Letter to my 13 year old self

I am a member of a really cool homeschooling forum, and a couple of months ago, someone posted this question, "If you were 13 years old again, what advice would you give yourself?" This question has weighed on my mind and my heart ever since. So I thought I'd write a letter to my 13 year old self....

Dear 13 year old Nakia,

        Don't be embarrassed that you love to read. Spend time reading those good books. Be proud of it!

        Pay attention in P.E. class. One day you will wish you knew the rules to all those sports.

        See that girl sitting beside you in Mr. Clark's science class? That's your best friend for life. Treasure her.

        Regarding that bff mentioned above, do not let her talk you into getting a perm next year. You will regret it. And anyway, your hair will turn curly, magically, when you grow up, so enjoy the straight hair now.

        Don't stop playing your instrument. Even if it's not cool.

        Go to church, go to youth group, go to Sunday school. Even if it's not cool.

        Run! Start now. It's a lot easier to start now than wait until you're 30. :p

        Forgive your dad now. It doesn't matter if he doesn't "deserve" it.

        Don't worry if you don't have a boyfriend or a date to every dance. In two years, you will meet the love of your life. <3

        You are important. You are beautiful. You are worth it.

Love,
 Your future




     

Oh, yes, we are having a February

It's been one month since I've blogged! Wow! As much as I love blogging, it's really the first thing that I drop when I get busy. But I thought I'd try it today. We should be doing school right now, but there is a tree company outside cutting down trees along the road, and my girls are outside on the porch watching. They are so excited. It's so cute and so funny what excites them.

February is ALWAYS my hardest month. It's like I'm stuck between the stark cold (albeit snowless this year) winter, which I love, and the new beginnings of spring, which I also love. I'm also itching to do so many projects around the house that have been put on hold all winter. And of course, it's classically the worst month for homeschooling. I've heard it countless times from homeschool moms everywhere. We are on the home stretch, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And this year, the tunnel has been LONG and DARK! I'm also planning for next year, and that always makes me want to look at all the new stuff and, of course, buy everything I see. Thankfully, we can't afford it or things could get ugly. :)

So between all the looking back and looking forward, it's easy for me to get in a funk. And it seems like our whole family is in a funk this month. Everyone in the house is just getting over or dealing with a really bad cold. Attitudes in our house are yucky too. I think we're all sick of sitting in the house and watching it rain. So this past weekend, we rented a whole bunch of movies, ate junk food, and rested. It was nice. Yesterday, two of the girls had doctor appointment, so after that, the girls and I spent the afternoon at the mall. That was a lot of fun!!

We are really looking forward to doing some fun things in the spring: buying some new chicks, planting flowers and trying to rescue the swamp that used to be our yard, finishing up our school year, and finally painting our master bedroom!!!

Hope you know exactly how blessed you are. I do! Thank God for His new mercies every morning!

xoxo
Nakia