July in Review
Thursday, July 1 was a big day professionally. I took the time to watch the Stack Method videos on their website. I have implemented this email management method since then, and it's changed the game for me. I love it. That evening, I picked up some storage bins from Home Depot after work. Matthew was gone house and dog sitting, so I took myself out to dinner and watched Loki by myself.
July 2 Matthew and I got lunch at Village Baker since we hadn't seen each other in a couple days. After work I got busy cleaning out our balcony storage, taking things to the garbage, and deciding what things would be best in storage. We got a notice from our HOA about our bikes being on the balcony (don't even get me started), so we needed to make room. When I get started on projects like that, I don't stop. So I didn't eat until 9pm.
Saturday, July 3 I did normal Saturday things: cleaning, laundry, workout. I got our storage unit squared away and made two trips total to get things over there. I did client check-ins after going nonstop. I was wiped out, so Matthew got the groceries. That evening, we went to Lehi to my aunt Amy's where my family hung out and ate food. We went to the end of her street to watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks. It was fun.
July 4 we had brunch at Sunday's Best. Honestly, I wasn't blown away by the food. I really like the environment, and the service was great. The chorizo biscuits and gravy were good. My waffled French Toast was good, but nothing special; I'd rather have Waffle Love. I did more work on the balcony that day and watched some patriotic movies: Armageddon, Sandlot, and Independence Day. We lit some sparklers on the balcony, and that was about it for our 4th of July.
Monday, July 5 was a much needed day off work. I couldn't get into the 8:30am Orange Theory class, so I took myself to the Bean Yard for a latte and a croissant and read a new book. I went to Orange Theory at 10:30 instead. Matthew and I went to the pool. He ran some errands. We went to Scheels for a bike helmet for me, and Walmart for some hangers to be able to hang the bikes in our balcony storage.
July 6 I booked our tours for Nauvoo and got everything squared away at work for my absence. I picked up Crumbl for us, and it was just meh, as always. That evening we packed for Nauvoo!
Wednesday, July 7 was an early morning for us. 3:40am early. We got to Jim's house about 4:25 to head to the airport. Delta wouldn't let me check us in online because I had to present my credit card at the airport. I don't know why, but it added some hassle I could've done without. Security took about 15 minutes; amazing how many people are at the airport before 5am. I read my book on our flight to Detroit. We had a brief layover there, where breakfast hours had passed, destroying my dreams of having a McDonald's Egg McMuffin for breakfast. We landed in St. Louis, MO about 2:30 and waited 20 minutes or more for the shuttle to come take us to our Turo car rental. Meanwhile every other shuttle van came and went three or four times in that time frame. We got our rental and ate right next door at Bandana's BBQ. Matthew was pretty excited. We drove from St. Louis to Nauvoo with a brief gas station stop at Casey's (like a trashy sort of Maverik in the midwest), and an extra stop at a fireworks place for Matthew. We arrived in Nauvoo at about 6:08pm. Dianne made us some dinner and drove us around to get us familiar with the area. We also went to Annie's custard, where we enjoyed some Mounds flavored frozen goodness. It was so good!
July 8 I went on a run. We showed up two minutes late for our first tour: Homes of the Apostles. She turned us away initially saying our spots had been given up to wait listers. But then the sister at the table (bless her) was bothered and walked us back over to the house and said we were fine to join. The tour was about an hour and a half but went super quick. We saw the homes of Orson Hyde, Heber C. Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff. I also got a photo with one of the sisters because her grandma was in my home ward in Glendora. The rest of that day was full of shows. We first went to the "Go Ye Into All the World" show in the 70s hall, which was super short and sweet. We went upstairs afterward to see excavated historic items leftover from the pioneers. After that we saw "The Promise" at the visitors center at 3:00. We tried a soda shop/shaved ice shop that was a total waste of money--mega bust. That evening we went to the "Sunset by the Mississippi" at the outdoor stage. And we ended the night with the Trail of Hope, where we walked down Parley's street to hear performances (some musical, some spoken) from the journals of the early saints who had to leave Nauvoo.
