Summer 2018 Wrap-Up

I don’t know about you, but I am always excited to see summer coming to an end. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I just can’t stand the humidity, blazing sun, bugs, and heat of summer. Bleh! Bring on the cool, crisp weather, gorgeous scenery, tasty treats, and Halloween festivities! 😀

Although I’m excited to see it go, this summer wasn’t a total bust, so I figured I’d do a wrap-up post with some of the highlights for this particular season as it comes to an end.

In June I went to my little cousin’s wedding. It was a fantastic celebration. Funnily enough, this was the first wedding I have ever been to where I was simply a guest and didn’t have any responsibility so that was interesting. Everything was amazing and everyone had a wonderful time. I’m so happy for her and her new husband and the life they’re starting. ❤

Look how cute their dessert table turned out!

In other news, we got some succulents! I’ve been wanting to get some of these little bad boys for a while, so I was beyond elated when my boyfriend took me to pick a bunch out for the house and get all the supplies we needed to take care of them. 🙂

Speaking of plants, we also took a day to visit Grand Rapids this summer and made sure one of our stops was at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. This place was MASSIVE. I feel like we could have easily spent the whole day just at this one place, but we had a zoo and brewery to go to that day too, so we had to hustle just a bit. We got to see some wonderful and bizarre sculptures as well as tons of gorgeous and interesting plants. If you ever find yourself in Grand Rapids, Michigan it is definitely worth a visit!

We didn’t end up going to the movie theater quite as much as we normally would these past few months, mostly due to how busy things have been, but we did manage to squeeze in a few good movies.

I only got to review one of these three films (Deadpool 2) but I did actually enjoy all three of them. 🙂

Haven’t gotten to do very much reading this summer, either. Squeezed in a few things, and slowly chipped away at a few more, but I’m hoping fall will prove to be better for getting cozy and curling up with some good books. 🙂 In other book-related news, I did score some great deals on books I will (hopefully) be enjoying soon.

We got some major yard work done this summer, so it’s been cool seeing how the property has really transformed. You can tell someone who lived in this house previously really enjoyed gardening and had quite the green thumb and eye for landscaping. Years of renters, however, seem to have let things grow a little out of control, so we had some hard work to do, but I love our yard and all the cool plants that came with it. We even started using out fire pit and I’m looking forward to some fun bonfires come fall.

Well, that is my summer wrap-up post for the year. I’m excited going into fall mere days from now and plan on doing a lot of fun stuff throughout that particular season before winter comes creeping in. Expect a fall bucket list post in the near future! 😉

How about you guys? What were your own personal summer highlights? Anything you’re particularly excited about for fall? What’s your favorite time of year? Let’s talk about it!

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June Update Time!

Wow, it’s still hard to believe we’re already SIX MONTHS into the year. Luckily, 2018 has been a great ride so far, so I really can’t complain. (Although, to be fair, there is some occasional whining before/after work.) 😛

My spirit animal

The biggest change for me so far in 2018 has been moving in with my boyfriend to our very first house. It was a big, scary leap, but it’s been great. We make a good team and he always inspires me to push myself toward bigger and better things, so I’ve got some fun projects/ideas I plan to really get going on in the days to come. Next month my little blog will be turning 2 years old, and I’m planning some fun stuff as this Ignited Moth begins her terrible twos. Mwahaha!

I’m having some friends over this upcoming weekend (my first non-family visitors since I moved in) for my book club’s June meeting. I can’t wait for them to come see the new house and hang out. 🙂 Aaaand, speaking of books . . .

Here are the books I’ve bought so far in June:

The City of Lost Fortunes

Currently reading this one for book club. I’m enjoying it so far, I just wish I had more time to really dig into it. I was struggling to stay away the other night while reading this and wound up succumbing to sleep, thus letting my kindle slip from my grasp and bash me in the face. Not the nicest way to wake up. Profanities ensued.

A Plague of Giants

I cannot wait to get to read this one! I’ve been enjoying The Iron Druid Chronicles, so I can’t wait to read Kevin Hearne’s first big epic fantasy. He’s been great in the urban fantasy department, but I am looking forward to seeing how he really turns his brain loose for this one.

Godblind

Like the book above, this was a recent buy due to a fantastic deal pointed out to me by Cupcakes and Machetes. Not only does she make killer book suggestions, but she also points out great deals when she finds them. She’s like a fairy godmother of all things literature, waving her magic wand around and making good books appear on your TBR list. 😛 I’d heard good things about this one, and with such a great deal how could I possibly pass it up?

In other news, I bought some fantastic watercolor markers just recently. I’ve gotten to tinker around with them a little bit, but I’m really looking forward to going wild and getting the hang of them soon. With some encouragement from the always-awesome Imperial Rebel Ork, I’ve decided to post more of my scribbles, doodles, and artsy stuff on the blog. Which, of course, made me want to get some new tools of the trade to make it happen. 🙂

I feel like there are a thousand other things I could babble on about right now, but I’ll keep this brief. Just know: all is well, I’m feeling inspired, and there is plenty of fun new stuff coming to the blog in about a month. In the meantime, it’s business as per usual (AKA: random, unfiltered chaos.) 😀

I hope everyone had a great weekend! ❤ What’s been going on in your little corner of the world lately? Feel free to let me know what recent excitement you’ve had going on or what neat stuff you’ve been working on lately.

