Its been awhile since I’ve shared a list of some of my favorite things lately, so I thought I would give a peek of some of the things we have been working on, celebrating, and enjoying this summer!
- Hosting Again
For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I have a home that is big enough to host people. For the entire year that we lived in our previous home there was a pandemic, and I think I only had one or two people over. This summer and this new home has allowed me to have so much more fellowship with others. I am hoping to continue this habit into the school year, too! If you missed my “in progress” house tour, you can see it here!
2. Versatile Summer Shoes
I have been looking for some great summer shoes that are not flip-flops, but feel as close to flip-flops as possible. I want to be able to wear them when I go back to work and the first few weeks of school when my classroom is pretty hot. I came across these and just wasn’t sure if I could pull off the style, but decided to try anyways. And I have fallen in love with these shoes! They are so comfortable and versatile and I love how I can wear them to a park playdate or to church or to work. They also come in multiple colors.
3. The Internet is Hilarious
Joining a Facebook group for Airbnb hosts called “Things Left Behind in Your Airbnb“. Our experiences have been pretty tame thus far, but I was rolling with laughter at some of the things left behind in other short term rentals. A BUNNY. A real, live, pet bunny was one example.
4. Summer Dresses
I love to wear sweet little dresses and skirts in the summer. I’m not sure why, but this is just extremely comfortable to me when it is hot. Amazon fashion can be hit or miss, so I wasn’t sure what this dress would actually be like. But it’s SO comfortable, just long enough to hit my knee and has full coverage in the top area. The only thing that I don’t like about it is that the fabric is slightly clingy, so I feel like it can show every bump and lump. I just fixed that by wearing a light camisole under it! I bought it in the green color, but I am eyeing some of those other colors!
5. The Oldies Station
Theo and I recently discovered a local Christian radio station. We stumbled across it when we heard it playing an old DC Talk song that immediately took us back to our teen years. Now this radio station is pretty much on all the time – both at home, in our personal vehicles and in Theo’s cruiser at work! It struck me as hilarious that we have officially achieved adult life- we are officially listening to “the oldies”!
6. Reading Some Good Books
Screen free summer has been our favorite, and I sure have gotten a lot of reading done these past two months! I think the best book I read was House Lessons. I adored this book. Perhaps it wouldn’t appeal to anyone who hasn’t moved and remodeled homes at all, but I still think it’s one of the best books I’ve read!
7. Finishing my lion cross stitch
I started working on this in April of 2020. I pretty much worked on it every single day for the last 15 months! It took a lot of time and lots of things spilled on it and lots and lots of mistakes and missed stitches! It was extremely therapeutic for me as I worked through some pretty traumatic months in that time period. I also started it way too close to the edge of the fabric so framing it is going to be very interested, but I certainly learned a lot during this project!
8. This Weather!
Ok, the truth is that I have NOT enjoyed the weather much this summer. I don’t know for sure, but I feel like we have had at least as many rainy days as sunny days. And some of those sunny days have been cold! But the late evening thunderstorms are still a favorite of mine…
9. Time with my kids
The truth is that sometimes I really run out of patience and don’t always love every moment of being home 24/7. But, it has been such a nice change of pace to go from the school year into the slower paced summer months! We have been enjoying the library programs, exploring local parks, riding bikes, going to a friends swimming pool, and spending some lazy days at home!
10. We have unofficially (papers haven’t been signed yet) found the tenant for our 5th rental property and we are so thrilled about it. It’s can be a pretty overwhelming project to find a tenant when Theo gets 50+ phone calls and interest questions A DAY, but we got to hand-pick our tenants and it’s going to be great!
BONUS: Getting to DO things this summer!
I just keep reflecting on how last summer was so difficult. We didn’t get to go anywhere or do anything and Theo’s job was so stressful! This summer Theo’s job is still incredibly stressful, but at least now we can do fun things on the weekend and I can take the kids to various activities and programs during the week. We even got to attend a Dayton Dragon’s game!
And that is a few of my favorites lately!