What's Up Wednesday : July 2025

 

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so I'm linking up with Sheaffer and Shay and sharing what has been going on with us lately! 

What we're eating this week

I went back to work this week, and Charli starts school Friday, so I'm in panic mode because I've realized what I haven't accomplished this summer! So, this week will be full of leftovers, easy food, and whatever we can throw together! We will go to Burger King after her school Open House tomorrow night because that has become our tradition!

What I'm reminiscing about

The beginning of summer and how much time it seemed like we had! It has flown by!!

What I'm loving

These dresses from Walmart! They're comfortable and long (but not too long for my short self) and so easy to throw on for work or errands. Three of us at work have the black one, and I'm sure there will be a day that we all wear it!

What we've been up to

Enjoying the last bits of summer break, including a short trip to Jellystone Park in East Tenneseee. It was so much fun! They had a ton of free activities, plus a small water park. I think we're going to go back next summer!

What I'm dreading

Honestly, I'm dreading the school year. Summer is so relaxed, and the school year just goes at breakneck speed. We already have something planned for every Saturday in August! Also, I don't love my job, and I didn't get any of the jobs I applied for over the summer, so I'm really, really, really dreading it. I've only been back one day so far, and I am already over it!!

What I'm working on

A new career path, obviously! I'm also starting the process of getting ready for fall consignment sales. We have one right after Labor Day, so I need to work on cleaning out Charli's clothes, shoes, and toys so we can declutter and make some money! I'm also working on the remnants of yard work that I didn't finish over summer break; we have a lot of brush that I have either burned or bagged, but there's still a bit more that I need to work on and want to finish soon so we can move on to the next (not) fun yard project.

What I'm excited about

I've got a couple of Saturday lunch and dinner dates scheduled that should be fun! I'm also excited for one of our Girl Scout events because it's cave exploring, which we haven't done before. 

What I'm watching/reading

My mom, Charli, and I watch a few shows on Friday nights after gymnastics - our current lineup is America's Got Talent, The 1% Club, and Wife Swap (older but entertaining!). Will and I watched the first Happy Gilmore movie because I hadn't seen it, so now we're ready for the second one.

I've got a stack of ebooks checked out from the library, including Cher's biography and Better Than Before about habit building. I plan to do a recap of what I read in July in the next couple of weeks.

What I'm listening to

I set a goal to listen to 25 new to me albums this year, and I haven't listened to any yet. Oops! I've started  a list, but I'll take any suggestions that anyone has - any genre is fine!

What I'm wearing

The dresses that I talked about earlier in this post, along with the rubber two strap sandals that a ton of stores sell. I've got a couple of other dresses in the rotation also. Dresses and sandals are so easy when it's this hot!

What I'm doing this weekend

Will works weekends, so Mom, Charli, and I have plans to go check out a dance studio open house where she's interested in taking classes. We also have to return things to a couple of stores, and of course, Friday night gymnastics and shows! I plan on prepping for the first full week of school too - clothes out for Charli and me, making some protein muffins, lunch prep, etc.

What I'm looking forward to next month

As much as I have complained about my job in this post (oops!), I am glad to be back at work to start earning money again since I don't get paid over the summer! I won't get a check until the end of August, but that'll be here before we know it! I have a free pumpkin spice latte towards the end of August, so I'm looking forward to enjoying that!

What else is new

I'm going to work hard on posting more regularly this month; I've even made a posting schedule. I'm also working on routines, so I'm curious to see how those changes help our household as we ramp up into a busier season!

On your ninth birthday

Dear Charli,

I used to write these letters for you on my blog every year for your birthday, but I can't find one since your sixth birthday! So, let's restart this tradition and hopefully, I'll be able to dig up the other posts!

I can't believe you're already 9! When you were first born, people told me how quickly it would go, and I believed them a little bit, but when you're in the middle of the newborn phase, the days drag on and on sometimes, so it's hard to visualize that far ahead in the future. But, somehow, we've flown through these years, and here we are, on the edge of double digits!

You've been doing great in 3rd grade this year! You were nervous because you said there was so much you didn't know, but your dad and I kept reminding you that you weren't supposed to know those things and that was the purpose of school! I still don't know if you believe us! 🤣 

You love PE and Art and recess. You've also said you like math and book club, which is a surprise since Gran and I beg you to read at home and you won't! You're a great reader, though, and you're great at math. Keep up the good work!

This is your third year doing Girl Scouts, and although we didn't do a lot as a troop this year because life has been busy for everyone, you've still had a lot of fun! You're also still into tumbling class and your form is getting so much better on your cartwheels! This summer, we're going to try to enroll you in a dance class, and you have theater camp for a week! I'm so excited to watch you explore these new things and see what you like!

You are still so sweet and caring, although I see a lot more of your fiery personality than I used to! You have a lot of big feelings, which leads to a lot of fussing back and forth sometimes. I promise to work on my reactions and work on being a calmer presence for you! You are very empathetic and pick up on people's emotions and feelings. I think that will be a good trait later in life, but right now it's tough because you get a little more upset about things sometimes than I think you would otherwise. I think you'll learn how to harness it as you get older, but we're going to work together on it more!

