Image Credit: Centre for Collaborative Health

July was crazy!

Here’s the link to my July Goals post:

• Getting Personal #173: July Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2019. — Accomplished!
2. Catch up on maintenance / gas logs for both cars. — Did not accomplish.
3. Do another round of closet clean-out. — Did not accomplish.
4. See Spider-Man: Far From Home. — Accomplished!
5. Watch Stranger Things, Season 3. — Accomplished!
6. Finish cleaning the attached garage. — Did not accomplish.
7. Work on my office, making sure everything from the garage has a proper place. — Did not accomplish.
8. Read every night before bed. — Did not accomplish.
9. Celebrate the 4th! — Accomplished!
10. Spend quality time with family and friends. — Accomplished!

July was a bit of a weird month. Spurts of productivity, and then a lot of exhaustion. Many nights, I came home from work and didn’t want to look at any screens. Especially the computer!

We loved Spider-Man: Far From Home. I highly recommend seeing it in the theater.

We binged all of Stranger Things, Season 3, between July 4th and 5th. The next week, we started watching it again. It’s spectacular. If you haven’t seen this show, get on Netflix and watch it!

For July 4th, we celebrated the holiday and Kyle’s birthday at their house. Michaela, Kyle’s girlfriend, has been a life-long friend of mine. We hadn’t been to their house before, so it was really nice to go, bring chocolate mousse, hang out, and enjoy others’ company. Kyle’s surprise 30th birthday celebration was fun also.

We also went to the farm to see Al’s parents the following weekend. It was so nice to get away, and much needed for both of us. It was hot! But, the dogs did so much than last time. I think they finally understand that the farm is a “second home” for us, and them. I also read well over 100 pages of my current book. I’m almost done!

This round of Camp NaNoWriMo wasn’t as successful, but still a success. I still wrote, and made progress with my 2014 WIP. I’m going to post a recap in the next few days, so be on the lookout for that.

I have a lot to catch up on for the month of August!

Did you have any goals for the month of July? Let me know!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: Facebook

Hello, July! It’s hot and humid here in Virginia. Summer just started, and it’s already reaching the mid-90s during the day.

Here are my goals for the month of July:

1. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2019.
2. Catch up on maintenance / gas logs for both cars.
3. Do another round of closet clean-out.
4. See Spider-Man: Far From Home.
5. Watch Stranger Things, Season 3.
6. Finish cleaning the attached garage.
7. Work on my office, making sure everything from the garage has a proper place.
8. Read every night before bed.
9. Celebrate the 4th!
10. Spend quality time with family and friends.

What about you? Do you have any goals for the month of July?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: Beauty Beyond Bones

June felt like a bit of a marathon. Oh well. It was a good month!

Here’s the link to my June Goals post:

• Getting Personal #170: June Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

1. See Dark Phoenix. — Accomplished!
2. Test out the “natural” weed killer recipe. — Accomplished!
3. Plant mosquito-repelling plants in our front flower beds. — Did not accomplish.
4. Work on tidying up both garages with Al. — Accomplished!
5. Catch up on maintenance / gas logs for both cars. — Did not accomplish.
6. Do another round of closet clean-out. — Did not accomplish.
7. Decide what to work on for Camp NaNoWriMo July 2019. — Accomplished!
8. Catch up on tags and participation blog posts. — Accomplished!
9. Spend more time reading. — Did not accomplish.
10. Spend more time with my journal. — Semi-Achieved.
11. Find at least one new recipe to make. — Accomplished!

Al and I went to see Dark Phoenix the weekend it opened. It was pretty decent, but we both have similar opinions about the X-Men movie franchise. The cast was great!

The “natural” weed killer recipe is three ingredients: Vinegar, Epsom salt, and blue Dawn dishwashing detergent. It worked pretty well. We definitely have some stubborn weeds, though, so it may take multiple applications!

We made HUGE progress with both garages this month! I’m so excited. Al single-handedly worked on the detached garage, and we were able to park his Mustang in it last weekend! Happy dance. We took several hours yesterday to tackle the attached garage together, and it looks like a different space already. We still have some work to do, but we filled up my car with thrift store donations, and we have so much less stuff to deal with going forward. We’re hoping, by some time in July, to park one of the other cars in it!

I can’t believe it’s already time for Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2019! I really enjoy the structure of it, and I look forward to meeting everyone in my “cabin.”

