July 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up
July was a good month. As tube feeds helped my brain function better, I majorly ramped up my work schedule with a lot of fun new clients. I was able to spend more time doing the creative things that feed my soul, like singing and blogging and watching movies. And I was able to push through symptoms (lol maybe too much) and spend a lot of time with people, which was SO much fun. I’m grateful and happy that I’ve been able to handle life getting busier in many ways.
This month I’m…
Reading: The Railway Children and Five Children And It, E. Nesbit. Bruchko, Bruce Olson (reread). Blackmoore, Julianne Donaldson. Banished, Lauren Drain. The Endless Steppe, Esther Hautzig (reread). Seeing Voices (reread) and Hearing Lies, Olivia Smit. The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku. Out of Left Field, Ellen Klages. Under a Dancing Sky, Laura Wood. In the Heights: Finding Home, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Quiara Alegria Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter. The Other Side of Perfect, Mariko Turk. (13 total)
Listening to: Come From Away (especially Me And The Sky). Mamma Mia (because it’s not July if I don’t). In the Heights. Feels Like Summer, Samuel Jack. Middle of June, Noah Gundersen. dancing in the kitchen, LANY. Missing Piece, Vance Joy. New Romantics, Taylor Swift. Watermelon Sugar, Harry Styles. This Could Be, Joel Ansett. Wrecked, Imagine Dragons. Psycho, Maisie Peters. He Will Hold Me Fast, Keith & Kristyn Getty. Sweet Dream and Shapeshifter, Alessia Cara. Painkiller, Ruel. happy to be sad, Ben Platt. Give Me The Future, Bastille. slow summer, Zachary Knowles. Tell The World, Eric Hutchinson.
Watching: The Frey Life and Jordan Bauth on YouTube. Gilmore Girls (season three, but only like two episodes, lol oops). Black Widow (first time in a movie theater since December 2019 and first time seeing a new Marvel movie in theaters since July 2019–and it was SO. FREAKING. GOOD). In the Heights (FINALLY).
Eating and/or cooking: Cheerios and almond milk. Ham sandwiches on a pretzel bun with Popcorners and plums. Vans PB&J bars. Italian ice. Pan cookies. Izze sparkling lemonade. Pretzels. Peaches and granola. Chess squares.
RIP my favorite spatula Writing: Now that my brain is functioning, I dived into marketing again and things exploded. (This happens every single time. I don’t know why I’m always surprised.) I started working with a ton of new clients and it was all I could do to stay on top of emails and phone calls. I also redid my website (which had been SORELY needed for a very long time) using Aly’s new Genius Portfolio WordPress plugin, which is an amazing tool for freelancers that makes it super easy to showcase your work!
Outside of work, I volunteered with the Diamonds Conference and People Hope. Sara interviewed me about freelance writing for her YouTube channel. And I wrote 40 letters and received 22.
Buying: A bunch of unnecessary stuff at Target, as one does.
Grateful for: Spontaneous phone calls from friends. Sitting in the movie theater watching the Marvel opening sequence (it had been a LONG time, and there’s no feeling like it). My brain functioning well enough to do high-quality work and to sing and to think about big topics. A random cash tip from a client. A toddler at church running up to me and giving me a big hug. WordPress support (lol). A Ziploc bag of cookies with my name written on it that represented so much more.
What did you do in July? Any summer highlights? Have you read any of the books I read this month?
