No.153: What I Learned in June

1 // TWO NEW PLANTS DISCOVERED IN THE YARD: RED CLOVER AND MOCK STRAWBERRIES.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying taking walks through the property and waiting to see what catches my eye.  This month, TJ and I found these little pinky purple flowers along the tree line, which we researched and found to be red clover.  We also found a few patches of mock strawberries, which was a bummer.  We were really hoping for the real thing!


2 // IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY COMPLEMENTS MY PERSONALITY TYPE.
Kelly mentioned Meg’s series in one of her blog posts and I was curious to see where I fell.  I am an ISFJ and according to Meg, Ignatian spirituality is the best fit for my personality.  From Meg:

Ignatian prayer is often summarized as an imaginative approach to prayer by which we put ourselves into the Gospel stories and allow the Spirit to speak. (I have an explanation here and some guided meditations here.) This style of prayer uses the senses to enhance the experience, imagining what the scene looked like, what the weather was like, how the marketplace smelled, etc. More than just being a way to meditate on the Gospels, though, Ignatian prayer finds itself rooted in all of salvation history. The liturgical year is Ignatian by nature, leading us through the life of Christ each year and encouraging us to enter into his experience. It’s hard to imagine anything more Ignatian than the Triduum, where we have our feet washed, wait up with the Lord, cry out the words of the crowd, kiss the Cross, and rise again on Easter.
Ignatian types will benefit from an organized prayer regimen, often finding great fruit in traditional types of prayer, particularly the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Reading longer passages in Scripture and seeing how it all connects can also be very helpful for them. When reading Scripture, they should look first to the Gospels and the historical books (especially Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, if you can believe it) as well as Acts, Isaiah, James, and the Psalms.

3 // WHEN IT RAINS, THE SEPTIC MAKES THE AIR SMELL LIKE ROTTEN EGGS.
We’ve had a string of rainy days here and one morning was particularly stinky.  Apparently, it is due to heavy air, which doesn’t allow the methane gases to take off through the vent. Because of atmospheric pressure, it stays low to the ground and may smell like rotten eggs.  Good ol’ country livin’.


4 // MY BABY TAKES AMAZING NAPS OUTSIDE.
He is 18 months now and fights a nap like none of my other kids ever have!  In an attempt to keep an ounce of sanity, I’ve resorted to pushing him up and down our driveway in the stroller.  He’s out in five minutes and stays asleep for a long time.  I totally get why other countries swear by keeping napping babies in strollers outdoors now.

5 // I CHECKED OFF A TASK ON MY COUNTRY LIFE BUCKET LIST: REMOVING A TICK.
Mark found a tick on his leg and I had the privilege of carefully taking it out.  I had no idea what I was doing and was nervous, but it was a clean removal.  We then proceeded to Google everything there is to know about ticks (and scare ourselves silly).  A great reminder to be vigilant about our kids’ daily “tick checks.”


6 // SOCIAL SECURITY WILL BECOME INSOLVENT IN 2034.
Unfortunate news for GenXers or Millenials.  The news has been even more motivation for us to get our finances in order and save, save, save for retirement.


7 // WRITING EVERYDAY IS HARD, BUT SUCH A FUN CHALLENGE.
My final tally was 28 out of 30 days – I sort-of fizzled out at the end.  It’s not perfect, but I’m proud of it anyway!  It was just the creative challenge I needed to start the summer.


Signing off for a bit!  Thanks for reading this month and see you soon. xo