tshirt designs, babysitting, audio books!! // may life update

June 09, 2022

tshirt designs, babysitting, audio books!! // may life update

Last month, I said that I got into graphic design and this month was full of designs and even some shirts!? The children's director at our church saw one of my designs on Instagram and asked to make one similar for the shirts for the volunteers! A week or so after that, she came to me asking if I could make something for their camp shirts this year too! I was so honored. I really do enjoy making these designs and also creating something for my church.

The women's ministry at church has a monthly women's brunch and this month was so lovely! It was a women's tea and it was the full works. Tea cups and fancy hats and all the fun things about tea parties. It made me feel like I was little again having one of my numerous birthday tea parties. This brunch, I got to help with decorations and I had the best time! I've always enjoyed the brunches, but this one was especially fun. I got to connect to the girls at my table and the message was so good. I look forward to next month's!

The same day as the women's brunch, was the wedding of one of my sweet friends Haley! She has been such a sweet friend since I graduated high school, encouraging me and being there through every stage of life I've experienced when it comes to my dating/engagement/marriage to Elijah. She has walked through my stages of dating and marriage as a happily single woman, and we've dreamed for her to meet her man and experience the sweet married life. Well, the time has come! She was a beaming, beautiful bride and I should've known I was going to cry through the entire ceremony. Cody is the perfect man for her, and I wish her and him the most happiness. They are incredible people alone, but together they are so beautiful.

I had a few pretty fun days off this month! Some days included shopping for clothing (my fav) and finding some pretty sweet pieces! I had only one dress earlier this year because the rest didn't fit anymore. So, I bought two new ones that I absolutely love! Having dressing rooms open again after the pandemic is the best thing. I am tired of buying things online or in store but not being able to try them on, only to find that I got the wrong size. But I gotta say, taking the extra time to try on clothes in the dressing room is a game changer! It's always the way to go, if you can.
A few other fun things I did on my days off included going to the beach with a friend! Her name's Taylor, and she goes to church with me. She recently started working at the coffee shop I'm at, which is fun, though we've only had one shift together. But we decided to watch the sunset at the beach one day and that was pretty fun. We spent several hours just walking and talking, it was lovely. And the weather was lovely too! We ended the night with ice cream on the pier and talking about books. We need to have another hang out soon!

We had some pretty interesting weather this month! Plenty of hot days of course, but we had a few chilly days too! I was into it. We also had two separate thunderstorms and quite a lightning storm one night! I woke up so many times because the lightning was so bright through the window blinds. It continued the next morning, and it was such an incredible thing to watch while driving to work. Most of the time when there's lightning, it's super quick and you don't quite see it go all the way down from the sky to the ground. These lightning bolts were super bright that they lit up the whole sky! They lasted several seconds and I felt like I could see exactly where it landed on the ground every time. I had never seen a lightning storm like it. It was amazing.

Such a sweet part of this month was getting to babysit my sweet nephew!! It all started with a day off that I had, and I asked my sister-in-law if she wanted to hang out and we did, and we ended up getting pizza and making cupcakes and just having a good time together. The next thing I know, Abi asked if I could babysit sweet lil Dallas a few days later for a few hours and I couldn't refuse. He's the sweetest lil baby boy and I love him to death. We had a great time playing with his toys on the couch and watching CocoMelon. I love the little dude.

Elijah's and my work schedules continue to be tossed up in the air and changing constantly so it's a weekly adventure to see when we'll get to see each other! On top of that, it's especially interesting to see how our grocery shopping goes that week too. There's always at least 2 days when we have opposite schedules, so either I'm at home by myself for dinner, or Elijah is. When I'm home alone, I often just make something that'll give me leftovers so we can eat it for lunch the next day or something. If Elijah's home by himself, it's often a frozen pizza cuz that's easy and honestly, one of his favorites! I can't deny the man what he enjoys. I found a sheet pan dinner recipe on Pinterest this month and I've already made it two weeks in a row cuz I enjoyed it so much. It's super easy! I'll link it here if you wanna try it for yourself. It's literally less than 40 minutes in the oven and only requires like 8 ingredients. I've already shared the recipe with several friends so might as well share it on here too!

I had the sweetest opportunity to take some senior photos for the daughter of one of Elijah's bosses. We had a sunrise shoot along the water and it was lovely! She was such a fun girl to photograph and so easy going. Her mom, Elijah's boss, did so well handling the entire photoshoot (it's her youngest daughter to graduate), until she put on her cap and gown at the end. She welled up with tears immediately and told me not to show her anymore. I feel bad for when she looks at the photos once they're finished...she's gonna be a hot mess.

I recently got invested in audio books and I have no clue where it came from. I somehow found myself listening to the Hobbit on my way to work one day, several months back but I forgot about it or wouldn't listen to them often because the chapters took like an hour to read through. At the beginning of May, I decided to pick it back up again and listen through the rest of the Hobbit. I had never read the book before and having it read to me with different voices and music, it was a whole ordeal, and it made the book that much more enjoyable. I have found myself listening to it specifically on my way to and from work because my commute is about 40 minutes each way, so I spend that time "reading" books instead of just listening to music! It's been very fun. I finished the Hobbit and couldn't decide what to read next... and somehow Anne of Green Gables came to mind. I think it was a recommended book on my Spotify page and I have been loving it. I read the books when I was in elementary school and was obsessed with the movies staring Megan Follows, but I probably haven't read the books since I was 8 or 9, so it's been a real treat down memory lane with them. Also, each chapter is read in about 15 minutes or less, so I feel like I'll be speeding through all the Anne of Green Gables books soon. If you have any good book recommendations, I'm all ears!

I watched a video on YouTube the other day of a girl that had a summer bucket list and it reminded me of the bucket list I made the summer of my senior year of high school. I had such a fun time creating that list and marking things off that list. All this remembrance got me inspired to create another summer bucket list! I think this bucket list will be for the entire year, but specifically for the summer. Because I'm working all summer, this will be a great way to have more fun and enjoy the little things! An excuse to get out of the house and not just stay in the air-conditioning every chance I get (which will be tempting I know). A few things on my bucket list include having a few different themed photoshoots, a few themed dinner parties, pay for someone in the drive thru, read 5 books, and try several new foods. If you have any ideas on things to add to my bucket list, I'd love to hear it!

The saddest part of this month was hearing that my grandfather passed away. He had fallen on an icy sidewalk back in December and broke his arm, and he never fully recovered. On top of that, he also had a stroke a few months later, which resulted in his passing. He was advanced in years and had lived a very long, full life and was ready to meet Jesus. The grieving process has been very different than I expected, though I'm not quite sure what I expected it to be. I have had days when I've cried myself to sleep and other days when I'm perfectly fine. I know that grieving impacts people in different ways, so I'm not trying to read too much into my behavior or my emotions. If you can, please be in prayer for my grandma, and my father, because it was his dad that passed. As well as pray for my entire family, because it's been hard for everyone. Losing a loved one is never easy.

Next month, Elijah and I are embarking on a pretty fun trip to Maine, and I cannot wait to fill you in on it during my June update! Keep scrolling for all the pictures, as always, and stay tuned for more blogs in the future! Who knows what the summer will have in store?!

Always,
Becca