Happy Wednesday, friends! Well, normally I link up with Anne for this monthly blog post, but she put it on hold temporarily due to life and raising babies. I would say both of those are way more important, so I totally understand why she had to do that. That being said, I am temporarily taking over hosting each month's currently posts. I do not own the rights to the image above, so feel free to make your own graphic and link back to my blog, if you're interested in keeping up with this each month. I'm keeping the link party going all month long, so you've got oodles of time. Follow me on Instagram and tag me if you post regarding this blog post and I'll give you a shout out in my stories. Meanwhile, if you see Anne around on Instagram, feel free to drop an encouraging word to her. Bless! I remember those days of being in the throes of motherhood and being so busy at the same time that it felt like my head was spinning.
I'll do my own thing this month and share what I'm currently loving, wearing, dreaming and hoping.
Loving: I'm loving our neighborhood right now. I've always loved our neighborhood, but as I'm sitting down to write this on Tuesday night, I just walked back into our house after being outside with our neighbors for the last hour and a half. August is national neighborhood night out, in which neighborhoods in our area register with our local police department and we make it a drop in for them and a gathering for all of us neighbors. I have to confess that I'm not always neighborly. I am always kind and speak to everyone when I see them, or wave when we're passing each other, but I don't always make the effort to get out there. When our kids were little, we were always out there together, but as they got older, that happened less frequently, as it happens. We do always see each other on Halloween night, but other than that, we rarely see one another. It was so nice sitting outside together last night catching up. It makes me want to make more of an effort.
I wrote about this very thing a couple years ago, that I'm going to include a link to, because it still resonates with me as much today as it did when I wrote it in 2020. Here's a link for you. We did laugh that it was all of us old-timers who were there last night. We're the youngest, both in age and number of years we've lived here, which is almost nineteen years. Everyone else who was out there last night has been in their house for over twenty years. Lots have come and gone since then and now we have renters in our neighborhood, which was never a thing. We don't have issues with them and they all take excellent care of the property their homes sit on, but that hasn't always been the case. One new family did come down, the wife and her kids. I think her husband was at work. Like I said, it made me want to make more of an effort in the future to more intentionally meet.
Wearing: On a lighter note, I'm wearing clothes I kind of forgot that I owned. I found a black shirt yesterday that I wore with some white shorts that is really old—more than five years, and I had a compliment on it while I was out. I do like the detail on the shirt, which makes it kind of unusual.
There's a cute little necktie that my phone is hiding that makes the whole shirt. This is the third time I've found a shirt I forgot about. I'm also wearing my hair up and not caring so much what it looks like. I wear it up all the time at home, but yesterday I kept it up all day. It's too hot to wear it down right now! I actually did this at church on Sunday, as well, when I got wet setting up for a luncheon that was taking place. I wear it up in a messy bun when I go to bed and that's what I did with it at church that day. I will say, I saw someone I knew yesterday and when I spoke to him, he hadn't recognized me until I said hello.
Dreaming: Do I really have to answer this? I'm dreaming of fall and cooler weather! If you want to be the same, you should go read this old blog post I wrote a couple years ago. It'll get you in the mood for fall as well! Here's the link.
It's my very favorite time of year!
Hoping: I am hoping my friend and I stay in touch as we promised after eating lunch together yesterday. I miss her when I don't see her! This is my friend I've traveled with several times, so I really do think our bond will remain strong as long as we're intentional about meeting occasionally. We promised to do lunch together again in two or three weeks. We talk so much when we're together that we almost have to put a time limit on ourselves. 🤣
I adore her! We spend a good amount of our time together laughing/spewing inappropriately. I am confident we will keep up our promise to meet regularly.
Your turn! Tell me one thing you're currently loving (or NOT loving), wearing, dreaming or hoping! I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.
P.s. Next month we'll be sharing what we're loving, scheduling, eating and wishing.
Cute top! I love finding new to me clothes in my closet ;). Some of my best friends throughout the years have been my neighbors. A group of us used to spend what seemed like hours together regularly. That time began to diminish when all of our kids got into time consuming activities. We are starting to try to spend more time together. It's great that you like your neighborhood- we really like ours as well. Have a great (likely hot, sigh) day!
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks great up! And, yes, what a cute top! How fun to "find" a new top in your closet! We don't have a neighborly neighborhood. It's kinda sad. When our kids went to the elementary school behind our house we had a lot of connections and we were part of the "walkers" group so I met a lot of parents that walked their kids home until they got old enough to walk alone. I think it's a very American thing that we all go in our houses and stay there except on Halloween! But, I know there are people that sit out front and talk to their neighbors more frequently. I love the currently link up but always forget about it. I will put it on my calendar!
ReplyDeleteI like your hair up and down...very cute. I also like that outfit. Since I've retired, I've had more opportunity to speak with our neighbors next door. I really like them a lot. But usually I'm not very intentional about talking to all the neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maria! I love finding clothes in my closet too. I can say the same about my neighbors- some of my best friends have lived next door and I loved that time we had together. We've gone camping with two families from our street, so our bond is tight. I feel like that is such a rare thing, these days...so many people just keep to themselves. That's my tendency, so I have to force myself to not be that way sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy! I agree about that being a very American thing...especially with advances in technology. I watched a documentary about this once...how things that keep us "connected" so much are actually doing the opposite to us in real life. It's obvious when you're in a room with teenagers who all have phones, and who don't know each other that well. I'm sure you see that at school!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy! It's great that you've had more time to speak to neighbors. I'm not always very intentional about this either, aside from being friendly on the street or in my car when I see them.
ReplyDeleteWearing: my swimsuit... we've been camping at the lake since July 23 and only have a few more days left; it's been nice and hot and we spend a lot of time in the water
ReplyDeleteDreaming: about the new school year, which of course involves my favorite season too, fall!!!!
Hoping: I can get some good planning & prep time done when we do get home from this trip. I am usually WAY more prepared than I am now.
loved this post... and the pic of you with your friend...
ReplyDeleteLeeAnna
Bri, that sounds like so much fun! I would love to hear more about your trip when you're back at home! I always loved the start of a new school year too, and FALL!
ReplyDeleteThank you, LeeAnna and thanks for linking up!
ReplyDelete