The Weekly Ramble – June 12, 2026

Howdy, howdy. Did ya miss me?

Astute calendar watchers will note that I missed last week’s ramble. I had every intention of posting, but life got away from me. Looking through my camera roll, you didn’t miss much; my life was very much caught up in election nonsense.

Better that we skipped that week. Ahem. Though, I am interested to see how Phase 3 plays out. (Language warning.)

Anywho, please pray for my state. And our country.

I do not enjoy talking about politics, mainly because I don’t like how much it can rupture relationships. Doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions.

Also, it’s a weird space to exist in: I can distrust the government and love my country at the same time. Two things can be true, as they say.

I don’t want people to hate me for my politics. I want them to hate me for my faith. (If they’re going to hate me at all, that is.)

I’ve appreciated Courtney from Acts of Sourdough and the pushback she’s willing to give online, not about politics as much as about Jesus, so I bought some of her sourdough merch as a way of supporting her business.

Jesus matters more than elections. No elected official can save us. Only Christ.

Anywho. Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, and/or reading this past week:

What I’m Learning

I think much of life, if not all of it, is about managing expectations and managing emotions. You can’t really have one without the other.

I knew this was the heart of parenting, but I think it’s the heart of life. What do I expect and how will I respond when I don’t get what I want?

If it’s better than I expected, it should be praise for God.

If it’s worse than I expected, it should be praise for God.

He and He alone is in charge. In the midst of praising Him, also lies the question of what can I learn, how can I grow from this?

Recently, I posted my third burrito-making reel on the gram. Previously, I was inundated with questions that I answered manually in the comments of the first two videos.

I no longer pay for someone to manage social media, and I don’t have the budget for the automations that the cool kids use. Responding to every comment takes time, so I created a free burrito guide to field the questions and make it easy for everyone.

The reel ended up going viral which is kinda cool. That’s not been my experience. About 5000 people have decided to get to know Good Cheap Eats which is kinda cool.

I was not prepared, however, to get really hateful comments and stalker-y type responses. That really threw me for a loop.

All the same, it was a really good reminder to stay humble. One viral video does not a celebrity make. And anyhow, I don’t want to be a celebrity. That’s not what this is about.

It’s about helping more people steward their money well.

What I’ve Been Doing

Speaking of stewardship, I’m reworking the kitchen. Back when we moved, the kids got bigger bedrooms, but I lost my office — and the storage space for all my photography props.

I’ve downsized a lot of it, but in order to make it easier for the fam to use the kitchen and put things away, I’ve needed to relocate the props from my hidey holes in the kitchen and living room.

Last week I did phase one of the gutting and this weekend I’m tackling phase two. Oy. It’s a work in progress, to be sure.

What I’ve Been Eating

I am currently trying to make nutrition changes that will stick, but it’s been hard to be self-disciplined in this area. Here’s what I’m working on:

• eating lots of plants, trying for 30 kinds a week, per this article
• adding a pinch of salt to my water – it’s turning out to be way cheaper than LMNT and easier on my gut
• taking 3 grams of creatine/day – I ramped up to it over three weeks
• avoiding alcohol and trying to limit added sugar (that last one is hard!)

What I’ve Been Listening/Watching

I had very high hopes for A Great Awakening, a story of the relationship between Ben Franklin and George Whitfield. I’d even schemed to take the whole fam for my birthday.

We missed the theater window so I was thrilled to see it available on Amazon so soon. We bought it for $15 because that was so much cheaper than theater tickets.

Unfortunately, the movie didn’t quite match my expectations. Remember what I said about managing expectations?

Since we own it, I’m going to rewatch it and see if there are shining moments I missed. It did prompt one kid to hunt down Whitfield’s sermons and Bryan went in search of Jonathan Edwards, so it was not a loss.

Just not the gain I had expected.

What I’ve Been Reading

I ended up reading seven books in May which was more than I had hoped for, even if 3 of them were cheesy romances.

I’d definitely recommend these two, ie I would read them again or buy them.

• The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson
• The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

So far in June I finished and recommend and will be rereading Next Level by Dr. Stacy Sims. I was contemplating taking her menopause course, but I’m a little skeptical about how captivating the videos will be. The ad she has playing on her sales page feels really dry. If you’ve taken it, let me know!

Instead I’m considering her workout recommendation as a better investment of my hard-earned cash.

Alrighty, that’s it for me. I’d love to hear how you’re doing. Leave a comment and let’s chat!