July 2021 Highlights

 I hesitate even doing a July re-cap because it solidifies the awful event of Rachel passing away. I still can't believe it's real. I still can't believe she's not sitting behind me as I edit photos and write about our days. But I know that writing about it will help and so will time. So here is what we were up to in July 2021.

We spent the 4th of July weekend with my whole family in Wallace, Idaho - recap HERE.

Joey loves Fox and takes up most of his bed at night.

We went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

We used this crazy cool map thing to zoom in on our house. The clarity was unreal!

Pretty starry lights.

Hi family!

Love this geode.

Jane's orthodontist rented out Pirate's Cove for all his patients one night, but literally the second we got in lightning canceled the event and we all had to leave. Everyone was bummed. Can't change the weather!

A big hairy spider has made a home in my palm tree. I call it Charlotte.

I blame Pinterest for always wanting to do home reno projects. This time we're adding wainscoting to the entryway a la this moodboard. Except I am tinkering with painting the walls cornflower blue instead of white. 

Scaffolding was brought in to reach the tall ceilings and the orange peel textured walls were skimcoated smooth.

Work in progress.

It really really really really really really really pains me that these will be the last pictures I ever share of Rachel. Shoot shoot shoot. I'm so so so so so so sad.

She was my constant companion. Okay, I can't even write anymore or I'm gonna break down.

The last picture I ever took of my sweet kitty cat, the day before she passed.

We buried her under a tree and covered it with rocks to keep all the wild animals away. I miss you Rachel. That's all there is to it.

The day after Rachel's passing, Jane turned 9! It was very hard for me to put on a brave face and act happy, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. This little girl sure lights up my life even in hard times!

She wanted Freddy's for lunch so that's what we ate.

Indoor dining at McDonald's has re-opened so we went a few times. The playplace is still closed but that's okay.

We went to the Mod Pizza here for the first time. Jane was at Nana's house for her 9 is Divine sleepover.

Reminders of Rachel everywhere. I'm writing this just over a week after her passing and still I look for her constantly out of habit. I hope it gets easier.

Jane had a birthday party the last day of July. I tried my best to make the day special for her.

I really thought I could make these rainbow cupcakes easy peasy. Fail. I think I'll just stick with paper and stickers.

All prepped and ready for guests!

We rented a bouncy house castle which was a hit.

Can you see Nana in the corner with a unicorn hat on and everything? Love it.

I had to leave the party early because I was driving to Utah. I found out the stretch of I70 through Glenwood Canyon was closed because of mudslides (and will be closed indefinitely!) so I had to go the longer way on I80 through Wyoming which added about 2 hours to my trip so I had to get going. So thankful for Nana and Papa and Haylie and Chris for taking over the reins of the party.

Dinner of champions.

The drive was long and lonely, but I was looking forward to seeing my dad and sister at the end as a reward.

Beautiful Mt Timpanogos. Almost there!

Yay! Getting to see my family twice in a month is so fun!

We got to the BYU Creamery at 8:01pm and the grill closed at 8:00pm. So after ice cream I needed to fill the cracks and we went to J Dawgs. All my favorites in the span of 15 minutes!

We drove up Y Mountain and saw pretty views over Provo. I was born here and lived here from 2003-2009. It's where I found Rachel. Where I met Chris. So many memories in this city.

Love my sis.

That was the last day of July! The rest of the Utah recap will be in the August Highlights.

On the scrappy front:

I made and shared 8 projects on the blog in July:

Summer Reading Layout // 4th of July Layout // Fireworks Layout // Heart-Shaped Mini Album
 Adventure Layout // Learn & Grow Layout // Wonderful You Layout // Virtual Mini Album Classes

Bungalow Lane started showing up throughout the month! This was my first time seeing the little puffy button stickers, too cute!

All the papers!

I made my first two layouts with Bungalow Lane for the Fall 2021 issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine so I'll share them here in about 4 months :)

Speaking of the magazine, I designed 4 free cut files with them this past month!

And then I gave away 3 more cut files in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook Group and a Newsletter:

I collaborated with Zsoka Marko turning a couple of my cut files into metal dies which you can find in her A Pocket Full of Happiness Shop.

Most of July was spent working on my next 4 Virtual Mini Album Classes. Here is a work-in-progress shot of class 2.

Die cutting all of the scalloped edges for the kits.

Collating! These are the kits for class 1.

Collating kits for class 2.

Working on the mini album for class 3.

Done with the mini album for class 3!

Collating the beads for class 3. Love all the colors.

Working on the mini album for class 4.

All done with the 4 mini albums! I'm looking forward to teaching a virtual class in August, September, October, and November!

Collating class 4 kits.

Done with kitting!

All of the kits ready to go!

I took two carfulls of kits to the post office.

My helper snoozing in her chair :( :( :( :( :( :( 

To stay busy and distracted I started collating Bungalow Lane pre-order kits.

I haven't made anything since Rachel passed away. I have a lot of deadlines coming up QUICK so I don't know what I'll do. Hopefully I can be given an extension and some grace until my mojo comes back.

I'd say my stress level was about a 10 almost the entire month of July with work. And then Rachel passed and my sadness was and has been off the charts. I'm in a funk in almost every aspect of my life. But every day is a little better. One day at a time. Thank you for all the messages of love and condolences, means a lot to me. I hope August is a little better, and then September is a little better than that.