March coffee date

Starting this post from San Juan Capistrano, where we visited for the second year in a row for a Home Exchange swap.

Finishing this post back in the comfortable familiarity of our home. One reason I love travel is the renewed appreciation I have for our home and everyday routines when we get back.

Appreciating the unique opportunity of Home Exchange, and connecting with generous people who open their homes to us. It’s so interesting to get a glimpse into how someone else lives. Plus, getting ready for people to stay in our home motivates us to take care of lingering house tasks: washing the outdoor cushion covers, taking the pile in the closet to Goodwill, changing that light bulb, etc. And I find that when I return home I have renewed energy for little home projects, too.

Soaking up our family’s favorite things about Southern California: beaches, fish tacos, laid back vibes, green coastal hills, the very best donuts, and abundant beautiful succulents (okay that one might just be me).

Celebrating Maeve’s 5th (!) birthday early with a party this past Saturday, which had a loose bird theme (my heart!), and

Planning Dash’s 12th (!!) birthday party. The invitation for Dash’s party, which he picked out, says, “Bruh. Sports + Donuts. You in?” So tween.

Proud to have completed teaching my first online college course (and received good evaluations!).

Worked hard to prep for my next class which is now underway. Prepping an online college class draws on some of my favorite kinds of professional work, like editing content for flow and ease of understanding. I’m also enjoying adding my own design to my courses so all modules look cohesive.

Hopeful about sleep habits in our house! Before we left for California, we were in a run of several nights in a row of everyone sleeping through the night and until 6 a.m. I cannot tell you how extraordinary this is for us and what a truly life-changing new season it could be if it holds. Sleep was less consistent on our trip (which I expected) but we seem to be mostly returning to our new and improved normal now that we are home again. Cross your fingers for us!



Checking in on my 2025 goals as the first quarter wraps up. I’ve checked off two goals already! (Get new glasses and get new professional photos taken.)

Looking forward to meeting with everyone in Your Year to Shine 2025 this week to reflect on the past three months and look ahead to the next quarter.

Recommending Project Hail Mary which I listened to again with Chris during our drive to and from California. I listened to this amazing book for the first time in February and didn’t mind relistening with Chris, and then some portions again with Dash as he listened (and loved it).

Making two lunchtime favorites this week: a chickpea salad and pecan pie bites.

Finding our groove using Plan to Eat–do you use it?? The app let’s you load recipes, then make a meal plan, and from that generates a shopping list. It seems to take a fair amount of the mental load off meal planning which is very welcome, and I like how Chris and I can collaborate as well.

Watching Maeve learn the butterfly stroke at swim lessons. From tearful swim lessons to butterfly in 10 months! I would love, love for her to stick with swim and for that to be her “thing” but I’m trying not to be attached to that outcome. For those of you with swimmers, any tips to make my dream come true?

Celebrating that we have ONE more preschool payment to make and then we are DONE paying for childcare after nearly 12 years. Wow, wow, wow and yippee!!!

Turning on the air conditioner as we’ve already hit 90º this week. Booooo.

Binging the Money for Couples podcast and have requested the book, too. For fans of my old podcast Matrimoney, this would be right up your alley!

Hoping that you found good things in March, friends!

 

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12 responses to “March coffee date”

  1. Emma Smith Avatar
    Emma Smith

    Fun to read, Kelsey! We do Home Exchange too, and I go into a frenzy of cleaning and decluttering beforehand. It’s a pain, but the bonus is that we get to enjoy the results after we get home. We actually have people arriving tomorrow so I’m in the zone today. Back to scrubbing the shower right after this…

    How long does it take for you to drive to SoCal? Someday you’ll have to make it up north! We have great beaches too, they’re just too cold to swim in! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      Hi Emma! Oh how cool you’ll be hosting soon – where are you all heading? I am so eager to do an international Home Exchange! It’s so fun browsing to see all the locales…now to find someone who wants to come to Gilbert, AZ!

      Yes I totally get the shower scrubbing…the deep clean that I rarely do for myself but I definitely do for guests LOL. I’m thankful to have a reason to do it!

      I’d love to visit SF with our family, and who knows, the boys might be crazy enough to take a dip. Definitely not me though! I can’t even handle SoCal Pacific temps. Oh, and for driving…Maps says it takes just under 6 hours so with stops we make it in about 7. As the kids get older that drive is definitely getting easier and I love that we can be at the ocean in a day’s drive from the desert.

      Reply
    2. Emma Avatar
      Emma

      People just wear wetsuits here. No one really swims, but surfing is big.

      If you ever do want to come to SF, check out our home! You can meet Claude in person! We’ve got great kid toys. And I’ll scrub the floors extra hard for you guys!