 

Flower Friday Post #2

Woo! 2 posts in 2 days! It’s been nice posting more again this month, but I have some catching up to do one everyone’s amazing blogs this weekend. Looking forward to seeing what all you people have been up to. 🙂 ❤

They say April showers bring May flowers, but it feels like May has been the month getting all the rain this year. I managed to sneak outside on a couple recent non-drizzly days to get some more spring photos, though, so I was happy about that. I love heading outside to see what is growing and how much the yard can change in such a short period of time. 🙂

I’m not exactly sure what these pink flowers were that came and went rather quickly, but they were gorgeous while they lasted. I’m thinking it might be a crabapple tree, but I’m not sure yet. They popped up all over one of the trees in my backyard and were gone again before I knew it. Now it just looks more like this:

A couple alliums popped up just recently as well in one of the flowerbed areas beside the driveway. I like the little splash of purple from them.

So, one thing that had me a little bummed was the lack of flowers on the rhododendron we have out back beside our weeping cherry tree. I’ve seen others with flowers right now and meanwhile ours is just kinda like, “Nah, bitch, I don’t wanna.” Buuuuut, today I was elated to discover this bad-ass lone beauty!

Aaaaand even though this part isn’t technically so much flower-related, the blackberries are beginning to do their thing. I’m hoping we wind up with a bunch of them sometime soon. That way I can try a bunch of new recipes with fresh blackberries like Cupcakes and Machetes suggested. 🙂

Well, that’s it for this week’s Flower Friday post from me. Be sure to pop on over to Read Rant Rock & Roll to check out their Flower Friday posts (along with all their other awesome posts.) 😀

Hoping everyone has an amazing weekend! It’s a three-day weekend for me with Memorial Day being on Monday, so I’m definitely ready for it.

Home Sweet Home

I just love when the magnolia trees are in bloom. ❤

So, spring is in the air and I’m officially all settled in at the new house, and although some stuff is still in boxes, I’m mostly unpacked. Moving is nothing new to me, but this move in particular felt like a big one since it involved me officially moving in with my boyfriend. It’s a big step, but we’re both really happy together and I’m glad we finally made this exciting leap. 🙂

It’s been fun watching and seeing (and guessing) what’s all growing at the new house as the weather keeps improving. We’ve got a wild cherry tree and weeping cherry tree both in bloom right now, a tall row of blackberry bushes, a bunch of hosta plants, some peonies, I think we may have some hydrangea, a lilac tree (that technically is in the neighbor’s yard, but some of the branches hang over in ours, so I’m counting it lol), a few tulips, lily of the valley, and more. I can’t wait to see what else pops up next.

One thing’s for sure: there is going to be plenty of weeding to do. Meh!

The greenhouse goodies are doing great, too. It’s awesome eating salads with the lettuce you grow at home. I need to do something soon with some of the parsley and basil, and the pea plant is continuing to grow as well (no peas yet, but that’s okay). The strawberry plant has flowers on it, and the cherry bush I got my mom for Mother’s Day is also flowering.

How’s your spring going so far? It feels good to be blogging again and catching up with you guys. ❤ There’s such an awesome community here and I’m so glad to be a part of it. Are any of you growing your own plants right now? 🙂 I’m just a novice at it, but I’m greatly enjoying it.

basil, parsley, peas.

 

 

I’m Alive! Spring Updates

Hey, guys! ❤ It’s been a while, but I’m still kicking. Despite what my recent absence in the blogosphere would suggest, I was not eaten by a pack of rogue land sharks. (Just slightly mauled is all.)

I’ve had a lot of stuff going on lately and even less free time than usual because of it, but it’s paying off, so I’m not complaining. Merely explaining why I’ve been such a no-show around here lately. I’ve missed chatting with you guys, though, and I’m really looking forward to catching up on everyone’s blogs. 🙂

So, let’s get to the good stuff and let the updates commence! 😀

BLAH #1: I’ve just been promoted at work and will be getting my own classroom and team. The position recently opened up and I decided to go for it. I was so excited when I heard I’d gotten the position, and I can’t wait to begin planning my room’s weekly activities and outings. I start in my new role as team leader in a week. 🙂

BLAH #2: I’ve mentioned house hunting and moving in the blog recently, and tomorrow is the signing for the house, so I am beyond thrilled about that. So, new job AND new house. My boyfriend was recently promoted at work, too, so although things have been busy as hell and a bit stressful at times, it feels good having all these exciting new changes in our lives.

BLAH #3: Haven’t had much time for reading lately, but I did read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (I’ve been reading some of the old books my grandma owned for nostalgia reasons.) I’m also currently reading The Great Alone and am hoping to finally start Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues pretty soon. (Assuming I’m not too busy with working on the house/painting this week after work.) April is going to be another extremely hectic month, so we’ll see how much reading I actually get done.

BLAH #4: Easter with the fam was nice and relaxing. This weekend was packed full of doing stuff to get ready for the house, so Easter was a nice chance to just relax and nom on some delicious food. I was in charge of mashed potatoes (my grandma’s recipe and a holiday staple.) My dad and I had a mini Ash vs. Evil Dead marathon, which was all sorts of gory and hilarious fun.

So, those are my recent updates. How about you? Got any exciting news? I hope everyone’s been doing well and had a great weekend. ❤