My Favorite Things About Summer | Inspiring You To Create An Intentional Summer
Hello, beloved friends! How are you? I hope this day is amazing for you, if not, I pray that my rambles of Summer Favorites will bless your heart in some way today. Sometimes, I also need a reminder to access my child-like wonder! This Summer, let’s resolve to be awed and amazed by the wonder on this Earth! To inject adventure and also learn to love and appreciate the simplicity of the mundane and regular moments.
I know life can feel overwhelming at times. Parenting can be so challenging for a lot of us who don’t know what the heckanbob we’re doing (points right at myself). Life can feel rather unimportant and we often can be trapped into thinking our lives don’t matter. Let me tell you something. Your life matters. You matter. Sometimes things might seem insignificant in the moment; but those are the moments that count in the end. When you look back at your life and see all that God has done, does it create as much joy in your heart as mine? I want to remember to focus on the good.
I need to be careful sometimes as I grow older, to not let the trials and challenges of life harden my heart. My prayer for our Summer is that we’d find the magic in our adventure moments and our ordinary day-to-day moments! And if we are in a dark season; that we’d press into what Jesus has for us in the dark. There will always be a light that never fails and holds us by the hand as we are going through it!
I want to encourage you to encourage the people you love today. Make time for your loved ones. Make time to do the things that light you up. Life is so fast, yet some days, it can feel like we are living the same’ol day if we don’t intentionally sneak in time for relationships, time for fun, and time for REST.
Today, make a summer plan. Who do you want to become this Summer? Where will you go adventure? And who will you love and encourage and serve?
My Favorite Things About Summer
THE WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Celebrating my Wedding Anniversary to my boo and King Under My King! On June 22 we enjoy the pleasure of our 14th year as a married couple! It’s been a MIRACLE that has kept us together through the ups and downs of so many years! Jesus is the cord that holds us together!
Trips To SoCal
Seeing and surfing with our family in Southern California!! And being able to eat a breakfast burrito on the beach from Corrales in Ventura as well as the BEST BBQ and sauce with habanero at Buster’s! If you live or are visiting Ventura California, PLEASE go to both of these amazing food establishments. You can thank us later!
Going to a Dodger’s game at Dodger Stadium with our family!!
REST + PLAY + HOME
Hanging out poolside with my boo at a bouyee hotel or hanging with him outside in our Hammock Moment in the backyard and just enjoying the time of REST and our deep conversations that make me love this man so much. He is so smart and can really strike up a fantastic conversation!
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR THE SUMMER
Having my kids home from school. Oh what a joy they are to my heart. I love seeing them frolicking around the house thinking up a million ways to play (and make a mess), hahaha! Today the girls made fashion designs! We also got a lot of little planting kits for Haylee’s Birthday and we are seeing the sprouts from her plantings last week! My house isn’t perfect, and neither am I nor my husband or children; we still have our ups and downs, and yes it can be a challenge sometime to be a mom, but I choose to find the joy in it because I have them and that is a gift!
TIME AT HOME
Just enjoying being home! Obviously we pretend surf, right? But in all seriousness, we also love to have chill days with no agenda. We all love playing board games, reading our bibles together, swimming, making dinners and eating outside! As well as finding ways to organize and get our space tidy (maaaybe that’s just me, idk)!
OUTDOOR FAMILY ADVENTURES
Adventuring with our family and ridding our bikes around to find trees to climb. Well, I don’t climb them but my kiddos love to!
FOREST HOME FAMILY CAMP
The anticipation of going to the BEST place on Earth (in my eyes haha), Forest Home!!! This is an amazing Christian Family Camp that we go to every year (mostly)! I’ve loved it ever since the first hour of the first time I was there, 14 years ago. It has such a BIG place in our hearts as God has moved mightily in this place (I got baptized here ) and I can tell you miracles after miracles from taking time to hear from God and make margin and room for really pressing into our relationship with him. I know God isn’t just at Forest Home, he is anywhere. But Forest Home is a place we go to get away from the chaos of life and tune our hearts to hear from God intentionally for a whole week! And as the girls get older, they feel like it’s a part of our family’s traditions to come here every Summer and they’ve grown to love this place as much as we do. More on that also coming up on a new blog! Stay tuned!
