August Goals

July was a rough month for me: I was sick 3 out of 4 weeks. But I am putting that behind me and moving full steam ahead into the month of August! If the past three days are any indication, it will be a good month. :)

Making dirt cups for my Sunday school class

On the Calendar This Month:

1. Little Bull Opens!! We own a building in downtown Durham and our tenant, Little Bull, is now ready to open for business. I'm looking forward to seeing people inside our establishment, as this has been a long journey for everyone involved.

2. A trip to Morganton / Lake James /Asheville. This is an annual trip for us to the lake, but we are adding in a night out in Asheville with Brian's sister and boyfriend, which I am looking forward to!

3. Cam's first day of 5th grade! Hard to believe this is his last year of elementary school. He had so much growth in 3rd and 4th grade. I'm praying for the school year ahead and that he will continue to have a lot of growth in reading and writing. I am going to enjoy these last 3 weeks of summer and spend a lot of time with him while I can!

What I Read in July:

1. The Frozen River - Took me a long time to read this one, but definitely one of my favorites from this year so far. So good and highly recommend!

2. The Perfect Father - Opposite of the Frozen River, I raced through this book in two sittings! A true crime thriller. I already knew the story of the Shannan Watts murder and had seen the documentary on Netflix, but reading it brought back all the details I had forgotten. Hard to say I enjoyed this book given the content, but a good true crime story.

3. It Worked For Me In Life and Leadership - Good autobiography/life wisdoms from Colin Powell. I really enjoyed this book and picked it up on a whim.

4-8. Here are the books Cam and I have read this summer:  Island of the Blue Dolphins, Hatchet, Dear Mr. Henshaw, and Why I'm Afraid of Bees (Goosebumps)

9. Finished 2nd Samuel (my Bible reading has gotten slower recently but I am still reading a few minutes each morning!)

What I'm Loving Lately 

1. I have finished all 3 days dedicated to the Alzheimer's Research Study. I had the physical exams and memory tests in May, I had the brain MRI in June, and I had a spinal tap last week. My next step is waiting to meet with a doctor sometime in the next year to go over all of the results. 

2. My friend Emily writes an amazing Substack called "The Connected Family." I cannot say enough good things about it, but one of her key "tips" for protecting her value of less screen time, both in ordinary days and while on vacation, was this: Develop a deep, personal belief that it is gross to be on your phone in front of people. 

She quoted from another article last year, which was one of my favorites: "Get Off Your Gross Little Phone"

"Stop looking at your phone. It's rude - it's vulgar and obnoxious - and I wish we'd all stop pretending it isn't and denying how it makes us feel....Looking at a phone mid-conversation is an overt cue of exclusion. It says, "this other thing matters more than you," and it feels awful to be on the receiving end of that. There are very rare occasions when taking a call or reading a text mid-conversation is important, but those are a handful of times in a lifetime. The rest of the time, we are sacrificing meaningful human connection for relatively unimportant information." (paraphrased)

^I could not have articulated it better and am glad people are speaking out against the new norm of constantly staring at a device.

3. I'm leaning into this idea lately: Don't let perfect be the enemy of progress. As you may remember, I started writing and sharing my sermon notes here on the blog in 2025. After writing 16 notes, I wanted to pivot to writing these in a journal for Cam and Brooke. I have everything mostly written down, but it's scattered throughout three separate notebooks with no formatting. To me, leaving them with a notebook of my notes and life wisdoms is as important to me as having a will. I was struggling with several smaller decisions for the past several months - what journal to buy, how to organize it, to write in pen or pencil, my handwriting looks bad, etc. Finally last month I just went for it - I purchased a notebook and started writing. I am so happy that I did! It may not have been the most thought-out approach, but I was starting to stew over decisions that were impeding any actual progress. I'll share more as time permits, but I feel really good about it so far! 

Goals for the Month

1. Get back to the gym! After consistently working out 3-4 days a week all year, I have had a 6 week hiatus due to vacation, illness, and logistics. I went yesterday and am very sore today. I am determined not to let this become more than a small setback.

2. Enjoy the last three weeks of summer vacation with Cam. I really love working from home in the summer when Cam is at home. I enjoy having his company during the day, even though he is usually outside playing with friends or coming and going as he pleases. There's more life in the house, versus when he is in school and I am mostly alone all day. Savoring this time!