How did it get to be the last week of June already?! Ashley and I have been action heroes the past month, to say the least. Here’s a family update:

We’ve been happily involved with our church and have enjoyed celebrating graduations and first birthdays, hanging out with the college class (which Ashley is second-in-command of teaching, after Jessy), and participating with the congregation in selecting new elders. Oh yeah, and last week, Ashley was a sponsor for the youth Uplift trip to Harding so our youth minister could stay home with his very pregnant wife. Whew! Here’s a photo of Ashley with the graduation present some of our friends surprised him with. It came just in time, since he had only 300 megabytes left on his hard drive.

We are three lessons into our dance instruction. Our teachers (a married couple) are probably in their 80s, and the wife is a sassy little thing. The husband says the men must lead — it’s their last stand! We’ve learned basic steps of the fox trot, swing, and the rumba. Ashley likes box steps. I like not box steps. But so far, we both still have all 10 toes, so we’re pretty much set.

Ashley is job hunting, and I am hoping to keep mine. Layoffs loom, and oh how I do not want to be a victim of the pink slip. This weekend, Ashley came down with a sinus infection. I think it’s partially due to extreme stress. Just call me Dr. J.

I look forward to a day when I either (a) become much better at balancing all of life’s activities, responsibilities, budgets, etc., or (b) have fewer activities, responsibilities, budgets, etc. to balance! Sometimes I have to take a deep breath and realize that I just can’t do it all, and that that’s okay. I can manage keeping up with the necessities! To debrief and unwind from these chaotic days, we strive to squeeze in a few late-night walks each week in our local park. We found a little friend last week!