June 2023 // A List

June, oh, June. 

What an interesting month you have been.

Full of fun, summer vibes, and everyday adventures.

You were also a month full of good books and great music.

A month full of little joys.

S'mores, bubbles, ice cream, trips to the pool, indulging in strawberry refreshers galore

Trying new things and loving it.

Documenting all the things

Very few things bothered me this month, but the main thing that did annoy me was the government.

So many things that I could say, but I'll just continue to silently reflect.

Hope is still there, and so that is what I will continue to do...hope.

June, it was nice to rest and relax.

It was much needed and most certainly wanted.

You were a good month, and for that, I am grateful.

So long, June.

Hello July.

Here's to more adventures and savoring summer.

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

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

1. Target's Back-to-School displays. One of the main things that I love about Back-to-School season is the school supplies and stationery products. I was surprised to see the displays out already, but that did not stop me from taking a peek. I've already printed out the boys' school supply lists and noted a few things I want, so I can't wait to buy some stuff.

2. Apple Music's custom Chill Mix playlist. I have been enjoying listening to my personalized Chill Mix from Apple Music. The playlist is updated weekly, and I've found many new-to-me artists and songs. 

3. My donut pan. I finally used my new donut pan, and I love it! I made some donuts using a box mix and am now searching for a good homemade donut recipe. Maybe I'll try to make some red velvet donuts.

4. Summer thunderstorms. I don't know what it is, but something about summer thunderstorms always makes me feel at peace. Which is strange because I'm talking about thunderstorms. Maybe it's how they sometimes just randomly happen and stop suddenly. Or it's the scent of rain after the storm ends. I'm not sure; I just know that I love summer thunderstorms.

5. It's officially summer. Despite summer not being my favorite season, I love celebrating those first few days of summer. In fact, I always enjoy celebrating the first few days of each season.

6. I got a notification that my order from Paper Person is on its way, and I'm so excited. 

7. I put a hold on Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong at my local library, and it's finally ready to be picked up. I can't wait to read it over the weekend.

8. Newk's Chicken Tortilla soup. I bought a big container of this on a rainy day after running errands, and it was perfect. It's one of my favorite things on the menu. 10/10 highly recommend.

9. Decluttering my kitchen. Oh, my goodness. I have no idea what got into me, but I had randomly decided to declutter my kitchen late at night. In the end, I felt so happy, and my kitchen looked so much more organized.

10. Our new bubble machine. This is seriously one of the best things I've bought this year. A friend and coworker of mine recommended it, and it's amazing! The boys, especially my youngest son, have really loved it. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Summer 2023 Bucket List

Happy First Day of Summer! It's officially summer and I thought it would be fun to share my updated summer bucket list. Of course, some of the things on this list are the same from previous years, but there are a few new things that I added. Check out my list below.

• Read 6 books

• Make mini berry crumbles

• Watch 2 new or new-to-me TV shows

• Drink more water

• Make s'mores

• Work in my sketchbook/journal

• Make 5 scrapbook/project life layouts

• Write 3 personal essays

• Take more photos

• Publish 1 photo essay

• Complete Liz Lamoreux's Here: 5 Things course

• Go for a walk on the Silver Comet Trail at least 3 times

• Go to the pool

• Go to the Farmer's Market

• Go to Food Truck Tuesday event at least once

What's on your summer bucket list?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Fatih on Unsplash

Just Five Things

1. The first day of summer is on Wednesday, and I'm excited. For us, summer begins once school lets out, but there's just something about actually celebrating the official first day of the season. I'm not sure what we will do to celebrate the official first day of summer, especially since it's supposed to rain all week, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

2. Today, I went to get an SNS manicure, and I absolutely love it! I've been getting acrylics for a few months now to let my nails grow out. I prefer short nails, so getting the SNS manicure was perfect. The entire process seemed much more gentle than getting acrylics.

3. While I was at the nail salon, a song was playing that I absolutely loved. Every time I go to the salon, this song plays, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the song's name or the singer. I finally found out the name of the song. It's Good Love by Anita Baker. Do. Not. Judge. Me! I can't believe that I couldn't remember the name of this song or that Anita Baker sings it.

4. Today, I heard about a missing tourist submarine en route to the Titanic wreckage. I really hope that the five people onboard make it back home safely. Hearing about the missing submarine caused me to go into a Wikipedia wormhole, and I found myself researching missing submarines. I'm so surprised at how many submarines have been lost; some even have nuclear bombs on them! 

5. I'm in a creative rut even though I have all these ideas. I have so many things that I want to work on, but I've been focusing a lot on writing and working on my sketchbook/art journal. And even then, I have struggled to write down words and work on my sketchbook. I'm not sure what to do to get over this creative rut, but I hope it ends soon because it's been stressing me out.

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash

Summer Looks Like This: A Photo Essay

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale - an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Fun Mom Summer."

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

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

1. I submitted an essay to Coffee + Crumbs! One of my goals for the year was to submit an essay to a publication. Fingers crossed that my essay gets published. However, I'm so excited that I found the courage to submit something. 

2. It's ice cream season, and I found some cheesecake ice cream bars at the grocery store. I had no idea that the Cheesecake Factory even had ice cream bars at stores, so this was a real treat.

3. I finished reading Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong and loved this poetry collection. One of the poems that I keep thinking about is Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker.

4. I finally went to my doctor's appointment, and it went well. I wasn't dreading it as much as I thought I would. It's probably because my doctor is amazing.

