July was an eventful month. We had lots of appointments to prepare for the upcoming school year. Michael and Raphael are now wearing glasses, and they look so handsome. We finished back-to-school shopping for the kids.
John and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at Maggiano's (where we had our wedding reception) and had a lovely date night. The gorgeous bouquet John gave me is still alive. One of my favorite traditions is getting a bouquet of our wedding flowers.
My older sister, brother, and I visited Mami. It was nice for all of us to be together. Our little sister wasn't able to make it, but hopefully we'll all catch up soon. The boys had a blast spending time with their cousins.
I tried lots of new-to-me things like food and drinks. I definitely indulged in all the summer foods like strawberry shortcake ice cream, mixed berry smoothies, rainier cherries, BLTs, and homemade pizza. I also visited a couple of new-to-me small businesses and a few shops I hadn't visited in a long time.
July was a self-care heavy month, especially since July marks the end of our summer vacation. I read so many good books. I was so grateful to get an advance copy of Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith's book, The People's Project. I also read so many good newsletters on Substack.
July was such a whirlwind that I didn't think too much about my goals. And since I've mentioned my goals, let's have a quick recap of my July goals and then check out my new goals for August.
Recap of July Goals
- Read 2 books I borrowed from the library: I read Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. I also read The Most Boring Book Ever by Brandon Sanderson with Raphael.
- Read 2 books I received from NetGalley: I read I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins, A Rebellion of Care by David Gate, 31 Days of Spooky by Harper Celebrate, and The People's Project by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith. My absolute favorite read was a tie between A Rebellion of Care and The People's Project. 31 Days of Spooky made me yearn for autumn and Halloween.
- Participate in Exhale's blog hop: Unfortunately, I didn't participate in the blog hop. The prompt stumped me, but I still want to try to work on it. The Exhale Creativity community is on a sabbatical this month, so it's the perfect time to look back at some prompts and see if there's any I'd like to work on. I may even try to work on a few other creative exercises.
- Try 1 new recipe: I made chocolate chip banana bread using GoNanas banana bread mix. I love that you can add other ingredients to the mixes. Try adding fresh strawberries to any of their chocolate bread mixes or the original banana bread mix...you'll thank me later.
- Work on a photography exercise: Yikes. I completely forgot to do this.
- Declutter at least two closets: We went through the boys' closets and were able to fill up three boxes full of clothes to sell and/or donate. I'm still shocked at how much stuff we can accumulate. I definitely need to work on my closet next.
- Work in my sketchbook/journal: Ugh. I'm disappointed I didn't work in my sketchbook. Every time I tried, I kept struggling to choose which sketchbook or journal to use. In fact, I'm still struggling with this. I'm not sure if I want to work in a pocket-sized Moleskine watercolor notebook, a mixed media spiral pad, or one of my Get Messy journals. This has been really frustrating because I'm bursting with so much creative energy, and I'm just stuck on what journal to use.
- Make at least 1 scrapbook/Project Life layout: I also forgot to work on this. However, I do need to order some prints for some layouts.
August Goals
- Read 1 book I borrowed from the library
- Read 2 books I received from NetGalley
- Work on one previous blog hop prompt from Exhale
- Try 1 new recipe
- Work in my sketchbook/journal
- Make at least 1 scrapbook/Project Life layout
- Start getting back to meal planning
What are your goals for August? How did you do in July?
Thanks for visiting!
Until next time...
Photo by Andrea Stuart on Unsplash
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