Summertime Summering

This is a repost of my summer resolutions post that y'all can read right here if you missed it. OR y'all can watch my video which was so much fun to make!

What are y'all up to so far this summer?

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

This Summer I Will...

I never make New Year's resolutions because follow-through and I are not BFFs. But I wondered what would happen if I made a few summer resolutions. I loved summertime when I was growing up. The days were long and lazy, there were no schedules or have-to-dos. Even my parents who both worked outside the home seemed more relaxed. Our summers were filled with going to the pool, cooking out, freeze tag, catching lightning bugs, climbing trees, riding bikes, reading in the magnolia tree, getting to drink Kool-Aid at my cousins' house... Such fun!

When the lovelies were growing up summertime was much the same. Though we did go to the beach nearly every single day as it's only 3.1 miles from our house. I loved not having to get the lovelies up and ready to go to school. We had lazy mornings and fun afternoons unless we decided to have fun mornings and lazy afternoons or be lazy all day or have fun all day. It didn't matter what we did, it was summer and we loved it.

These days, all I really do with summer is complain about the oppressive heat and the accompanying humidity that may actually kill me this time around. When I thought about it I realized there are still good things about summer like the kids are out of school so the traffic won't be nearly as bad, there will be tons of watermelon to be eaten, the ice cream truck will be around nearly every single day... Yep, good times are coming because of summer. And so, I've made a list of summer resolutions one unrealistic the other realistic.

Unrealistic Summer Resolutions:

1. Get my Yoga on and find a treadmill or glider elliptical because exercise helps my fibromyalgia so much. Not that knowing this gets me out there moving but, now that I've resolved to do it...
2. Get another Fitbit and count my steps! My Fitbit died a few months ago and I need to get another one. They email you your weekly progress and only registering 3,000 steps is embarrassing. Without the Fitbit I don't care about the steps. With it, I do.
3. Go to the beach in the early morning to walk and enjoy the sunrise. It's still only 3.1 miles from my house so there's really no excuse for not going. Other than laziness.
4. Rent one of those cabins at a nearby state park for a long weekend. Yeah, it's hot out there. 
5. Take road trips and visit Nashville lovely. Wait. I don't have a car. 
6. Prepare healthy food every day. Hahahaha!
7. Just say NO to sugar. Bahahahaha! 
8. Get back into morning meditation. Sure because it worked so well the first-tenth time I tried it.
9. Get some rooms painted. Ok, this one actually has a 50-50 chance.
10. Go to the 4th of July fireworks display. Nope. It's hot out there and there are a lot of people. 

Realistic Summer Resolutions:

1. Eat ice cream, popsicles, froyo. Oh yeah! This is going to happen!
2. Enjoy Baby M's first birthday party! No problem!
3. Host a baby shower for Lovely1! Again, no problem!
4. Celebrate Lovely2's 27th birthday! Bring it on!
5. Complain about the heat and humidity! Consider it done!
6. Eat watermelon! Complain when it's not sweet enough and rave about it when it is. I promise!
7. Try some of those S'mores themed recipes on Pinterest! OKee Dokee!
8. Make lemonade and drink the heck out of it! You got it!
9. Enjoy every single non-damaging thunderstorm that comes through! Yes indeed!
10. Read, write, and relax! I've already started! 

You see, the key to keeping resolutions is in the wording.

What are your summer resolutions?

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

Reinventing Summer

Empty nesters are masters of reinventing. We reinvent various aspects of our lives all the time. We have to. When the last of our brood grows up and moves out to peruse their first real independence in the world either while attending the college of their choice or going directly into the work force, we are left, after the shock of the quiet wears off, finding ways to fill the empty hours. We have no choice other than to reinvent everything from our daily lives to those times of year that centered around family gatherings. Seasons are no exception. As a matter of fact, summer can be one of the toughest to reinvent.

Gone are the days of piling everyone into the car and driving the three miles to the beach every summer day. Gone are the days of hosting neighborhood, family cookouts and enjoying the kids running around chasing one another and fireflies. Gone are the days of the high pitched shrieks when the cold water of the sprinkler hits home. Gone are the lazy days of lounging around telling stories because it’s too hot to go outside. Gone are the days of playing charades when the power goes out during a summer thunderstorm. Gone are the days where every steamy summer second is chock-full of some sort of family fun related activity complete with excited childhood chatter, giggles and shrieks. 

What’s an empty nester to do? It is simple- we reinvent. We change our perspective. We readjust. And, slowly but surely, we begin to see what it can hold when we can enjoy summer without every single activity being child centered. And we realize, it’s not a bad thing at all.

My empty nest summers are now filled with redecorating, visiting and hosting guests, gardening and canning; photography; reading and writing; walking on the beach and, maybe most importantly, going where I want to go when I want to go. 

Sound boring? It's not. After raising four spectacular daughters, a slow pace is appreciated. So is the quiet. Besides, my summer days are filled with self-discoveries that lead to even more reinventing of summertime fun. Because, when your nest is empty, you have time. Time to learn, to explore and to do.

Summer still holds fun in an empty nest. It’s just different fun. Fun that you will come to treasure almost as much as those summers past. And there will be more times than you might think when the family will visit and surround you with all that summer time noise that will still bring such joy to your soul. If your nest is empty, embrace it. Go forth and reinvent your summer to be one to remember.