Week In The Life 2024 | Ali's Monday

Welcome to my Week In The Life 2024 post for Monday. 

PROJECT REFLECTIONS

All day long I continued to give myself permission to ease into this project. I let myself get what I got when I could get it and I'm so glad I decided to pick up my big camera. I took a combination of phone photos along with my Canon EOS R6 over the course of the day and it's likely I'll continue that pattern throughout the rest of the week.I love that what I captured today feels very representative of this particular season of my life and I'm so glad to be diving into this project once again. 

I mentioned last week on Instagram that I was thinking I'd work in my album during the documenting week but I don't think I'm going to do that now that I'm actually living the week. I'm going to let myself just focus on the words + photos and then bring them together in the coming weeks. 

Not included in this post but additional images from today that I will include in my album: screenshots from family, friends, the New York Times, a local veggie order, and FaceTime meeting. I'm trying to be conscious of grabbing those as they happen during the day (and I love that they just end up in my phone camera photo roll). 

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

As I went about my day I was flooded with memories of photos from past Week In The Life projects. I started doing this project in 2005 and moved into this house in 2010. That means I've been taking photos around this same house for 14 years throughout various seasons of my life. The cast of characters is older and stuff of life has happened over and over again within these walls as we've all grown and evolved. 

I love the repetition of photo angles and locations year over year. I feel acutely aware of the passage of time and the fleeting nature of each individual season. 

As I look at myself in the photos from today I see that I am older and more open and less rigid. I've gotten better at letting go. 

Here's a look at my Monday: 

Betty gets me up each morning these days. Breakfast, vitamins and a dental bone (in that order) and then she heads outside. When she comes back in I either lay on the couch, go back to bed, or make myself a coffee to start my day. Today I went back upstairs and got back in bed for a bit before getting up to capture some images and drive Anna to school. 

Evidence of Anna. 

A couple months ago Aaron decided he wanted to try out a new style of coffee maker. I still drink plain black coffee - now I just push a button and it appears. 

Photos of people taking photos are always fun. I took this one with my phone to show how I was taking a photo of the coffee maker. 

These days she often goes and sits on our bench even if I'm not able to go sit with her. 

Morning vibes from my people: 

• Aaron: "Ah, I'm not ready for photos!" 
• Audrey: "I’m having a great hair + makeup day!"
• Elliott: Still sleeping. 
• Anna: "Can we take Libby to school?"

Well lived-in and well loved and still the center of activity. 

Two alarms today for a hair appointment and the time I need to get girls from one volleyball practice to another. 

In this season Aaron drives Audrey to school most days (some days she carpools). Her high school is across town and they usually leave around 8am. This morning she made herself a smoothie. 

Anna doesn't start school until 9am so she gets to leave a little later. Today we picked up her friend Libby and took her to school with us. 

"My mom's doing this project called Week In The Life so she's taking a lot of photos." Anna tells Libby as they get out of the car. Having a parent that did this kind of project every year of your life must leave some kind of impression. I wonder if she'll want to do this for herself someday. 

One of the highlights of Betty's day is going for a ride in the car. She loves the window rolled down (no matter the weather). She's awesome in the car. 

After dropping Anna off I headed to the backyard to do a morning outside task. I've been trying to do that recently - starting my day with a short task outside before heading to my office. Today's task was emptying and then washing all my bird feeders. 

While I was cleaning out the bird feeders Aaron made us some eggs. 

After I washed out all the birdfeeders I left them out to dry on the kitchen counter and headed up to my office. This morning I listened to The Daily (The Evolving Danger of the New Bird Flu) and started Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust (both podcasts). 

In this season I'm trying to begin my office time with some painting on canvas. I'm often just adding a single color in swipes and swishes across the canvas before heading to my computer. I'll repeat this throughout the day as I come and go from this space. 

Painting has been making me so happy. 

At my desk I check email. I transfer money to Simon for next month. I look at the “mess” in my office and decide what I need to prioritize this morning before my 1pm hair appointment. On my work list this week I’ve got the following: Story Play designs for next year, overview videos for next month’s subscriptions, OLW prompt for next month, and PL catch up. I decide to start by creating the Illustrator files for the Story Play kits. 

In this season I find myself scheduling for the week more than for a day - meaning I know what needs to get done for this week and then I can plan my days around that (which day will I be at my desk the most, etc).

I start working on a new Project Life spread by printing photos and gathering supplies. 

Betty is never very far. 

Aaron's been working on his laptop a lot lately (vs. in his office). He loves the light in this room. Me too. 

At 12:30 I head to my hair appointment. I left before my blow dry in order to make it home in time for a meeting with Simon's support team (I got a screenshot of that to add to my album). 

When I got back from my hair appointment I did a quick walk around the yard before heading back to my office for a bit. During this time of year I love just walking out into the yard to see what's happening. Things progress so fast in the yard once we hit this time of year. 

Audrey had a friend over after school. They made mac + cheese and listened to Hamilton. 

The roses are coming. I can't wait. 

It's rare to get a shot of all three of them at the same time. Sam, Betty and Ernie. 

Strawberries are coming. 

Wisteria is here. The wisteria is one of the reasons I wanted to buy this house. It was giant when I moved into this house and it's still going strong. These blooms are brief each year and they always remind me of being in college and walking around Corvallis and seeing these and being amazed with them. 

My first peony blooming this year is a Japanese tree peony (the others are still about a month away). I planted it last fall and am so excited to see what it does - this is a huge bloom. 

Aaron moved his working operation out to the backyard. He's got a full set up now with the Jackery generator we use in the camper. It's been such a warm spring - so thankful for the sunshine. 

Back in my office I added a few more thick swishes of paint, checked email, and started editing these photos and composing this post. 

Around 6:20pm I headed out with Audrey to pick up Anna, Aune, Adriana, and Ady from their high school volleyball practice (they started spring weights and open gym two weeks ago) to their club volleyball practice. I've known all these awesome young women since they were 4 and 5 years old. I love having them around and love their families too. One of their parents will bring the girls back after their practice ends at 9pm. 

I'm cherishing the time I get to ride in the car with the girls - it's one of the main places that sharing about life happens and I love listening. Audrey has her permit now and Anna isn't far behind. 

I stopped at the grocery store after dropping off the girls and got some basil and sliced mozzarella to have with our dinner. Some days I cook and some days Aaron cooks and some days we order take out. We did a giant Costco run last weekend so we are pretty stocked and I'm trying to get back into planning our dinners. 

In this season we sometimes eat dinner in bed while the girls are at practice. Currently watching Baby Reindeer (while we wait for the season finale of Shogun). 

When the girls got home I went downstairs and chatted with them for a bit and gave them food suggestions. They ended up heating up some of the steak and eating some leftover beans and chips while they talked about their practices. 

I'm really thankful for this season (and I honestly hope that I've said that or something along those lines in most seasons of my life - even the challenging ones). 

I'm looking forward to telling the story of the rest of the week as it unfolds.