MEET CHARLIE!!

HAPPY FRIDAY, FRIENDS!

I'm especially happy this Friday because, after 3 long months of searching for a rescue pup to bring in to our family, we finally have our happy ending!

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you've probably seen Charlie already. I swear I'm like a proud new mom over here. My phone is filled with nothing but pictures and videos of his sweet face and I'm constantly sending them to my friends and family.  I feel like they are going to think this is cute for another few days and then they are going to tell me to knock it off. 😂 Same goes for all of you who follow me on social media. I'll try not to turn my entire feed into nothing but dog pictures. But I make no guarantees. 😉

LATELY.

Hello hello, friends! I have been meaning to jump on this blog all week but let me tell you--life has been super non-blog worthy lately.  No vacays, no trips to Six Flags, no house renovations, no adorable little kids or cute dogs to give me some blog-worthy content. Nothing. (Why am I basically telling y'all to just leave now? 😂 Please don't.)  Our dog hunt has hit a snag and I'm trying not to be super bummed--and super annoyed--by how much harder it is to rescue a dog than I thought so I'm going to give it a few more days and then I'll fill you in on things next week. And I thought we were going to get to go to a wedding last Saturday but Craig's emergency tooth surgery got in the way of that. He's fine now but he was a mess on Friday and Saturday.

 So here's a little bit of life lately around here.

The boys are wrapped up in their friends and video games with some pool time thrown in in the evenings. I was looking through my phone for recent pictures and have about a million...but they are all taken from this angle because I'm in my favorite chair and the boys are doing exactly what they do every day. How many pictures do you really want to see of my two tween boys doing this? 😂

FRIDAY FAVORITES #132

Happy Friday!!

It has been almost a month since my last official Friday Favorites! How can that be?! Y'all know I'm a sporadic blogger but dang. I didn't realize I'd gone so long without a Favorites post! I am back today though and have lots of fun stuff to share so thanks for being here and let's dive on in!

My very first favorite was long overdue thanks to Covid but Texas is opening up (safely) and I was able to get my hair done!  It was so surreal though, I will say that.  There was a table outside the salon door with instructions before you could even enter.  You had to sign 2 different liability waivers/questionnaires, use the hand sanitizer, and put your mask on and then as soon as you entered, the receptionist did a temperature check.  I still can't believe this is the world we're living in.  It's something straight out of a movie and I hate it (just like everyone else). 2020 is the WORST.

 Anyway, I usually just get a trim with my highlights but this time I had my stylist cut off a good 5" when normally it's more like 1"1.5" tops.  My hair was just so long and the ends were looking a little damaged and thin so it was time for more than a trim. She brightened it all up with some summer blonde highlights too and I seriously left feeling like a new woman. I love how healthy my hair feels when I cut a significant amount off. Honestly, the second I left the salon I wished I'd gone even shorter!  Maybe next time.

Also, my tee is an Amazon find and is so soft!  It says Go Ask Your Dad in case you can't read backward. 😂 My friend Karla said she may need to wear this on Father's Day. haha

SUMMER READS BOOK REVIEW! | MAY 2020

Hello hello, friends!  Welcome back! I had planned on posting my May book review last Monday but after spending last weekend glued to the news and being focused on things bigger and deeper and way more important, I decided to put a hold on blog stuff until this week.  Not that any of that has gone away but after such a heavy week, I hope reading a blog about some great new beach read recs will lighten your spirits a bit. 

My heart, like all of yours, has been so heavy and so broken over the death of George Floyd.  I haven't felt this much outrage, anger, pain, and flat out anxiety since 9/11. In the midst of all the turmoil though, I've seen things happening throughout our country that may not make the news but that make my heart swell with pride, with love, and with hope and I've seen pictures and videos that show humanity at its very best. We are all learning and growing from this and I pray that we grow TOGETHER.

  I have been so insanely emotional all week that I'm pretty sure at one point my husband thought I was flat out losing it. Between the coronavirus, the events from last week/weekend and finding out that we are basically "unqualified" to adopt a dog from a rescue (long story that I'll share on a separate post--it obviously is just a drop in the bucket with what the country is facing right now), I was just a giant ball of stress and sadness at random moments throughout the week.  The kind where you have to lock the door and just sit on the floor and have yourself a good cry.

I don't have all the right words. I'm not even going to try. Just know that my heart shattered right along with everyone else when I saw that man call out for his mama as that officer kneeled on his neck. I'm learning and growing right alongside everyone else. We're having plenty of discussions at home and promise to do our part in raising the next generation as one who doesn't tolerate racism of any kind. And we'll do everything we can to ensure that our kids are raised to treat everyone equally and to spread kindness and love while also providing them with the best example we can in our own lives.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

---------------------------------------------

Ok, friends.  It's book review time! I have no idea how to make a smooth transition from something so heavy to something so light so I'm just going to breeze on past the awkwardness and dive on in. 😉

I listened to 5 audiobooks in May and was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Emily Giffin's new book "The Lies That Bind" so I read that on my Kindle. If you've been reading here for a while then you probably know that audiobooks are my go-to but I love sitting out by the pool, especially in the evenings with my Kindle. (I have this one but you can find the newer waterproof version here.)