Monthly Musings ~ August 2023

I am linking up today with Patty and Holly for Monthly Musings.  Even though I have college students now, these memories are still fresh of the typical back to school.

I have 2 daughters. The oldest was homeschooled from Kindergarten through senior year, except for 2 years when she went to school while living in Bogota', Colombia in South America.  My youngest was homeschooled from Kindergarten through 9th grade, except for 1 year of school in Bogota' (she stayed home the 2nd year with me).  She entered traditional public school when we moved back to the states for 9th grade-12th grade.  Ironically, her 11th grade year was spent at home due to the pandemic.

1.  Because of homeschooling, our back to school shopping was for school supplies, not really clothes.  We usually bought any new supplies during tax free weekend.  Here are the girls when they were a part of homeschool co-op that met once a week.

2.  As a homeschool mom, I would spend a lot of time organizing.  Some years, I tried to adapt different systems to make it work for the girls.  I would purchase curriculum in the spring after usually going to a homeschool fair.  I would try to re-group usually on the weekends to make sure we were good to go on Monday mornings.

3.  I don't do a ton of true meal prep, but I try to have some cooked meats in the freezer.  I do try to meal plan, but it comes and goes &  I usually just meal plan for a week at a time.

4.  Our back to school tradition was taking pictures and trying to have a special dinner that night, but nothing over the top.  I would just let the girls choose what to eat or where to go out to eat.

5.  A fall routine is always nice and I would say within 2 weeks, we would be set in new routines.  I will be settling into a new routine in a few weeks when my daughter goes back to college.  It has been so nice having her home for the summer!

6.  I didn't pack a lot of lunchboxes, but when I did, it was full of mostly packaged foods, like protein bars, chips and gummies.  Just being real!

7.  We didn't have a lot of days where we had to be out the door for most of our school days.  The girls always went to a homeschool co-op class of some sort, but it wasn't too much of a struggle one day or two days a week.  When they went to school in Bogota', they had to be ready to catch a ruta (the local school bus) by 6:15am.  Needless to say, that was early and they went to bed around 8pm to wake up early.

Above is a picture of the bus that would come every morning and afternoon.  We lived on the 16th floor of an apartment building.  I would walk them down the first day, but then they did it on their own after that!  I really do need to blog about other aspects of living in Bogota soon!

2015

8.  I don't own an instant pot, but am definitely a fan of the slow cooker!  I have lots of slow cooker recipes on my Pinterest.

9.  The girls rode a bus when in school in South America, but I would drive them to any activities when they were homeschooled and Brook drove herself to school her senior yearof high school.  I enjoyed the time with her driving her to and from school during her 9th/10th grade years.

10.  School starts here before Labor Day, but as I mentioned yesterday, Brook's college doesn't begin until the week after Labor Day.   Here she is on her first day of kindergarten.  Mercy, I miss these days.  

As one of our guards in our apartment buidling would say to us, Happy Day!

What's Up Wednesday ~ August 2023

 

There is no one happier to see August leave than me.  Not to start this out on a low note, but August has been the worst month of my life.  I know that is a bold statement, but it stands true.  Just being real here.  That being said, I still have been living and had a few fun things, which I will share here.  I promise this post can only go up from here!

What we're eating this week...........

Monday - pizza take out

Tuesday - Air fryer pork chops, brocolli salad, roasted potatoes

Wednesday - chicken alfredo

Thursday - I haven't gotten that far in my planning!

Friday - 

What I'm reminiscing about..........

Life prior to 2020

What I'm loving..........

I am loving days where I have a semi-clean house, groceries, laughter with my family, and air conditioning when it is still hot outside!

What we've been up to...........

Last weekend was the 5K race of where I work and it was record high temperatures.  Somehow, we all survived and I spent most of the morning drinking water with electrolytes so I wouldn't pass out! I sure missed having any of my family with me.

What I'm dreading...........

I am dreading the hot weather that continues through September, but I know it is so close to being gone for 7-8 months!

What I'm working on............

I am working on planning a place to go for the Christmas holiday this year.  We may try to get away, go somewhere new and not see any extended family on the actual holiday this year.  

Speaking of Christmas, look what I bought last week!

All my Christmas tree lights went out last year, so instead of waiting until November when they are hard to find, I bought these at Hobby Lobby.  It quickly escalated to adding a bag of candy corn and double bubble gum!  I sometimes just indulge in the little things :).

What I'm excited about...........

I am excited about cooler temperatures!

What I'm watching/reading............