I’m working diligently to write in my journal every day. I’m taking a page from my Gratitude Challenge blog posts and trying to capture my gratitude list daily.

The recipe I chose knocked it out of the park! I was looking for something different to make in our Crock-Pot, and I stumbled upon Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas. It’s only four ingredients, and it’s simply set it and forget it!

Did you have any goals for the month of June? Let me know!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Photo from Coral Gables, Florida. Found on Facebook.

I’ve been doing a double-take when I look at a calendar. It’s June. We’re basically halfway through 2019 now. It feels crazy!

Here are my goals for the month of June:

1. See Dark Phoenix.
2. Test out the “natural” weed killer recipe.
3. Plant mosquito-repelling plants in our front flower beds.
4. Work on tidying up both garages with Al.
5. Catch up on maintenance / gas logs for both cars.
6. Do another round of closet clean-out.
7. Decide what to work on for Camp NaNoWriMo July 2019.
8. Catch up on tags and participation blog posts.
9. Spend more time reading.
10. Spend more time with my journal.
11. Find at least one new recipe to make.

Do you have any goals for the month of June? Let me know in the comments!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: BeautyBeyondBones

Here are my goals for the month of May:

1. Continue work on the garage.
2. Make at least two thrift store donation runs.
3. Meal-prep for the entire month.
4. Participate in Didi’s WIP Writing Challenge for May.
5. Attend P.E.O. Virginia State Convention!
6. Celebrate May The Fourth Be With You.
7. Create two planters for our front stoop with mosquito-repellent plants.
8. Continue work on my 2014 WIP.
9. See Long Shot.
10. See Pokemon Detective Pikachu.
11. See The Hustle.
12. Spend time with good friends.
13. See Avengers: Endgame again.
14. Enjoy Memorial Day Weekend with family.

Do you have any goals for the month of May? Let me know in the comments!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: BeautyBeyondBones

Here’s the link to my April Goals post:

• Getting Personal #163: April Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Donate blood. — Did not accomplish.
2. Celebrate Dad’s birthday! — Accomplished!
3. See Shazam! — Accomplished!
4. See Avengers: Endgame. — Accomplished!
5. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, April 2019. — Accomplished!
6. Enjoy time with Emily and Matt. — Accomplished!
7. Continue work on the attached garage. — Did not accomplish.
8. Participate in Didi’s WIP Challenge for April. — Accomplished!
9. Take multiple boxes of books and DVDs to 2nd and Charles for consignment. — Accomplished!
10. Continue work on my office. — Semi-Achieved.
11. Create two planters for our front stoop with mosquito-repellent plants. — Did not accomplish.

I got so close to donating blood this time. For women, you have to have a hemoglobin “score” of 12.5 to be eligible. My highest score was 12.4 – I hate it when that happens!

We celebrated my Dad’s birthday in early April. Yay!

We loved both Shazam! and Avengers: Endgame. We went to see Shazam! with our friends Mike and Shana after a lovely dinner at Chili’s. Al and I just saw Endgame on Saturday afternoon, and we’re still recovering from it emotionally. Such a good movie, though. It’s like the final satisfying chapter of a really good book. Look for a huge recap here on the blog in about a week!

As of this writing, I’ve added more than 9,000 new words to my 2013 WIP for Camp NaNoWriMo, April 2019. I’m very pleased. And, I still have tonight to add some more!

We got to see Emily and Matt twice last weekend! My parents hosted a wonderful dinner at their house for us and several family friends on Thursday night, a wonderful reprieve from the absolute nut house that was my work last week! And, they came over for a couple of hours on Saturday morning, with my dad, to meet our dogs. We got to talk to Matt a bit more and learn about his life in England. I didn’t want them to leave!

Al helped me schlep more than six boxes of books and DVDs to 2nd and Charles on a rainy Sunday afternoon. They don’t take a lot of bestsellers or well-known authors / series, but they did buy $34 worth of items from me. They also offer store credit as an option. The stuff they didn’t take, we dropped in their “Free” bin on the way out. It felt so good!

I was able to go through quite a bit of paper for shredding in my office, and filed several things away. Bit by bit, it’s coming together. I’m hoping to buy my stand-up desk by the summertime.

I didn’t have the money on hand to justify the planters this month, but hopefully it will happen in May. The mosquitoes are already emerging!

Did you have any goals for the month of April?

Come back tomorrow to see my May Goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