The Sunday Currently: Father's Day Edition

Happy Father's Day to my dad!

It's been a while since I've written and published any blog posts.
For those of you who don't follow my Twitter or Instagram accounts,
I spent a couple of weeks in Colorado (and a few days in California) during the end of May.

I'm back but trying my best to find some motivation to write and blog.
I have been making lots of bracelets and paintings lately though!
I hope you all had a lovely weekend....
now on to The Sunday Currently.

reading Right now I'm not really reading anything. I've got to get back into the habit of reading more books. It's been too long.

writing just this blog post for now, but it's been a while. Blogging feels a little foreign to me at the moment. I should have sat down and wrote the thoughts streaming through my mind yesterday. Darn it!

listening to the sound of rain and thunder outside. I love these spring storms! (It won't technically be spring much longer though... shucks! Better enjoy it while it lasts.)

thinking that I should really try and take advantage of our swimming pool more often. We enjoyed a nice sunny day by the pool last week, and it reminded me of how relaxing and nice that can be. More pool days!

smelling the ever delicious-smelling Luna Scentsy fragrance that's in my living room warmer. Yum yum!

wishing for more "cooler than normal" Florida temperatures! Yeeehaw :-)

hoping that we might actually just be getting used to the hot summer weather.

wearing my H&M skinny jeans with zipper ankles (you can see more of them here) with a pink tank top... a paisley pattern tank top over that... and a new bracelet that I made recently.

loving the rain we've been getting. It definitely cools things off a bit, but it also makes me want to cuddle up with a blanket and get cozy. Oh that rain...

wanting to see more of Florida. One of these days we'll make it to St. Augustine... I swear!

needing something to eat. I think I just heard my stomach rumble.

feeling Hungry! (see above)

clicking hopefully through some blogs... I have got a ton of catching up to do!!

* If you missed previous editions of The Sunday Currently, you can see them all here

Now link up your edition of The Sunday Currently with Lauren

Happy Sunday!

Speak to My Soul

This might be the toughest of Jenni's challenge prompts yet.
At least for me it's tough, because I love music. All of it.

It's so hard choosing 5 songs that speak to me or
bring back memories, because so many songs do that.

"Look After You"
by The Fray

My husband and I danced to this song at our wedding. We both absolutely love The Fray. They are incredible musicians! My husband told me he loved me for the first time on an evening after seeing The Fray for the first time together. We've seen three of their concerts together. Once in Florida, once in Vail, and another time at Red Rocks.

I'm only sharing one song today, but maybe someday soon I'll share more!

Travel: America, I Love You

It's no secret that I absolutely love to travel and see the world. I've seen various countries, but I'm still fascinated by the diverse landscape and culture of my very own country. America! This country really is such a beautiful and amazing place. I love that you can find such a variety of different foods, lifestyles, traditions, and places to explore. All of this exists without even leaving the country. Amazing!

{ not only do I just love to travel, but I love spending time in airports almost as much }

It's without being said that many of my favorite blog posts involve our travels.

Here are a few of my favorite posts. I dug these up from the archives just for you!

{ just click on the links to read the entire post }

Soul Stirring Utah : If I've ever felt moved by the land, it was during our drive across the state of Utah. Just about every square inch of Utah is photograph worthy. It was breathtaking, and maybe someday we'll even get to ski/snowboard it. That would make my year.

Oh Dam It: Hoover Dam Tour : I never thought I'd be so interested in learning about electricity and so many million cubic yards of concrete. It blows me away to think this masterpiece of engineering was built without the modern technologies we use today for construction. Plus it's funny to tell people you drove across that dam road.

The Stanley Hotel | Haunted Travels : I absolutely hate scary movies, but boy do I love a good ghost story. You'll hear plenty of ghost stories if you take the ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. We thoroughly enjoyed walking the halls of the hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. It was so creepy and fun!

These are some of my favorite posts! I hope you enjoy them too.

