June in Review

Summer is officially here, which means lazier evenings, vacation, warm weather, cookouts, and a general slowing down of life. Sounds like perfection after this last month.

Good memories:

Holly’s solo
Holly’s ballet show
Holly’s variety shows (all three!!!)
Connor graduating high school
Connor’s graduation party and seeing family and friends all together
Freshman orientation at Iowa State
National Dance competition
Our 20th wedding anniversary

Bookish stuff:

Total number of books read: 7
Total number of pages: 2,287
Favorite book(s) read: Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Petersen wins hands down this month. It seriously is a must-read this year for women of all ages.

Favorites:

Recipes: I don’t think I cooked one new recipe this month. I don’t even know how much I actually cooked. We were simply too busy. What we did eat were a lot of burgers and brats on the grill, spaghetti, and tacos. Boring and something I would love to remedy in July.
Song:
- This was Holly’s tap song for competition this year. It was a fun dance, and the song never got old or stale. I’m going to miss hearing it so often.

How did I persevere?

Meditation: Grade A- – I was doing really well and even made it to the 40 day mark of daily meditation. Then, a trip out of town threw off my schedule. While I haven’t been back to daily meditating, it remains a priority and I never go more than two days without taking that much-needed 15 minutes to myself.
Healthy Habits: Grade C – June was the tale of two halves. The first half, I was kicking it, going to CrossFit and logging my food daily. I haven’t been back to CrossFit though since June 15th, and I am beginning to feel it. I miss seeing my friends and I miss the feeling of empowerment I get after each session. This is one area I want to improve and make a priority in July.
Political Activism: Grade C- – I’m tired, ya’ll. Tired, discouraged, and completely disenfranchised by our entire government. Ryan keeps doing his thing, aiding and abetting the predator in chief. I have one cool senator, but my other senator thinks the new AHCA isn’t bad enough. Seriously, what is a person to do with such shitty representatives who don’t care and definitely do not listen to their constituents? I keep calling or writing on issues that are important to me, but there are more days where I turn off social media and hide. The news keeps getting worse, and I think I am in self-preservation mode right now.

June was insane. Serious insanity during those first few weeks. They were so bad that when they were over, I kind of just dropped everything I was doing to stay organized and healthy. I still have problems concentrating enough to be able to read, as seen by the fact I only read seven books this month. I find I do not have much more mental energy than that required to watch TV or play Candy Crush. I am hoping the quiet weekend and one week with no evening activities will be enough to help me recover. If not, I have a week in Florida in July that I know will do the trick!

6 Comments

Brandie on July 5, 2017 at 6:41 PM

I’ve been too tired to read and find myself playing Words with Friends when that happens! 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying the summer and getting a break for the chaos.

20 year anniversary – that is so awesome!!

Michelle on July 10, 2017 at 4:48 PM

Thanks, Brandie!
Reply

Ti on July 3, 2017 at 8:55 AM

Even though your month was crazy, you still managed to wrap it up in a post pretty well. I can never do that which is why I don’t even attempt it. Days blur for me.

Michelle on July 3, 2017 at 1:52 PM

There is plenty of going back through my planner to try to cobble together some remembrance of the month. June was pretty easy given the big events during the month. It’s the slower days/months that tend to blur for me.
Reply

Jenny @ Reading the End on July 1, 2017 at 1:02 PM

Bleh, I’m really falling behind on political activism too. I made a few calls last week but I didn’t get out to either of my senator’s town halls, which I’m disappointed in myself for. I need to make a big proper calendar that tracks all my different kinds of goals so I can cross them off as I do them. Maybe for July or August.

Michelle on July 3, 2017 at 1:50 PM

I think my problem is that I am SO discouraged. Paul Ryan is never home, and he has made it nearly impossible to leave a message. Plus, it is Paul Ryan. Anything I say to him is wasted breath because he has shown on so many different occasions that he is a party man through and through. I feel the same way about one of my senators. In fact, he opposes the AHCA but only because it does not repeal enough of the ACA! Again, I feel like I am just wasting time in making phone calls. Plus, neither of these two are holding any sort of town hall this summer. So, I have put my activism into donating money to PACs that are trying to get someone else elected in their place. It isn’t much but at least I feel like at least my money is doing the talking.
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Brandie on July 5, 2017 at 6:41 PM

I’ve been too tired to read and find myself playing Words with Friends when that happens! 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying the summer and getting a break for the chaos.

20 year anniversary – that is so awesome!!
- Michelle on July 10, 2017 at 4:48 PM
  
  Thanks, Brandie!
Ti on July 3, 2017 at 8:55 AM

Even though your month was crazy, you still managed to wrap it up in a post pretty well. I can never do that which is why I don’t even attempt it. Days blur for me.
- Michelle on July 3, 2017 at 1:52 PM
  
  There is plenty of going back through my planner to try to cobble together some remembrance of the month. June was pretty easy given the big events during the month. It’s the slower days/months that tend to blur for me.
Jenny @ Reading the End on July 1, 2017 at 1:02 PM

Bleh, I’m really falling behind on political activism too. I made a few calls last week but I didn’t get out to either of my senator’s town halls, which I’m disappointed in myself for. I need to make a big proper calendar that tracks all my different kinds of goals so I can cross them off as I do them. Maybe for July or August.
- Michelle on July 3, 2017 at 1:50 PM
  
  I think my problem is that I am SO discouraged. Paul Ryan is never home, and he has made it nearly impossible to leave a message. Plus, it is Paul Ryan. Anything I say to him is wasted breath because he has shown on so many different occasions that he is a party man through and through. I feel the same way about one of my senators. In fact, he opposes the AHCA but only because it does not repeal enough of the ACA! Again, I feel like I am just wasting time in making phone calls. Plus, neither of these two are holding any sort of town hall this summer. So, I have put my activism into donating money to PACs that are trying to get someone else elected in their place. It isn’t much but at least I feel like at least my money is doing the talking.