An honest look at Saturday

Saturday. Or as I called it today: Sadder-day. If any day is supposed to be guaranteed fun, it would be Saturday right? I know, I know, I just wrote about this. It seems to me that I write about the same heart lessons over and over and over again. For those of you who read my blog posts regularly, it might get a little old. Apparently, if I'm gonna learn something, I'll need to learn a lesson, and then promptly re-learn that same lesson. And then, repeat as necessary.

This Saturday threatened to be a sad-er-day. It was my first day off after three shifts in a row—I walked 14 miles at work in the last three days!—and I felt like I "earned" a rest. Trouble is, I started out "resting" by sitting on the couch, browsing my phone. I felt aimlessness settle in big time, and I turned to Nicholas and told him. He knows me, and he said, "No wonder you're feeling bummed if all you do is sit on the couch, browsing on your phone." Duh. I think I've heard that before?

Most of the time, active resting is more restful for me.

Because sometimes I just need to get myself off the couch. With that helpful encouragement, there were lots of ways that I rested actively today:

We purposely slept in until 9:15(!)

We're trying out a new ways to make the bed. This time we turned the top of the quilt down and propped the pillows upright.

We mostly stayed inside because apparently, May/June in central Texas is rainy season every single day

I read and journaled through a Psalm that perfectly quieted the upset in my heart

I noticed that the whole pantry smells like cardamom. This is not a bad thing—actually, it's the best thing ever.

I went to the store to buy butter and new shampoo (the essentials for a really fun day, dontcha know). I took a picture in the car, because I enjoy these sunglasses so much, and whatever. Also, messy hair for days (see above point about monsoon season in Texas).

After I got home from the store, I got dressed and put on a skirt, even though we had nowhere to be.

I made mini pecan pies (using this recipe, with an added 1/8 tsp cardamom, because I can't get enough). I cannot stress to you enough just how good these are. Also, Nicholas agreed to hand model for me, because he's the best husband. (And he knew he'd get another mini pie for it ;)

I knit for a solid hour, and we had morning and afternoon aeropress coffee

Best of all, we had a spontaneous date night. We browsed at the electronics store, and we browsed at Sears to find something to use a gift card on. At the last minute, we stopped for supper at a local restaurant on the patio, and it started raining. We laughed the whole way home as Nicholas almost choked on a hard candy, right as he was elaborating about how it was the best hard candy ever.

Whew. Today's activities were certainly better than an afternoon of phone browsing (and the comparison and discontent that the constant scrolling breeds). Today brought a lot of activity, but was it restful? Yes, it was. It was also a whole lot of fun. Not today, sad-er-day, not today.

*On a similar note, see these posts (I warned you that I need to learn heart lessons over and over and over again) :

• When it's a bad day
• Practicing rest & balance
• Daily essentials: Rest and comfort routines
• This is the day
• No formula for a perfect day