midweek catching up on all things summer

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! Before I start, I have to thank you for yesterday. A few of you commented on my post and said the nicest things and gave me the kindest encouragement. I appreciate you! I was airing the thoughts in my brain, which is something I don't make a habit of doing. Everything really is good and these slumps I sometimes find myself in are usually quick to pass. I just wanted to say thank you. I'll keep writing here, because I love to write and because it's a hobby. I thought I'd share from something I posted earlier in the summer—which was in a post titled things about the summertime that I love and give an updated version on how that's going now.

I mentioned a tree and the flowers in that original post. I'm sad to say that at this point in the season, they're all looking pretty parched. We do water them, though we're not the best at this, admittedly, but usually the rain helps us out. That would be the case, normally, but this year we're in the middle of an extreme drought. It's been WEEKS since we've had a good soaking rain, even though it's rained lightly here and there, it's not been nearly enough. Add to that our triple digit temperatures that we're on for the third week in a row, and well...you can imagine how things look. It's at this time of year that I am so ready for fall! Unfortunately, we're months away from that.

Am I right? 

I mentioned a scent that I associate with summer in the original post and I'm still loving it as much now as I did then. My skin is always so dry and I love that in these warmer months, the sun helps with some of the dry and itchy-ness. I seem to reach for lotion more frequently during this time of year than at any other, though I am trying to be better at that all year long. I bought some new lotion from Amazon that I love, one that is for after you've been out in the sun. It's a whipped texture, but it's so creamy and smells so good. I've gotten compliments on smelling good ever since I've been using it. 

I'm still loving reading all the summer books. It's no secret that I love to read all year, but with the exception of Christmas books, summer beach reads are HANDS DOWN my favorite books to read of all time. I have read some great books this summer! A couple of them have made them into my top favorites of the year so far and I could see them going all the way through the end of the year. 

Here are the posts talking about what I've read so far this summer. I may or may not have an upcoming trip planned based on some summer reading. That's the thing about reading beach reads—books can take you to places you'd otherwise only dream about. Yes, I am a bookworm and proud of the fact. 

June.

May.

I've still been on a bright color kick in my outfits and in my nail  choices. The brighter it is, the more I love it, which is so unusual for me! That being said, I'm ready to move on, starting with the next time I go to get my nails done. I'll be getting a version of white when I go back and keep them that way until September, then I'll switch to darker shades. Have I mentioned how much I love fall? We're coming up to my favorite months of the year, the ones that end in b-e-r. I'm so excited to even think about it, even if the weather doesn't change. Come September 1, it'll officially be "fall" in our house. In October, I'll pull out some Halloween things, then I'll leave the other fall decorations out until I decorate for Christmas, which will probably be the second week in November. My heart actually just skipped a beat in actual excitement.

The other thing I'm "over" with for the summer, aside from the humidity and high heat, is the traffic in our area. It's so much more crowded in the summer months, when school is out. I am happy for the students and my teacher friends that they're enjoying summer and out on a break, but by this time of year every summer, I'm ready for some more routine and structure. That being said, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed this summer more than any other that I can remember in a long time. I'm not sure why that is, and haven't taken the time to try to figure out the why behind the different mindset I've had this year. Maybe it's just that—while in some ways, I've tried to keep it simpler this summer, in other ways I've just tried to be more present in whatever I've done. 

I can say that it's felt good to have made it past the one year mark of having a son out on his own. That anniversary came early in July for Drew and the one year date of him moving out on his own. It's been a good year for him in some ways, because it's taught him responsibility and money management, but in other ways, it's been a hard year for him, with some hard lessons he's had to learn. So much has changed in that year and the dynamic of our family and how it works is so vastly different than just a short year ago. Holidays look different, weekly dinners look different and I just don't see him as often as I'd prefer, though that is a good thing for him. The whole "parenting adult kids" is not for the faint of heart. I feel like things are always changing for our family! It's enough to keep my head spinning sometimes.

I've read some of your posts lately on what you've been doing all summer and I've loved them! I haven't kept a summer bucket list since our sons were little, but I love the idea of doing that. Consider this my own version of some of those types of posts. 😉 Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!