Making Friends Is Hard

All my life I've found it tough to make friends. I still have quite a few friends I made as a child growing up in a small town. Those friends are amazing, because they've stuck around this long. I thank them for that. Making friends as an adult is the hardest though.

Making friends is hard enough, but making them as an adult is even harder. I'm often shy when meeting new people, but once I get to know you I come out of my shell. Being in a crowd of people intimidates me too. I'm much more relaxed around a smaller group of friends. Circumstances don't always allow for comfort though. I suppose I probably have to bust out of my comfort zone if I ever want to make new friends!

My husband and I left Colorado almost two years ago, and we just moved to a new city in Florida this past January. That doesn't make it easier to have friends. Sometimes it feels like we're in that awkward in-between phase of married life where we aren't quite newlyweds anymore but have no children either. It's almost like we aren't sure where we fit at the moment. We aren't sure we want to make a life in Florida either. Awkward. Kind of like middle school all over again.

For anyone out there who moves a lot...
where do you meet new friends?

Five Favorite Bloggers!

This whole Blog Every Day in May thing is hard!

Not only do I have to write something for every day
of the month, but now I have to choose 5 favorite blogs.

How can I choose just 5 when I love so many?!

I read so many great blogs, but these are the ones
that I've been reading for years and still read to this day.

My 5 Favorite Blogs

You may have already read my raves about Alisha, but if you haven't then swing on over to her blog now. This gal is super sweet, friendly, and nothing but down to earth. Did I mention she takes beautiful photos too? Oh... and she lives in one of my favorite states, Texas! Go on and visit Alisha now.




Another favorite blogger is Stephanie of Big Mario Life. She loves Harry Potter, doesn't mind embarrassing herself on her blog either, and she's following her dreams of owning her own photography business. What's not to love?! Go visit Stephanie! You'll love her too.




I've been following Courtney's blog for years too! She is one of the kindest bloggers, has the sweetest heart, a loving husband, and now an adorable baby girl. You will always find honesty, truth, and love on her blog. Plus, she lives in beautiful Utah! I just love that place, and I'm sure we'd be real life friends if I lived in Utah. Go be friends with Courtney too!



I discovered Tina's blog, Like Ordinary Life, in the last year or so. I instantly fell for her thought provoking and descriptive writing, and it didn't hurt that she's just about as in love with Michigan as I am. Instant friends! She has a beautiful way with words, and I love how she always seems to write what's on my mind. I think she also had me at wanderlust. Get to know Tina too!

Young House Love

I've been a bit obsessed with this blog for quite some time. Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard of Young House Love. They have a million great DIY projects, and I guess I can't stop dreaming of buying a fixer-upper some day and making it beautiful too.

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Those are my 5 favorite blogs.

Do you like some of the same ones?

That Magical Twinkle

My husband and I visited CityWalk at Universal just a couple weeks ago.

I took this picture from our evening.

Seeing all those twinkling white lights took me back. Those lights and the evening breeze reminded me of a simpler time growing up on a lake as a kid in small-town northern Michigan. I remembered that fleeting time each summer when the fireflies lit up the roadside each night. They created a twinkling path of dancing white lights alongside the road that led us home during dark summer nights. Those weeks made it a magical time to be a kid in northern Michigan.

I always knew summer would end when those beautiful glowing lights went away each year. However, that didn't keep us kids from enjoying them to the fullest. One year my dad made an inviting home for the fireflies. While mowing the lawn, he cut out a circular path from the tall grass and weeds. Us kids would run out onto that path with our little nets in hand. Attempting to capture those twinkling lights was never easy. Those fireflies danced and wound their way through the cattails and tall grass like ballerinas on a stage. Right before you could scoop one up, they always turned out their light. The moment they sensed that danger was gone, the magical twinkling light would shine again. Lighting up the night like a dancing strand of lights. Each firefly floating up and down, twinkling its way through the dark summer night.