July Recap // Including Trip Photo Dump!

The beginning of July seems like it was months ago! I spent the middle of this month in Nebraska and anything before that just seems so far in the past now! Our gardens are growing well (anyone want some zucchini?!) and we still don't have chickens but that should be soon! Let's dig into July!

At the beginning of the month, I stayed with my cousins for two nights and a really cool God-thing happened. The last morning, I left to go home and got just a couple miles away before I remembered that I'd left stuff in my aunt's bathroom. So I turned around and when I went into the bathroom, the light didn't turn on. Weird. The lights in her room didn't turn on, nor did the lights in the kitchen. My cousin and I went down to the breaker box and nothing was tripped. It was a calm, sunny day but the power went out! I ended up taking them home with me so that they had air and food and water without worrying about opening the fridge and stuff but had I not forgotten my things, I would not have gone back and discovered the power outage!

We had a low-key 4th of July at the farm but my uncle from New York came to visit and it's always nice to see him. We also went to our friends' big fireworks show on the 3rd and it was as fantastic as always. A nearby town to me does a fireworks show and I could see some of them from my bedroom window! I do love fireworks :)

On the 4th of July weekend I visited my first new church!!!! It was a good service, everyone was very friendly, and I met a lovely young lady who I sat with. I will be trying a few other local churches over the next couple of months as well. It's definitely out of my comfort zone but I'm really invested in building community so I will make myself do it!

A few projects got done in my bedroom. I have not used my ceiling fan all summer because it makes some really obnoxious noises and my Dad figured out the problem and fixed it!! I'd been using a small floor fan but it's nice to have more air movement. What I'm equally excited about is that my Christmas lights came and my brother helped me hang them along my bookshelves!!!!! Mood lighting makes me so happy, especially on cloudy days when I can feel down.

I got to have lunch with a friend who I've barely seen in a few months and we caught up on things! She's someone who encourages me and I just love spending time with her. I'm very blessed by her presence in my life, for sure.

It's been some time since I had a lot of ARC books to read but I got several from NetGalley/Revell this month and I've enjoyed reading them. As much as I love physical books, it's nice to have books on your phone sometimes because it's small and handy. BUT, I FINALLY got my copy of Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White!!!! It was very different from her other books but very good.

The highlight of my month was NEBRASKA!!!!! My mom and I drove out to watch my friend's kids for six days while they took their youth group to a conference. Five kids, ages six to 8 months. It was exhausting and crazy and wonderful!

I took the "big kids" (the 6, 4, & 3 year olds) to a splash pad and the library. All of us went to a park one morning and then I took the girls with me to meet up with my Instagram photographer friend, Cara, and her two kids! Another day we took all the kids back to the splash pad and then on Friday, we just chilled.

They loved coloring in their new coloring books that their mom ordered and I got to show them a movie from my childhood, Marvelous Musical Mansion! I also loved reading to them each night. Their dad is reading them the Percy Jackson books, which I also enjoy :)

When their parents got back, we got to play a few games with them one night and our last day there, we all went to the zoo and then in the evening, Mary, her brother, another of her friends, and I went out to explore a bit of Omaha. It was so fun and I had a great time. The only downside was not spending much time with Mary but I knew that going in. Most of the photos are from Nebraska :)

Whew! Thanks for reading all of that! I'd love to hear about your 4th of July celebrations and what else you did this month!

We celebrated his birthday the day after we arrived. His mother made this cake!!

His smile absolutely melts my heart!

They wanted to play pirates so they drew themselves maps! I am so impressed!