What I've Learned This Summer

1.  I learned how to Snapchat.  Kind of.  I know how to play with fun filters and take silly photos and videos.  I also have a handful of people I follow.  My favorite are the food bloggers that snap a recipe or the beauty bloggers that snap a review or how to. 

 

2.  I learned that I really love reading. I got out of the habit for a while.  I go through phases where I devour books and phases where I savor books.  I keep track of books I'm reading on Goodreads and of course post a monthly recap. 

3.  Speaking of this place, I have learned that I enjoy writing here.  I am sure the only people who read are my parents, husband, and one best friend.  I don't share posts anywhere or try to attract any readers.  I figure leaving this blog public and linking up with some fun blogs is good enough.  I'm not trying to make a career of blogging. 

4.  The older you get the more you have to work at staying healthy.  I've always been "above my preferred weight range" but I've always been healthy.  I never really had to work at it. Even when wanting to lose weight.  I could either eat healthier or work out more.  Not anymore.  Ugh!  LOL! 

5.  Group exercise is where it's at!  Zumba is my favorite! 

6.  Every vote counts.  I've been less than thrilled with this political season.  It's ugly out there.  I'm glad to live in a state where I don't have to declare a political party to vote in a primary on matters other than which candidate to pass on to the general elections.  If you can get a constitutional ballot to vote on bonds, levies, etc. during a primary ask for it.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT, let the workers try to talk you out of that ballot because they haven't opened the package yet or they try to tell you that it is a wasted vote unless you declare a party.  Every vote counts!

7.  Letting go of dreams is hard, but not impossible when you have Christ in your life.  I'll just leave it at that.  Sometimes you loosen your grip on something and it slips away.  This isn't me giving up.  It's me letting go of control and living my life as it is not as I want it to be. 

8.  Open up your home, even to strangers.  It's a lot of fun! We had the best time with Elin and Stephanie, the two young professional golfers on the Symetra tour.  I was dead set against it but it turned out to be awesome. 

9.  Sometimes God brings the nations to you.  Perspectives is known as a missionary class.  It's not just for people wanting to move to a foreign country though.  It is pretty clear to us that we were not called to go.  We've had the beautiful opportunity to share Christ with a lot of people.  Sometimes it has been in the way we live our lives, sometimes it has been direct conversations. 

10.  I am not a television show watcher.  Neither is Matt.  There are some great shows on TV, or so I hear.  I cannot get into any show lately.  Even when we had Netflix and could binge watch all day long I'd get bored after a handful of episodes.  Except for the Great British Baking Show. That show rocks!  Oh and Fixer Upper, but after you've seen 3 episodes in a row you kind of get it.  Shiplap rocks, old homes with bad floor plans can be saved, neutral and clean is the thing. 

Which leads me to...

10.5.  I can't live without a little bit of color in my life.  Whether it be blue, pink, orange, green, or yellow give me all the colorful things.  I'm all for neutral-ish furniture and walls but without a splash of color I'm out!

11.  Meal planning will save you time and money.  Every week I sit down and write what we are having for dinner.  I plan out main dishes then I check the cupboards to see what I need to buy at the grocery store.  Then I add some vegetables as possible sides and some things for breakfast and snacking.  I don't plan day by day because I may not want chicken on Monday or something may come up that causes me to deviate from the plan.  I write the meal plan on a Mary & Martha cutting board with a dry erase marker and hang it on the wall.  Then we can look at it and choose what we want for dinner the next day.

12.  We all need accountability.  This summer I met with a friend from our small group.  We met every Wednesday before I went to work.  We talked about our lives, our goals, places where we needed encouragement, and prayed together.  Now that school is starting and she has 4 kids and 1 exchange student to get to school in the mornings we won't be able to meet as regularly and I'm going to miss that. 

13.  Summer's not over yet!  I love not being tied to a school schedule anymore. 

14.  Sparkling water is delicious!  But I still love diet dr pepper. 

This post idea comes from Emily P. Freeman.  She has a book that was highly popular called Simply Tuesday.  I have not read it yet because my library doesn't have it.  Bummer!  But I read her blog and have heard her speak.