Favorites & Highlights One Sentence a Day in August

Our month started out so rough and then we sent the younger two boys off to college so all in all it was a very, very emotional month with tears and sadness (my dad) and also fun and last minute memory making (the college boys-- nope I didn't cry or tear up dropping them off at all). I definitely struggled a bit more than usual coming up with things I was thankful for each day-- but I did it even if I did often times think "who cares" or "I'm too tired to do this"... I knew it was important for me to try and focus on the good. 

1. So thankful to have such a great friend in my sister. Grocery shopping, Bj's shopping, then a quiet day at home until we took the in laws out do dinner at Bella's. Ended the night in tears and on the phone with my sister when I learned about the tragic and sudden death of my father.  7,163 steps. 

 

not the greatest picture but this was such a neat dessert-- homemade pineapple sorbet served in a frozen hollowed out pineapple 1/2.

 

2. So thankful for a beautiful hike. Spent the morning on the phone with my sister and aunt then tried to read and blog outside in the fresh air, hiking with Evan, then early to bed since I was just drained. 9,072 steps. 

3. So thankful for a fabulous night of sleep last night. Gym, home to deal with college stuff with Evan, laundry, spent my day making cards/crafting. 6,398 steps.

4. Thankful my mother in law was quite understanding when I ended up on the phone during our entire lunch! Yoga, spent 90% of my day on the phone with my sister and aunt, and funeral home trying to make sense of my father's estate & wishes, went to lunch with Evan and my mother in law... didn't really eat much but enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. 5,026 steps.  

5. Thankful that I didn't cry at all at the funeral parlor. After another lousy night of sleep I decided to skip the gym, I headed to our local funeral parlor to do what I could get done and found it oddly peaceful, then spent the afternoon visiting with my mom.  3,290 steps.  

The only photo I took all day was this view from the funeral home

6. Thankful I could sit down and concentrate on some "happy" art. I slept so much better last night and after a late start to my day, Evan and I headed out hiking, then I worked on 2 art projects before settling down to blog. 10,344 steps. 

7. So thankful to have found a book that can hold my attention right now. Gym with my mom, went to the bank and the library, then spent much of my day reading and working on the blog until it was time to pick up my father's ashes. 7,841 steps. 

8. Thankful for a fun night with my husband's family. Grocery shopping, reading the death certificate (looking for some information my sister and I need to move forward) caused a mini breakdown but after some hugs I rallied and made strawberry/rhubarb jam, then hung around the house reading for most of the day until it was time to head to my brother in law's house for my mother in law's birthday.  8,688 steps. 

9. Thankful there was nothing all that pressing on my to do list today. I didn't do much on Sunday despite putting together a whole "to do" list; I had zero energy and spent much of my day lazing on the patio reading my book, we did spend our afternoon at the cottage with my husband's family that was visiting from out of town. 3,645 steps. 

 

10. Thankful to have crossed so much off my to do list today. Gym with my mom, home to make granola bars, granola, finished Alec's cake when he got called into work at the last minute, took Evan shopping for dorm snacks, got most of the laundry done and crossed a bunch off my to do list today. 8,699 steps. 

It was a rhubarb/strawberry cake with jam inside

11. Thankful my painting came out so great with minimal problems. I had zero ambition to tackle much of anything on my list today; I mostly sat around reading and painting though I did get some laundry done. 5,504 steps. 

12. Thankful to get one more "estate" thing knocked off our list. Gym, home to make a salad, some coleslaw, and cut up fruit, spent part of my morning on the phone then spent my afternoon going for a nice walk with Evan and dropping of my mother in law's birthday gift that finally came in. 10,317 steps.  

I changed to go hiking; though I did wear actual sneakers to hike

 13. Thankful for a beautiful sunrise. I spent much of my morning with Alec going through all his college bins, making sure everything was packed except for this clothes and last minute things then took off for a walk with Evan. 11,110 steps. 

14. So thankful for a day that felt "normal."  Gym, cleaned the whole downstairs, spent lots of time reading and trying to relax. 6,537 steps. 

15. Thankful for a wonderful night out with the whole family. Grocery shopping, worked on the blog, read my book, caught up on the phone with an old homeschooling mom/friend, ended our night getting Buck's soft serve sundaes as our last weekend as a 5some for awhile. 5,812 steps. 

 

16. Thankful for fabulous new recipes found online. Had a lovely morning hike with Evan and then spent the rest of the day hanging around the house reading and working on the blog. 9,177 steps. 

