Summery Summary
The summer blog break’s over and it’s time to catch up. Here’s a whirlwind tour of my summer highlights.
1. I’m sorry, did someone just say “highlights”???
I had to show you this first because my hair will look shorter in every other picture, and it would just be so anticlimactic to mention it after you’ve seen it. I’m loving this length. I’m pretty sure I’m done with long hair for good.
2. My oldest daughter returned safely from her Honduras trip.
You guys!!!!!!!!!
I can’t even begin to talk about what it’s like to a) send your baby to a foreign country without you for ten days or b) watch your baby do and be everything you’ve always known she would do and be.
So, she’s washing people’s feet and praying for them. Do you know what this does to my heart?
And if I ever doubted her love for me, I don’t any longer. She brought me 10 bags of Honduran coffee.
3. We successfully visited all sets of grandparents, along with some aunts and uncles, too.
This is Jon with his dad and 4 of his 5 brothers. The one in the blue is his identical twin.
This is Jon’s mom and step dad. The girl on the right is Rebekah’s friend–I adopted her for a few weeks while we travelled.
My daddy–he’s going to be 90-years-old in a few weeks!
Jon’s step mom and my sister’s-in-law.
Jon’s brother Mark–Elliana found a new favorite uncle.
4. After being HOUNDED by All The Dentists for the last 30 years about the stupid wisdom teeth, I finally succumbed to the pressure. They are gone. I would post a picture, but how do you capture PAIN on film?
The good news is that my face did not swell. The bad news is my pain level was at an 8/9 for about two weeks, and then dropped down to a 4/5 for the next two weeks. And I’m no wimp when it comes to pain. I eat pain for breakfast. (Not really—I eat eggs with a side of fruit, most days.)
I consumed more acetaminophen and ibuprofen in 30 days than I had in the previous 20 years, combined. I also had to eat pureed foods for 2 solid weeks, which is not conducive to travel (or to eating eggs). You woulda thunk I’d drop a few pounds with my forced smoothie cleanse. But no. I did not. My metabolism hates me.
But now All The Dentists are happy, because I have giant holes where teeth used to be. I’ve been told the holes close up eventually. I’ll keep you posted on that.
No, actually, I won’t. Because I’m pretty sure I just crossed the line of “You don’t care about that detail of my life.”
Skin cancer check up was great! It’s always good to find out you don’t have cancer.
And Elijah went to the orthodontist—4 times. And now, he is the proud wearer of braces. ($$$$)
5. I took the girls to Nashville to see Katy Perry in concert. Don’t judge. It was a fantastic concert. And it was so loud, you couldn’t decipher the highly inappropriate lyrics of some of her songs. For real. She puts on an unbelievable show.
Katy Perry floating over the audience on balloons.
6. The new house is coming along nicely. And by “nicely” I mean, it’s still just a field and some drawings. Don’t even ask. But here are some pictures of where a house is supposed to stand some day.
This will be my view from our back deck and kitchen and office and family room. You can’t tell here, but it’s a horse farm. My view will be horses. I feel contentment and peace just typing that sentence.
A boy outstanding in his field.
Sometimes we just go park our truck and pretend we live there.
7. The 2-week Naples/Keys vacation was a success. Relaxing, beautiful, fun and HOT. Not sure if you’ve ever been to South Florida in July. Thanks to the proximity to the equator and the 100 percent humidity, it’s a different level of hot. Like, Holy-Crap-I-Think-I’m-Melting-and-Maybe-This-Isn’t-Safe hot. I sat in the water and read, mostly.
You can’t see the sweat here. But I’m dripping. And I also have sun poisoning on my legs. Did I mention the proximity to the equator?
This was the first time we allowed a child to bring a friend on vacation. It was a good move. I highly recommend it for teens. Don’t bring THIS friend. That would just be creepy.
I just realized I posted two pictures of me posed like this. As if I do this every day. I don’t. I’ve done this exactly two times.
8. I took a month off all social media. As in, I deactivated my Facebook account and everything, which is why I had such a fun-filled summer filled with actual people! That probably warrants its own post someday. I have reflections and such I wish to share.
