hair – The Good Stuff

{Sort of like a “Friday Five” or a “Life Lately” except it’s probably not Friday, and I gave up on the idea of a catchy alliteration. These are some bits and pieces of my not-so-glam 20-something life. See past posts HERE}

Catching up again before I go home for some vacation time! Stay tuned… there will be lots of posts and pictures to share later in August!

Sawyer June

My new baby cousin Sawyer June joined the family on July 13 and I wrote this little love letter to her that you can read here.

Since then, my favorite Snapchats and texts are ones with her little face in them. I am SO EXCITED to finally get to meet her in 3 DAYS!

National Harbor

A few weekends ago in July, this guy and I spent a lazy Sunday exploring National Harbor (which is maybe 25 minutes south of where I live.) We had a great day window shopping, people watching and of course trying some yummy food and drinks. I had never been down there before and didn’t know there was so much! Definitely a place to keep in mind for a staycation.

Write It Like a Love Letter

http://allisonfallon.com/love-letter/

Almost everything that this gal writes leaves me deep in thought and shaking my head in strong agreement. She describes a relationship with words and writing that I’ve always sought after and this piece linked above discusses approaching writing in a way that I really understand. If writing isn’t your interest, keep moving, but if it is, I’d suggest reading this.

New Hair

The hair was getting a bit unhealthy so it was about time for a major chop. To be honest, I’m not in love with it when I wearing my natural curl (not pictured), but it does feel a lot healthier and it will grow back!

Chris Stapleton

Since I moved to the DC area 2.5 years ago, Chris Stapleton has performed nearby TWICE while I was out of town for work. He has been at the top of my “must-see” list for a while now, so when my friend Emily said he was performing at Jiffy Lube Live the night before I went on a work trip, there was no way I was missing out again.

Friends, I spent the next couple of days DEAD TIRED, but it was SO WORTH IT.

The sign of a great artist is when they sound better live than they do on their album. I am so glad that Emily was fangirling as much as me, because we both could hardly make it through one song without talking about how good he was again. If you are a fan, I highly recommend seeing him in concert!

Right as the opening song began, it started to DOWNPOUR for about 5 minutes or so, and then stopped. We huddled under my blanket that was waterproof on one side and turned out about the best we could.

Staying Present

Earlier this month I shared some thoughts on “Staying Present.” I can’t say that I am a pro at it, but thinking out loud like that has certainly help me be a bit more intentional and self-disciplined.

I also shared about how awesome getting “Shine Texts” are, and had SO MANY people tell me that they signed up for them because of my post! Enjoy!

Fist Bumps

I couldn’t get this video from CNN to embed correctly but if you need a smile today, I definitely suggest clicking the link below. Too cute!

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Utah – Ag Media Summit

I failed to get any pictures with other humans, but the location for this year’s Ag Media Summit was not too shabby. I am not a winter sports gal, but I would definitely return to Snowbird, UT, for the views alone.

New Music from Logan Mize

My favorite artist FINALLY has a new full album out! You can bet I listened to it 3 times through before 10 am on its release day last week. The song above is my favorite so far but they are all so good. I lost count of how many of his shows I saw in college (5 or 6??) so I want him to come to the DC area so bad!

Visitor

I have been practically counting down the seconds to my vacation for a while now so it was nice to see a familiar face from Eastern Oregon last week to hold me over. Beth has been a high school ag teacher and FFA adviser from another school in my home FFA district since I was probably in middle school. Since my own Dad was an ag teacher for 14 years, many other Oregon ag teachers tend to be family friends. Beth was always so kind and supportive to me as a student, so when she was in town with kids to attend the Washington Leadership Conference, I was happy that we had the chance to chat a bit over dinner.

I also tagged along when her group visited the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. I have been a lot of places in DC but this was actually a first for me, which is a bit embarrassing since it is only about 4 miles from my apartment!