It is what it is

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35 Before 35 Update

I know that I do not have much to update this month, but the thought of having a month missing on my list gives me heebeegeebees. So here it is. No one is perfect.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

2. Do a photography challenge (Took pictures once a week George’s first year)

3. Visit 5 cities I have never been to before (8/5)

4. Tour at least one a winery, brewery, or distillery

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

6. Become a “professional” photographer

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (6/10)

8. Go camping with Tom

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

10. See Tyrone Wells live as many times as possible

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

12. Water ski with my dad

13. Do a 5K with my mom

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (32/20)

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

25. Do something unique and new for my birthdays

26. Explore Nashville while we live here

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 20 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (3/10); Documentaries (7/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

29. Do a personal devotional/bible study on my own

30. Be a mascot for an event

31. Go on our honeymoon (preferably somewhere tropical)

32. Host an annual NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game party

33. Go on a mission trip

34. Be on a recreation volleyball team

35. Become a mom

Yes to doing one thing on the list. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. Here’s to next time.

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June Goals

I really enjoyed myself this last month. It’s always good to reflect on yourself and make sure you are enjoying life. Isn’t that what birthdays are for?

Anyway, I think I also did some damage to my goals…in a good way.

 Recap on my May goals

  • Fitness-get at least one day with 25,000 steps. I got this the first weekend! Then my steps when downhill from there, but I did get it that one time!
  • House Tasks-
    • Hang up photos in our bedroom-Friends! We finally got these up. This picture doesn’t do the room justice on the change it made. It only took us 5 months…
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    • Get the basement visitor ready-We got this mostly done. We have to hang the shower curtain in the bathroom, but we cleaned out a lot of the construction trash and straightened up and organized things . So I would say this is progress!
    • Put in flower beds off our porch-This didn’t happen yet. One it has rained a lot this month which makes any project difficult. And two we have changed our minds several times on how we want to lay it out once we saw how we may use it with friends over. So we may wait a little longer to see if there are any other tweaks to our design we want to make to make sure it is fully functionally for what we need.
    • Dig up flowers to put in tree beds-I blame it on the rain and the fact that Tom and I had almost no days off that were the same this month. So no we did not do this.
    • Tear down the creeper shed-Can I blame it on the rain again? I think this is just going to be put on the back burner until we have some other yard projects done. Until then we will use it to get some aggression out when needed. 
  • Something with George-Have a play-date with one of my mom friends. We did have some friends over who have an almost toddler. While it wasn’t a mom date since our hubbies were there, I think having another kid over for George was good for him. We also had Tom’s entire squad and their families over for a BBQ, so he got to interact with a lot of kids then too. He is really jealous of sharing Mom and Dad, so I think all this interaction on his own turf is good for him.
  • Something with Tom-Go to the restaurant in our little town. We did not do this. Other than my birthday weekend, we didn’t have any weekends off together. 
  • Something for me-Blog about my favorite things. I am actually really surprised I did as many as I did. I hope you all enjoyed it because it was great for me to be in this space every day. 

Not so bad. About 50/50. Let’s see what I can do this month.

June Goals

  •  Fitness-
    • I found some BodyPump videos that I want to try out. I miss BodyPump so my goal is to do it once a weekend.
    • Go through Jessica Smith’s Walk-a-Thon twice. There are 8 videos, so I think this is completely doable right?
  • House Tasks-
    • Finish Living Room Wall-I have a gallery wall I want to do, but we have to make one thing before that can be finished. Pallet boards are in my future!
    • Fix the flower beds around the trees-we have to do something new. THe rocks are not working out with the lawn mower
    • Get the basement visitor ready-We just need to top off the bathroom!
    • Clean the craft room-This seriously needs to happen. I want to make things!
  • Something with George
    • George starts swim lessons this month. (I know! How can he be old enough for that business?) We were gifted a blow up pool, so my goal is to get that out this month.
    • I also want to get out the bubbles. I think he is old enough now to actually enjoy them more, so it is time to play!
  • Something with Tom-We celebrate our anniversary this month. Even though it is Year FIVE, we just want to do something simple. We want to go to a dinner and a movie.
  • Something for me-I am going to be very vague here, but there are some things that I need to do this month for me. Tom’s pep talk to me was “If you can birth a baby out of your vagina, you can do this.” Yep. That’s it. I just need to have the confidence to advocate for myself this month.

 

 

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My Favorite Summer Activities

My son gets his love for the outdoors naturally from both parents. I love being outside, and there are certain activities I love more than others while getting some Vitamin D.

In my book it is officially summer with students gone from campus. All I can think about is how to get outside more and what funtivities we can do.

 

Year 95-4

My brother and I circa 1995.

Here are some of my favorite things to do in the warmer weather:

  • Swimming-Put me in a pool or a lake and I will be as happy as a clam. I love to be in the water. When we were younger, my family rarely went fishing because I would always run through the water and scare of all the fish. Above is one of the few times my swimming didn’t impact my brother’s fishing.
  • Trail Hikes-I love exploring new nature trails. There is just something about walking through the trees that is very calming. I try to do this at least once a week since there are so many around us here in mid-Missouri.
  • Miniature Golf-We haven’t been in awhile, but this was our favorite thing to do while we were dating. I love it!

