Life Updates + What’s Making Me Laugh

Well hello, beautiful humans! I can’t believe that I have’t done a post since January! We have had quite the year around here. A lot of changes with the move but also a lot of fun things have happened. As summer is upon us, our life us slowing a little bit. By a little bit, I mean we can check the box on some things that were taking up some time but are now done. Summer is still, well summer! Especially as things are opening back up and people are starting to really engage again. Our social calendar is doing its thing and filling up fast. Even as summer heats up, I am trying my best to get out for my daily walks which never disappoint as there are so many pretty spots around town.

I’ve got a post coming your way on our big remodel project. A bit of a tada post. As I shared before, we purchased a home in a new town back in October on last year. It had good bones and some remodeling done but we did a bit of an overhaul and let me tell you, it’s so good! It was a couple of months of chaos and we did things in two phases. By phase two, the contractors were all unavailable so we did the bulk of things ourselves which saved us some money. By ‘we’ I mean my husband aka handyman. Although I did paint everything. Me hire a painter? Nope. Well, that’s not totally true. We did hire someone to come and paint our outside trim but that’s cause it required some ladder skills that I don’t possess. #kindascaredofheights It was money well spent and it looks fab.

We are mostly settled into the new space with a few projects left to do. I am also finally clearing out the storage unit that I’ve had since we moved in here. It was the easiest way to contain all.the.things. I’d purged a ton before the move but there was still a lot of home decor that I wasn’t quite ready to part with. Now I have started to go through things again and the pile to donate and sell is growing. It feels SO to get things put away in their forever spots. We were really limited on space in this house so we got creative when we remodeled and made more storage by adding in a few large closets.

The next phase will be landscaping but we will press pause on that until we get through the hot summer. We are definitely trying to make things low maintenance around here. I want a stock tank pool for the hot summers but the hubs thinks I’m crazy to which I said, “Haven’t we already established that?” I mean, I am pretty candid on who I am! Ha ha.

This place is really feeling more and more like us and we are very grateful for our house and the location. Being so close to a  town where we could easily grab a coffee or beer is something that I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s a sleepy little place for the first part of the week and then it gets busy with tourists on the weekends. We are still close enough to our old town to visit friends and this town is a great place to host people as well. Also, the local coffee shop is open 7 days a week. Can I get a hallelujah? Also, my cute neighbors seem to like to stop by for carrots. The guy on the right is my favorite. Don’t tell his friends. There are actually 3 that come around but for whatever reason, only two stopped by the other day.

In May, I hosted a 50th birthday party for my husband. It was so much fun and we were so grateful for the people that made the trek to our new home to celebrate with us. We were also lucky enough to have a local band, who also happen to be our new neighbors and friends, come over and play for the party. It was a really special day and I think I can say that my husband was really happy with how we celebrated him.

Once that celebration passed, we went on a super fun trip to celebrate our 20 year wedding anniversary. First of all, 20 years! I’m proud of us. We’ve grown through a lot of stuff together and through it all, we remained a team and supported each other. My hubs really wanted to take me to Nashville since it’s been on my bucket list for a long time. It was so much fun! We had a lot of time to just relax and explore. We visited the Jack Daniel Distillery, Ryman Theater, the Country Music Hall of Fame and watched a show at The Grand Ol Opry. We even went to the Nashville Zoo. It was a lot of fun rolled into one week.

I am very much in love with old county music. Waylon and Johnny are my favorites. The Country Music Hall of Fame was so special to me as it really made me think of my dad. He would have loved it. We also got to walk Broadway and listen to so many bands playing while indulging in food and cocktails. It was amazing to hear the talent pouring out of this city. It was a really special trip and I’d love to go back again. I think the trip was so good for us to just decompress from a crazy couple of years (kid stuff and moving has kept us a little preoccupied) and it was a really nice way to reconnect. I think that we’ve established that we still like to hang out with each other 😉

So, as you can see, we’ve been a bit busy. I am also still working part time for a bookkeeping company and I am grateful for the freedom it allows for fitting in all the life things. I also picked up a Sunday job working for a fun little home decor store in Amador City. It’s a whole 4 minute drive from home and the town is just so cute and fun. I love the energy and the people are great. My youngest son actually got a job at a local restaurant there as well which pretty great and convenient. He brings me my lunch on Sunday. I mean, can you be any more small town that that? The restaurant he works at is actually called Small Town.

The hubby is doing just fine with his little bit longer commute. My boys are adjusting to life in a small town. My oldest is in our old town almost daily and would benefit from just finding a place to rent as he spends so much in gas. Between work, friends and his girlfriend – he’s rooted there. My youngest is adjusting. He misses his old friends but thanks to the world of gaming, he stays connected. He’s met a few local kids but I hope he’ll meet more in the fall when things are more ‘normal’. His new school is right across the street from our house so his commute is pretty short. He did just get his permit so hopefully by Thanksgiving, he’ll be driving.

To wrap up this random post, I thought I’d share some shows that have kept me laughing as of late. It took me awhile but I finally jumped on the Schitts Creek Band wagon. I binged the series and then I watched it again. I loved the show so much. It was hilarious and honestly, I just loved how this family went from not knowing each other to falling in love with each other. It was done so well. It was a feel good series and I loved it. I also started watching Arrested Development after listening to the Smartless Podcast which has Jason Bateman and Will Arnett who both starred in the show. It’s an oldie and so over the top ridiculous but it makes me laugh out loud. Both of these TV treasures can be found on Netflix. Another show that I have watched on repeat is New Girl. A few other fun ones are Life in Pieces and Happy Endings. If you are into the comedy thing which I am, these are all great choices. I don’t liked dark shows and I definitely lean towards the ones that make me belly laugh.

If you are a fan of podcasts, a few that I love are Smartless, HypocondriActor, Armchair Expert and Life is Short with Justin Long. Smartless is my favorite and a new episode is released every Monday.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings + life updates. I will be back soon with more fun stuff! Have a beautiful day.