Well, that about sums things up! Next week, I’ll be back with something more insightful. I promise. I missed you and can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to!
Looks like you had a lovely summer. We have too….so far. School is still a ways off (Sept 2) and my baby Ryan is starting kindergarten….ack!
I have not been to Florida in July. But I have been to the Bahamas in July. So yeah. I get it. Totally.
I’m happy to have you back on FB and here. Social media wastes so much of my time, but the idea of not being able to connect with dear people who I don’t see often or ever in real life, that idea makes me sad. So I carry on. 🙂
Enjoy the last few weeks of your summer. I know you started the summer later than us. Up in your neck of the woods, you need to plan your summer for the few weeks you don’t have snow.
Kidding.
Not really.
I missed you when I was not on FB. That is one of the things I realized while on break: I truly enjoy the connection. We can talk all we want about the value of face-to-face relationships (and I agree, they are vital!) but there are some people I simply would not be in touch with, if it were not for FB and social media. People like you. 🙂
YAY! Made me smile to find your “Summery Summary” in my inbox! Glad you guys are enjoying life and sooo happy about your soon-to-be horse view! I’m also on a break from FB as we’re working on the road again and free time is scarce. Just left PA last week and in Wichita now for a while! Glad you’re back to blogging! Love you my friend and you are lookin’ AMAZING!
I miss you JeanH!!!!! I think about you and how we talked about our little project and then it died. haha. We must talk again soon. Tell that sweet husband of yours I said hello.
I’m sooooo glad you’re back and blogging! I have the same FB issues that Kelly has. Can’t cut it loose 😉
You’re hair looks fabulous! I have thought about being done with long hair, but this issue is similar to FB. Again, can’t cut it loose. (pun intended.)
I am so glad you had a great experience with taking a teen friend along on vacation! About 2 days into our vacation, I turned to my mom and said, “I should have brought E along to hang out with R. I didn’t even think of it until now.” To which she replied, “You know, I thought about that, but just didn’t think to say anything.” We both agreed we will say what we think more often when we have good ideas 😉 We are already planning for next year! And how to add 1 more child and belongings to an already fully stuffed minivan.
Katy Perry!!!! No judging – I love most of her music and so do my girls and I try to tune out the lyrics to “Last Friday Night” because it is an AWESOME running or spinning song.
Can’t wait to hear more and catch up and see the house as it comes along…so exciting! Missed you, friend! Have a great day 🙂
I wasn’t originally in favor of bringing a teen friend on vacay. I am very protective of our family time. But since Rebekah was in Honduras for 10 days and then spent another week with her cousin away at a family church camp, I knew she’d absolutely murder us if we took her away for 2 MORE weeks without nary a friend.
It worked out great for us, but I’d be SUPER PICKY about the friend. It needs to be someone who you enjoy, too. And someone who you child REALLY enjoys. Day and night, night and day. Because it’s a LONG time to be with a friend.
Katy Perry. So many of her songs are run-worthy.
I am so happy you’re back! I’ve missed you and your darling sense of humor. 🙂 So glad your time away was good for you, though.
As an aside, I had my wisdom teeth taken out two years ago (and you know I’m no spring chicken!) and I still miss them. 🙁
I miss you, too, Shelly. Sounds like you’ve had a full and fun summer, too.
When you got your wisdom teeth out, did it HURT LIKE H*LL for a month????? The surgeon said because of my age that the roots were deep into my jaw bone and that the recovery would be hard and slow. Awesome. He wasn’t lying. He said if I would have done it as a teen, recovery would have been days, not weeks.
I don’t miss them, though. I was having such a hard time keeping them clean. It’s a relief they are not back there, rotting.
Sandy,
Welcome back. You hair looks great. LOL I thought the one in blue was Jon. My daughter Esther and some of her friends went to Nashville the first of June for a few days for the CMA music festival and saw a lot of entertainers. We went camping and went to Atlanta for a weekend series of Braves games. I ran my first half marathon ever with my kids volunteering to help with the race. We support some missionaries in Honduras. Great pictures.
How did you do on your half marathon? What a great accomplishment. I know you’ve been training for that for awhile now. Congrats!