Small Joys: volume 14
It's been a good little while since Small Joys have made an appearance, but almost three weeks into marriage and in the midst of a messy room full of boxes, I thought I'd take a break and write about some things I've been thankful for. My night shift brain is recovering and I'm enjoying a strawberry kiwi smoothie as I write today. Oh spring/summer, I love thee. Please stay a while.
No. 1: Handwritten letters. I've been writing pen pal letters back to NC since November, and I can't express to you how happy it makes me when I open my mailbox and find a new pen pal note filled with handwritten tales of the writer's goings on in life down south. Handwritten letters have take on a new meaning as I'm starting to think out our thank-you notes to everyone who came to our wedding (and those who weren't able to make it). I bought tons of thank-you notes last fall whenever I'd find them on sale somewhere (TJ Maxx/Home Goods truly have the BEST notecard sets. I think most of my stationery comes from those stores), but last week I started playing around with cardstock and the idea of designing my own thank-you notes. I've got a couple of drafts, and in any case, I'm not planning on sending out thank you notes until I get home to retrieve the rest of our gifts from my mom's house next week! I can't wait to write all of these out though!
No. 2: Fulfilling shifts at work. For whatever reason, the last week at work has been filled with pretty good shifts. I've actually been able to get all of my work done and have been able to do the things that I always desire to do with patients-- have real conversations, support them emotionally, etc. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of a busy shift, I don't spend as much time doing these things as I'd like to because I'm always running off to another room. It's been nice to have opportunities for these kinds of things. I'm very much loving my job still and though I hear people around me complaining about things or talking about finding another job, I'm thankful for where I am. Because I've worked in other tough nursing environments, I know what's out there and I know that I have a lot to be thankful for with where I am. My job now reminds me a lot of my job in North Carolina, which though I complained about, I secretly loved. I worked with all of the best people there and found my work very fulfilling. I feel the same about where I am now-- the people are lovely and though the shifts are challenging, I feel rewarded by what I'm doing.
No. 3: A happy kitchen. The kitchen has always been my happy place-- I told Scott that as long as my kitchen is the way I like it, I'm a happy girl. We do a lot of cooking together and I would say our kitchen is the room I spend the most time in in our tiny apartment. We've done what we can with it to make it a happy place. Yesterday I took a day trip to Louisville to see our jeweler and to hang out with my sweet friend Lindsay, and I added a few new happy items to our kitchen.
No. 4: Ben Rector. Oh my word. I've been listening to Ben Rector Pandora lately like nobody's business. I think I like it so much because I love him AND Matt Kearney comes on that station a lot, and I super love him as well. Not much more to say on this one. If you haven't checked out that Pandora station, I'd recommend it.
No. 5: An organized home. Alright, I'm not completely there yet. Actually, I'm not even that close. But it's getting there. Scott and I have found some treasures out in the dumpster lately (those who know Scott's nickname as Dumpster, feel free to laugh all you want here. Yes, I've become Dumpster's wife) that have helped us to get a little bit more organized, but it's still a process fitting 2 people's belongings into a one bedroom apartment. My goal is to have most things put away before I go back to work on Sunday night.
No. 6: Anticipation of a trip home. I know I was just home for the wedding-- but I'm heading back again for my sister's graduation next week! I'll be driving down on Thursday and staying in Chapel Hill for a night, and will probably spend Friday/Saturday at home before coming back to Chapel Hill Sunday to help my brother move into a new apartment! Yes, we're spending Mother's Day moving him in; my mother is such a wonderful and selfless woman in this respect. Hopefully weather will be nice enough for us to spend a relaxing beach day at Wrightsville on Saturday to celebrate! It's been a rough few weeks for the Poveromo family, and I think we could all use a little break.
