You may recall that I took this month off from serious goals and decided to only set fun goals for July.  I’m so glad I did!  Here’s how it went.

1.  Read one fiction book a week.  I’ll be sharing the list of books I read next week.

2.  Make this No-Bake Summer Berry Icebox Cake for our July 4th dessert.   This was the perfect cool, refreshing dessert for our hot summer.  I’ll definitely make it again!

3.  Find a great movie (or two) to watch on my Kindle during our flights later this month (any recommendations welcome!)  For our flight to Quebec City, I downloaded the 1996 Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow.  It was fine, but I think I was spoiled by already having watched the 2009 BBC version of Emma many times.  Admittedly, the latter is more like a mini-series; it’s two hours longer than the earlier version, which allows more time to develop the characters and relationships.  It’s such a favorite (and always on my Kindle), and I ended up watching a good bit of that Emma as well! 

On our flight home, I watched Scents and Sensibility.  It was cute and predictable – reminded me of a Hallmark movie.

4.  Buy myself a new pair of sandals.  Thanks again to Sues for recommending Crocs sandals!  I ended up getting two pair – these and these – and both are very comfortable.

5.  Be consistent in daily prayer and Bible reading.  I did fairly well with this, but I did miss a few mornings while we were out of town.

I feel like it’s time to get serious again with my goals since school will be starting in three weeks.  Here are my five goals for this month.

1.  Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.   This one is making a return appearance – there’s lots to pray about with school starting up again!

2.  Family:  Make sure we eat supper together as a family at least 3 nights a week.  Ballgames and other school-related activities are ramping up again, but I want to make family time a priority.

3.  Relationships/Service:  Send notes of encouragement to four friends this month.

4.  Personal Development/Health:  Have a meal plan ready for the week ahead every Sunday night.   Another repeat performer….I really need to get on the ball with this one since the whole rhythm of our days is about to change again.

5.  Blog:  Write one 1,000 word post.  I purposely wrote 10 Prayers to Pray for Your Daughter as a longer, more in-depth post (it took hours to put together), but it’s been shared a number of times on Pinterest, and has been viewed almost 500 times in the past few weeks.  I’d like to create another “evergreen” post like that this month.

Ready or not, August is upon us!  Do you have any goals for the month?

 
I can’t believe I just typed that in my title – July!!  Summer is a-flying by!

I’ll start with a wrap-up of my June goals.

Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.

Family:  Plan for and enjoy our trip to the mountains. 

Relationships/Service:  Write and mail one thank-you note each week.  I did this twice.

Personal Development/Health:  Have a meal plan ready for the week ahead every Sunday night.  As well as this worked in May, I just couldn’t motivate myself to get it done this time around.

Blog:  Write one 600+ word post each week.  I was fortunate just to get any blog post up most days!

I’m thoroughly enjoying this summer, but I’m finding that every day looks different.  I haven’t done well with fitting in all the tasks that I normally do, and I’m realizing that it’s okay.  This is just a season (literally!) where I’ll expect a little less of myself, while enjoying these moments of having my girls around the house and doing things with and for them.

That being said, I decided to only allow fun goals for July!  Looking ahead, I know that this month will be as full as June, so I’m going to embrace it.

Here are my five goals for this month.

1.  Read one fiction book a week.

2.  Make this No-Bake Summer Berry Icebox Cake for our July 4th dessert.  (My husband saw this recipe and it looks like a perfectly cool ending to our meal!)

3.  Find a great movie (or two) to watch on my Kindle during our flights later this month (any recommendations welcome!)

4.  Buy myself a new pair of sandals.  (I had to throw out my favorite pair last month when they started coming apart 🙁

5.  Be consistent in daily prayer and Bible reading.  This is what I know I need to do to be my best self every day.  This past week, I’ve found myself substituting some VBS prep – which did involve Bible reading – for my personal time in the Word, and I missed it!

What would be a fun goal for you to meet in July?

I would never claim to be a fashion blogger, so it makes me laugh when I see that my Modest Fashion Spring 2016 post is my most re-pinned post of all time.

Now that summer’s here, though, I thought I’d share some cute skirt outfits that I’ve seen on Pinterest lately.  (While there are plenty of great looks out there, I’ve tried to include only those that I would actually wear.  Someone with a different body type could definitely find many other styles that would work.)

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I like how the scarf and necklace add interest to this basic t-shirt and maxi skirt.

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As hot as it gets here, I really like a knee-length skirt like this one that you can dress up or down.

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Ever since having children, I’ve stayed away from white bottoms, but I think my girls are old enough now that I could give this a try without worrying so much about stains…at least from them! 🙂

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This maxi dress just looks comfortable – and I love that it has sleeves!

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Here’s a perfect outfit for a summer Sunday.

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How appropriate for celebrating on July 4th!

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I could come close to replicating this outfit with items I already own….except for the shoes.

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I might add a necklace to this outfit, but I really like the color combination!

 
And, finally, I picked up this outfit yesterday when I ran into the Talbots Outlet for a few minutes.  The navy skirt is a knit material and SO comfortable!  I’m also into stripes these days, and the orange is a bit of a different color for me.

What type of outfits are your favorite during the summer months?

 
I realize that we’re only one week into the summer break, but we’re definitely off to a good start here!

So far we’ve managed to find the right balance between being gone and staying home, between work and play, and between doing things together and having time to ourselves.

However, my brain definitely hasn’t been in blog mode.  I’m taking this week off from blogging and hope to return with fresh inspiration next Monday!

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite Girls to Grow posts from past summers.