17. Thankful the weather cleared long enough for me to go on a few hikes/walks. Gym, hike with Evan, spent an hour on the phone with Social Security, started making a few cards while I was on hold, then spent my afternoon folding laundry, reading, & blogging. 9,394 steps.  

18. Thankful for an afternoon nap. Yoga, finished my painting, worked on cards, and spent my afternoon reading/napping. 5,475 steps. 

19. So thankful to not have to cook dinner. Gym, home to help Evan finish packing, ran a few errands with him and ended the night voting for our town budget (again) and going for dinner at Bogey's. 9,544 steps. 

 

20.  So thankful that Evan's roommate seems so sweet and Evan's drop off was a breeze. We were up rather bright and early, we had the car packed up and headed out to get Evan all dropped off and settled in by 9:15 or so and everything went so smoothly. He seemed really happy on campus and though I hadn't really felt prepared for a full day of activities we just went with the flow and had a lovely day. 10,015 steps.  

21. Thankful for a wonderful brunch out with my friend (who even treated me!). Gym, brunch with my friend, drove up to drop a large box fan off for Evan, home to blog and make dinner and get Alec all squared away for tomorrow; we even got both cars packed up and fit all his plants too. 5,435 steps.

 

22. So thankful the bad weather held out all throughout move in day. Move in day #2 went really well and we were finished by lunchtime so we took Alec and one of his roommates to lunch (the other was hard at work still bringing stuff in and the 4th hadn't shown up yet) then after lunch we came home and decided to head out for a date night at the movies finally seeing The Odyssey. 5,108 steps. 

For movie night dates I always dress for comfort! 

23. Thankful for such a productive day! Grocery shopping, then I spent much of the morning cleaning the boys' bedding and rooms (I like to make sure that for next few months it's quick and easy to dust and Swiffer since they're not here to do that), then worked on the blog, read my book, crafted for a bit and helped my mother in law with her kindle before ending the day with a Ranger ride with my husband. 6,217 steps. 

24. So thankful for Morgan Stanley for making the whole IRA process so easy! Gym, home to make phone calls/set up my rollover IRA from my dad, walked around the Thompson dam with my mom and mother in law, read my books, got all the laundry done. 12,209 steps. 

Alec's pea plants are growing so fast and I love seeing the attach little feelers to all the surrounding plants. 

 

25. So thankful to have one more thing crossed off my list! Skipped the gym/yoga to head to the Social Security office (our nearest one is nearly an hour away) but the wait went quickly and I handed in the papers with no problem then headed to the library to drop off 2 boxes of books, home to eat breakfast/lunch, then worked on the phone with Morgan Stanley rep and went for a walk before settling in to blog & read my book until dinner. 5,165 steps.  

26. So thankful my husband came with me to the lawyer's office (I don't think well on my feet!). Gym, went to meet with a local lawyer (who really couldn't help much) then home to eat a late breakfast/early lunch, talk with my sister, and read my book before ending the night on the phone with my sister once again. 6,769 steps. 

 27. Thankful for a fun afternoon playing triominoes with Ian and my mother in law. After a horrible night sleep, I decided to lay in bed and finish my book before calling Morgan Stanley once again (45 minutes later!) we came up with a "new" game plan then I spent my morning cleaning, blogging, and reading before heading out for a nice long walk in a nearby town on the search for something with a heart. 8,310 steps. 

 

28. So thankful for a lovely morning catching up with my brother. Gym, groceries, a very long breakfast with my brother (that lasted past lunch time!), called to check in on Evan after his first full week of college (where he literally spent 4 minutes catching me up and then said he really needed to run-- he sounded happy though) and spent the afternoon chatting with my mom. 4,335 steps. 

before

after

cinnamon bun pancakes with cream cheese icing

29. Thankful for the perfect weather we had today. Spent the day drawing/painting and reading while Ben and Ian went to work on Ian's new truck then my husband and I went to Runnings to get him clothes and work boots. 8,247 steps.  

30. Thankful for social media and a way to finally get in contact with (who I think of as) my step-sister; she was quite helpful. A lazy day spent reading, going to lunch/ice cream, clearing the trails with my husband and watching Ian play with his remote control excavator and mini crushing plant. 3,263 steps. 

 31. Thankful that I was able to find what I was looking for at TJ Maxx. Gym, ran some errands, cleaned the whole upstairs, read/listened to quite a few books. 7,896 steps.