hey hey may

 {taken on a recent walk}

It’s May! This is going to be an exciting and eventful month for us, so just a heads up if I disappear sporadically or am slow to answer comments and emails. This month:

• T. graduates with his PhD and we host a small party at our place
• I defend my dissertation and graduate with my PhD (in a city ca. 6-7 hrs from us)
• We drive with our dog and baby to said city of my defense/graduation
• We prepare for our summer of travel with a baby
• We get our home ready for our summer tenant, who’s also kindly keeping our dog for us
• We try to tie off a zillion loose ends before we take off, surely forgetting about half of what needs to be done

And if you are a regualr reader, you might be like to know that you can now follow my blog with Bloglovin!

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Last, I was honored to hear that Simply Bike was nominated as a Circle of Moms “Top 25 Outdoorsy Moms” blog last month. It’s always nice to have one’s work noticed and acknowledged and I’m particularly happy to be selected among so many other wonderful blogs authored by women who share so many of my passions: being outside, getting fit, cycling, hiking, playing outdoors, and respecting nature and what this beautiful world has to offer. I chose not to ask for votes this time around (as I did when my blog was nominated and selected as one of the Top 25 Cycling Families Blogs). Primarily because I’d like this space to remain about me writing and sharing what’s important to me without bombarding you, the reader, to visit other sites and to click on links and to cast votes my way. I’m honored to be included in the round-up and you can vote for my blog, should you want to, but I’m also happy to just let this one go.

I recently came across this post on Zen Habits and am reminded of it as I write about this now. The author writes about our culture’s obsession with not wanting to miss out on anything and trying so hard to do it all; a trap I’ve fallen into more times than I’d like to say. Part of becoming a parent and taking on more responsibilities has forced me to pick and choose the things to focus on and the things to just let go. The internet is especially dangerous when it comes to pushing that fast-paced do-it-all mentality and even though I love blogging, sharing news on Twitter, and being plugged in to social media in a variety of ways, I’m also trying to be mindful of how to use that time wisely and how to not get caught in a do-it-all pattern. My daily mentras: be mindful, slow down, do less but do it well, enjoy the moment, laugh.

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I hope that May is an exciting and fruitful month for you as well! Thank you for reading and sharing our adventures with us. ~ S.