Well, hi there. It’s been a while. *dusts off blog*

I’m still here, but mostly hanging out over on Instagram with the rest of you guys. Per usual, this fall has been super busy. With my birthday, Iris’ birthday, our annual camping trip, working a full-time job, business travel, halloween madness, and the whirlwind that is first grade – we have been a tad bit preoccupied.

Dare I say that things look to settle down as we inch closer to the holiday season? We have one more trip before the year is done (Nashville for Thanksgiving!), but for the most part I’m looking forward to being settled in at home for the time being. I know I’ll have the travel bug again very soon, but it feels really good to finally have some time to just be at home.

As I mentioned, first grade has been a whirlwind. Honestly, I think it’s been more of a transition than kindergarten was. If not for Iris, at last for us parents. There’s a spelling test every Friday (studying all week?!) and she’s in an accelerated reading program where she reads a book (twice!) every night and then has a quiz the following day. Sounds easy enough, but she’s reading at a third grade level, so some of the books are a little tough and a little long, so that requires us to sit with her as she reads. Girl scouts also picked back up again and she’s been going to her first acting class once a week. The last class is this week, which includes a little performance (um, can’t wait). Overall, I couldn’t be more proud of our girl. She’s doing really, really great.

For now though, I’m sitting at home, watching our first snow of the season. But knowing Fayetteville, it might also be our last.