What's Up Wednesday?!?

I think I'm a broken record on repeat because where the heck did August go?

I set up an appointment for a deck bid and they said the first available time was a date in Sept.  I was like that far away when in reality its only next week.

This year is FLYING!

1) What we're eating this week:
This is a weird week so meal planning isn't on game

Sun - taco salad

Mon - leftovers

Tues - chicken quesadillas with broccoli

Wed - 

Thurs - 

Fri - chicago style pizza

Sat - not sure yet!

2) What I'm reminiscing about:

traveling - I seriously miss it - and cancelling our big trip didn't help.

3)  What I'm loving:

The cooler weather that STL is getting is getting me in the mood for fall!

4)  What we've been up to:

So this thing called Burn Boot Camp...we are addicted.  We are 9 months in and our changes are amazing.  Our story made their wall and this week I was selected to be a Burn Fit Member Ambassador.  I'm super excited to see what we have planned.

5)  What I'm dreading:

Saying goodbye to my dog brother.  He's doing okay for now but he wasn't given a great diagnosis.  Meds can only do so much.  Its hard.

6)  What I'm working on:

I wish I could say my scrapbook or in my room but nope.  It seems that I am not allowed to relax lately and there are only 2 of us in this house.  But hockey is back and my hubby's attention span is on that.  The Blues are out, though, boo!

7)  What I'm excited about:

everything fall has to offer!

8) What I'm watching/reading:

I just finished the newest season of Selling Sunset (loved it)

Just watched the movie "Playing with Fire" with John Cena (just ok)

Currently reading a bunch of different books and trying to get caught up on People magazines

9) What I'm listening to:

The Bobby Bones show is usually always on in the mornings.

10) What I'm wearing:

I'm currently trying to go through my closet and figure out what I want to get rid of.  So end of summer clothes always with a cardigan.  I wish I could wear sleeveless to work.

11) What I'm doing this weekend:

I would like to take a day road trip somewhere but I'm not sure if we are and where we will go.  I have a few ideas.  If not then a bike ride for sure.

12)  What I'm looking forward to next month:

Camping

Landscaping our backyard

Painting my cabinets and fireplace mantel

Just getting away from STL even if its just for a weekend!

13) What else is new?

Nothing...and I'm honestly tired of that.

2020 is not our new norm.

At least I hope not.

What's new with you?

Friday Five!

 

Yay its Friday!

I swear Friday should have been yesterday.  Now that we are back full time again, and no foot traffic, the days are super long and all running together.

Anywho, my Friday Five for today is:

1) I love to eat watermelon...but I hate to cut it!

Watermelon is a staple in our house.  It was a staple in my house growing up as well.  I hate cutting it however.  A friend recommended the above gadget from Amazon and I think I'm going to get it and see if it really works.  It looks great!

~*~

2) Vacation is officially CANCELLED!

Due to life at the moment, we made the hard decision to cancel our Cali/Disney trip.  Its very hard but the state hasn't opened yet and Disney actually reached out to our travel agent and advised everyone with bookings through October to cancel.  So that decision was technically made for us.  I also cannot travel where my work is concerned.  I still have to take the week off so we will be camping with my family the first weekend so at least still vacationing somehow.

~*~

3) Theaters reopening

Rumor has it that some theaters are reopening today.  I don't see us going any time at the moment but we've been watching a lot of movies from the library, Netflix, Disney+ etc.  I just watched "The Lost Husband" on Netflix and I have the new John Cena "Playing with Fire" from the library to watch.  I'm really glad I can get movies again from there.  I'm still hoping for Top Gun and others to release this year!

~*~

4) #huSTLe21

Burn is doing a 21 day challenge to help us emotionally, socially, mentally and nutritionally.  Each day is an extra challenge and its been great to try new things!  I actually have some good news about our involvement with Burn but cannot announce it yet.  Its very positive!

~*~

5) Fall is almost here y'all!

I don't know about you but I'm excited for fall, cooler weather, flannels, bonfires, apple picking (socially distanced of course) and I would say football but I'm not sure if that will be happening for public to attend.  I'm not a PSL fan but I heard Starbucks is releasing it early.  But here's to fall y'all!

