Catching up...

So the month of August really has been a blast! We kicked things off with a family wedding August 1st! My baby sister Michaela became Mrs. Alonzo!! She was a gorgeous bride and they are such a cute couple; deeply in love! The day was gorgeous and remarkable in many ways. It was a very healing and monumental time for our family. I was sad when the party was all over.

Soon after we recovered from the wedding we went camping as a family with some of our closest friends. We had a blast making memories, chasing after our kids and sitting around the campfire late into the night. My absolute favorite!! I look forward to our annual camping trip in August with the same giddy excitement as I did when I was 10 years old!

Now that camp is over and put away I feel the fall nipping at my heals, which oddly I am excited about, I typically lament the end of summer for most of the fall and then finally come around about Thanksgiving time. But this year fall will be bringing some fun house projects to get ready for a glorious season of dinner parties and practicing our B&B skills. I will be making an intentional learning space in one of the bedrooms to hopefully attempt a fun homeschooling-ish environment for Aurelia. She is so smart and really loves to learn new things, so we are going to just go with it and have some unofficial homeschooling every day. I also have the most amazing in-laws who are both early education experts and will be working with her this fall in learning to read. Crazy! When you talk about school and reading it really hits you; we have a kid. A really big kid.

This fall will also bring the wedding of my lifetime best friend Katrina Hope!!!! She is marrying the best man for her and I am over the moon excited to be a part of their special day and the marking of many new chapters in their life. I love her, I love him, I love that they are getting married, words can't describe my excitement!

My motto these days is something I read recently, "Life is not a race, it's okay to slow down." I have wasted too many years in varying levels of stress and anxiety worrying that I am not doing enough, or not doing the right thing, I have to produce, produce, produce and you know what? that's crap! :) I'm sick of feeling the pressure to be constantly moving and doing things. I am taking time to really enjoy what's going on right now, enjoy my family, enjoy the weather, enjoy God and this gift of life. It is a glorious thing when you can let go of your own agenda and be carried along by God. Amazingly you still get things done and have positive impact on other people, but it's not a matter of striving to achieve something, more like responding to what tugs on your heart. I really believe He wants us to enjoy life more than we think. Chill out, take time to be grateful and just relax...