January 28, 2024

JANUARY IN PHOTOS.



Dear January,

What a way to welcome in the new year. As this month comes to a close, I am once again marveling (read: in shock) with just how fast time flies. It feels like I was just ringing in the new year and now I'm looking ahead at what's to come in February. 

The weather took a shocking turn this month and what was supposed to be a weekend stay with my parents turned into a weeklong stay as I impatiently waited for the ice storms to pass (and then the ice to melt) before driving back home. 

It feels weird to call my house - my home. But it is. It's where I find comfort and joy and growth and some growing pains, too. But it also is a place where I find my person - the person I've chosen, and continue to choose, each and every day. And that's where I'm finding my heart now calls home. 

We got a piano this month. It rolled into our home after a few Facebook Marketplace fails and we're dedicated to making it live another life in this house after being loved by a small family who was having a hard time parting with it. It'll be well loved here. 

I turned another year older this month as well. It was during the ice storms so it felt anticlimactic, as I spent much of that week trying not to slip on hardened ice (YakTraks win again) and listening to the cracking of ice on the very frozen lawn. 

I've decided that thirties are the new twenties and I am loving this decade so far. It took me thirty years to really and truly enjoy and love my life and I am trying to revel and enjoy every minute of it. We've been watching some home renovation shows (amidst a handful of true crime documentaries) and I am reminded time and time again how short life is. One of the couples in the home renovation show talked about a medical scare that was a turning point in their lives. The couple moved nine houses down for the view - and while my initial reaction was why? and that feels frivolous, the backstory provided me with the reminder that life is short and is meant to be enjoyed. 

So enjoyment is what I'm trying to do - even though it's a little tough right now. My phone screen decided to crack (even beyond my screen protector and case) and I am now on a presumable weeklong stretch without a phone while I wait for the the manufacturer to approve a replacement (yay, technology). I realize it's a true first-world problem, but the phone withdrawal was real for the first two days. I found myself bored and frustrated for the first 24 hours but am now in a sweet spot of enjoying the time away from my phone. It's allowed me to read more books, journal more, and find new ways to listen to music (very thankful for a smart watch and blue tooth connection!). Not texting has been strange - but I'm also finding it kind of nice to not be so fixed on mindlessly scrolling and pop-up notifications. 

I'm learning that this unexpected quiet is a true blessing in disguise. 

Aside from that, January held phone calls with friends and bridal shower preparations, nearly sixty degree weather, treadmill runs, a rare two hour nap, chickpea chocolate chip cookies, pantry organization, protein powder smoothies, and playing Wordle and NYT Connections.

February, I'm ready for you!

© IN ITS TIMEMaira Gall