5. I treated myself to some breakfast at Einstein Bros. I love their All-Nighter breakfast sandwich. I also tried their new strawberry and cream strudel. Now I'm on the hunt for a really good strawberry and cream strudel recipe.

6. I have been listening to Shrines by Echos on repeat. In fact, I highly recommend listening to the entire album, Even Though You're Gone. There are some great songs, including Guest Room and Saints.

7. Another order of photos from Persnickety Prints was delivered, and I continued to work on my Project Life album. I also received my order from Studio Calico. This week was a great week for creating and making layouts.

8. These words by Melissa Kitsch. I have been so inspired by the members of Exhale. This community has inspired me to write more.

9. Visiting Mami. I live close to my mother and am so grateful for that. It makes visiting her easy, and it's nice to catch up with her and converse face-to-face.

10. Decluttering my inbox. Oh my goodness! I had an insane amount of emails and finally deleted them. I went from almost 2,000 (don't ask me why I let it get to that point) to just under 500. I will continue to work on that, but I'm glad that I could get it somewhat under control. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Atlanta Mom Blog

Happy Monday! I'm over at Atlanta Mom with a new post. I'm sharing a mini Father's Day gift guide. Feel free to check out my post and tell me what you think. You can check out my previous posts here. 

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 grateful and happy list link-up. I didn't post my happy list last week, so this week will be a list of 10 things that made me happy in the previous two weeks. 

1. School is out, and summer break has begun!

2. Finally found and bought a copy of Meera Lee Patel's How It Feels to Find Yourself

3. Coconut Cream Cheesecake

4. Feeling You by Harrison Storm

5. Possessing Eden by Izzy Sweet and Sean Moriarty

6. My photos from Persnickety Prints arrived!

7. Working on my Project Life album

8. Vanessa and Jules' Folklore journal collaboration

9. Bella Grace magazine's latest issue (Summer - Issue 36)

10. Coffee + Crumbs Summer Collection 2023

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

June Goals

Happy Friday! My oh my, how time flies by! Can you believe it's already June? May was such a hectic month. There were so many events and last minute planning for those events. The month of May marked several changes for my family.

My youngest son will be in kindergarten, my middle son will be going to middle school, and my oldest son will be in his last year at middle school. I thought a lot about how my boys are getting older especially since Michael is now a teenager. A teenager! I still find myself in disbelief that my baby is a teenager. 

We had a blast celebrating Michael's birthday and we also got to celebrate my nephew's birthday as well. I had a great Mother's Day and enjoyed relaxing. Overall, May was a great month, but I'm so looking forward to June.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, going to the pool, going on some adventures, eating all the seasonal foods including s'mores and ice cream floats, and reading a bunch of books. I'm really looking forward to getting some much needed rest. This year (and the school year) has been a year filled with big changes and milestones. At times, I felt a little overwhelmed yet happy and grateful.

Now that it's a new month, I'm looking forward to having some extra time to actually focus on my goals. Now that I've mentioned my goals, let's recap on how I did with my monthly goals in May and check out my new goals for June.

Recap of May Goals

• Read and review 3 books I received from Netgalley: I didn't accomplish this goal, but I did read and review 2 books from Netgalley. I read This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America by Navied Mahdavian. This was an interesting graphic memoir about Navied's life in rural Idaho. He writes and draws about living off the grid with his wife, their struggle to conceive, and ultimately when they have their baby girl. He also discusses his struggles as an artist. The book also touches on topics such as his culture and identity in America. I also read Creative Wanderlust by Kasia Avery. I'm a fan of Kasia's work so I was excited to read her book. I loved the prompts and learning new techniques to try in my art journal.

• Read 2 books I borrowed from the library: I read How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz and it was amazing! The first sentence immediately got my attention and the story did not disappoint. I also read Above Ground by Clint Smith. This was an excellent book and was absolutely my favorite book of the month.

• Gather and donate clothes: I was so happy to get this done. I was amazed at how much clothes we have accumulated in just a short amount of time. I was able to gather and pack 3 boxes of clothes in total. 

• Try 1 new recipe: I can't remember if I did try a new recipe so I'm just going to assume that I didn't try a new recipe. 

• Participate in Exhale's May blog hop: I was able to participate in this month's blog hop. You can check out my piece here.

• Participate in Messy May: I read a few of the prompts, but sadly, I didn't make anything related to Messy May. I hate saying that I was too busy, but to be honest, I simply was too busy. 

• Work on my One Little Word lessons: I went back and read all of the posts and prompts for the previous months. However, I didn't make any layouts or journal. I'm considering this goal to be partially completed. since I did read through all the posts and prompts.

• Continue to work on my 2023 Project Life album: I've ordered a bunch of photos and used multiple kits to work on a ton of layouts. So far, it's going well and I'm hopeful that I will be able to be caught up on my 2023 album.

• Participate in Week in the Life: I'm so happy to say that I did participate in Week in the Life. Although I didn't document my week on the set date for the project, I wanted to document the first week of May. And I'm so glad that I was able to. I decided to keep everything in my Project Life album rather than make a separate album and it was honestly a good idea. 

June Goals

• Read and review 2 books I received from Netgalley

• Read 2 books I borrowed from the library

• Try 1 new recipe

• Drink more water

• Complete at least 2 One Little Word lessons

• Work in my sketchbook

• Continue to work on my 2023 Project Life album

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

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash