When I was a kid, what teachers did from June to August was a total mystery. Surely they didn't have anything to do outside of school. Did they pull out a blanket and hibernate under their desks for three months? Even as a first-year teacher, I thought "what on earth will I do when I'm not at school 10 hours a day?"


Let me tell you: we do whatever the heck we want! It's amazing. Anyone else riding this "I love summer" high lately?? Something about it being light out all the time, and the plants trying their best to be greenish (I'm an Oregon green purist), and the BBQs that just keep coming.


Our routine:
wake up slowly (it's light outside!)
breakfast in the rose garden (that's where I took the picture above)
work out at the rec center (I look like a huge dork doing zumba. I keep going anyway.)
have lunch (revel in the fact that I don't have to rush to set up a lab before the bell rings)
do lots of work in the afternoon (aka sit and read blogs while pretending to be productive)
clean the house (extra cupboard space is a real thing)
hang out with friends (if we haven't gotten around to you yet, rest assured we will soon!)
do merit badges with Jason (meh, scouts. but yay Jason)


Usually dinner and an episode or two of something on Netflix is in order. We'll end the evening out on the driveway looking at stars through Jason's telescope. It's the life, and I'm loving it.

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

When all the world is green?

(You're cool if you know this song.)

While Sam's not a father yet (per se), he's a legal guardian, so this morning I declared that Male Legal Guardian Day shall henceforth and forever be celebrated on Father's Day. So let it be written, so let it be done.

flashback to my long-haired days

So happy fake Father's Day to my favorite
snuggler
eggs benedict maker
basketball player
computer tinkerer
philosophical-thinking
tan
facial-haired person alive.
(but seriously on the facial hair. his goatee is downright sexy.)


I knew before we got married that he'd be a natural at the whole parenting thing, and he really is. He does so much for me, and Jason, and our family.

I love you.

And to all the other fathers, father figures, grandfathers, and father-in-laws

 who have helped me become who I am today - thank you! 

See some words/ auto-tune lyrics to my father here.

A little happy list today:

+ a new blog design! Kirsten is a miracle worker, seriously. Thank you so much for doing this for me K! Truth be told, it got a little hairy there in the middle when we were deciding on a shade of taupe. Who knew there were so many shades of taupe, and that they all looked so different! Luckily she talked me through it and we found one we both love. You're the best, Kirsten. (We're still fixing one or two tiny things, and old posts may look funky, so bear with us.)


+ Jason's at scout camp this week. It's been kind of nice to spend a normal week with my husband, reconnecting and snuggling just the two of us. It's a flashback to our world before Jason.


+ I get to take care of a beautiful rose garden in the summers. I ate breakfast in there today, and let me tell you, sipping juice and reading amongst those roses is a guaranteed way to have a great morning.


+ family vacation next week. We go to my grandfather's cabin in the plains of Montana every year, and I love it there. Heaven will look like rolling hills and plains and wildflowers. See posts from previous years here.


For your weekend reading:
1. still loving this quote
2. I sucked it up and went to the doctors after my wildflower allergies. I feel so much better now!
3. I may or may not have worn this outfit a few times this week. It's so comfy!

P.S. I'm putting together  a little Q&A post about Jason. 

If you have any questions, leave them in a comment!

I'm excited to introduce a new monthly column here at Silver Lining: mantras.


I've had a plain little notebook for years. The pages are filled with quotes. I find the quotes anywhere - at church, at school, while reading a book, while reading online. I guess I'm one of those weird people who believe that something written by some guy hundreds of years ago (or something casually said by a friend over lunch one day) can have power to influence my thoughts and actions.


This upcoming school year, I'm giving my students one quote per week. They record the quote in their quotebook on Monday, we discuss it, and then they get a parent response in the notebook by the end of the week. Weekly quotes are good for my classroom, but on the blog I'll just share one a month.


So, here in this blog, I'll post my monthly mantra. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're serious, sometimes they're religious, but they're always meaningful to me (would it be bad to give my students a quote by Homer Simpson? I don't watch the Simpsons, but I have a few awesome ones from him in my quote book...).


So without further ado - June's mantra.

Right?? So cool. I love this idea (which I discovered while reading this amazing book). Sometimes, especially in situations where I'm the novice (hello, workplace), or when I don't know others well, I tend to be too timid. I love the idea that fortune, which people believe comes randomly, isn't so random. It favors those who have the courage to go get what they want.

Now the trick is helping me remember my own mantra! Tape a copy to the bathroom mirror? Make it a bumper sticker? Tattoo it on my arm?  Shave it into my hair??

What does this quote mean to you?