Sunwashed Linen

How I Thought About Changing Jobs

Posted on August 3, 2022August 5, 2022 by Lauren Lane

Over a year ago, I accepted and started a new job. I’m not sure that I ever explicitly talked about starting a new job on this blog, but you may have figured it out from Instagram or other comments I had made along the way. I thought I’d talk a bit more about how I considered changing jobs after being in the same function for my entire adult professional life.

{{Side note: This picture above is from my masters year in North Carolina of press pictures we took for the graduate school. I never take pictures in work attire, so struggled to come up with pictures for this post. 😆}}

I spent my entire career working for a public accounting firm. When I moved from North Carolina back to Kansas City, I made a switch from one public accounting firm to another, but the work I was doing for both companies was exactly the same. I spent thirteen years working my way up in my chosen career path. For all intents and purposes, anyone would look at where I was just below the very top of my career path, and wonder why would you spend thirteen years of your life doing something only to give it up just *moments* before reaching the very top?

Dear Jonathan, (v. XIV)

Posted on August 2, 2022August 5, 2022 by Lauren Lane

{{A note to the reader: I’ve written my little boys letters throughout their whole lives. I share some of them here on this blog. Some are kept just for them in their memory boxes. Letters are my way of memorializing their childhood and their mama’s love for them. Our little Jonathan, who is our youngest, turned two this past weekend. I’m sharing my letter to him here.}}

My sweet little Jonathan Brooks. Happy second birthday, little boy! Another milestone, another letter from your mama. You are really starting to blossom lately, little guy. You make us laugh and smile every day. The day starts with you waking up and asking us to “mow?” And ends with you always telling us there’s a “BUG! BUG!!” in your room. Our nights are punctuated by me asking you just before I lay you down to sleep, “How much does mama love you?” To always have you respond with a “so much” that sounds like “fruit snacks.” I will always love you fruit snacks, little boy.

Friday Favorites {07.29.22}

Posted on July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 by Lauren Lane

Happy Friday! It’s been a super busy week at the Lane house this week. I don’t know how, but it always feels like all of the things end up scheduled for the same week. There were hair appointments, school appointments, grooming appointments, not to mention just a busy work week, all pushed together in one week! Whew! I’m glad it’s Friday, and Nathan and I are headed out on a date night tonight!

If you read my WUW post earlier this week, then you know that we have a very special TWO year’s old birthday this weekend!

What’s Up Wednesday {07.27.22}

Posted on July 27, 2022July 26, 2022 by Lauren Lane

This is always my favorite post of the month. They’re the most fun to go back and read, it’s a little bit of food, a little bit of my Timehop addiction, reading, watching, all wrapped up in one post.

As always, I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life!

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK: I’m trying a new Half Baked Harvest recipe for my resident shrimp lover in the house (Mr. Harrison): Garden Herb Shrimp Scampi. We’re going to attempt to brave the heat this week and grill some burgers and hot dogs, and taco stuffed sweet potatoes, which I’ve never done before either! We’re rounding out the week with a couple of fun sweet treats for the boys to help me make: watermelon popsicles and blueberry cobbler, so I can use up some of the blueberries we picked and froze last month!

2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT: It snuck up on me, but my littlest boy is turning 2 this weekend! This past year seemed to fly by, and it’s amazing going back and watching videos of our Jonathan at this time last year. I think we always think about so much changing the first year of life, but my goodness! They change so much in year 1 to 2! Walking, talking, becoming so strong-willed and independent. Love my little guy so stinking much, and watching the boy that he is becoming now!

July 2022 Book Review

Posted on July 26, 2022July 21, 2022 by Lauren Lane

It’s time for my monthly book review! I didn’t get through as many books as I wanted to this month, so I only have two books to review for you. I always wondered how people found time to read. Having really little kids at home, I feel like I rarely have a free minute. And when they go to bed, I ALWAYS choose to veg on the couch and watch TV. Always. It’s my way of relaxing and calming down.

