What I’m Loving: Summer Edition

It’s summer.  And there’s lot of things that I’m loving.  So I thought I’d take some time, to share a few with you today.  (For the record, these are “things” I’m loving, which would explain the absence of pictures of “people” that I love.  That could be for another day although it would probably take me forever to share about all of the people I love.)

1.  Hot Yoga.  I’m about three months in, and I can’t say enough how much I love it.  I started off with an unlimited two week trial which totally got me hooked.  It’s been good for me emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.  As a mom, it’s an hour and fifteen minutes that I get to myself, to rest and reflect and relax (well, kind of).  I wasn’t a huge fan or normal yoga, but the Hot Yoga is done in a room that is 105 degrees with a 35% humidity level and it’s the most cleansing, detoxifying sweat ever.  I leave my classes so happy and peaceful and ready to go.  I personally spend a lot of my focus time in yoga praying, so it’s always very spiritual for me which I love.  And finally, I have noticed a big change in my stress and anxiety levels as well.  These are just a few of the reasons that it’s something I’m loving this summer.

2.  Wildflowers.  Fresh picked from our friend Jonathan Tuttle’s fields.  Last year, we loved Jonathan’s little flower cart, on South Bay Avenue in Eastport, halfway down to the Bay.  It’s the best deal in town, at $5 a bunch.  We enjoyed quite a few bouquets, and shared them with many of our friends as well.  And just a heads up for this summer…  if the cart isn’t out, you can now find Jonathan’s flowers up at Olish’s Market as well.

3.  Young Living Essential Oils.  I started using essential oils two years ago after hearing friends I know talk about them and how well they worked.  I was a bit skeptical at first, but now a few years later can say that I truly love using them.  I prefer Young Living, because it’s a company that has been around forever and the oils are high quality and amazing.  We use them daily and to give you a glimpse, here are my favorites and a few things I use them for:

Lemon- I combine with Peppermint and Lavender and diffuse it in Ellee’s room every night.  She has bad seasonal allergies and this always seems to do the trick.

Peppermint- Amazing for headaches and bug bites.

Lavender-  This is my go to for sure.  I use it for any of our summer cuts or scrapes (I used to use Neosporin for everything, but now just use lavender).  It also helps with earaches or itchy allergy eyes.

Frankincense- This is an expensive oil, but one that is really good for a lot of things.  I use it for any skin issues.  Ellee’s had a few bad scrapes on her face, and using this nightly has helped them to fade quite a bit.  Awhile ago, I also read that it helps to support with brain injury, so we got a bottle for Michael that he uses as well.

Thieves- I love thieves oil.  We use it for any head or sinus congestion.  It’s also been helpful with any teeth or mouth issues.  It’s another that I use a lot and it’s been a go to oil for us for years.  Thankfully we really don’t get sick that often, and part of it I attribute to this oil.

*Obviously I’m not a doctor or a science researcher… These are just things that we’ve done with oils that have helped our family 🙂

4.  Multigrain Cheerios.  They are weirdly good.  We stocked up on the super big boxes at Costco last time we were there because they had a sale, so needless to say we should be set for awhile.

5.  Hello Fresh Meals.  There are quite a few companies out there that will shop for and put together all of the ingredients for meals for you and your family.  We’ve tried a few over the years and every time it’s been a fun experience.  There’s something positively delightful about a box of planned and portioned out meals that shows up on your doorstep.      Lsat night we tried the Seared Sesame Tuna over rice.  It was so good and I was so proud to say that I cooked something so fun.  Jeremy and the kids loved it, so that was a bonus too.  My biggest issue with these subscriptions though, is the price.  So I usually just try the first box and then cancel, which is what I did with this.  That being said, it was totally worth the $34 that I paid for three different two person meals (I added a few sides to make it work for our family of four).  I know they have a lot of ads on Facebook, so if you ever see one, you may want to give it a chance.

6.  Summer Photograph Sessions.  I have to be honest.  Most times my photography business slows down in the summers.  But this summer, it’s been pretty solid which means I’ve had quite a few sessions to edit through each week.  Overall, I am so, so thankful for the amazing people who will hire me to capture their family’s portraits.  It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to photograph these special times and I’m so thankful that I get to do this job that I absolutely love.

7.  Youth Group at the Beach.  And finally, it’s summer which means our youth group meets up at the beach.  It’s open to all 7th-12th graders and it’s always a fun time.  We are meeting up this evening at the church.  Drop off is 6:00pm and pick up is 8:30pm, so if you have a teenager that needs something to do, we’d love to have them join us tonight!

And that about wraps it up.  In honor of being transparent, for the record, my life is generally good with lots of things to love, but definitely not perfect.  There are also lots of summer things that I’m not loving, like mosquitoes, political rants on Facebook, our kids fighting over nothing and humidity (outside of Hot Yoga).  But every day, I’m learning that I get the choice on how I live life and my goals for the summer (and always) are to focus the good and the many things that I love.