Mid-Month Currently

Don't you just love the sky at this time of year?

Things have changed a lot since May, some for the good and some for the not-so-good. No matter what happens though, you have to keep moving forward in life: there is no going back. Here's what I've been up to…

Listening to: Undisclosed.

And when I'm not listening to the podcast, I'm reading Rabia Chaudry's blog Split the Moon. I've always been a fan of mysteries and I hate when cases go unsolved, so it gives me just the tiniest bit of satisfaction reading and listening to Rabia Chaudry investigate so in-depth the case of Haye Min Lee even if it is only to prove that her theory (that Adnan Syed is innocent) is correct.

Remembering: the Betsey Johnson style dresses Justin made for my bridesmaids before our wedding.

A few days ago, he agreed to let me purchase the above Betsey Johnson dress on Postmark for $20! Most Betsey Johnson dresses tend to go for $100+, so I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping it comes in before our July 4th trip to Savannah!

Planning: TRAVEL! And retirement savings.

Obviously, if you read yesterday's post you know that I just (as in this week) booked my July 4th holiday vacation to Savannah and Tybee Island. Yes, it will mostly consist of moving my brother, but I am looking forward to fireworks and good food as well.

Following that, there are plans to go to Charleston for my birthday and the north Georgia mountains for my grandfather's birthday. And prior to all of that, we are returning to Alabama to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Store with potentially a mini-stop in Chattanooga for my dad for father's day. (It's what he wanted.)

Also, last night I started looking at how much Justin and I need to have saved for retirement at various ages. We definitely don't have enough saved for when we turn 30, but I've been trying to figure out how to get to our suggested number by the time we turn 40. It will take a lot of work, but I definitely think it's feasible… It's just required a lot of thinking since we're still paying down student loan debt, hoping to travel, and in need of both a car and laptop. (I have a 5 year old laptop, but Justin has only an iPad mini which isn't exactly ideal for a computer engineer.)

Anxiously Awaiting: hearing back from my friend who moved to Germany and may have changed her phone number for good without sharing the new one with me. I hope she didn't, but, since our friendship has been on the rocks lately, I wouldn't put it past her. I simply don't understand how you can choose to not be friends with someone. Aren't the more friends you have, the better off you are?

Interested to Know: how we will put together a baby shower for my nephew.

I have ideas for the shower – dinosaurs, cupcakes, hot air balloons, bright colors, blue – but I don't know the mom well enough to make any specific decisions. I bought a bunny yesterday to give to the baby in the hospital after he is born, but as cute as the bunny was, when I looked closer (as opposed to regular online view) I noticed a pink floral pattern in it's feet. Oops. Guess that will get returned. The world may be happy and praising Caitlyn Jenner, but little baby Nash (that's his name) hasn't yet informed everyone that he is content with flowers, bows, and pink yet, so I think I'm going to stick with traditional baby boy colors. Besides, I prefer blue myself. :)

Breathtaking!

Keeping A Secret: Two things –

1. If we don't go to Europe (or Australia) this year, we are considering going to Paris for my birthday and Bastille Day next year. I'd love to see fireworks over the eiffel tower. :) And it's got to be cooler there then it is in Georgia in July, right?

2. I'm on leave from my job for the next week and potentially until the end of July. The good news: my boss gave me extra work during the first few weeks of June so that I would have my regular pay for the month. The bad news: Even though I have plenty to get caught up on, I don't like sitting at home and having so much time to think. Even worse I don't really have time between now and when I go back to really replace my job, especially with our mini-vacations planned. I guess that just means lots of cleaning, reading, and photo-editing while watching CreattiveLive!

DIY'ing: I don't DIY a lot of stuff. Mostly I spend my time editing photos or helping my husband cook in the kitchen (when I'm not reading, travel planning, or blogging, of course).

In a week or so, I'm going to be receiving a copy of Rooted in Design by Tara Heibel and Tassy de Give to review. In reviewing it, Justin and I are planning to buy an indoor plant and see if we can keep it alive for more than a day. If we manage to keep it alive, it will be a first! Previous attempts at growing basil, tomatoes, and squash have failed. There are only so many plants in this world that we can attempt to grow… Hopefully this book will give us the incite we need.

So many books! So little time!

Reading: Fatal Vision by Joe McGinnis.

I'm pretty sure I should be done with it by now, but I've been getting distracted easily and not reading as often as I could. In my opinion, it's not a very well written book… Interesting story, but the writing is a struggle to get through and rather repetitive. Perhaps I'll have time to get a little further today? I still have more than 300 pages to get through and only 10 days left to meet my 2 books a month new years goal.

January
• the After series by Anna Todd
• A Lion In Paris by Beatrice Alemagna
• I Sold My Soul to the Devil For Vinyls … Pitiful, I Know on Wattpad
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• Refinery 29 by Piere Gelardi and Christene Barberich
• Frites by Anne de la Forest

February
• Summer Rain on Wattpad
• Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer
• How to Travel the World on $50 A Day by Matt Kepnes
• Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

March
• No Capes on Wattpad
• The Bro Code on Wattpad
• He Wanted the Moon by Mimi Baird

April
• Cookie Love by Mindy Segal
• Sweetapolita by Rosie Alyeah

May
• Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren
• Salsas & Moles by Deborah Schneider
• Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson (I finally finished! I just never reviewed it…)
• Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady

June
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

What have you been up to? Are you staying caught up on your goals? Are you looking forward to an awesome vacation somewhere? Have you bought anything exciting recently?