Hey there! I’m in awe that we’re heading into Easter weekend. I’m hoping the warm weather is right around the corner–I miss it!

What I’ve been up to

Earlier this month we came home from our first vacation as a family of 4, and we had the best time! In full disclosure, we did not have “the best time” 100% of the time, especially inside the airports.

Since you now have to pay for seating so that my at the time two year old doesn’t have to sit with strangers (can you feel my rage at the state of air travel?!), we also inadvertently paid for carry on luggage.

Not to sound like every other wizened person that came before me… but back in my day carry ons were FREE. I miss that.

Being the cheap sensible person that I am, I didn’t want to pay for my baggage twice, so we really maximized our limits with the carry ons. We had three carry ons, three personal items, one diaper bag, and two toddlers.

The result? Several exceptionally kind people felt bad for us as we struggled at all times to move our tiny humans and excessive amount of things off airplanes, onto airplanes, and through airports.

But the actual cruise? Send me right back there! Lots of my non-cruising friends asked me why I love it. There are so many little things that just add up to it being an amazing thing.

I absolutely love being out in the middle of nowhere in the ocean. That might freak people out, but I feel so much peace hearing the waves and realizing how small all of our collective human accomplishments are. Seeing the stars out in the ocean truly is a spiritual experience. As is pulling away from huge cities and seeing them look like specks of dust.

Then there’s the all the time food that I don’t have to cook or clean up. The always clean towels. The gorgeous new locations almost every day. The ability to do wild things just because I feel like it? Want to surf? Go for it. Feeling a little (or for us A LOT) of mini golf? You got it. Want to eat 50 soft serve ice cream cones? No one bats an eye. Need a massage and want to see an ice skating show right after? But of course!

It’s a you have to see it to believe it type of thing, but I think it’s awesome.

I also had my first session of the season, which is always a big deal to me. When I start to leave my “off season” hibernation mode, I feel so much excitement about trying out all the new things I’ve dreamed up. If you haven’t already seen Lexey and Jeffrey’s maternity session, you have to take a peek here. I’m unabashedly super proud of it.

What I’ve been reading

I’m towards the end of Ali Hazelwood’s Bride, and I have super mixed feelings.

It’s a bit spicier than I would like (if you know, you know). I don’t mind spice when it’s easily skippable, as is usually the case with the lovely Ali Hazelwood. But there are parts of important dialogue mixed into the spicy parts, which involves me awkwardly scanning to try and only read critical dialogue. Not my favorite experience.

This novel also takes on a lot. There’s a paranormal romance between a vampire, which she spells vampyre (for kicks and giggles, I guess??) and a werewolf. There’s a mystery. There’s a lot of parental trauma. And while I love the banter between our two main characters, the vampyre/werewolf spice is not my thing.

I admire Ali Hazelwood for pushing herself into new genres, and I loved when she dipped her toes into YA, but this wasn’t for me. I will still read whatever she writes, though.

What I’ve been watching

I am still, very embarrassingly, watching season 2 of Big Brother. The end is drawing near, though.

Also, this is partly because Dillon and I paused and binged all of Netflix’s Avatar. We both loved it, and neither one of us wants to wait two years for season 2.

If you watched the original cartoon, I think you’ll like it to. If you’re an ATLA nerd, let me know!

Things are still blissfully quiet around here, which I appreciate. I know I need the rest and family time before the busyness of summer. Thanks for sticking around to get to know me a little more!

Until next time,

Christine

Looking for more photography advice? Take a peek at my recent journals below:

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Looking for more of my recent work? Take a peek here!

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