Oh my goodness! I hardly picked up my computer in over a week… and it was fantastic! I missed updating the blog, but it was also nice to just take some time off.
If you follow me on Instagram, you haven’t missed much. If you’re not following me over there, what are you waiting for? Instagram is so much fun! And I tried to upload pictures to my computer for this post, but that wasn’t working out so well today, so here’s a picture-less post for you! I missed y’all!
1. Today is officially our first day of summer. Hudson and Hayes had their last day of school last week and both of their classes celebrated with end-of-the-year parties. They both had such great years with amazing teachers. I saw enormous growth and change in both of them, and Todd and I are just in awe of how much they are changing and growing up. We’re looking forward to an easy-going summer, but I’m also about to implement some structure this week. (At the very least just to keep them from raiding the refrigerator 18 times per day! Holy hungry boys, Batman!)
2. I hosted a Kayce Hughes trunk show at my house this weekend with my fabulous friend, Mary Kent Hearon, the Heart Knot creator. Oh my word. All of the Kayce Hughes clothes were just beautiful and so easy to wear. My wish list grew every day while we stared at the clothes. I tried on almost everything and loved it all. It was so much fun having so many friends stop by, too. When we took the clothes racks down and packed the clothes away, Hudson said, “We won’t have anymore friends coming by?” He was surprisingly bummed! (If you want to order from our Kayce Hughes trunk show, you can! Just enter Trunk Show ID 95240)
3. We had Hayes’s birthday party here a week ago. It was such a fun celebration of our boy. A lot more low-key than our typical parties, but just so much fun to celebrate with our closest friends. And Hayes just had the very best time.
4. I registered for a great Bible study for this summer. It meets on Monday nights at our church and I’m thrilled that so many friends are going to do it, too. Have any of you done the Jennie Allen study called Stuck?
5. I’m still eating clean. I’m done with the Advocare 24 Day Challenge and I am down about 9 pounds. I did splurge on way too many chocolate chip cookies this weekend- oops!- but I’m back on track today. I just take it one day at a time and make sure that I am as prepared as possible with healthy snacks, a meal plan, and meals that aren’t overly complicated or fussy. I’m going to do a meal plan post later this week.
6. We’re looking for a new show to start this summer. We’ve seen The Newsroom, House of Cards, Scandal, Friday Night Lights, Lost, The Good Wife, Orange is the New Black, Pretty Little Liars, Homeland, and True Detective. So…. any suggestions?
7. I bought the Abide journal from Naptime Diaries and I am so excited about it! I love that you can start it at any time. You can miss days, but just do it at your own pace. And it’s so beautiful!
I highly recommend Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. I thought GoT might be too gorry for me…and it can definitely be that way at times, but after a while, you get used to it. Now that I’m caught up, I get so exicted to watch a new episode every sunday night.
The Americans. With that list of shows you’re guaranteed to love it!
Parenthood? Chicago fire? Chicago pd? Blacklist?
I would love to see pics from Hayes party! I love your parties! Also for shows, I loved the first season of When Calls The Heart from the Hallmark Channel. I gave it a shot and loved it! It’s clean entertainment with wholesome plot lines but still keeps you on the edge of your seat. And oh the dresses!!
I was going to host a Kayce Hughes trunk show this month but couldn’t get my act together. Maybe in the fall! Love following you and your little cuties on IG.
Breaking Bad!!! It’s a favorite of mine for sure.
I recommend Mad Men or Parenthood!
Another vote for The Americans,
I would absolutely recommend Parenthood. It’s from the creator of Friday Night Lights and has the same heartwarming, character-driven stories. It’s definitely a tearjerker in places though!
Down 9 pounds – that’s awesome! I hope y’all have a wonderful summer!!!!!!!!
Last summer we spent our summer in Dillon and this year we are working our way through The West Wing!!! It’s perfection : )
Parenthood. Absolutely, positively, Parenthood.
I still haven’t had a chance to look at the trunk show site. I’ll try to do that today.
I want to get involved in a summer Bible study since CBS is on summer break. Maybe I should look into the one you’ve mentioned and do it with some friends.
Down 9 lbs in 24 days? That’s awesome!
I have been on a 24 kick! It’s available through amazon prime.
