columbia
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end of summer.
The last two weeks of summer slipped happily by, as we soaked up lazy mornings in pj’s, reading whatever we wanted, and spending time with friends and family. Gabe has been begging Judah and Dad to play Risk with him all summer. If you’ve never played before … Risk is a big commitment. So Uncle Eddie and Nate had him over one Saturday afternoon to play Risk and Mario Kart, and he was a very happy boy. After we returned from our road trip, David’s priority was to sell our last two rental houses, with the help of our fantastic realtor. One of them needed a good bit of…
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family reunion.
Yesterday we had a gathering of part of my mom’s side of the family. As of this summer, three of the six Enlow siblings now live in Columbia, and some of their kids and grandkids do too. My cousin Laurie, her husband, Jon, and their five girls are moving to Peru in August, and drove down from PA to say good-bye. So that called for a pool party! Kenny and Shari hosted us all, and Liz organized the food. It was so fun reconnecting and seeing all the kids play together. …
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first week back.
Good morning from sweltering South Carolina! The heat hit us like a ton of bricks this week. After getting used to cool mornings and no humidity, summer in our state seems fiercer than ever. Nonetheless, it’s good to be home. I read back over this post from our return from the road trip three years ago, and it made me very grateful that this re-entry couldn’t be more different. We don’t have school or co-op to catch up on (our last trip was in September) and David isn’t working. It’s been a delightfully slow, restful week, catching up on all the details like getting the oil changed and van washed…
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one year of mentoring.
A year ago we started mentoring a girl through Ezekiel Ministries, a local non-profit that connects adults with kids in mentoring relationships. David and I are friends with the director of Ezekiel, and our church has supported this ministry almost since we began. I’ve watched several friends mentor over the years, and love hearing about their friendships. I have wanted our family to mentor a child too, but one thing I respect about Ezekiel is they ask for a long-term commitment, so I didn’t want us to take the decision lightly. At the beginning of last year, the director let us know about a girl who needed a mentor, who…
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our week (by amie).
My parents went away on a trip and Grandpa and MumMum watched us. Here are some things we did: On Sunday morning, we went to church, and I helped in the nursery. I love playing with little kids and babies. Afterwards, we went to Chipotle, which is my favorite lunch place to go after church. Later that afternoon, the massive LEGO pirate ship Gabe ordered came, and as you can tell, everyone was excited. The next day after a hot run we were all very excited to go to the golfing range with Grandpa. I have to confess I have no talent with golf. The picture…
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friday adventure.
Yesterday we grabbed a couple of friends and drove out to Harbison State Forest for a hike, picnic lunch, and a dip in the Broad River. Our favorite access road in the park was closed, which added an extra mile and some change onto the hike. The kids were all amazing . . . a six-mile hike in the June midday heat is not for the faint of heart. We’re less than a month out from the second ever Gentino National Parks road trip, so I was glad to get a practice hike in, to make sure everyone’s sneakers still fit and to break in my new backpack. We’re all…
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running and river-ing.
This summer was the summer of running together and exploring the river together. Both of these activities are now firmly entrenched in the culture of our family, and I have David to thank for it. I love family time. But my idea of meaningful family time is endless games of Farkle and Yahtzee at the dining room table, a good read-aloud, or movie night. David’s idea of meaningful family time, on the other hand, is adventure, adventure, adventure. It’s getting outside, being active, pushing ourselves to try new things and discover new places. This has created some tension in our marriage over the years when it comes to how we…
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june 2020.
We kicked off June with a road trip to Florida to meet my family at the beach. But before we left, important decisions needed to be made. My anniversary gift from David was living room bookshelves, which is something I’ve wanted for the seven years we’ve owned our home. But as we took a good long look at the living room, we realized that it could use a new coat of paint. This turned into, more or less, a total living room update. Cue hours spent on Pinterest, trying to find the perfect paint color. I settled on two favorites: Sherwin Williams Anew Gray (left) and Agreeable Gray (right). I…
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may, 2020.
Hi there blog readers, if there are any of you left by now! I don’t blame you if there aren’t, I’ve been a fair-weather friend. Since I have some serious catching up to do, I’ve decided to do it by month. Here goes the end of May: 16-year anniversary Very few restaurants were open for our anniversary on May 22, so David and I decided to celebrate with an at-home date. We shopped together at Whole Foods for ingredients for a fancy dinner: a cheese board, filet mignon with roasted potatoes and salad, and a sampling of dessert from the bakery case. It was delicious, and very relaxing to…
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fall in our neighborhood.
I sat curled up on the sofa this afternoon with a cup of decaf coffee, and was suddenly transfixed by the riot of color outside our window. Judah and Amie went on a walk with me to try and capture some of it. I love our neighborhood. I loved it over six years ago when we bought our house and moved in, and I love it even more today. It’s why David and I have gone to such great trouble to expand and renovate our house; we don’t want to live in any other neighborhood, or on any other street. We love the shady quiet of our street. We love…