You are also super funny! Sometimes you come out with things that I don't expect, and it catches me off-guard! You love to do "try not to laugh" challenges, even though you usually end up laughing! 

You love to dance and sing and be outside. You also love to play Uno, Mario Kart, and things on your tablet. You enjoy being on the phone with your bestie while you're on your tablet, but sometimes when those big emotions get you, we have to have you take a break! You love to draw also, and your top bunk is covered with papers and a bin of markers. 

You love animals, but cats are your favorite, with dogs close behind. Your cat at Gran's is your favorite pet ever, and your dog here at home is so patient with you. Your cat is younger, so he's still learning that patience! You like to pet dogs that we see in public, and you like to look at the cats for adoption at the pet store. Unfortunately, you lost your fish this year, but maybe we can get more later on.

Little girl, you're growing up so fast, and I love watching you continue to discover things and find out more about who you are and what you like. Don't lose that spark that makes you, you. Things are going to get tougher as you get older and look more towards your friends and peers. You've already started to discover that sometimes your classmates aren't as nice as they used to be. Unfortunately, that's going to continue for the rest of your life. But, keep your close friends around you and surround yourself with people who love and support you. We'll always love and support you, and we're always there for you!

I hope this year is full of growth and excitement!We love you so much our sweet, silly, sassy, smart, brave, beautiful girl!

Love, 

Mama, Daddy, and Koopa

Monthly Goals : February 2025

Happy 2025! I didn't intend to not write at all in January, but between snow days, sickness, and just settling back into the routine of life, things got away from me! Let's see if I can stay on track!

 It's the first Friday of the month, so it's time for some new monthly goals! 

December recap

I missed doing this recap in January, so here's how I did with my December goals!

1. Read 3 (or more!) books - Yes! I can't remember my exact number, but I hit my reading goal for the year!

2. Implement a weekday - and weekend bedtime - Failed on this one so hard! I think I need to revisit this one!

3. Deep clean/declutter living room - Another fail!

4. Finish Charli's clothes and shoes and move at least one furniture piece out of her room - I finished hanging all of her winter clothes and swapping out some of her shoes but didn't move the furniture piece out. Boo!

5. Blog and social media schedules - I stalled out on this one. Dang!

6. Stick to our budget and spending/income trackers - I did okay on this one but stopped tracking towards the end of the month during the holidays. 

7. Find one new quick dinner recipe and actually make it - Didn't do this one either

8. Make Charli's eye appointment - Yes! Done and we have a follow up appointment next month!

9. Order new glasses - Yes! Two pairs and sunglasses! I'll have to share pictures soon!

10. Schedule a donation pickup - I didn't do this one yet but want to wait until we have more to give. I hate having them come to our house for just one bag of items!

February goals

There are some repeats for this month too! Maybe this will be my month for some of these!

1. Read 13 (or more!) books 

My goal for this year is to read 150 books! To do that, I need to read 12.5 books per month, so I'm going to round up to 13 just to make it easier to track!

2. Implement a weekday - and weekend - bedtime

I'm so bad about staying up too late, and then I drag through my days. I really need to work on this! That's what I wrote when I originally made that goal, but it still stands!

3. Deep clean/declutter living room

It's such a mess, and it makes our house feel chaotic as soon as you walk in. There's a lot of decluttering work we need to do, but this is my starting point. 

4. Finish Charli's clothes and shoes and move at least one furniture piece out of her room

It's consignment season, so I should be able to get all of the too small spring/summer stuff out for selling and see what else I need to swap around...just in time to start phasing out winter clothes and boots next month! 

The first furniture piece I'm going to move out is a small entertainment stand that has piles of toys, clothes, and who knows what else on it! I'll either donate it or just put it on a local buy nothing group!

5. Blog and social media schedules

I have a lot of this listed in a document, but I printed some schedule templates that I need to fill in so that everything is in one place, and I can check things off as I write and post!

6. Stick to our budget and spending/income trackers

I slacked on this a lot in January, but I have some financial and career goals, so I need to get on top of these so that I can make progress on those goals!

7. Find one new quick dinner recipe and actually make it!

I think I'm going to find a slow cooker meal to do, especially since next week is supposed to be cold and rainy!

8. Schedule a donation pickup

I've got a full black trash bag of items, plus I'll have that entertainment stand from Charli's room, and I'm sure as I work through consignment stuff, I'll come across more items that are still in decent shape but not pristine enough to sell.

9. Gather/hang up consignment stuff and start inputting them into the system

The two consignment sales I'm participating in have March drop off dates. If I at least get everything gathered and hung up and start inputting items into the systems, I'll be in decent shape in March and should just have to print and place tags. I'm usually doing everything the day before the drop off days, so I'll be doing really well this time!

10. Schedule an oil change for both cars

My car isn't overdue because I don't drive very far, but it's had an issue with running out of oil without warning before, so I'm trying to stay on top of the oil changes! My husband has a longer drive for his job, so we need to keep his running smoothly also! The oil changes may not happen this month, but I can at least get them scheduled!

Hopefully I'll do better this month than I did in December! 

I'd love to hear any goals any of you have this month!