Things I’ve loved lately ~end of June/early July~

In no particular order...without further ado...drum roll please...

1. Making a batch of muffins and freezing them for easy breakfasts for Bo and me. I like choosing recipes that have Greek yogurt in them for a little extra protein. Bodie helped me make these blueberry muffins last week—he even cracked his first egg!

   

   Photo by Nothing aholic on Unsplash

2. Seeing our larkspur bloom. Cleo always laid on these larkspur, so every time I see them, I think of her. Without her rump impeding their progress, they have grown tall and strong this year. I can’t lie, I miss seeing them bedraggled and tangled beneath Cleo’s limbs. To watch them bloom now is a reminder of her absence, something that I feel all the time, but, I suppose, I can look at that another way. Maybe when I see those blooming larkspur, I can remind myself of the love now blooming in me, the love I give my family, the maternal love Cleo instilled in me. I love and miss you, my baby girl.

   Below is a picture of our neighbor’s dog, Star, sitting in Cleo’s spot next to the larkspur. Star and her parents moved away last week and I found myself getting very emotional as I said goodbye to Star. She had been Cleo’s best friend in the neighborhood, and the two of them chased and played and panted and pulled to see one another without fail. Once, Star was hanging out with another dog friend of hers and Cleo came up growling and snarling as if to say, “Hey! That’s MY best friend!”

   

   And next is a photo of sweet Cleo in her spot. Look at those soulful eyes. It is as if she is looking at me now through this photo. Coincidentally, as I write this, it is exactly nine years to the day since we adopted Cleo and brought her home. I have been feeling her presence acutely for the past week or so. Long before we had to say goodbye to her, I told Cleo that she better some back and haunt me. It has been so moving to feel her loving presence so strongly, even though it hurts. Happy Gotcha Day to sweet Cle. She is still with me. Her love flows deep in my beating heart.

   

3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I have an entire post dedicated to this book that I’ll share in the coming months, so for now, just know that I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite going into it thinking that I wouldn’t.

   

4. Love at First Sight. I watched this movie on Netflix last week when Bodie was sick. He fell asleep curled in my lap on the couch and I needed to watch something quiet, cute, distracting. I picked this romance after reading the description of its plot: Two strangers meet on a flight to London. Will fate bring them together again once they part ways? A simple movie, a sweet one. Thinking about it now, I realize that I must have chosen it because flights are inherently romantic to me, as I first started falling for my husband in the New Jersey airport before we embarked on a study abroad trip that would take us on twenty-five flights around the world in five months. Do I believe in love in at first sight? That’s a question I’ll answer in another post at a later date. I need much, much more space and time to answer that question.

   

5. Our neighborhood wading pool. We’ve had an incredibly rainy start to our summer here in Minnesota. Perhaps you’ve seen images of the dam breaking in Mankato or of Valley Fair’s roller coasters half-submerged in murky water. I don’t think Michael has had to water his plants once this year, while at this time last year they were already on a clear path toward scorch-zone. All of this is to say that we have not had many pool days, but the ones we’ve had are glorious. We get to walk one block from our house to a small and quiet pool that is one foot and two inches deep. Bodie and I hold hands and wade through the pool, watching the big kids splash and crawl around in the shallow water.

   

   Photo by Katie Smith on Unsplash

6. I’ve found it’s a really interesting exercise to do this on a semi-regular basis. I got the idea of a recurring list of faves from a wonderful Substack called “Montage” by Brad Efford, another Hollins MFA alum. His Substack is focused on movies, and though I haven’t been to a movie theater since before the start of Covid, I can get down with a good movie on my couch. The last few movies that Michael and I have watched and enjoyed have been recommendations from Montage, so I guess that’s another thing I have been loving lately: Brad Efford’s Montage!

   6a. Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Brad recommended this movie and it was an absolute delight. Michael and I loved it from start to finish. Available on Prime. Don’t look up anything about it. Just press play.

   

   6b. Past Lives. Another film we learned about from Montage that we loved. Bodie also really liked this one. He tends to be more interested in foreign films. I wonder if it has to do with all of the Korean dramas I watched while he was in utero.

   

7. You know what’s really great to keep in your freezer at all times? A Heggie’s frozen pizza. For the longest time I wasn’t a fan because the first time I had a Hegge’s it was Breakfast flavored and that did NOT do it for me at ALL so I was afraid to try Hegge’s for literal YEARS! But when I finally had a pepperoni Heggie’s after a long day when neither Michael nor I wanted to cook, I realized what a gem of a frozen pizza this little number is. Based in Milaca, Minnesota, Heggie’s has been around for 28 years. You can find Heggie’s at Target, some gas stations, but not my local Lunds, much to my chagrin.

   

   What have you been loving lately? Tell me in the comments or reply to this email to let me know! I’m always looking for new things to try or familiar things to look at with fresh eyes. I hope this summer is sweet so far for you. Thanks for being here.

   With love from my kitchen table,

   Kaia