It's Already July

Hey guys!

I am alive ... somewhat.

The reason this post hasn't gone up earlier today? Because I forgot I was supposed to start blogging again. Yep. I am focused.

I decided to break the hiatus with an update of the past month and the month we are now entering.

So here we go.

June was busy.

Very busy.

Probably the most prominent event of the month was we announced we are having baby number 2.

Behold the cuteness.

There was also a boatload of traveling around. One of Jarod's college classmates got married so we drove three hours for that. It was ... eventful. The wedding itself was gorgeous, but it was over 100 degrees that day and Henry ended up getting sick, and there was puke, and tears, and we went home early, the end.

Our church also had a picnic which was super fun, and we went to one last graduation.

It's been stupid hot,

 after the stupid cold finally left, so we have been to the swimming pool several times, and I wont lie, if you drive by my house during the afternoon you might see me lounging in the kiddy pool on the deck. Water is water people.

My garden is looking lovely, and the only thing that sucks about it is trying to maintain the weeds without dying of heat stroke. I've been foundering on lettuce, kale, spinach, beet and carrot greens. My kohlrabi, cabbages, and brussel sprouts are getting little heads on them, and my peppers and tomatoes are blossoming.

I've also discovered some things health wise that might be the culprit for all the skin problems I've been suffering from for the last eternity and a half. It's absolutely killer because fixing it requires cutting out almost every single form of carbs and sugar--even the healthy kind. But my skin feels fantastic, so its kind of sort of worth it.

The biggest disappointment of the month--maybe even the year--was I went to Goodwill and found The Lion King 1 1/2 for three dollars. Since it is a used item store, I checked to make sure the DVD was actually in the case, and it was. But when I got it home and put it in to watch with Henry, it was only the special features. Because it was the two disc version, and only disc two was in the case.

I did very minimal writing. Like, next to none. A page or two maybe. I did manage some plotting and outlining, but actual writing just didn't happen. I've had a lot of morning sickness (which is the biggest lie on earth guys-- it is twenty four hour sickness) and something about being nauseous and dizzy just doesn't produce good writing sessions. It's getting a little better now, so I'm hoping I can be more productive in July.

I did get some really great feedback on writing in June. A gal who had volunteered to read Bad Boy sent me her final thoughts, and they were absolutely incredible. Her praise was great, and she caught so many little flaws and inconsistencies that had gone right over my head. So I was very thankful for that, and super excited to start work on revising that story. Hopefully soon.

I also entered the Daphne Du Myer contest. Four judges looked over the first fifteen pages of Blood and Dust, and I was so thrilled with the feedback. They gave very detailed critiques, so it was easy to see exactly what issues they were talking about, and it all made so much sense. But they also commented on lots of good things that they loved, which is always very fun to hear. I was thrilled that a lot of their negative comments lined up with what I and Kara Swanson had discussed, and I think a lot of the changes we had decided to make would solve those issues very nicely and tie it all together. That's the story I've been poking at this last month, so I'm hoping maybe I'll start to feel good enough to really sit down and try to work through some of the things we've all been discussing for the story.

Obviously this month we have Independence Day/ 4th of July. It's probably in my top three favorite holidays ever. I almost named this post Party like its 1776, but that was a bit of a mouthful.

Either way, it's so much fun to go haggle out a good bargain on fireworks. This year some family from Jarod's side will be in town, so my parents are coming over and we're gonna grill and set off fireworks. And eat lots of food, that will probably not help my skin, but will taste delicious anyway.

City wide garage sales are also this weekend, which is another major highlight of the year. Who doesn't like to go garage sale hunting, really?

On Saturday more of Jarod's family gets in and we are having a family reunion. There should be lots of swimming, fishing, and paddle boating involved, weather permitting. There is rain in the forecast again, so we'll see.

Everybody is bringing food, and let me just tell you that it is so stinking hard for a pregnant lady who is craving absolutely everything to narrow her choices down to a halfway reasonable number. Nigh impossible in fact.

Our three year anniversary is the ninth. It really doesn't feel like three years in some ways, but in other ways it feels more like ten. It's pretty great.

The county fair is at the end of the month. I only have one sister young enough to compete this year, but I'm sure we'll go watch the horseshow and browse the exhibits, which should be fun.

So, that about sums it up.

What about you? Did you miss me? What fantastic things happened while I was gone?

All Gifs from Google. I do not own any of them.