ughh. i hate to start a post with “ugh”…but i can’t believe how long it’s been since i last posted. worst blogger award, yes? i don’t know why it has been so hard to post lately. i’ve been going somewhere every weekend…but my weeknights haven’t been all that busy, minus some travel here and there. i just can’t seem to sit down and crank out a post.
but today, i’m posting! here are some random things going on lately…
: : my busy travel season, aka SUMMER, is in full swing! [it really began like three weeks ago, if i’m being honest. i’ve been to california, san antonio twice, and houston twice, just in the past month!] i have one or two work trips each month, plus it’s looking like i’ll be gone almost as many weekends as i’m home this summer. no international trips or “big trips” [for now…] – just a lot of little fun stuff. when i look at my calendar, it kinda makes me laugh a little, because for as long as i can remember, this is how my summers have been. always a million things going on, and no matter how hard i try to stay home and have a relaxing summer, it. will. never. happen. every single summer of my life has been ridiculously busy, i swear. as a kid, it was sometimes hard to miss all the birthday parties and events during those summer months because i was gone so much, but i realize how lucky i was/am to get to travel, and i’ve always loved getting to go places. even though my summers really never had a whole lot of free time, they were magical in the best of ways. i have such fun memories from summer trips and i’m sure this summer will be no different.
: : speaking of summer, i think it’s about time to get a summer to-do list going up in here! [yes, making a to-do list is on my to-do list. do you KNOW me?!] i have a few things in mind…stay tuned.
: : have you ever checked out the penmanship porn page on reddit? yep, i found what i’m into. ;) ;)
: : it’s been over a year since our sweet lucky dog passed away [it was a year at the end of april]. i’ve been meaning to mention it, but obv haven’t been posting much these days… i still have a hard time believing that that really happened to him, but i’m happy to have all of these posts to look at and be reminded of that gigantic personality of his! he was such a great dog.
{miss him}
: : guess who turned one year old on may 11th? our adorable shiner boy! aaaaand guess what this means for me?? four 6-packs of shiner beer, courtesy of mom, mike, dad, and mimi! we had all made a bet when shiner was little on how much he would weigh on his first birthday…winner gets a 6-pack of shiner from all! and i was the lucky winner with a guess of 18 lbs…he weighed 18.4 lbs on his first birthday. we need to have a little belated “shiner party” to celebrate him!
{this was on his actual birthday, after he had just gotten a haircut. what a precious boy!}
: : while we’re on the subject of shiner, we love our little puppy [he’ll always be a little puppy in my eyes!], and i’m seriously so proud of the well-behaved dog he’s becoming. he definitely has his moments, but he has taken great strides in the last few months in regards to his behavior. shiner is a cuddle monster – totally different from lucky, who liked his space and only wanted to be close to us for short amounts of time. shiner, on the other hand, just wants to lay across your body and be on your lap, and [most of the time] it’s pretty sweet. he’s a great walker now and can do several tricks. our favorite is definitely “giving paw” or “giving five” – he LOVES to give paw, over and over, and he looks so proud doing it. sometimes he’ll be staring at something or someone else and one of us will tell him to give paw, and he does it without looking. it’s pretty dang cute. that little boy has definitely captured our hearts.
: : does anyone else really like traveling alone? i mean, i probably prefer to travel with close family and friends in most cases, but quite honestly, i really enjoy traveling solo too. i love love love kate childs‘ perspective here on traveling alone after she took a trip by herself to paris. sing it sister! i think that so much of the time, society portrays solo activities like traveling alone or eating alone in a restaurant as sad or depressing or lonely, while i find this time to myself to be freeing and fulfilling and well, fun! you can literally do whatever makes your heart happy in that moment, and it really is wonderful. i feel fortunate to have been able to have the opportunity to travel by myself in europe, in japan, and in quite a few cities in the united states. don’t be afraid to go see the world on your own, ladies! [or gentlemen either!] be brave. :)
{speaking of travel…here’s me pretending to be a french woman} ;)
that’s it for now… thanks for sticking with me even despite the crickets on here… and i’ll try not to go away for so long this time!! xoxo