But about a year ago, my husband said he had joined Audible, which is an audiobook app, and that I should listen to the new Matthew McConaughey book. Well, I did. And I loved it. Thus began my reincorporation of ‘reading’ again. I listen when I take the dog for a walk, folding clothes, making dinner, doing yard work. And it’s been the best thing to finally get to enjoy the very long reading wishlist I had kept for years before discovering audiobooks.

The 5 Summer Beauty Products I Can’t Live Without

Posted on July 22, 2022July 21, 2022 by Lauren Lane

When I decided to narrow my absolutely can’t live without beauty products down to five, it was rough. So actually I ended up with six….but that doesn’t sound nearly as good as a nice odd number like 5! Ha!

In the summer, I’m not big on a lot of make-up. Most days, I opt for nothing but moisturizer and sunscreen. With all the heat and humidity of Kansas City, most days it feels fruitless to put anything besides that for fear of melting in the hot sun.

The Black Hills 2022: Part 2

Posted on July 20, 2022July 21, 2022 by Lauren Lane

Over the week of the Fourth of July, my family and I packed up the car and headed to South Dakota to spend a week in the Black Hills visiting my parents. They have a cabin just outside of Deadwood. I look forward to going up there for a week every year. It’s cool, crisp, and the mountain air is perfection.

If you missed Part 1 of our trip, I blogged about it yesterday HERE!

Part 2 starts with a hike on the Mickelson Trail. Baby J absolutely LOVED this hike. In fact, even though we took the stroller, Harrison rode in the stroller most of the time and Jonathan walked!

The Black Hills 2022: Part 1

Posted on July 19, 2022July 21, 2022 by Lauren Lane

We got back last week from a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota to visit my parents. For those that are new here, a bit of history on the Black Hills for my family, because this isn’t going to be a typical travel post about what we did and where we ate!

My parents grew up at the foot of the Black Hills in Rapid City, SD. My maternal grandparents bought some land in the Black Hills before my living memory, and lived in the Hills pretty my entire childhood. As kids, we’d always spend a week in the Hills visiting my grandparents. My sister and I have wonderful memories in the Hills growing up. We’d catch and release chipmunks, go camping, feed the deer, hike (I hated hiking growing up, though), and just generally lived outside in nature for a week.

Years ago, my parents bought land in the Hills as well, and in 2014 built a cabin on that land. They spend their summers living at the cabin, and the rest of the year they live in Kansas City. Thus began our own family annual pilgrimage to the Hills once a year.

July Garden Update

Posted on July 15, 2022July 21, 2022 by Lauren Lane

Watching the garden grow in the summer brings me endless joy. I love seeing how things play well together, making mental notes to myself on the color combinations used. Dare I say that this may be my favorite year YET. I went out at the beginning of July and took some pictures of the gardens to share!

I’m going to share the June picture followed by the July picture, because I always thinks it’s so amazing to see how things fill in during such a short period of time.

June:

July:

Let’s Look At…Keeping Healthy

Posted on July 13, 2022July 11, 2022 by Lauren Lane

It’s Let’s Look day with Shay @ Mix and Match Mama and Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything! If you’re new here, it’s one day a month that we share a little peak into some aspect of our lives. So far this year, I’ve shared:

In February, I shared what we ate in a week.
For March, I shared a look back at college life.
April, we looked at how we plan date night
For May, I shared the things I love about my hometown, Kansas City
In June, we shared our go-to summer lunches

And today, we’re talking about keeping healthy. How ironic that I’m sitting down to write about staying healthy on a day where I really don’t feel healthy….mentally, physically….But that’s just it. It’s not a straight line of healthiness at all times. It’s having habits that direct us back to feeling our best. There are a lot of facets of keeping healthy for me:

Staying Active. I’m a Bar Method devotee. I’ve been an almost daily regular at Bar classes since 2013. Days that I start my day with Bar have me feeling more energized and awake even though I get up two hours earlier before the boys on work-out days. I feel it the days that I miss class, which has me all the more excited to get back ASAP. It wasn’t very long ago that I wrote a whole blog post about my active lifestyle, and it really covers it all.