Summer Favorites

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Summer is in full swing in these parts, with our 100 degree daily temps. And while sweating is not my forte, I do enjoy this season. We've been spending the evenings in the park walking or playing a round of disc golf, and we are looking forward to #6 on this list this weekend!

This zip up blanket is rather toddler-mom of me, but it's been handy even without kiddos! It has replaced towels at the beach because it's much larger and easier to shake off the sand. Birmingham has several movies in the park over the summer, and this is perfect to grab and go.

I purchased these Teva sandals a few years ago and every summer I think, "These are my all-time favorite shoes." Many of you are Chaco's fans, and while I can't speak to Chaco, these Teva's are excellent! They are super comfortable, great for the outdoors, dry easily, and I like the adjustable velcro straps across the width of the toes. And while they are definitely outdoor shoes, they aren't so grubby that I don't wear them with some casual outfits.

The IT Cosmetics CC Cream is pretty fabulous. I've wanted to find some makeup that wasn't as full coverage as my normal foundation to wear on more relaxed days when a "full face" is not necessary. Or in situations, like at the beach or hiking, which is why I love the SPF 50 in this formula! I received a sample, but was immediately sold, so I'll look into purchasing this soon.

When thinking about sunny, summer days I have to put a plug in for your eyes! Protect them from from the sun too with UV protective sunglasses. I'd also always recommend polarized lenses for your sunnies, like my Maui Jims. I've had my prescription Maui's since working in optical in college, and they are some of the best money I've ever spent! If you're a glasses only wearer, I'd highly suggest a pair of Rx'd sunglasses from your optometrist - you will love and cherish them!

I am all about the sunscreen to protect my fair skin, but I'd like a little summer glow too! My favorite sunless tan is Tanwise Foaming Mouse. It applies well, doesn't have an orange tint, and it doesn't have that typical fake tan smell. You'll want a mitt to apply it, and work fast!

Okay, this last one is a bit much, but Jesse recently got us this inflatable kayak and it's been a blast! He's had his eye on one of these for quite a while now, researching as usual. Neither of our cars are capable of transporting a "real" kayak, so this works great for us. It fits in the trunk, then we spend a few minutes pumping it up, and we're good to go! It paddles more like a canoe, but we did push the limits by putting 4 people in it while on the lake at Oak Mountain. We will try it again just the two of us before taking it down the river.

Summarizing Summer

While writing this post I could vividly hear the Dixie Chicks circa 1999... "well the weeks went by and spring turned to summer, and summer faded into fall...."

Yep. That's pretty much what happened. I haven't posted since spring break in April! I'm not even sure where the summer went, but here we are nearing October!?! I think after boards I just took a break from pretty much everything, and it was hard to get motivated to post again. Several of you have been sweet enough to inquire about the blog, which lets me know there are a few of you out there that care to read my ramblings. :)

Let's see... in the past 4 months...

I passed Part 1 of said boards (praise be to Jesus)!

Four of our favorite people moved up the East coast. Brother Mike to New Jersey and the Domeny clan to New Hampshire. They wouldn't leave Addy with us. "You must have your own children," they said. So we hugged and cried, and hugged and cried some more.

And then they left...

Although we miss them daily, they are truly friends forever. I might even endure a cold, snowy winter visit just to see them.

In May, I finished my 3rd year of optometry school. That concluded all of our didactic courses, so we will NEVER sit in our self-assigned seats again! I'm sure the far left seat of the third row of Room 301 is perfectly shaped to my behind at this point. Sadly though, this means my classmates and friends are slowly parting ways as we have been in various externships during the summer and rest of our 4th year. I don't know if I could have made it through without these three ladies below. Heather, Erika, and Gussie helped pull me through the hard times, and laugh through the good. I'm excited to see where we will all end up in the future!

In May we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going to the Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Festival near Huntsville. And made a trip over to the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottboro. We ironically visited Unclaimed Baggage passing through on our first anniversary - this is unintentionally becoming a tradition.

We've enjoyed the farmer's market and the beach a couple times this summer.

Explored some Florida caverns with Matt and Heidi.

Helped paint a friend's house. Painting is sooo much more fun with friends. Always make that chore a party!

I spent half of my summer living back at home to "work" at my externship in Elba. It was such a wonderful experience to work beside the two ODs that inspired me and have encouraged me along this educational journey. They have a wonderful practice with an amazing staff, and I got great "real-world" experience while there.

I got to visit with cousin Carissa on her way back to Virginia. What should have been a 30 minutes coffee break quickly turned into a couple hours delay on her trip. But it was worth it!

We took a whirlwind trip to Seattle and Olympic National Park for a week in between my school semesters! Those details I will share soon in another post.

Since then, we've been to Memphis, Tennessee for my cousin Cameron's wedding, which was beautiful, delicious, and quite a blast! We enjoyed several roof top views of the city, and couldn't leave without trying some Memphis BBQ!

And that gets us to this month! I've been at my new externship site for the Fall semester. This is a local practice of ophthalmologist mixed with a few ODs. I'm seeing tons of diseases and ocular issues I've never seen firsthand before! Jesse has taken a break from his Master's program, mostly to plan around our Seattle vacation, but should be back to his studies soon. We've enjoyed our afternoons with heavy doses of Netflix. :)

Stay tuned for Seattle! We ate SO much food, I may have to split up the post! And Olympic was pretty marvelous, too.

Summer days

Guys, I'm SO excited to tell you about the vacation we have planned for this summer! Many of you already know, we are going on a road trip. A very long one, in fact. All the way to California (and back)!

Hot spots on the way to Cali include the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Yosemite. Then we will travel down most of the Pacific Coast Highway to cruise along the coast! We have several camping spots reserved. You heard that right - I will be camping. Something that I've only done once since I was a kid, but I've been to more outdoor stores in the past couple of months and we are now stocked with plenty of camping gear. And I actually own hiking pants now.

I'm so excited to see so many beautiful parts of our country. No worries, you know I'll keep you posted on our adventures!