A Well-Lived July

My summer is not going how I planned but it's still been mostly good. One thing I'm learning in life is to hold my goals and plans loosely and be gracious to myself if some things don't happen.

Personal
I didn't have much in the way of personal goals for July, just reading two books. That happened and it was very enjoyable. I re-read The Blades of Acktar and also got a good library haul! But even without a lot of plans, a lot happened!

July held some good quality time with friends - one came for the weekend, I had ice cream with two others, a "coffee" date with a third, and spent a lovely Sunday at my friend's house with swimming and lots of book talk :)

4th of July was chill and fun. We ate and played games and while we waited for dark, we watched a movie. My brother set off a couple of fireworks and we did some sparklers. He saves the big show for Labor Day when it gets dark earlier.

My mom and I learned how to make beeswax food covers, I found the Official Princess Bride cookbook at the library and my cousin and I made deep fried mac & cheese balls from the book! Everyone seems to like them, but I haven't tried them because I have been sick about half the month. It's stress and anxiety that overwhelmed my brain and then made me not feel well but we're getting there.

I know I've mentioned my Bible study (it's still amazing!) and one of the girls started a girls only study so now I have two groups! What is this life?! The girls are going through James and I'm excited to get to know them better.

The family all went to see Sound of Freedom. While definitely NOT for kids, it is incredibly well done. You leave somber but not depressed if that makes any sense. Adults should definitely see it and then find an organization to get involved. Some good places to start are Shared Hope and A21 Campaign.

My uncle and cousin came to visit and it was a lovely time! We went to Frankenmuth, laughed, had fun around the farm, and just spent good quality time together. It was really nice to have them here.

I ended the month with a baby shower and a grad party. This is a funny season of life because within two weeks I had these two events and a wedding.

Business
On the business side of things, I did get some good work done towards moving my website. All the content is moved and now I need to get with my friend who can help me make it look like I want.

Our family business is official and I will be starting work on that website this week. We found a local arts and crafts fair where we are going to do a "soft open" and take some product to sell.

My "surprise" was that I put together a fun freebie for people! It's a screen saver pack and it's my first step towards actually putting effort into nurturing my email list.

I also got to do a sweet newborn session that I found out after I got there that this family lives in my old neighborhood and the dad and aunt were in youth group and had my parents as youth leaders! How fun!



How was your July? What did you do for 4th of July? I hope you're enjoying the summer!

My friend and I tried our hand at pretty focaccia bread.

Look at this OLD photo of us and our friends!

Top photo by Ryan Moreno on Unsplash