We’ve taken up hiking. Okay, truth is, I originally said, ‘I’ve got to do something. I come home from a trip and sit on the couch. I’m going to go on hikes!’ This was not met with great enthusiasm from John (although he was happy that I wasn’t including him). His dad also hikes and eventually we got John to join us (and he now enjoys it).

This morning, we headed out with no specific destination in mind. We literally would come to a fork in the path and say ‘Let’s go this way!’ We ended up at the top of a hill and took the same attitude on our way down ‘Let’s go this way!’ didn’t work out as well for us on the way down. We ended up in an orchard that we shouldn’t have (shhhhhh!) and walking along a main road for about a mile.

We’re having shelving installed in our garage since our house doesn’t have a ton of storage (and John is married to a bit of a sentimental who holds on to things). Stuff needed to be moved from one side of the garage to the other.

I leave on a trip tomorrow and I needed to do some cooking…turkey meatballs, red rice, and just general meal prep for both of us. The kitchen counter is kind of a disaster at the moment.

The best part about all of this…we’ve pretty much been off of our electronics. The phones were in our backpack on our hike. Phones and computers were just set aside as we were clearing and cooking. There’s been teasing and chatting, kissing and sidelong glances, comments about conversations that need to happen, and discussions about future plans. (Yes, the irony that I’m typing on my computer at the moment and John is prepping for his classes on his computer across from me is not lost on me).

Technology is great. It really is…I love social media. But there are days that call for 7.7 mile hikes, garage shelves, and kitchen messes…and I love that too.