I am reading Deep Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament.

Now that I cancelled cable and have Hulu, I have started watching The Bear and Murders in the Building.

I am looking forward to the new Virgin River series coming next week!

I am so behind on watching Hallmark movies, but I do have a few recorded.

What I'm listening to...........

Podcasts....Big Boo, First Thing, Let's Read the Gospels, Our Time to Rise, Secure Marriage, Office Ladies to name a few!

What I'm wearing...........

Dresses, dresses, and more dresses!

That being said, I did buy a new pair of pants that Melanie talked about on the Big Boo Podcast.

I ordered them in store at American Eagle, but had them shipped to my house so that I could order the short length.  I am 5" feet, so I have to go petite or short length on pants that I buy. I will be pairing mine with a much differen style shirt :)

What I'm doing this weekend...........

Since last week was so busy, I don't plan on doing much this weekend.  I may go see my sister at some point, and probably just try to clean, organzie, and catch up on Hallmark movies since it is going to be hot again.

What I'm looking forward to next month...........

I am not necessarily looking forward to this, but next month my youngest will return to college.  She is on the quarter system, which is why her return is later than others starting school.  She didn't finish until June 1st though, so her summer is about the same length as others.  I will go visit my oldest next month for a weekend & not much else is planned for the month.

What else is new.............

After the 5K, my husband and I got away to Hot Springs, Arkansas for some down time after a busy work week for me and sheer exhaustion after the race.  We went here 25 years ago after a meal at an IHOP, so we went to IHOP for dinner Saturday night.  In addition to my eggs and bacon, I ordred this cinnamon roll crepe, which was fun to have a dessert food after eating breakfast.

We walked along the bathhouse row, which is what makes Hot Springs famous. Sunday afternoon, we rented a jet ski.  This was my first time on a jet ski!

Wishing a good day for you!  

Weekend Wrap Up ~ A week behind

 Good morning. Life came at me hard last week, so here I am wrapping up the previous weekend, with a little bit of this past weekend.  I do miss this space, but y'all, I am tired at night and just don't get to writing as much as I want to usually.

My oldest daughter has been in transition with her living accommodations these past few months.  She is at the age where friends are graduating and moving on, getting married, etc.  She has finished 4 years of college, but still has a few classes left to take before she graduates.  Thankfully though, she does have a full time job!  

It all fell together within a week or two, but thankfully, she found a place to live with roommates, although she doesn't really know them well at all.  We think it will all work out though.  We went to see her weekend before last to help her move in some things, trips to the hardware store and a trip to the grocery store.  And of course, we went out to eat along the way.  We also stopped in this nice hotel and discovered the prettiest lobby area with some cool furniture.

My firstborn adulting paying her own bills now!

Little sister who came and helped too

Along the drive home, I was captured by the beautiful sunset.

From someone who grew up in the Memphis area and Elvis was my first concert and I worked at Graceland as a tour guide during my summers from college, we had some fun with Elvis week that was in Memphis last week.  August 16th was the 46th anniversary of Elvis' death.  At a fairly new restaurant, they were having an Elvis impersonator entertain on this night, so we went to eat on the patio and it was fun!  "Elvis" even gave me a scarf :).

I worked 3 days last week in the office and then I always do a little bit of remote work on the other 2 days.  I do like those days I have some flexibility to do other things.  I had lunch with a new friend Wednesday and Friday, Brook and I went to see my mom for a little bit, had lunch with my niece and her 2 daughters and then went shopping at Tanger.  I may not have mentioned this before, but my dad is an anatomy professor and has taught medical school for my entire life.  He is semi-retired, but is still doing some teaching.  I don't ever remember going to my parents house and not finding an anatomy book sitting on the counter, table or couch.  This day was not different.  However, it was fun to see the 2 new books my dad has written.  He has written several of these in the past that are used in the dissection lab for medical students.

Saturday, I spent the day at home doing some laundry, cleaning, mowing the grass and organizing.  Saturday evening, my husband and I went to a local lake and paddleboarded and then got some yogurt afterwards.

Sunday morning, we watched Spain win the women's World Cup, visited a new church and then I did some more cleaning/organizing.  I feel like every week I have a new stack of papers and a closet to re-organize. 

There is an overview update of the last week and we will see what this week holds!

In the meantime, I am asking once again for some prayers.

Thank you blogging friends!

Linking up with Holly and Sarah

Prime Purchases ~ July 2023

 It's Prime review day and I am linking up with Tanya for my purchase in July.  This was definitely a busy Amazon month for me.  First, I will highlight a few things I bought outside of Prime days.