No. 7: A working budget. Scott and I finally had our official budget meeting last night and were shocked to find out what our expenses looked like. The good news is that a lot of it is because we put so much into savings. Living off of one person's income while the other is in grad school is interesting, but I think we'll make it work. We decided that we will have to limit eating out to once a week (maybe after church on Sundays with friends) and that we are going to practice meal planning so that we make smart decisions about grocery purchases instead of having things that go bad in the refrigerator from not using them quickly enough. It'll be nice when we can live off of two salaries one day, but with Scott's dental school loans, I think it'll be awhile before we get there! We're thankful for sufficient funds to live a comfortable life, though, and I realize we are blessed beyond what we could imagine for seemingly simple things like food, a place to live, clean water, etc.
No. 8: Honeymoon planning. I was a little bummed when Scott and I came back to real life right after our wedding, but with everything we faced when coming back, I think it ended up being the best thing for us. Now, we're looking forward to our July honeymoon to Italy and we are busy planning where to go and what we want to do. We've agreed on avoiding extensive planning-- we don't want a strict itinerary each day. We want to enjoy where we are and enjoy each other, and we think part of that is being free to do what we choose while there. There are some places that we have to book reservations for (hotels, certain attractions) in order to make the trip stress-free, but I'm excited for some flexibility in our schedule so that we can enjoy picnics and hikes and lots of wine, gelato, and pizza. We're going backpacking for this trip but decided not to stay in hostels (bunkbeds and rooms of 14 people for your honeymoon? No thanks). We're taking the small hotel/bed and breakfast route as much as we can.
I'm anxious for more views like this as we hike through the towns of Cinque Terre and swim in this amazingly blue water. These are photos I took back in high school when I went on a school trip. Can't wait to go back and to experience this with fresh eyes and my husband by my side.
No. 9: The anticipation of our wedding photos. Our amazing photographer, Melissa Vega, has posted teasers (Check her out on her Facebook page, The 25th Hour) and I'm drooling waiting for more. She has such an eye for beauty and I know already that our wedding photos are amazing.
No. 10: Queen Esther. Her story has been my favorite through this weird period of life we've been going through. I read through Esther quite a bit and love love love this one verse (Esther 4:14).
If I ever got a tattoo, it would probably be very small writing with this verse.
I hope you're all enjoy May weather-- it's a little chilly in Indy right now, but next week should be 70s and sunny! Lots of love and hope you find some small amount of joy in your week!
Grace & peace,
Cristina
No. 1: Handwritten letters. I've been writing pen pal letters back to NC since November, and I can't express to you how happy it makes me when I open my mailbox and find a new pen pal note filled with handwritten tales of the writer's goings on in life down south. Handwritten letters have take on a new meaning as I'm starting to think out our thank-you notes to everyone who came to our wedding (and those who weren't able to make it). I bought tons of thank-you notes last fall whenever I'd find them on sale somewhere (TJ Maxx/Home Goods truly have the BEST notecard sets. I think most of my stationery comes from those stores), but last week I started playing around with cardstock and the idea of designing my own thank-you notes. I've got a couple of drafts, and in any case, I'm not planning on sending out thank you notes until I get home to retrieve the rest of our gifts from my mom's house next week! I can't wait to write all of these out though!
No. 2: Fulfilling shifts at work. For whatever reason, the last week at work has been filled with pretty good shifts. I've actually been able to get all of my work done and have been able to do the things that I always desire to do with patients-- have real conversations, support them emotionally, etc. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of a busy shift, I don't spend as much time doing these things as I'd like to because I'm always running off to another room. It's been nice to have opportunities for these kinds of things. I'm very much loving my job still and though I hear people around me complaining about things or talking about finding another job, I'm thankful for where I am. Because I've worked in other tough nursing environments, I know what's out there and I know that I have a lot to be thankful for with where I am. My job now reminds me a lot of my job in North Carolina, which though I complained about, I secretly loved. I worked with all of the best people there and found my work very fulfilling. I feel the same about where I am now-- the people are lovely and though the shifts are challenging, I feel rewarded by what I'm doing.
