As I reflect on July, I find myself struggling to describe it with a single descriptor. There were so many different components: moments of joy, moments of disappointment, moments of growth and reflection, moments of rest, moments of prosperity and triumph, moments of anguish, and moments of chaos…you get the picture. Life happened in July, but in the best way.

Here are my other reflections for the month of July:

One

I traveled out of state not once, but three times this month! My first stop was in North Carolina to visit one of my dearest friends. Her husband was out of town, so we got to spend some much-needed quality time together. Of course, there was shopping and good food involved!

Next, I visited New York City on a perfectly-crafted (if I do say so myself) surprise day-trip for my sister’s birthday! I had been planning the details of the trip for months and it was so worth it to see how happy it made her. She even cried happy tears! Now that we have both celebrated birthdays in NYC, I am thinking about putting together a birthday guide post about the city.

Lastly, I went to Atlantic City, NJ with my bestie and her family. Though our intentions were to go to the Demi Lovato concert on the beach (still can’t believe that news…I sincerely hope for Demi’s wellness and recovery), we still managed to have a great time. Neither of us had been before, so it was truly an experience.

Two

I have been branching out into the world of watercolor and I have been loving it. In fact, one of the coolest things happened: I was able to create my first map print and my job approved it to be the new committee gift! The whole process was super nerve-wracking and I am still in disbelief that my first project is actually going to be distributed!! I am still learning how to work with the medium as well as watercolor technique (and Photoshop) but I am so excited for where this venture could go!

Three

Though I was skeptical, my first experience with an audiobook wasn’t a complete disaster. I chose to listen to You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero on audible and I LOVED the book. It prompted so much self-reflection and I really felt like it was something that I needed to hear. I feel like you need to be in the right headspace, the right moment in life, to actually accept messages and advice. When you’re not, it kind of just goes in one ear and out the other. There were so many topics in the book that I just felt ready to receive. I highly recommend the book. That being said, I’m not totally convinced that I believe in the audiobook hype yet. The book that I chose could’ve just been a good book. Luckily, I have 2 more months of a reduced Audible account subscription to make up my mind. Send recs my way, please!

Four

I came, I spun, and I conquered the July Fit Challenge with Ascend Cycle! I beat my lower goal of 8 classes in the month of July and met my upper goal of 12 classes. Very few understand why this is so amazing for me. Long story short, I have some physical limitations that make intense levels of physical activity difficult (and often injury inducing). However, this month I was able to defeat the challenge AND keep up with my body pump classes. It was my best activity month this year! Now that I know that I can, and my body is incorporating for now, I just want to keep up the momentum and continue to get stronger.

Five

The “no phone zone” was only kind of successful. I slept with my phone away from my bed on the nights that I wasn’t traveling which was a great break from the constant scrolling. Unfortunately, it did not help my snoozing problem…I literally would just travel back and forth from my bed to my phone to savor a few minutes more (cut short by the walk) of sleep. However, the increase of morning exercise classes did cut the snoozing a bit on the days that I needed to get out the door ASAP.

This month I completed 6.8 out of 8 items on my July Bucket List. I missed a taco Tuesday (I couldn’t say no to free food!) but I have plenty of great recipes to share on a future “Tried it, Loved it” post! I also didn’t make it to a Nationals game (againnnnn). Maybe next month ;).

Stay tuned for my August Bucket List!

♥ Cierra