This is my new favorite dress, which I didn't buy during Prime days.  I got several compliments when I wore this last week. I like the collar and sleeves with elastic.

I bought this carpet tape to help with a few curling edges of my Ruggable under my kitchen table.

I needed some longer straws for my water bottle.  I should have give a little more thought to this purchase because while I like the straws, they are a little too long for my water bottle since I don't have a Stanley.  

Now on to my Prime Day purchases...

I have wanted to find a new moisturizer so I ordered this one.  Honestly, I still have some of my other to use up first, so I haven't tried this yet.  Now if I can just remember to give an update on this a few months from now!

Here is another beauty item I bought, but haven't tried yet, a new serum.  I also have some serum I am finishing up first before I try this.  Like I have mentioned before, I do like everything else I have used by the E.L.F. brand though.

I bought and have used this lip sleeping mask.  I purchased vanilla and really prefer and like this one.  

Here is a tried and true favorite mascara, Essence Lash Princess.

I bought this dress, which like the one mentioned earlier, I think could easily be transitioned into fall to wear with boots and a cardigan. This had been on my wishlist for a while.

I wore it to a baby shower a few weeks ago.

I had been wanting some new gold earrings and found these cute heart earrings.   When I met with Jennifer a few weeks ago, we were both wearing heart earrings! These are very lite weight too.

These are my daughter's go to gold hoop earrings, so I bought her an extra pair.

I finally got some wireless headphones!  After my trip to Richmond last month, I finally was willing to give up my 1990's wired headphones.  I couldn't charge my phone and listen at the same time, so I found these cute blue headphones on Prime Day. They are not noise cancelling, but they still do a good job and are all that I need.  I just haven't gotten on the earbud bandwagon yet.

Never thought I would be posting dog toys, but here I am.  I got this set for our dog.  The dog is just 6 months old, so needless to say, puppy chewing toys are a must.

I purchased one set of these under cabinet lights.  I probably should have bought another set, but I just got one during Prime days.  I haven't installed this yet because there is a chance I could be moving in the next year.  If that happens, I want to save these for a new place.

I also got these storage bags to use in the house and could be used for moving as well if I need them.

Last but not least, I purchased this treadmill.  I just assembled it this weekend and honestly haven't really used it yet, other than a quick test.  I am hopeful this will motivate me to exercise more and it looks like it is easy to fold up and store!

The treadmill was a splurge, even though that is something I had been considering for a while. I tried to not make too many impulse buys, but it was a good time to especially stock up on some consumable products.

I always look forward to spending several days reading through all these posts!

Currently ~ August 2023

Happy Wednesday and August!  I am joining with Jennifer for this month's currently series.

Loving

I am loving that I was able to spend some face to face time with my best friend last week.  She came in town from Charlotte to help her daughter move from Memphis to Boston.  

Bonus for me, helping her move included cleaning out her fridge and taking any food she had.  I brought all of this home from her house and served it for dinner last Wednesday night. It was chicken sausage, onions and peppers and hasbrown potatoes.

Looking forward to

I am looking to fall!  I saw this candy corn display last week at the grocery store.  I know this is not everyone's favorite source of pure sugar, but I love it.  I try to get just one bag a season to fulfill this craving.  Truth, I actually think I like them mixed with pumpkins better.  I feel like once the back to school items clear out in a few weeks, Halloween candy will be in full force displays!

I am also looking forward to visiting my oldest daughter in a few weeks.  I haven't been to Chattanooga since Easter weekend, but have seen her twice since then.

Starting

 

I am starting a new chapter of cable by streaming Hulu TV + Live.  We have had Xfinity for the past 6 years.  After a week of some major issue and the stories with their agents, I had reached my limit.  I am learning how to navigate through all of these new streaming venues.

Thinking

I am probably over thinking most things, yet other things really need more of my attention.  As my therapist told me last year, be careful of creating scenarios in your head!  Meanwhile, I do get distracted sometimes in areas of life and need to pay more attention.  Of course, I will say, I think getting good sleep helps in all of these areas....overthinking and being too tired/distracted. It is amazing what sleep will do help our thinking!

Wearing

I am wearing dresses most days.  I said at the beginning of the summer I wouldn't buy any new dresses, but I keep finding good deals.  I actually have one coming in the mail today from Amazon.  Here I am from this past Sunday in a dress that belonged to one of my daughters.

I am off to spend time with my greats today, so it should be a fun morning!