Friday Faves – Edition 26

 

Friday.

Edition 26.

We’re rolling into another weekend… the second one of August already!

But before we get there, I’m sharing some of my faves this week.

Back to School Shopping.

Miss Sunshine and I did some school shopping. Back to school shopping for a female going into 8th grade is not for the faint of heart! It’s not that she isn’t fun to shop with..she is! It’s that the current fashion trends do not conform to school dress codes.

Ripped jeans… yes you can wear them, but the rips must start below the acceptable shorts line

All the jeans had a rip at the thigh. Scratch that. We found a possible pair online, but they haven’t made it here yet.

The other popular trend. The cold shoulder. But is the part above the shoulder wider than three fingers? Whose fingers? Some chubby fingers? Some petite fingers? And what the heck is wrong with shoulders?

At least we found a backpack!

In the past, Miss Sunshine has picked out her backpack from a surf shop we frequent on our beach vacations. Last year, it was a little too small to carry what she needed, so this year she wanted a bigger one. And all black. Since I don’t replace backpacks every year, we opted for this North Face one. I expect it to last a good while.  Can it make it 5 more years of public school? I’m not setting my hopes that high, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Senior Year.

Big Mr. had Senior photos this week. We won’t receive them for 2-3 weeks and which point we will decide which to place in the yearbook. If you remember from this post, the Big Mr. had hair down to his shoulders. Curly and thick hair. He knew that he planned to cut his hair, but wanted his Senior photos with his long hair.  When I asked why he told me so when he was 40 he could look back and see that time when he had long hair.

So after Senior photos, off he went and came home with so much gone.

Bold move!

I’m so happy that he loved the new cut because it took 1 1/2 years to get it to the point it had been at before.

View this post on Instagram

This past year has been a year of growth for me. If you've read my blog or followed me on Instagram for a while then you know that in April I went overseas for the first time. It pushed me outside my comfort zones to travel to a new country, but I also had my husband (who had done some world traveling) as my security blanket. When my mom suggested taking her first overseas trip, to Scotland, at the end of May… I jumped at the chance. I wanted her to find a love for travel just as I had 6 weeks before. I handled transportation & city navigation (with the help of some map apps) as we moved throughout some areas of Scotland. I came back from that trip even stronger and more confident in myself. As I think about future travels and the fact that I'll be turning 40 in a little over a month…I see a year of pushing my comfort zones even farther. How have you pressed outside of your box this year? 💙🌎☀️ . . . . .#sheisnotlost #femmetravel #dametraveler #travelstoke #traveldiaries #travelblogger #lifeofadventure #ladiesgoneglobal #theoutdoorfolk #keepitwild #liveauthentic #livefolk #darlingescapes #fromwhereistand #thehappynow #thisisscotland #visitscotland #visualsoflife #stayandwander #wearetravelgirls #lifestyleblogger #passportready #momboss #bossbabe #passionpassport #natureaddict #naturehippys #thediscoverer #roamtheplanet #seekthesimplicity

A post shared by Amy Lyon Smith (@bedlamanddaisies) on Aug 9, 2017 at 1:45pm PDT

I found high amusement in the Big Mr.’s commentary about “when I’m 40” because I’m sure that to him it seems so far away. I know that when I was 17, I probably thought that seemed so old.

And yet, here I am, at around a month away from being 40.

And it was so far away.

I’ve lived so much life thus far. Done so many things. Met so many people. Traveled to faraway places Grew life inside of me. Celebrated life’s highs and mourned life’s lows.

Still, I feel as if I’m just on the edge of having experienced all that I want to in this wide world.

I feel as though I’m just beginning to embrace who I really am. Learning that the world doesn’t get to dictate my choices.

I ask you the same question that I asked on Instagram…

How have you pressed outside of your box this year?

Detox.

I mentioned in last week’s faves that I was making some dietary changes. I am on my third week of a four week no alcohol detox. I read somewhere about it being a good thing to try before heading into Virgo season. I don’t know if there’s anything to that, but I figured letting my liver not have to process out toxins for a bit was probably a win-win for it. I layered in no gluten the second week and this week no dairy.

Elimination.

Dairy has been much harder for me. I had no problem giving up my splash of heavy cream in my coffee. I just switched it to almond milk, something I use in my smoothies already. However, I do love cheese. No cheese has been hard. When I decided on “no dairy” along with “no gluten”, my husband asked what I was going to eat. I admit that I wasn’t on top of things with pre-planning so I wasn’t always happy with my choices. Oh… that meatloaf recipe takes milk… here everybody…eat up…I’ll just be over here with my salad. Maybe I can eat a baked potato… oh wait…no butter…no sour cream either. I’ll just be over here eating the leftover taco meat…with no cheese.

I did make guacamole. That was a tasty point in the week. And I love my breakfast smoothies. It was the other two meals where I should have planned better.

The goal wasn’t really an elimination diet. Although I wish I’d have done that.

Eating Out.

The hubby and I went to dinner last night. My favorite Chinese restaurant. I ordered my regular choice. Hot and Sour Soup and Kung Pao Chicken. It was the first time I noticed the area on the menu that says these items can be made gluten-free. For some reason, I just assumed they were already gluten free because of the stamp beside them. I’m not a stickler in restaurants for how things are cooked because I don’t have Celiac Disease. I just have various digestive issues and have for years, but don’t know my triggers.

The meal was awesome and tasty. The conversation with hubby full of laughter. I felt a little pain in my stomach as we went to leave, but really it wasn’t a big deal. At home, about an hour later, the pain returned but centered on the left scapula and toward the chest and I felt a headache type pressure in my head and down my sinus cavity.

Since I wasn’t on an elimination diet, I still have no idea what the trigger was. It could have been the gluten in the soy sauce, but it could have easily have been the peppers or any other number of things that make up those two recipes.

I’m not sure if I’ll move to an elimination diet. The alcohol detox has become more about finishing out the goal that I had set. I would have to go even longer in the entire process cut out other foods and I just keep seeing my birthday on the horizon with a slice of cheesecake and a cocktail calling my name. Would I have time to add things in and discover my triggers before that day? I don’t know, so I’ll have to ponder it.

 

Journal.

This week I took back up spending some time in my journal. The black journal started the year out as a place to write a little snippet of fiction. A page to a page and a half. 20 minutes. I really wanted to work on being more descriptive. To see if I could tell a fictional tale that would draw somebody in enough to want to know more.

And then I got sidetracked.

It was something I enjoyed, but I didn’t make it a priority. My goal is to move it back to a priority.

I picked up the mint journal because I’ve wanted to start a gratitude journal. I’ve been working more on staying in the present moment and gratitude seems a great place to start. I just picked it up Wednesday…made a list of 5 things I was grateful for and promptly forgot to do it yesterday. I’ve obviously got a ways to go to make it a habit.

I think I’ll set a reminder on my phone so that I stop and actually do it.

Do you have ways that help you focus on the present?

Music.

The song I chose this week came up on my recommended list. The band found the inspiration for the song when they moved to London and left their loved ones behind. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan then you’ll love that the video features Maisie William (aka Arya Stark).

I got the hubby to watch the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things with me, and while he’s always been an advocate of us reducing our clutter, now he’s finally ready to actually help me with the process. This weekend is supposed to be a huge purge weekend for us!

I hope that as you go into your weekend, you find yourself a little freer from the daily stressors of life.

Take a moment to look around a see what a magnificent world in which we live.

The sun rises and sets.

The flowers bloom.

The breeze blows.

Take it all in.

This gift that nature offers.

And all for free.

 

 

Let your light shine!

Amy