      We’re just going down to Monterey for two nights, to visit the aquarium and see some sea otters. (But I think we’re going to Scotland this summer! Eeek! I know–I love browsing the international homes, too. I have a saved file of them.)

      Reply
    3. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      Oh my goodness, Claude! Yes!! We would love that. Scotland this summer – so fab!! I can’t wait to follow along.

      Reply
  2. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    My 11 year old daughter has done club swimming for a year, and previously was on a (more laid back) summer swim team for three years. She doesn’t do any other sports so we are fully “in” to this being “her sport.” One of the reasons I love it so much is that the season is primarily in the winter and our winters are cold and without much to do outside, so I love that it gives her an opportunity for exercise in the winter, and the long days of watching meets on Saturdays and Sundays are easier to stomach than if they were during our busier and good weather seasons (I am guessing this is not a draw for you in AZ, though, because your weather is opposite ours!). I’m not sure I have any tips per se of how to get a kid interested in doing swim team, but I’d say if she’s learning butterfly at 5 and loving it, just encourage her to keep doing it! My daughter is super social so a big draw for her was once she made friends on the swim team she wanted to keep going back each year, and then eventually do club swim when her friends started doing it! We also did a lot of family swimming when she was young where we’d encourage her to show us her strokes and give lots of positive feedback, so I think she was encouraged to keep going.

    Reply
    1. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      How cool, Emily! I love your point about making friends — so true, and Maeve is so friend motivated (as most kids are!). Right now she never has consistent kids in her class, although she does really love her coaches so we’ve got that going for us. Sometime this year when she learns butterfly then she would move to the bigger pool and longer lessons and she’s nervous and reluctant for that…but I am hoping she’ll at least try it and usually when she tries each new level she’s nervous but then enjoys it and feels proud of herself. Thanks for your encouragement, and good luck to your daughter in swim for as long as she enjoys it! It seems like such a great sport to pursue.

      Reply
  3. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    Yay your class went well! Congrats, Kelsey. What a big milestone and I have no doubt you went above and beyond and were absolutely incredible in that role.

    Our daughter turned 14 yesterday and I know it’s cliche, but my goodness though the days can feel long, the years are SHORT. You are doing such a great job of investing in your kids and your family culture and your home exchange looks like so much fun.

    I forget the exact quote, but some famous person said something to the effect: “We leave home so we can return with new eyes.” It’s so true that a change can be as good as a rest, and with a little distance, we can come back to a situation (or house, as it were) with renewed enthusiasm.

    Reply
    1. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      Ah, I love that quote; yes, exactly! It’s wonderful to see and appreciate our every day with new eyes. It’s hard to get that perspective and travel is one way to get it.

      Thank you for your kind comments on my class, Elisabeth, and about investing in my kids. I have been thinking a lot about quality time with kids and feel proud of how much Chris and I say yes to spending time with them and being present with them. I’m also thankful we are reaching a parenting stage where I have bandwidth for that and when our quality time activities are things I truly enjoy too – like a hike or a dice game together, or just a conversation.

      Reply
  4. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    Oh, I forgot to say how much I LOVE YOUR GLASSES. They suit you perfectly.

    Reply
    1. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      Oh thank you!! I am so happy with them too, and it’s been lovely to put them on and see things more crisply. It really helped to bring a stylish friend with me to help make a decision.

      Reply
  5. Hana Avatar
    Hana

    I’m so intrigued by home exchange! But what do you do with all your personal stuff, like clothes? Do you pack them away, or just leave them in dressers? My youngest also just turned 5, but she requested a “snake” theme with a BLACK cake lol. I much prefer Maeve’s bird theme!

    Reply
    1. Kelsey Avatar
      Kelsey

      Hi Hana! For Home Exchange, people know they are visiting someone’s personal home and so having clothes in drawers, food in the fridge, etc. is totally expected! We do tend to gather clothes from two drawers in our dresser and store them in bags elsewhere just to leave room for guests, and I’ll push clothes hanging in the closet to one side to make room as well.

      You always chat online with whomever will be staying at your house, and you can set up video calls beforehand as well, so I’ve always felt confident in the honesty of people being at our house. Also, you can see someone’s reviews from where they’ve stayed before, and how many years they’ve been doing HE so it’s easy to get a sense of someone being a great guest. I might be hesitant to have someone stay at our house if they were brand new and had no reviews, unless we had some more extensive chats. But overall it’s such a welcoming and wonderful community. If it’s something you are open to it would be worth exploring the platform to get a sense of it!

      So funny about your daughter’s request for a black snack cake!! I have also had the experience where I ask for input…and then wish I had not. Haha. I hope you have a great snake birthday party if that’s the theme she sticks with 🙂

      Reply

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