Stephanie Howell

In between last time we talked and now…

Let’s see. Hmm.

1.Summer came and left in a matter of weeks. It was brief and beautiful and entirely too short.

 

2. I turned 41. The day was full of books and good food and the people I love. It was just about perfect.

3. The girls started school. 7th grade, 5th grade, and two 2nd graders. Oh my heart!

4. I read an inordinate amount of books. Some amazing, some good,  and a few meh. Post to come.

 

6. We visited Seward and totally fell in love. I want to write about this here.

7. I started a partnership with Harper Books (an imprint of Harper Collins) as an ambassador and it was and is a dream come true.

8. Autumn came and left. It lasted 2 weeks. I kept hearing it would go by quickly, but I thought people were exaggerating. They weren’t.

 

9. I furnished a house in on-post housing. Which means there are tan/poop colored Formica countertops and vertical blinds and it looks like a barracks and a dorm had a love child in the 80’s. But I’m doing my best to make it a safe, cozy, love-filled space and I think I’m succeeding.

10. Sadie and Harper started playing competitive soccer. I wasn’t prepared for the $$$ and the time investment but J says we are investing in their future. So I guess I’m a soccer mom!

11. I went to southern CA and met with the Me and My Big Ideas/Happy Planner®️ team. They spoiled their team and treated us to a tour of headquarters, all of the new planner goodies, and a trip to DisneyLand. But my favorite part wasn’t the swag or the stuff or the freebies. It was meeting my friend Stephanie Fleming. I’ve “known” Stephanie through the Internet for years and she has been such a wonderful friend, mentor, encourager, and inspiration to me. Finally meeting her was incredibly memorable and special.

 

12. I made the long, heart-wrenching and incredibly difficult decision to homeschool Cate and Lucy. The reasoning is complicated and personal, but the bottom line is this. I won’t let them fall through the cracks. I am going to pour my heart and soul into teaching them to love reading. And giving them the self-confidence they need to be lifelong readers. If there is any interest, I’d love to chronicle our journey here.

 

The past few months have been magical and wonderful and hard and lonely (I haven’t seen J very often) and incredibly character building. I hope to keep returning to this space to reconnect with you guys. Are you out there? Are you still reading? Does anyone even blog anymore? HA! If you are there, tell me a little bit about yourself. I miss you!

 

Stephanie

We made it!

We’ve been in The Land of the Midnight Sun for over 2 weeks now and I thought it was about time to fill y’all in!

We are doing great and I am slowly easing myself into pretending to be outdoorsy. Also see under: slapping a hysterical, frozen smile on my face whilst repeating (in a weird, high-pitched voice) THIS IS GREAT!!! I’VE TOTALLY GOT THIS!!!

Here’s the thing, y’all. I’ll let you in on a little secret. The worst kept secret of all time. I am not outdoorsy. Like, not even a little bit. The other day I was at the PX buying a styrofoam cooler for ice. The lady asked if I was going camping and I literally said “EWW NO!” It escaped my mouth before I even had time to think about it. She looked very confused. That is not the standard answer around here.

I have never enjoyed camping. Or hiking. Or bugs or peeing in the woods or NATURE. As Cora says, I NO YIKE IT.

But you know what else I don’t enjoy? Being miserable. And I will become miserable if I don’t adapt here so I am going to become outdoorsy, dammit.

I want to fully embrace our two years here. And if that means strapping on the hiking boots or snowshoes or crampons, then by God I will. I want to bloom where I’m planted. I won’t spend my time here wishing I was somewhere else. It is GORGEOUS here. And to experience that beauty, I need to be outside.

We had our very first family hike the other day. We went to Angel Rocks. It started off sorta dicey, with the girls screaming about the giant bugs and the potties at the camp site (THOSE ARE SO DEEP AND SO FULL OF POOP) but it ended up going really well. I can’t lie. I totally brought up the rear and I was out of breath and out of shape, but Jimmy reminded me that when we got to Italy, I almost died the first time we had to walk across little downtown Vicenza. And by the end of our three years there, we walked across all of Rome, Florence, and Paris. We walked to the top of the duomo and the top of Mont St Michel. We walked alllll over Sardinia and Normandy and Halstatt and Munich. It became second nature.  I have to acclimate to this.

 

On the way home we almost hit a moose. Like…missed him by a foot. Sadie screamed WHAT THE HECK IS THAT, A CAMEL?

The Howells have much to learn about Alaska, y’all.

Let the education begin.

xoxo

S