10 Traits of a Wise Woman

She’s Already Beautiful to Me

5 Ways That Daily Quiet Time with God Changes Me

Journaling Prayers for Our Children

5 Ways to Encourage Yourself in the Lord

How to Rear a Daniel

Have a great week!!

 
Welcome to June!  I’m so excited to usher in a new month that brings the end of the school year, our annual family trip to the Smoky Mountains, and a more relaxed summer schedule!

May was less busy than I thought it might be, though I still didn’t do but so well with meeting my goals.

Here’s the monthly wrap up.

Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.  Meeting this goal is a blessing, as I always see specific answers to prayer – even though one of those was a clear “no” last month.

Family:  Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month.  Well, I did it once for each person in May. 

Relationships/Service:  Find one way to serve someone in my church or community each week. This is always a good reminder that we ourselves typically get a bigger blessing than the recipient of our service does!

Personal Development/Health:  Have a meal plan ready for the week ahead every Sunday night.  This was such a good practice to get back to, and it definitely made grocery shopping and each day’s meal prep easier!

Blog:  Post to Instagram 4 days a week.  Didn’t happen.

Here are the goals I hope to accomplish in June.

Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.  I plan to do this again in June.

Family:  Plan for and enjoy our trip to the mountains.  Okay, I need at least one really easy goal this month!  😉

Relationships/Service:  Write and mail one thank-you note each week.

Personal Development/Health:  Have a meal plan ready for the week ahead every Sunday night.  I’m sticking with this goal for another month.  It served me well in May!

Blog:  Write one 600+ word post each week.  I’ve been wanting to develop some longer post ideas, so hopefully setting this goal will encourage me to do that.  (I still hope to write two shorter posts each week, along with Saturday Salutes, if our schedule permits.)

Are you working on meeting any goals right now?

Just when I think the months can’t go by any faster, I turn around and another one is gone!

April held another birthday for me, an athletic awards ceremony at our daughters’ school, a trip downtown to see a production of Mary Poppins, my older daughter spending several days out-of-town at a fine arts competition, a four-day trip to Asheville for all of us, a couple of activities with friends, and ended Friday night with the girls’ piano recital.

I was thankful to do a bit better with meeting my goals this month than last!

Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.  It was very exciting to see a couple of specific answers to prayer from these lists!

Family:  Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month.  I did this once for each person in April.

Relationships/Service:  Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them.  

Personal Development/Health:  Eat 3 servings of fruits and vegetables every week day.  I did fairly well with this, but failed to track my meals enough to say that I fully accomplished it.

Blog:  Post to Instagram 4 days a week.  I didn’t make this goal, but I did post at least a couple of times each week.

Here are the goals I hope to accomplish this month.

Spiritual Growth:  Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day.  I plan to do this again for May.

Family:  Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month.  Let’s give it one more try!!

Relationships/Service:  Find one way to serve someone in my church or community each week.  I’m not sure exactly what this will look like, but I’m praying that the Lord will show me needs I can meet.

Personal Development/Health:  Have a meal plan ready for the week ahead every Sunday night.  This is just one of those tasks that I hate doing, yet I know that my week runs much more smoothly if I make myself plan our meals in advance!

Blog:  Post to Instagram 4 days a week.  I’m going to try this goal once more as well.

Are you working on meeting any goals right now?

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Maybe there are days we seem to just blend into the crowd, and we feel like no one notices us as an individual.  If we realize that others – especially our spouse or our children – can feel that way as well, then we can determine to make a difference by taking a minute to notice them in a positive way.

I was inspired to think more about this idea by a portion of a book I’m enjoying, Hands Free Life by Rachel Macy Stafford.

“Let us all be Noticers today.   

Let us notice our children’s gifts rather than their flaws.  Let us notice what our spouse does right, not what he or she did wrong.  Let us notice the sacrifices our parents made, rather than all the times they messed up.   

Let us notice how hard people are working, not how quickly they are providing service.  Let us notice where our love and kindness is needed, rather than spew criticism and scrutiny where it is not needed.   

Let us be Noticers.  Love others right where they are….just as they are.  Someone is just waiting for us to notice what’s blooming or wilting inside that could use a little undivided attention.”

This act of noticing could be as simple as complimenting the cashier at the grocery store on her manicure or thanking your husband for taking out the trash or praising your child for how neatly she put her toys away.  Let’s see how many people we can notice and appreciate today!

Who will you notice today?

In honor of my birthday yesterday, I thought I’d share some of the things I’m enjoying this week!

My current phone wallpaper – one of my favorite photos from earlier this year

Book:  The Bronze Bow.  Yes, I read this book aloud to my children several years ago, but I wanted to revisit it and see if it was as good as I remembered!

Song:  You Are Always Good.  A couple sang this at our church several Sundays ago, and I immediately came home and added it to my Gospel playlist.

Blog:  This Life I Live.  Don’t know why I did this to myself yesterday, but I caught up on the last few posts that Rory has written.  Cried through a couple of tissues….

Podcast:  Growing Up the Zeller Way and Teamwork on Family Life Today.  This two-part series has Steve and Lorri Zeller sharing how they parented three boys through high-profile college basketball careers and on into the NBA.

Instagrammer:  Rachel Cruze.  She’s been in Israel for the past ten days and the pictures she’s posted show just what a beautiful and unique country it is.

Recipe:  Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.  Confession – I halved this recipe and made it for myself for breakfast yesterday (also using Jen’s Easy Cream Cheese Frosting).  And I, myself, will eat them all (though not at one sitting) since no one else in the family likes them very much.  It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it!  🙂

Bible verse:  Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”  Still pondering this verse from Monday’s post.

Have a great Friday!!