Just to Claireify

healthy food, lifestyle, travel, & everyday moments.

Happy 28th Birthday, Eric!

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Today my wonderful husband is 28!

The past few years of our lives have been filled with massive changes. From three kids in just over three years, to the pandemic, to job changes, to our almost-move and so many other amazing and difficult things. It seems there’s hardly a month that’s gone by without something new to adapt to.

Our family isn’t perfect, but breaking generational cycles takes a lot of hard work, introspection, and persistence. And I’m lucky to be married to someone who shares these goals–in our marriage, parenting, and life in general–and takes each day as it comes, a fresh start with the potential to be the best day yet.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously, laughs at my eye rolls over his terrible dad jokes, encourages us to get out + be social + get fresh air, and shares my love of healthy eating and living.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who is an incredibly hands-on dad, who our kids constantly ask me “is it a work day?” because they want to play with Dad, who chauffeurs us all around because I hate driving with kid noise, and who’s committed to sharing the mental load of our household.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who supports me in my career and self-development goals, laughs at the random things I say when I’m tired and always stops me for a hug (or two or five) during the workday when I’m looking cranky.

Someday, it will be just us again. After the kids are in bed, we flip between talking about how nice it will be when we can go out to dinner and enjoy each other’s (uninterrupted) company again–and scrolling through pictures of the kids on our phones, lamenting how old they look already. That’s marriage and parenthood with lots of littles!

Happy birthday to the best husband and dad we could ask for. 28 is going to be a good one!

xx Claire

Happy Birthday to Me!

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Today I am 28 years old 🙂

When I was younger, I had plenty of different thoughts about how 28 would look for me, such as:

  • married, but no kids yet…
  • or maybe single, working as a teacher…
  • or as some kind of engineer!
  • living abroad maybe?
  • dating a much older, tall, dark, mysterious man?
  • celebrating at a bar with girlfriends and drinks?

Obviously, life has turned out to look like none of the above–I’m a stay-at-home mom of three boys under four, living in my hometown (for the long run it would seem!).

Nothing about life in my 20s has gone according to plan, and that’s okay. As a child/teenager/young adult, all of my plans for this decade hinged on someone taking notice of my exceptionality and offering me the time, money and opportunities I thought I deserved. If only someone had just noticed how truly unique I was, right? I was just waiting for my big break.

Of course, I am really not exceptional in the superficial sense at all. There are people out there who were better academically, are better at being teachers or engineers than I could ever be, are better suited to living abroad, are more intriguing women who naturally attract tall dark strangers, and are more social and popular than I will ever be (and are out celebrating their 28th birthdays at hip bars with twenty best friends).

But these days, I find being ordinary such a relief. The pressure is off! I can be an average person with average interests and accomplishments and be content with myself. I can find peace in waking up before my kids to drink a cup of coffee and read the Bible, and I can deal with tears and tantrums at library story time without feeling ashamed. I can take time to slow down and soak in these fleeting years with my kids as babies and toddlers. I can hang kitschy “Live, Laugh, Love”-esque wall art in my kitchen if I want to, because I don’t have to be deep and sophisticated and intellectual all the time. Or at all.

(Well, I am still a nerd who likes reading books about the gut microbiome and rewatching The Lord of the Rings over and over. But I also like typical modern farmhouse Christian wall art and Lululemon.)

My first decade of adulthood has treated me well. There was a lot of hard stuff, but I’m glad it pushed me to stop living in the gifted child matrix and started actually enjoying and making the most of reality.

Now I’m going to go enjoy some pizza and chocolate cake with Eric, the kids and my mom!

xx Claire

A Brief Update

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It’s only been a few weeks but it feels like it’s been much longer…

Eric’s job in Norway fell through so we are back in MN. Not a bad place to be for the holidays and we’re not looking to move again anytime soon–too many transitions in too little time. We have a new apartment, which, dare I say it, is a wayyy better fit for our family at the moment than our fixer-upper house was. Three under four is no joke. Eric has a new job since his old company here imploded during his paternity leave (y i k e s on bikes), and e is starting preschool this week.

Several difficult issues completely unrelated to the failed Oslo move have also arisen during this time, hence the blog going down (and my Instagram account is still deactivated because keeping up with that right now is just an overwhelming thought).

Anyways, I’ll be back sometime? In the new year? Or sooner or later, I don’t know. We’re still alive but the blog is like, not even taking a back seat right now… it’s hanging off the bumper of our insane lives.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my dad, stepmom, brother and some friends last week. I hope your big meal was enjoyed and that you find some time for rest and reflection amidst the busyness of the Christmas season.

xx Claire

Three Big Things #1: A New Baby!

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K. J. Walker arrived in the wee hours of the morning on September 21, 2022. His birth was finally what I wanted out of labor & delivery: quick, in the hospital, with a doula and wonderful OB, just gas & air for pain management, and most importantly, safe, peaceful and non-traumatic.

My first two births were pretty wild by comparison, but I finally feel at peace and honestly like I could have five more kids if my labors and deliveries were that wonderful! (Kidding, kidding.)… Read More »

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