No. 3: A happy kitchen. The kitchen has always been my happy place-- I told Scott that as long as my kitchen is the way I like it, I'm a happy girl. We do a lot of cooking together and I would say our kitchen is the room I spend the most time in in our tiny apartment. We've done what we can with it to make it a happy place. Yesterday I took a day trip to Louisville to see our jeweler and to hang out with my sweet friend Lindsay, and I added a few new happy items to our kitchen.
These hedgehog measuring cups were a birthday gift
from Lindsay. They look great in our kitchen :)
No. 5: An organized home. Alright, I'm not completely there yet. Actually, I'm not even that close. But it's getting there. Scott and I have found some treasures out in the dumpster lately (those who know Scott's nickname as Dumpster, feel free to laugh all you want here. Yes, I've become Dumpster's wife) that have helped us to get a little bit more organized, but it's still a process fitting 2 people's belongings into a one bedroom apartment. My goal is to have most things put away before I go back to work on Sunday night.
No. 6: Anticipation of a trip home. I know I was just home for the wedding-- but I'm heading back again for my sister's graduation next week! I'll be driving down on Thursday and staying in Chapel Hill for a night, and will probably spend Friday/Saturday at home before coming back to Chapel Hill Sunday to help my brother move into a new apartment! Yes, we're spending Mother's Day moving him in; my mother is such a wonderful and selfless woman in this respect. Hopefully weather will be nice enough for us to spend a relaxing beach day at Wrightsville on Saturday to celebrate! It's been a rough few weeks for the Poveromo family, and I think we could all use a little break.
No. 7: A working budget. Scott and I finally had our official budget meeting last night and were shocked to find out what our expenses looked like. The good news is that a lot of it is because we put so much into savings. Living off of one person's income while the other is in grad school is interesting, but I think we'll make it work. We decided that we will have to limit eating out to once a week (maybe after church on Sundays with friends) and that we are going to practice meal planning so that we make smart decisions about grocery purchases instead of having things that go bad in the refrigerator from not using them quickly enough. It'll be nice when we can live off of two salaries one day, but with Scott's dental school loans, I think it'll be awhile before we get there! We're thankful for sufficient funds to live a comfortable life, though, and I realize we are blessed beyond what we could imagine for seemingly simple things like food, a place to live, clean water, etc.
No. 8: Honeymoon planning. I was a little bummed when Scott and I came back to real life right after our wedding, but with everything we faced when coming back, I think it ended up being the best thing for us. Now, we're looking forward to our July honeymoon to Italy and we are busy planning where to go and what we want to do. We've agreed on avoiding extensive planning-- we don't want a strict itinerary each day. We want to enjoy where we are and enjoy each other, and we think part of that is being free to do what we choose while there. There are some places that we have to book reservations for (hotels, certain attractions) in order to make the trip stress-free, but I'm excited for some flexibility in our schedule so that we can enjoy picnics and hikes and lots of wine, gelato, and pizza. We're going backpacking for this trip but decided not to stay in hostels (bunkbeds and rooms of 14 people for your honeymoon? No thanks). We're taking the small hotel/bed and breakfast route as much as we can.
I'm anxious for more views like this as we hike through the towns of Cinque Terre and swim in this amazingly blue water. These are photos I took back in high school when I went on a school trip. Can't wait to go back and to experience this with fresh eyes and my husband by my side.
No. 9: The anticipation of our wedding photos. Our amazing photographer, Melissa Vega, has posted teasers (Check her out on her Facebook page, The 25th Hour) and I'm drooling waiting for more. She has such an eye for beauty and I know already that our wedding photos are amazing.
No. 10: Queen Esther. Her story has been my favorite through this weird period of life we've been going through. I read through Esther quite a bit and love love love this one verse (Esther 4:14).
But who knows that you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
If I ever got a tattoo, it would probably be very small writing with this verse.
I hope you're all enjoy May weather-- it's a little chilly in Indy right now, but next week should be 70s and sunny! Lots of love and hope you find some small amount of joy in your week!
Grace & peace,
Cristina
Small Joys: this blogpost! so good to hear these happy things from you. Also another valuable Pandora station: JJ Heller.
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