HIKES
Unexpected kisses at the ends of hikes after I cry and think I can’t make it to the top!
FATHER’S DAY CELEBRATION
Father’s Day celebrating this amazing man who is a father to my girls. What a blessing to see the very things I didn’t get to enjoy being graciously given to my kids and my heart from his heart.
Taking sunset photos
TRAVELING TO FAR OFF PLACES
Traveling to unknown places and creating memories that we can talk about for years to come! Doug and I love to travel and we love being able to talk about every detail of every trip with each other. It’s a fun way to connect! This was from our trip to Miami.
Going Surf Camping and enjoying the beach being walking distance for days at a time! This is such a great spot we love to go to! If you’re looking for a Surf Camp Site in Northern California, this is it. It has bathrooms and you can shower if you bring quarters! It’s called the Manresa Uplands State Beach and campground! A fantastic place to camp if you love the beach! You do have to haul all your camp things from your car to the site at the begging and have to park the car a ways from the site for the time you’re there. We bring wagons to help us with the feat! Think of it as your big workout to get all your things out of the car and onto the site at the beginning of the trip and then to haul all of them back out when you’re done! But during your stay, you don’t have to think about cars running among the road while your kids are playing! So it’s a nice trade-off!
YOSEMITE HIKE
Going on epic hikes like the Mist Trail hike in Yosemite! Wow, that was a challenge that I’ll never forget! I forgot to write a blog all about our experience so I am definitely going to write about all we did here! Stay tuned!
SUMMER MANICURES
Trying out adorable summer-worthy manicures!
Painting my nails white. My favorite white nail polish is Funny Bunny by OPI! I love the way it looks on my faux tanned skin!
SUMMER FOOD AND DRINKS I LOVE
Trying out iced coffee recipes! If you have a good one, spill the beans! I love finding different ways to make my iced coffee delicious and one thing I’ve been loving is the caramel, SILK brand almond creamer; it goes so well with iced coffee!
Eating corn on the cob; Or as they say in my country ELOTE preparado. Yes, corn a la Mexicana might be one of my favorite Summer foods and memories of eating it with so many people I love. (This is boiling a corn, slathering it in mayo and grating Cotija cheese to put on top of the mayonnaise, topped with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.) Listen! Try it before you judge me!
Making my green smoothies and thinking up different ways to make healthy smoothies my family will love.
Ordering a Pink Drink at Starbucks from time to time. What’s your signature Summer drink?
4 WAYS TO SELF-CARE THIS SUMMER
Walking every morning right after my morning routine so I can beat the heat!
Finding a new Skin Care routine for morning and night to help my skin in what it needs as the temps heat up! A blog is coming on this topic so stay tuned.
Journaling a page each morning to know what I’m feeling and also to write down the bible passage that I read and meditated on that morning!
Reading a good book, right now I’m really enjoying Atomic Habits by James Clear
MY OLDEST DAUGHTER’S AUGUST BIRTHDAY
I love that my “little” girl decided to put me in labor on a Hot August night! I love being able to celebrate her life and birth every summer snd sometimes we go big because she never gets the school celebrations. So we do an epic party every few years with her! Last year she had an epic blue surf birthday party!
FREEDOM
Celebrating the 4th OF July. That’s the day I came to America in 1992! I feel reminded that our freedom is in Jesus. Not in a country, success, a job title, or in a financial position. You are meant to feel free and live your life in a relationship with God almighty and he has given you the greatest gift of Jesus. And in him, we have freedom, hope, and love. May you know how much God loves you and that he desires you to enjoy your summer, your life. Right Now.
This moment is the only one we have. I pray you have an outstanding Summer and that you’d build moments of rest, play, and connection no matter your budget. Listen, we can create a life we love wherever we are. It starts inside. Praying for you to enjoy months of fun, connection, and peace. I pray that you don’t miss out on your life. That you perhaps sit and ponder what you love about Summer and maybe share something with us in the comments below! I’d love to know! What are some of your favorite Summer things?
