May 2022 // A List

May was an emotional month.

May was a month full of celebrations for my family.

May was a month of celebrating Michael's birthday and my nephew's birthday.

May was the month of honoring mothers.

May was the month of excitement.

Excitement for the last day of school and the unofficial beginning of Summer.

I'm so proud of my boys and what they accomplished this school year.

They tried their best, and their excitement over their awards and the last day of school made me smile and filled me with so much joy.

The last week and a half of May were full of sadness.

So many questions are left unanswered.

The question "Why" was what I couldn't stop asking and still find myself asking.

May was a month of mourning the loss of children and praying for their families.

The month of May was a month full of gratitude.

May was an unforgettable month. 

But I am ready for June.

So with that said, goodbye, May.

Hello June.

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! It's been a difficult week and I thought about not posting anything today, but I think it's important to remember the things that made me grateful, and happy and bought me a little bit of comfort.  So, today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up. 

1. School is out for the summer

2. My kids' excitement over their school awards

3. My sons' teachers

4. Hot chocolate in the evenings

5. My Logbook Vol. 2 by Amy Turn Sharp finally arrived

6. Signing up for Studio Calico's Summer of Sketches class

7. Buying a couple of new books

8. Reading

9. Disney's Obi-Wan Kenobi finally premiered today

10. Come and Get Me by Sleeping Wolf

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. Walking Gentry Home by Alora Young

2. The end of the school year is almost here

3. "Now Watching" kit from Paper Person Shop

4. Hints of summer

5. S'mores bars

6. Machine by Neoni

7. Blueberry Bliss bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes

8. Conversations with Mami

9. Being inspired by books, songs, and everyday moments

10. Reading my favorite newsletters 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

If You And I Had Coffee

If you and I had coffee...

We'd meet up at one of our favorite coffee shops and order some of our favorite drinks. I'm still on a hot chocolate kick, so I'll probably get one of those instead of a coffee. We'd order some pastries too. We'd probably stay indoors rather than go for a walk in the neighborhood.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I've been reading so many good books. One of my current favorite books is Walking Gentry Home by Alora Young. I was lucky enough to receive an arc from Netgalley, and I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to read and review the book. I'm almost halfway through the book, and it's been amazing. Walking Gentry Home is about Alora Young's ancestors. It begins with the unnamed women in her past to the present day. Some of the women included in her story are Amy, one of the first of Alora's foremothers to arrive in the United States, her great-grandmother Gentry, and Alora's mother. I love that the story is told in verse form. You can tell that Alora did a lot of research about her ancestry. Reading this book has made me even more curious about my own ancestry. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I should probably try to figure out how to filter what news I read. I just realized that most of the news in my feeds is usually terrible news. It's definitely not something that I want to wake up. That's not to say that I don't get much "feel-good" news. It just seems like lately, I've gotten a lot more notifications of bad news. Usually, it's about Covid and politics, and sometimes it's about issues going on in other countries. I definitely want to still be informed about these current events, but at the same time, I want to limit how much I read/see the news. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm considering taking a class by Nicole Warrington. The class is called Awaken to Place. I'm a big fan of Nicole's art, and the description of the class sounds like fun. I'm also considering signing up for the next round of Liz Lamoreux's Here: Five Things e-course. I'm a sucker for listing challenges, and I have always enjoyed Liz's Here: Five Things classes. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm currently on a Creamsicle float kick. I can't stop making these floats! It's so simple to make, and this treat reminds me of summer. I'm not a big fan of summer, but I am excited about it this year. I'm even more excited because the end of the school year is upon us. I think I've been gravitating towards food that reminds me of summer, and I'm not mad about it. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm so glad we got to meet up. Having these little coffee dates is so fun, and I always look forward to them. I hope everything is going well with you and continues to do so. Stay safe, and I'll talk to you soon. 

What would you tell me?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Oksana Kurochkina on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. Working in my January traveler's notebook

2. Getting most of the things on my to-do list done before 10 AM

3. New scrapbooking and memory keeping supplies

4. Free items from Scrapbook.com (I got two glue tape runners, a magazine, and a stamp set for free! It's a great way to try new supplies.)