Friday, July 9 Matthew and I went on a walk. We had two tours. The first was at noon, and it was the Pioneer Trail. We saw Brigham Young's home, the blacksmith shop, and the 70s hall. We took a few minutes after that to read all the journal quotes on Parley's street that I didn't get to read the night before. The second was Carthage Jail at 3:30pm. Thankfully Dianne and Matthew were both able to get in even though I could only book one ticket! I was sad to learn that the bloodstained floorboards were removed almost 20 years ago. My dad's stepdad was a freemason and was impressed when he saw those stains were there after so long. I had heard that story my whole life, so I was disappointed not to see what he saw. After that we went to Keokuk and looked at homes. We got dinner at Angelini's. We stopped at the Smith Family Cemetery, which is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly FLDS). We went to Annie's Custard again that night, and barely avoided the crazy lightning storm that came! It was nuts.
July 10 I did a workout and a run. Dianne drove us over an hour out to Dutchman's, a Mennonite owned grocery store. It was really cool, but incredibly crowded. I wished we had come on a weekday. But we got a great haul. We stopped at a few souvenir shops on Nauvoo Main Street, where I got magnets and post cards. We also went to the Fudge Factory. We had leftovers for lunch at home. I did client check-ins while Matthew napped. That evening, we went to the Nauvoo burial site and walked around the sunken, crooked, and faded headstones. I love old cemeteries. After that, we went to a park for Matthew to light the fireworks he bought. We finished up our laundry and packed up to head home the next morning.
Sunday, July 11 we were up around 7:15am to head out and see Hannibal, MO before returning our car rental. We left a little later than planned and drove an hour and 15 minutes to Hannibal. I got emotional at some parts because I was so excited to be there and learn some things about Mark Twain. We spent an hour there, and we really rushed. We got back in the car to leave at about 11:50am, and got to the car wash without a lot of time to spare. We washed the car, filled it up, and pulled in to the shuttle place at 1:00pm exactly (when the car was due back). I did all the inspection photos and checked out on the Turo app. We got onto a shuttle fairly quickly, maybe 10 minutes or so of waiting. Security didn't take long except that they had to scan my very suspicious coconut pudding from Dutchman's. I tried to find some food since Matthew and I were both starving. No luck. We ended up getting food from Starbucks because all the other places were sit down restaurants, and the sandwiches at those kiosks are freaking $11. Insane. Our flight took off and landed in Salt Lake much earlier than expected. Jim picked us up, we got Dexter, and went home. We unpacked, picked up dinner, and watched Loki and Goofy Movie.
July 12 I got up early for a leg day workout. At work, I dug out fairly quickly, thankfully. I'm loving the Stack Method, which makes me feel so much more in control of my email and work assignments. I got us some groceries after work, and we had a quiet evening.
Tuesday, July 13 we had a campfire in Millcreek canyon. Matthew's friend (cousin's husband) Ryan joined us after a while.
July 14 we saw Black Widow; it was, dare I say this, a little over the top, even for a Marvel movie. I enjoyed it though. That morning, I also got my car looked at after the U-Haul bumped my car! They took photos and got the process started for me to fix my car on July 26. U-Haul sent me a check for about $850 to get it fixed. We'll see!
Thursday, July 15 I had a doctor appointment for my sinus, which is still miserable. He saw infection in both of my maxillary sinus with his camera, and took another culture. He told me to use baby shampoo in a sinus rinse, which has been pretty sucky the last few days. It dries out my sinus terribly. Anyway, we may try another antibiotic in my sinus rinse. I've made an appointment for a second opinion this Wednesday. I'm tired of this, and tired of my doctor forgetting who I am and what we've done. That evening though, we went to a Yelp picnic with free Penguin Bros ice cream.
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| This is what my infection looks like. A blister volcano. |
July 16 we went to Soho Food Truck Park. I wasn't thrilled with any of the options. I got the Hawaiian Grinds teriyaki chicken plate. My chicken was gristly. They had no knives, so I couldn't cut my chicken. I got no extra sauce. And my rice was mush. But their mac salad was good. The Thai truck ran out of mango sticky rice. After dinner we drove around Holladay to look at homes, and got shaved ice at Hokulia. This is like a once in a lifetime thing. I don't normally like or want shave ice.
Saturday, July 17 I dropped off some things at DI. We also cleaned out our laundry storage and took some more stuff to our paid storage, like winter clothes and some things from the closet, etc. Of course we did the normal things: Orange Theory, cleaning, laundry, groceries, and client check-ins. Matthew hung the bike hooks and installed the blinds that broke in his game room. I went to Best Buy to pick up an order, got an Orange Peel drink, got gas at Costco, and went to Quick Quack car wash. I was wiped out. I showered and got groceries. We went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. It was our best experience in a long time. We went to Normal Ice Cream after that--super good.
