5 Quick Things #398 💌

farmers, travel, living simply, & delightful book settings

Feb 13, 2026

Hi there,

It’s been a bit of a mind game watching the Winter Olympics this week, of which we are huge fans in our household, because temps around here have been gloriously sunny with highs in the 70s (I’m currently wearing shorts, a tank top, and sandals). No matter the weather, watching the Olympics tends to be a bonding experience for our clan, admiring various forms of whooshing down either snow or ice—which, you have to admit, is the bulk of what these winter sports are. I’m mostly a fan of all the skiing, but I also enjoy the wildness of those seemingly made-up-on-a-dare (almost certainly involving alcohol)1 sports of luge, skeleton, and bobsled. (I’m a rarity in that I don’t particularly enjoy figure skating.2)

I’m writing this a few days earlier than usual because by the time you’re reading this we’ve out out-of-town guests for the weekend, so this will be a bit on the short side. Onward!

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. In case you missed it, earlier this week I wrote a short essay on why I love travel and how it dovetails well with my homebody nature—and in particular, why I love pilgrimages: “Travel allows us to encounter the world’s wide variety of people and places. Pilgrimages, a particular form of travel, allows us to encounter those people and places while hearing from God about why He wants us to encounter them. What’s the sacred stuff beneath what I’m seeing, tasting, and touching? What’s the sacred stuff in me? What does He want to tell me through this particular journey of mine? How am I called to return home a little different?”
2. I’ve been sluggishly sick this past week, which means I’ve been doing more watching than reading than usual... Because of this, here’s a Q&A with a farmer that normally wouldn’t be my typical topic of interest, but turned out to be riveting. I already appreciated the farming trade, but now I have an even deeper newfound respect for our hardworking farmers.
3. I’m a simple girl these days: I see Arthur Brooks’ name on it, I click play. I appreciated this short-and-sweet interview format, and I love the topic.
4. Continuing with the I’m-sick-so-I’ve-been-watching-stuff… The most isolated town in the world, and why people live there. I’ve been itching to travel lately (see: my essay, linked above), so stuff like this has been my balm until I get back out there.
5. And finally, what book would you live in? What a fun question from Joel J Miller.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Apologia Pro Vita Sua, by Cardinal St. John Henry Newman

Quotable 💬

“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Lent is Coming! ➕

Hard to believe, but Ash Wednesday is this next week already, and that day signifies the first day of the Lenten season. I’ll share more of my thoughts in the coming week, but in the meantime: if you’d like a daily reading, might I suggest my book, Bitter & Sweet? In it, I spend the six-plus weeks of Lent walking through the seven cardinal vices—and their corresponding virtues—and how we might use Lent as a gift to shed the former and take on more of the latter.

Similar to my Advent guide, Bitter & Sweet uses daily Scripture, a short reflection from me, a question to ponder, and a song (with accompanying playlist), as well as weekly art. Lent is a long season, so I’ve found it helpful to have a companion to keep me going... If you’d like my words to be that companion for you this year, I’d be honored to walk alongside you this year through this book.

Learn more about Bitter & Sweet 🍋

What’s the ideal Valentine’s Day gift? 💝

We’ve got quite the spread of reader answers over here, and while I do agree that the top choices are all lovely—a walk-and-chat combo is basically my favorite free thing to do—I also agree that it’s a pretty dumb holiday. I mean, the actual St. Valentine the man was probably pretty great, but I’m not a fan of Big Holiday™ telling me when to feel romantic. My contrarian nature pushes me to do nothing on February 14, and instead do the date thing on either the 13th or 15th (or thereabouts).

Therefore, my answer is dinner out: because these days, with all we have going on, Kyle and I feel like ships passing in the night, and nice dinner out sounds like a veritable vacation. I’ll take it. (...But not on the 14th.)

Walk & chat: 18.80%
Nothing 16.9%
Dinner in: 16.1%
Dinner out: 15.3%
Flowers: 14.3%
Chocolate: 10.3%
Massage: 8.2%

Find the next poll here.

Come to Scotland: July 18-28, 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I love, love, love leading pilgrimages (see the above)—I’d love it if you prayed about joining us in Scotland this summer, where we’ll walk through the rugged highlands and listen to God’s voice on the Isle of Skye, in the halls of medieval castles, walking through historic St. Andrews, and more. And if you sense through prayer that this pilgrimage is meant for you, I’ll join you in prayer that God will provide all you need to go.

From now until February 20, you can get $100 off for a single registration when you use the code LOVETHIS, or $250 for two with the code LOVETHIS2 to register for this summer’s pilgrimage, Historic Highlands.