July has gone by quickly! We have had some busy days and some quiet days, we have spent some time with friends and also alone together as a family and both were needed. Today, I am sharing my favorites for the month. #1 Sunflowers This is my 2nd year planting sunflowers and I have enjoyed seeing them as I drive up to my house. I occasionally cut one or two and bring them in. They bring sunshine and happiness indoors. We also went to a sunflower field to take some pictures and I cut a few to take home. Sunflowers remind me of my childhood and remind me of the…

As you may have noticed, there has not been any pictures of travels apart from our long weekend in Chattanooga, TN this past January. Instead you have seen many pictures of hikes and visit to outdoor spaces such as state parks. You will continue to see more of those and I am so happy to have booked a week right next to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina so I will have a few new pictures and adventures to share. Today I wanted to encourage you to explore the area where you live. You do not have to do a long road trip to have a little fun this…

Another month has gone by and we have enjoyed some more home time! I am getting a little cabin fever so I have planned a couple get together friends in the next couple of weeks. While I have slowed down my shopping, there a couple things that made it into my home so I will share by top 2 favorites of those. #1 The Pool After some debating, our HOA decided to open the pool the first week of June. I was beyond grateful since it has been harder to convince my boys to go play outside. The newness of playing outside at all hours of the day has worn…

Every couple of years, we buy a new fire pit as ours get worn out with weather and use. For a couple of years now, I have been wanting to make a stone fire pit. We enjoy fires in the summer, fall and winter, roasting marshmallows and just enjoying the delight of looking at a fire. So I finally looked at a YouTube video and decided that last weekend was the weekend to make it. I listed my supplies and headed to Home Depot. I hesitated between a brick that was $1.98 per brick and one that was $2.38. And the $2.38 won out. For only a little over 13…

I thought is would be fun to do one of these posts since my last one was when life was more normal and I wanted to document a day in the days of the easing of the lockdown in our state. 6:00 Woke up but didn’t get up till 6:55 7:30 – 8:00 Ran 2 miles with neighbor: we ran a 9:50ish min/mile and a 10:50 mile. We are planning to run 3 times a week and increase our distance. With the heat though, we will need to start going earlier. 8:00-8:45 Shower, fed kids breakfast, posted my daily instagram pictures and spent a little time liking and commenting on…

While I haven’t shopped for clothes for a couple of weeks apart from updating one of my bathing suit, but I have been working on updating some things in my kitchen. I am constantly reevaluating which tools I use, how I am organizing things and how my cleaning works for me or not. Well the cleaning was not very exciting and here is where my first favorite comes in. Mrs Meyer’s Multipurpose Spray I bought a 3 pack on Amazon but I do not see it it there right now but am linking the Lemon Verbana scent that you can find at Target. I wanted a 3 pack in case…

My kids don’t like to hike! My kids won’t play outside! My kids never play board games! Many a time, I have heard parents make that statement about their children when I share what we do. Yes, my children do grumble sometimes when I announce a hike or they whine when I tell them that it is time to play outside. They do not always jump at the chance to play board games with me. However they usually do all of these things and they enjoy them. How have we arrived at that point? By creating habits and expectations. Start Young! Do not wait till your children are 5 or…