5. Dunkin' Donuts Hot Chocolate bombs

6. Target's customer service

7. #getmessymay and #getmessyartjournal

8. Light rain while the sun is out

9. My morning walks

10. Champion by Neoni & burnboy

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Saturday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. Celebrating Michael's birthday early

2. Staycation at Great Wolf Lodge

3. Chocolate chip ice cream

4. Treating myself to a pedicure

5. Double cheeseburgers

6. Spending time with my family

7. Celebrating my nephew's birthday

8. Creamsicle ice cream floats

9. Wearing flowy dresses and skirts

10. Finally figuring out what to do for Get Messy May

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

May Goals

Happy Monday! It's finally May, and I'm so excited! Last month was a bit of an interesting month. The first half of April was perfect. We celebrated Raphael's birthday. We celebrated with family, and Raphael also celebrated with his classmates at school. We've been counting down to our staycation. We're so excited, and this is a much-needed vacation. 

However, the second half of April almost made me lose my faith in humanity over two events that I witnessed. I won't go into too much detail simply because both are two long stories, and I'm still processing what I saw, but you can check out my post here for a somewhat more detailed story.

The month of May is usually exciting and busy. There are so many events that we are getting ready to celebrate. It's Michael's birthday month, my nephew's birthday, Mother's Day, and there are only a few more weeks left of school. We are all so excited.

Even though it's a new month, there are still a few goals that I'd like to accomplish, especially since there were a few goals and things that I didn't accomplish or finish. So before I continue to ramble, let's check out my goals for May and have a recap on how I did last month.

Recap of April Goals

• Read 6 books: I read 38 books last month, and yes, some of those books were books that I didn't finish the previous month. I still have that annoying habit of being unable to "DNF" (did not finish) books. My favorite books that I read in April are Drawing on Grief by Kate Sutton, Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo, Post Traumatic Texts by Courtney Coffey and Sleepwalk by Anna Fury.

• Read 3 books from Netgalley: I read and reviewed 9 books sent to me by Netgalley. It's a great feeling that I'm finishing these books because I had many books to review. 

• Try 1 new recipe: I tried two recipes this month. My mom sent me a photo of some wings that my little sister made using mami's recipe. They looked so good, so I decided to try to make it. I got the recipe from my sister, and I was so surprised that they turned out delicious. John and the boys loved it so much. I definitely plan to keep this recipe. The second thing that I made was an ice cream float. Random fact: It was my first ice cream float...ever! I got the idea when I read the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. I made a Creamsicle flavored ice cream float, and it was so good. It was so simple to make and a tasty treat.

• Complete 2 half-finished memory-keeping projects: I didn't finish my memory-keeping projects, and I don't really have an excuse for it. I wouldn't say that I'm going through a creative block; I just haven't made the time to work on many creative projects. I didn't really feel motivated to work on any half-finished projects, even though I'm so close to finishing some mini albums.

• Continue to work on my 100 Day Project: I did journal every day in April. I primarily did this on my phone and then would transfer the words to my journal. However, I'm currently struggling to work on this project. I think the main issue is that I want to be able to create when I want to and not feel pressured to work in my journal because of a challenge. I've always struggled to finish a 100 Day project, and I need to realize that I shouldn't feel pressured to complete the project. Usually, I will stop working on these 100 Day projects once I feel the pressure to work on them or when it doesn't feel fun anymore. I'm still going to try to work on my project, which is journaling, but I'm going to make it work for me. 

• Share 2 personal essays on the blog: I didn't share any personal essays unless you count my "If You and I Had Coffee" monthly piece. Honestly, I didn't post as much as I'd like in April. It was such a weird month, and I'm still processing a few things that happened in April. Maybe I'll share those stories this month. We shall see.

May Goals

• Read 8 books

• Try 2 new recipes

• Work on Get Messy May

• Read and review 4 books from Netgalley

• Complete 1 half-finished memory keeping project

What are your goals for May? How did you do in April?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Dragonfly Ave on Unsplash