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Just spent my morning walking around Lake Conestee Nature Park. I wore my walking with the intent of doing a bit more exploring that usual. I didn't pack my camera because I just wanted to look. And my 85mm lens doesn't have that much of a reach. And I had my phone for a few snap shots. First stop was the West Bay Observation deck. You can see the Heron nests in the tall trees from here. Its really quite pretty. I stayed for a bit but I didn't see any herons. I did see what I later confirmed were wood ducks. I also saw a couple of bluebirds in the distance. I did see a few bees near the West Bay Observation Deck though! Last time I was on the Possum Run boardwalk, I saw so many sparrows. Absolutely NONE right now though! And at this point in my excursion, I started wishing I had stopped to use the bathroom before diving into the wilderness! As I was walking, I found it enjoyable to realize that I could easily identify some birds by sound alone. I heard t...

I used to hear about people doing triathlons, bootcamps, or even 5k races and I was so freaking impressed. Also pretty intimidated. I never thought I'd be one of those people. One of those fit people who did things like run and wake up early for bootcamp. Ugh. Bootcamp? What kind of crazy person does bootcamp. That sounds AWFUL. Its weird though, y'all, because I am one of those fit people. In the sense that I workout regularly and enjoy it. Not like an instagram fit model who has an amazing body. Because I don't think my belly can recover from these babies. And also, I don't want to control my eating that much. But I have run 13.1 miles. I have biked 20 miles. I have swam one mile.  I have woken up before the summer sun to make it to a bootcamp class and left saying, "That was fun!" And here is the thing!!! I am NOT that impressive. I am not a super fit person. I'm an average girl who decided to try something. Dece...

I'm on such a novel kick right now! I spent this first part of the year devouring nonfiction, which takes a little longer for me than fiction stories. But now, I'm just inhaling all these wonderful books. I just love getting lost in a good book! The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a retelling of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre set in Scotland and Iceland in the '50s and '60s. I've never read Jane Eyre but I loved this novel so dang much. I loved Gemma and it was the kind of book I was sad to see end. The Hating Game is a feel-good romance. As you can tell, it starts with this two people who hate each other. Josh and Lucy work together everyday and are up for the same promotion at work. This book was just so dang enjoyable to read! I honestly thought I would like this more than I did. It was fine, I mean, I liked it. But I didn't love it. I, just, I don't know. I couldn't identify with Belle or she didn't seem like the Belle I "k...

“Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.” -Janet Evanovich So, the all the books I read this month were pretty dark. The Sadie Salt series were magic infused, but not in the delightful Harry Potter sense. It was a little bit Twilight-y, what with the vampires, werewolves, and love triangle. They also involved a badass-but-personable female lead.   Brush With Death (Sadie Salt Series, Book 1) by Ware Wilkins Bad Impression (Sadie Salt Series, Book 2) by Ware Wilkins Deep Roots (Sadie Salt Series, Book 3) by Ware Wilkins The fourth book I read this month was the first in the His Fair Assassin series. I LOVED IT. It's about Ismae, a novitiate at the convent of Mortain, the God of Death. The novel is set in Brittany in the 1400s. YA with another badass female lead a...

In April, I read an article about fast fashion. I almost exclusively wear fast fashion and don't generally think about how it affects the planet. I'm a total nature lover, so it seems to be backwards that I am creating so much waste on clothes I honestly don't wear for long. And its sad, but I don't generally think about the people working in garment factories making Target's $7 tees. Even though I have had family members working in garment factories. Its sadly easy to turn a blind eye to the hardship of the rest of the world. I became really convicted after doing more research. So, I challenged myself to go one full year without buying new clothes. I can, however, buy new-to-me clothes from thrift stores, consignment shops, and the like. Last Saturday, I spent $17 at the thrift store and bought two dresses, a pair of shorts, and a dress for Ruthie. Read more about fast fashion: https://theethicalist.com/buy-better-high-cost-cheap-clothes/ ...

This nonsense that is going on is not okay. I don't care if it started yesterday or ten years ago. I don't care if it's because of the Republicans or the Democrats or the freaking United Underworld. I only care that it stops happening as soon as possible. Call 👏🏻 your 👏🏻 representatives 👏🏻 If you're in SC District 4, like me, you need to call Trey Gowdy 202-225-6030 Lindsey Graham 202-224-5972 Tim Scott 202-224-6121 Also, William Timmons and Lee Bright will be in a run off election for Trey Gowdy's seat. If you want to know where they stand on Family Separation before that election, call them. Let them know it is important for your vote. William Timmons - 864-616-8821 (he will personally answer the phone) Lee Bright - 864-328-8717 (the person answering will try to pass blame) If you don't live in Greenville, find your representatives' information here: https://www.callmycongress.com If you don't know what to say, say this sc...

Thursday, we woke up and had a slow morning. Ate pancakes, drank coffee, watched PBS Kids, and made it to the beach around 10:30am.  The kids and I dug a deep pool and Ruthie plopped right in a called in her bathtub! Haha. Eventually, the tide moved out, and we filled in our bathtub and started making sand castles. Mike and I had subs for lunch but we forgot to get the kids Lunchables as planned (WINNING), luckily, we had plenty of snacks, so they were pretty happy with that! After a couple hours, this little one was ready for a nap. We parked it under our rented beach chairs (best splurge, y'all.) and I snuggled and prayed she would fall asleep. She snuggled in and would occasionally point to people around us, "Mama, he need shirt." She has a thing with shirtless men. She doesn't approve. She eventually fell asleep, slept for maybe a hourish, and woke up in a super happy mood! While she was sleeping, Mike and J went to get ice cream cones from the ...

I've never been a part of a family that spends the whole week at the beach. Doesn't that sound so freaking luxurious? I'd like to eventually do that, but for now, a couple days at the beach is awfully nice. We left Greenville not-quite-as-early-as-anticipated on Wednesday morning and arrived home around dinner time on Friday. So a quick trip, but still so fun! We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch and, once we arrived in Charleston, stopped by our AirBnb to unload and change. Then...off to the beach! Do you know why plastic bags are prohibited on the beach? Because sea turtles might mistake them for jellyfish and eat them! So sad! We bought a wagon for this trip and OH MAN! What a game changer. I had no idea how it would make the beach trip that much more enjoyable. Why? Everything was contained and the kids got a ride. If we didn't have it, we would have had to carry stuff, they would have had to help, and they would have whined because they woul...