~*~

Have a great weekend!

Summer weekends 10, 11 & 12 - relaxation, celebration and sadness

 

Life has been crazy, heart strings pulled and just gotten past me pretty fast, busy or not.

Summer weekend #10 we spent relaxing.  We got our first deck bid and I packed to live at my Dad's for the week to stay with my dog brother Frisco.

The week went great.  Honestly I enjoyed not being around Keith 24/7.  Is that bad?  I think its because I didn't have to do everything for both of us and I actually got to relax and only worry about me and the dog.  It was just really needed.

We both had taken that Friday off for Summer weekend #11 to celebrate our anniversary.  We always combine it with a weekend away before school starts up again so we couldn't really travel, especially with the dog watching, but we took a little road trip to St James and finally spent the day at their winery.  We love their wine, we always stop for bottles when we are headed home from camping or our way back from Table Rock Lake, but never actually explored their grounds.  It was so fun!  They share a garden area with the brewery and its set up for a fun day.  Very spaced out, we found a cute table away from everyone and just enjoyed our last relaxation before his craziness starts again.

This weekend, Summer weekend #12, was heart heavy.  Saturday I spent the day with my twin nieces.  It was much needed.  After they left I headed to my Dad's to see them after their trip and Frisco.  Frisco was rushed to the emergency vet this past week as my stepmom found him mid-seizure and unfortunately was given a grim diagnosis of a tumor on his heart and we are not sure how much longer he has with us.  This is apparently common with Golden Retrievers. He can't do anything that will risk getting his heart beating too fast.

I've been carrying around a huge guilt because I'm the one who spent his last good week with him and its made me question if I did something wrong, if I missed signs, etc.  I've been assured its nothing I did and I made his "normal" last week a great one as he went everywhere with me and spent one on one time with me.  Dogs are smart - I know he knows something isn't right but he knows we will do whatever we can to make him comfortable.

He greeted me like normal and had his head in my lap the entire time.  Our dogs have always been, and always will be, treated as family members.  My heart is breaking for him and especially for my Dad as Frisco is his main buddy.  I plan on going over as much as I can because we don't know when it will happen.  Luckily he's had some good days the past few days.  Prayers do amazing things.

Here's to a new week - and love on your dogs hard!

July book reviews

August is sneaky...where on earth did it come from?

This year, I'm tell ya!

I read 6 books in July.  I'm not sure where August stands currently because I'm going in and out of funks with reading.  I'm back to work FT so that's cut into a lot of my reading time also.

Anywho, here's my reviews for July:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A good story about new beginnings.  There are multiple books in this series before this one but I didn't read them.  I'm not sure if you need to or not but I was able to follow along just fine.  It was a good read!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

At every age in life, there are challenges that you will have to overcome.  Such a warmhearted novel about families breaking up, starting over and dreams becoming reality.  Its never too late to start over again!  I loved this book!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Keeping friends is hard, especially as you get older.  Daphne and Drue became friends in school and something happened that pushed them apart.  When Drue gets married, she asks Daphne to be in the wedding...randomly...and that's when life unravels.  Resilience of the human heart plays a big role in this novel.  It was a good read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cecily falls hard for a man she's just met and knows nothing about.  9/11 hits and things take a drastic change.  You must read this book, that is all I can say.  It was REALLY good!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sydney and Nate promised forever with each other at a young age.  Nate breaks her heart and decides to follow his dreams and leaves the beach for the country music scene.  She never thought she'd see him again until he appears at a friends wedding.  Afraid to let him in, she finally lets her barriers down.  It was a good read, took some time for me as it was on my kindle.  Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mallory and Jake's secret love affair lasted for decades but the most latest summer could change everything.  Jake is Mallory's brother's friend and they forge their own friendship that makes it through marriages, kids, political issues, etc until Mallory learns something life changing.  I loved this book, I couldn't put it down and I expect Elin Hilderbrand to write a story about Jake and Mallory's offspring.  Hopefully she's working on it now!

What are you reading?

Check me out on Goodreads.