Is it just me or is this Summer speeding by? Usually I am enjoying my days and relaxing but I feel like I am always trying to cram in as much as I can on my off time. I leave for Europe in a week and a half and boy do I have a lot to do. After that my family has a Florida trip that I am trying to squeeze in and then we turn around and leave for UT for Lyle’s brothers wedding and a week of fun in Southern Ut before I start school again. Amidst this I am dying to fit in a Nantucket trip! Has anyone been there? It looks so dreamy and I have been dreaming about these cinnamon roll french toast things we had in Cape Cod so maybe that’s the real reason I want to head up that way… I swear Lyle and I are like nomads. We are always on the move or pondering some big life decision about where we are going next or what we want to do with our life. I honestly love seeing so many places so it’s always fun and exciting and I wouldn’t mind always having a life like this once we have kids if that’s even possible. Anyway, I am digressing. We just had Lyle’s parents come out and visit us for a long weekend and it was so much fun showing them around New Jersey and New York. Thought I would throw in a Fridays Faves post since I have been attempting to post one of these for weeks now. Tonight Lyle and I are off to see Third Eye Blind for the start of his birthday week. Woo hoo! This week is full of some fun things that I can’t wait to tell you all about.
Hope you have the absolute best weekend!
Read this: The Magnolia Story
I know I mentioned this one on Instagram but it is worth mentioning again. I absolutely love to read and throughout the Summer when I have time I take out about 8 a week! This one has to be one of my favorite reads. They are so unbelievably inspiring to me with their faith in God and I finished this book feeling like I could achieve anything I wanted. I am an avid reader so if anyone has anything positive or worth reading please mention it in the comments below.
Watch that: 13 Reasons Why
First off, I feel like I need to mention this is really heavy and unnecessarily drops the F bomb far too many times. It is a Netflix series about a girl who commits suicide and leaves behind these tapes on why. A few girls in my cohort mentioned this and talked about how good it was but I never got around to it. After watching the Office all the way through (again) and having nothing to watch I decided to give it a try and I was hooked, I basically binge watched the whole thing in one night. It definitely weighs you down but I loved the messages I took from it. You truly don’t know what is going on in someone’s life so always. be. kind. The domino effect from something that seems small or insignificant to you can have a devastating effect on someone’s life. It was definitely thought provoking.
Wear this: the romper/jumpsuit/pinafore
I am a huge huge fan of this girly and feminine trend. I think it is so cute! I actually bought the one above from Asos (the brand is Mango). Asos has tons of denim or really cute striped variations of this style. HM, Mango and River Island are some other places you will see things like this, along with some Utah boutique stores. I do not like jeans in the Summer so these are a fun alternative.
Listen to this: Vance Joy
He is by no means new but I have definitely fallen in love with his voice thanks to my Bon Iver Pandora station. I love how much my taste in music has evolved in the past few years. I still and will always love my country music but it’s fun to expand your horizons a bit and listen to new things. “Mess is Mine” and ” Fire and the Flood” are two of my favorites right now.
Eat this: Military Diet
So losing the weight from our trip and then my birthday was just rough. Being fit and healthy is a huge priority to me and to top it off we have a wedding we are in this Summer so we needed some help. I was still up a few pounds when we decided to give this diet a try. Some girls at work tried it and one lost 8 lbs and one lost 10! It’s only three days so I convinced Lyle to do it with me and he lost 6 lbs and I lost 4! I didn’t research it too much so I’m not telling you guys its the best thing out there but it worked for us. It was a good way to get back on track. The girls at work didn’t work out while they did it but Lyle and I run every day and we continued to do it through the diet (although I don’t know if you are supposed to work out or not). We don’t drink coffee or tea but you can substitute sugar free hot chocolate or sugar free red bull. Lyle actually loves this diet haha, he can’t believe he gets to eat ice-cream and lose weight. I did season our chicken and my tuna because I do not like tuna and it was good. I actually want to do the diet every day but you have to wait a little bit before doing it again so I just do similar variations of it. To do your own research on it you should check out Pinterest and type in the “Military Diet.”
Do this: Try Something New
Last weekend we went and saw this broadway with Lyle’s parents and it was amazing! It probably helped that Lyle managed to get us third row tickets, being right up in all the action is even better. I honestly didn’t care to see it but it ended up being one of my favorite ones which just goes to show you (or me) you have to give everything a chance. Since we met Lyle has always told me he wanted to have a family band haha and after seeing this I told him I was 100% on board. These kids are so dang talented and it left me wanting to go learn or do something amazing. This Summer I told myself I would make more time to read, to take some cooking/baking classes and just improve as a person. It’s never to late to pick up a new hobby or work on a new talent.
Ponder this:
I saw this quote somewhere in NYC the other day and it is my absolute favorite quote right now and probably always will be. I plan on blowing it up, framing it and putting it in our house. What a great reminder to see everyday before we leave the house? I have been thinking a lot about the type of person I should be and the type of little humans I would want to raise and the two most important things I think a child needs to be taught are kindness and how to serve others. There are so many great articles on how to teach these and quite frankly I don’t think it’s a bad thing for us adults to have the reminder every now and then too.
XX Cait