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  • Sitting by a campfire-Roasting marshmallows and talking by the glow of the fire. So relaxing. I am so happy we got our fire pit set up this month!
  • Baseball-I mean really is there any surprise here? I can’t wait to get to Kauffman to watch my Royals play!
  • Carnivals-I love street fairs and carnivals. It’s a great place to watch all the locals. While I won’t ride the rides-ugh hello I grew up working at a theme park and doing safety checks-but the games sure are fun. And I love the food! We live in a place that has street stuff all the time. I can’t wait for these this summer!

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What are your favorite summer activities?

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Bloom Voxbox Review

I did receive these products complimentary for the review from Influenster, and these thoughts are my own.

I really enjoy getting these boxes so I can try different products that I normally wouldn’t buy or seek out.

This is what I got in the Bloom Voxbox and my thoughts on them.

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  • Cutex Advanced Revival Nail Polish Remover Pads-I really like these, but I don’t paint my nails enough to warrant buying these. (#jamberryfanforlife) They are convenient but I think a bottle of polish remover and cotton balls do the trick just fine for a fraction of the price.
  • Not Your Mother’s Plump For Joy-I was excited to try this because I have liked other Not Your Mother’s products. I have been having days where I don’t do anything to my hair after showering because I am tired of spending a half hour to dry and style it. This mother doesn’t care about my frizzy un-even hair. So I thought this would be a good product to use on those days to maybe make it more wavy and full. I was not a fan. It is in a spray bottle, but it comes out in a thickesh gel. It’s weird, so I wasn’t sure how to best apply it. I tried both spraying it on directly to my hair and applying it with my hands, and I honestly saw no difference. My hair is still weird and wiry with spontaneous curls thrown in there. I would not recommend this to anyone.
  • Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil-I did like this on my skin. It made my skin really soft. It absorbs really quickly. On my hair though it was a different story. It always looked like I put too much and ended up being greasy. I just used enough to cover a couple of my fingertips, so I am not sure how I could use less for my hair. It was really nice for my dry arms though!
  • Sunbelt Bakery Granola Bars-WE LOVE THESE! We have been Sunbelt fans for years. Seriously, we stock up on them when they are on sale. They are the best granola bars out there. I will say though that I have never gotten the Oats and Honey flavor because we always get the kind that have some chocolate in them. I am glad I got this one though, because it is so good! This will be a good flavor for George when I don’t want him to have all the chocolate.
  • Secret Outlast Xtend Invisible Solid-I am always a little leery to try new deodorants. I have used Secret Clinical or Dove Clinical for at least a decade. But I am happy to say that this deodorant rivals the clinical brands. I had no issues with normal armpit woes, and I loved the solid aspect. I am not a fan of clicking the deodorant up. I am keeping this at work now or those days that I may or may not forget to put on deodorant before I leave the house.
  • SinfulColors Nail Polish-I love this brand of nail polish, but as I said above I am really into Jamberry. I can’t really paint my nails at this stage of our lives without being interrupted or needed elsewhere. Nothing is worse than a messy manicure. Anyway, this SinfulColors is good polish, but I was not a fan of this color. It was clear with glitter, so it isn’t a bad topcoat. I just am not a glitter fan. I put it on my toes as not to be as loud.

If you are interested in getting an Influenster box (you don’t have to be a blogger), just let me know, and I can send you an invite. They are a fun surprise! The community is also really easy to navigate. The more you interact, the more they will be able to find boxes that fit your style and needs. It is really versatile, and you can use it a lot or hardly at all. I have really enjoyed it so far!

Have you tried any of these products? What are your thoughts?

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My Favorite Movies

The Oscars were like a second super bowl at our house. My step-mom was a drama teacher, so she loved this night of Hollywood stars and educating us on the ins and outs of the movie world.

We had ballots, and even though I never really knew what I was voting for it became a fun tradition and sparked a love for cinema.

Now most of my favorites were not seen on the Oscar stage, here are movies that I could watch over and over again. They never get old.

West Side Story

I love love love this movie. I am a sucker for musicals, and for me this is by far one of the best. I loved this growing up, but I developed a personal connection when I was in the pit playing the most amazing saxophone parts when my high school performed it. I can sing all the parts probably in my sleep. I know a lot of the dance numbers. So great!

Singin’ in the Rain

This movie is just so happy. Who doesn’t love watching singing and tap dancing wrapped up in a love story? This is a great movie to just make me feel good.

Miss Congeniality

Apparently movies that make me feel happy is a needed quality to be in my favorite movies category. To me this is uplifting and empowering. I still laugh so hard with this movie even though I know every scene by heart. Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses, and I love her in this role.

Sabrina

I like the old version with Audrey Hepburn, not the newer one with Harrison Ford. That one is still good, but you can’t beat Audrey. She is my spirit animal. This movie is funny with a love story intertwined. I have a personal connection to this one as well since this was the senior show my senior year, and I played one of the supporting roles. It was so much fun so I love reliving it with Audrey.

While You Were Sleeping

Another Sandra film that I love. This one is quite humorous as well. A subway ticket woman falls in love with a stranger (who she has never actually talked to), and she finds him in a coma and accidentally pronounces that they are married to his family. Hilariously romantic.

 What are your favorite movies?