July 18 I went on a hike up Millcreek canyon. It was supposedly 4.8 miles round trip, but my watch said it was more than that. I started at about 8:45am. It took me 78 minutes to get up there. I rested for 15 or so. It took me 76 minutes on the way down. This hike left me super sore and stiff, but I don't regret it. I found out that evening that an old coworker of mine was in an accident that crushed her pelvis. She needs to pay for two Medevac flights, several surgeries, and physical therapy. I was pretty upset about it that evening and reposted her GoFundMe.
Monday, July 19 was Jim's birthday. We took him to the Mandarin. We got potstickers, crab/cream cheese rangoons, chow mein, orange chicken, and honey walnut shrimp. I liked the potstickers and the shrimp.
July 20 I got a massage. It was glorious. I felt so good on Wednesday! I self-cared hard that night. While watching Call the Midwife, I put ice on my neck/shoulders like my massage therapist said to. And I did red light therapy in my nose. I did a sinus rinse. I did my neck wedge/stretch. Bodies are so much work, you guys. Another thing I did was I got boba tea after my massage, but she literally put NO TEA in it. I was sad.
Wednesday, July 21 was a challenge emotionally for me. That's all I'll say. It's been a rough time. And I am thankful for Matthew being supportive and understanding.
July 22 I got Waffle Love for the first time in a little while.
Friday, July 23 I had the day off, and it was glorious. Matthew had to work. I went to High Fitness and started on the weekend laundry and cleaning. I went to see the documentary Val with my mom because we both love Val Kilmer. It made us really sad, actually. When I got home from the movie, Matthew was packed to go to his family reunion in Zion. So we said a fairly quick goodbye, and he was off. I got myself In-N-Out for dinner and Crumbl. Sadly, I couldn't really taste either of those things very well, ever since I used too much baby shampoo in my sinus rinse and burned it all down on the inside.
July 24, I took myself to Honeysuckle Coffee Co before going to Orange Theory. Since I had done the cleaning on Friday, and the pools at our community are closed due to a chlorine shortage, I was busy doing other things. I did my client check-ins and more laundry. I went through my clothes in my dresser and closet and made a pile to donate as well as a pile to put into storage in case my size/weight fluctuates in the future. I freed up a lot of space in the closet and my dresser, and felt proud I got that done. I had been putting it off for a long time. While going through clothes, I started listening to the audiobook by Byron Katie called Loving What Is. It's a simple concept but really uncomfortable to put into practice, honestly. You have to turn all your thoughts and feelings and desires and judgments of other people around on yourself in order to love reality, love people as they are, and love the world as it is. It's heavy stuff, honestly. I got myself pizza and watched Ted Lasso. I had to pay a lot of attention to Dexter because people started fireworks super early (before dark).
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| Finished my sprinkle journal and started a new one |
Sunday, July 25 I took my clothes to storage and went to the grocery store. I also picked up cigarette butts around our end of the building and made a pile with a note. Whoever they belong to picked them up and took them to the trash. I cut up some pineapple, boiled some eggs, and made some chicken salad. Matthew and I went to the farmer's market near our house and got some delicious produce.
July 26 we went to a Bees game. Matthew invited his friend Andy and his wife Kaley. It was fun to chat with them. Matthew waited almost an hour for our food so I chatted with them a lot while he was in line. Before work that day I took my car to the body shop after the U-Haul hit me, and got a rental car. I was in a Toyota Corolla just for two days. It was nice to have good a/c. Car looks awesome now!
Tuesday, July 27 we cooked some dinner at home. We went to Mattress Firm to see what our options are for king size beds. The split king we wanted was of course insanely pricey. I may see what we can find used locally. Matthew thinks we should just try the king size bed in his parents' storage, and
July 28 I got Waffle Love with Brittney.
Thursday, July 29 we were going to do a camp fire, but I wasn't feeling great, so we just hung out at home and then went to Stir's. I surprised Matthew with a little present, and I was happy it made him so happy. We went to dinner at Mint Sushi, a step above campfire hot dogs I suppose.
July 30 we went to Stir's for a Yelp event. I didn't like a lot of the cereals as much as I had hoped I would. We watched Ted Lasso, of course!
Saturday, July 31 was a normal Saturday. I went to Orange Theory, did laundry, cleaned the house, and did client check-ins. I also went to the pool for about an hour. Both of us forgot Harry Potter's birthday until later in the night. But Matthew did get me some awesome HP presents. (I do May the 4th for him.) It was a quiet day. Matthew made us turkey burgers. I made the asparagus, and we also had corn on the cob.
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