Parenthood, Lost, The Americans, Fringe, Sherlock, Mad Men, The Killing…all we’re binge-viewed at our house!
My husband and I both loved Parenthood–almost as much as Friday Night Lights. 😉 We laughed, cried, and even got angry at times–just overall great characters. Highly recommend!
Congrats on losing 9 pounds! I need to look up that clean eating program and see if it’s something my husband and I can stick with.
We love the show Royal Pains. It has some great drama and comedy and takes place in the Hamptons during the summer – so it’s a great show to watch at this time of year!
MadMen on Netflix!!!!
Mad Men if you haven’t seen it for sure.
Have you watched The Blacklist? It’s my absolute favorite and you will be hooked after the first episode. It’s thrilling with a mystery that keeps you on your toes. I’ve heard it’s similar to 24 but I haven’t seen it. Check it out, it’s so good!
A slightly random suggestion is Battleground on Hulu – it’s just one season so it’s short but it was really good. My husband watched it and then begged me to watch it as he talked about it all the time. It was really good (I’m not a fan of super serious shows).
It sounds like you’ve been super busy but in a great way!! Love following along on instagram (imkristenm)!
Parenthood is by far the favorite right now between me and my husband! We like Mad Men too, but Parenthood is so easy to watch and we ALWAYS want to watch another when it’s done!
Another vote for the West Wing! Also, my husband and I are completely hooked on Castle.
Breaking Bad (television at its best) and Prison Break (one that no one recommended to me and I thoroughly enjoyed). Happy summer
Parenthood is next on my list. We’re half-way through the third season of The Good Wife. I know, that’s crazy, but it’s really good! We stay up way too late watching it, I’ll have to revert back to this post when I need some more ideas.
Blacklist is awesome, west wing is our favorite, downton abbey if you’re not already hooked!
Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock. My husband & i watch an older show on netflix called Poirot (agatha christie mysteries) that we both love- so charming and interesting and, i dunno, refreshingly not dirty. Also if you like comedies Happy Endings was really great. I could never get behind Parenthood; the characters & their choices just worked my nerves. For reference my favorite shows are Frasier & The West Wing.
We just started Orphan Black. It’s awesome so far. I think you’d like it-I’m a Scandal fan, too, and this definitely holds my (and my husband’s) interest!
Parenthood is a great show! So well casted, and just a real life- esque storyline. Revenge is also a favorite of my husband and I. Once you get past the soap opera level acting, you’ll be hooked!!
Parenthood is a great show! So well casted and overall a real-life storyline. Revenge is also a favorite of my husband and I. Once you get past the soap opera level acting, you’ll be hooked!
Just finished Jennie Allen’s Stuck last night with our small group. Loved it! It’s challenging, and the format is great for discussion…homework, short video, and conversation cards (the best part, I thought). I liked Jennie’s teaching style and the topics were really practical…sadness, anger, discontentment, fear…things we all struggle with. I just started reading her book “Restless” which also seems great so far. Look forward to hearing what you think about the study!
Erin, My husband and I visited Columbia last week. You all have a beautiful city. What is your all favorite BBQ restaurant? We did eat at Groucho’s on Forest Drive and it was so good. We ate at Lizzard Thicket and Rush’s and a couple of BBQ resturants. The next time we come to Columbia we are going to go to the zoo. I have heard great things about the zoo in Columbia.
Enjoy your blog so much. You have the cutest boys they are so precious.
Well, you may have watched it as it aired (like everyone else on the earth) but my husband and I recently started watching 24. (13 years late). We LOVE IT. And he’s not a TV watcher at all so that’s saying something! I’ve also really loved Parenthood!
Definitely Parenthood!!! It’s, by far, one of my all time favorite shows. You will need to have tissues handy for every episode though. It always makes me cry, but it’s so, so good! And this upcoming season will be the last so you can watch all of it this summer and then be caught up for the abbreviated final season. 🙁
Game of Thrones is fantastic. Shameless is good. We watched that whole series over the long winter. And for a little comedy, I cannot recommend New Girl enough! So funny! I laughed out loud at every single episode. And it’s only a half hour show, so really like 22 minutes, so you can breeze through the whole series really quickly.