – and last year i had to miss it since i had just given birth to our moses! i just cannoooot wait to jump into that aqua water, to feel that dry air, and especially to see little mo playing with all his eyre cousins! everytime i think about it, an electric thrill runs through my veins. can’t wait!!
3. we have been working as a family on improving our personal scripture study and it has seriously been awesome. we have a chart up on our door where we can mark off if we’ve done thirty minutes of true study each day (moses gets a check for five minutes of read-aloud from the book of mormon at bedtime), and this has truly blessed our lives. everything goes better when we take time to read and think about the scriptures.
4. speaking of studying, we are in full-blown exam-preparation-season over here. ian takes the second round of the cfa exam on 3 june and he is needing to spend pretty much every spare minute with his head in his books. ian is an amazing human – he works really hard in his job (which definitely has its crazy stresses), does a lot of service among our church congregation, is currently studying like mad, and is a total superdad (he takes little mo on regular daddy dates, is in charge of baths, feeds and changes diapers at any opportunity, and absolutely adores his son). balancing it all can be tough and we are both still learning how to deal with everything, but i am so grateful for my husband and all he does.
5. last week on a rainy day, moses and i went to westminster abbey! we can go inside for free because we are westminster city residents, and since i hadn’t been since ian and i came to london for job interviews two and a half years ago, i thought strolling through some history there would be a fun little outing. man, that place is incredible. so so soooo much history in the spot – it blows me away.
6. moses has officially discovered the wonders of independent mobility. he hasn’t quite mastered getting up on his hands and knees to crawl (getting that darn belly off the floor is tricky business!) but he scoots/drags himself all over the place and i can tell he is delighted to realize he can get around when he wants to! he has also discovered the joy of bubbles, splashing hard in the bath, and tipping over his basket full of toys.
7. i think i’ve finally figured out a system for organizing my photos. i had a big debacle this past week when i realized that when i was deleting photos on my phone, they were also being deleted from my computer and the cloud (because everything was synced)! i spent two (precious nap-time) hours on the phone with apple and it was so frustrating! i wrote down a whole step-by-step system for myself so that moving forward i won’t be so overwhelmed by photos from different sources and being backed up in different places.
8. i think we need to invest in some blackout blinds for our living room/kitchen/moses’s room because homeboy is waking up so so early these days! i looooove the extra daylight of this time of year but i sure could use a couple more hours of sleep in the morning!
9. i daydream about mochi ice cream balls pretty much everyday. the whole foods in kensington just started selling them individually so you can pop in and grab a few of different flavours, and i want to go there every single day that i’m eating sugar!!
10. every once in a while, moses falls back asleep after his first morning feed. when that happens, we snuggle and snooze together in the big bed, and it's just the best and the sweetest thing ever.
happy wednesday! life is beautiful.
Love, Love, Love this post. London is on my travel list! Every once in a while I will be out and about here in New England and see a doorway, on a historical home or property, or the design of a property, and I think "that's a little piece of on London right here." The colors and and the flowers are just so gorgeous! Wish I could soak it all in! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm loving your top ten Wednesdays posts!! But seriously - what does London lack and which other capital are you comparing it to?! 😉 London is the bomb!!
ReplyDeletei think london lacks the intense excitement of new york city, and the beach and mountains of san francisco. but it definitely makes up for any of that in prettiness!
DeleteThe outside of the buildings are pretty. The fact few can afford to live there puts a damper on that beauty. It is an outside museum and cause for a long commute for those who work near there.
ReplyDeletei appreciated you sharing this perspective, kms. it made me think.
DeleteI'd be interested in hearing your photo system - still trying to figure out mine. Also, do you plan to do any sort of photo/scrapbook?
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ReplyDeleteI love the buildings! they're very pretty and nice. I wish I can visit London someday :)
ReplyDeletetrulyfionaa.blogspot.com
Snuggling and napping after nursing in the big bed is the best! I can just feel it in that photo. I ove my big boys and their big minds so much, i LOVE that we all sleep well every night, but oh how i miss those times. enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAlso VERY interested in the step-by-step photo system, please share!
ReplyDeleteI love all the photos you post of the colorful houses and flowers around London! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYes, please share your photo system! I am having the same problem!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am falling in love with London every time I see your pretty pictures.
Great pix.
ReplyDeleteBlack out blinds are brill. I've got one in my bedroom & it really helps me sleep better when it's light outside.
A great tip I once heard is to use black rubbish bags & tape if you're somewhere that doesn't have a black out blind. I think tin foil works too.
Beautiful pics! So fun to see Moses! He has changed even since we left you less than two weeks ago!
ReplyDeleteThis is nice and so are you :)
ReplyDeleteIt's probably still early, but where are you thinking about moving to? We LOVE North London and our ward is amazing! You could live near Primrose Hill, Regent Park or Hampstead Heath? ;)
ReplyDeletewe aren't sure where we are moving - likely kensington, but we are struggling with the idea of leaving our ward. we'll see. living near regent park or the heath sounds amaaaazing but we are really picky when it comes to commute times. we want to keep under a 30 minute commute (by bike, if possible). we miss you guys! need to see you soon! :)
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