This month’s theme is friendship and community. Even though I’m an introvert (I enjoy going to the movie theater alone, for goodness sake), I’ve also come to the conclusion that having a strong community profoundly affects my happiness and sense of well-being. I’ve been blessed with some amazing friends and family members, but I don’t want to take those relationships for granted. I want to cultivate them. I want to remind myself of how grateful I am to have these folks in my life. I want to broaden my community, as well.

With that in mind, here are my goals for the month:

1. Start a short-fiction book club. I’ve been wanting to do this for a year, but never got the gumption to do it. The time is now.

2. Write letters to my long-distance friends because sometimes snail mail is better than Facebook.

3. Find a way to get more involved at church by taking a class or volunteering on work days or something.

I’m getting a late start this month, but I want to at least make significant steps towards these goals. I’ll keep you updated if you keep me accountable.

Also, realistically, I don’t think I’ll be posting every day. It was a lofty goal, but life keeps getting the way. I’ll update every Tuesday and Thursday for sure, plus any random tidbits that I can’t help sharing.

1. I’m grateful that my car died in the driveway, instead of doing something wacky and breaking down in the middle of traffic.

2. Even though my health insurance coverage leaves some things to be desired (hello high deductible plan) I’m still very grateful that I have it because you really never know when you’re going to need it.

3. Even though my job has been a little monotonous lately, I’m grateful it’s not always that way.

4. I may be PMS’ing (great timing, universe), but The Camp Gyno video from HelloFlo made me laugh so hard today:

5. I’m grateful I’ve learned that, on some nights, it really is okay to just throw in the towel and get in bed early.

Woah. The gym is hard after a week off. Still trying to get my mind up to speed, as well as my body. It’s not going well so far. Maybe I’ll have something more inspiring to share tomorrow. In the meantime, any ideas for my next challenge in August?

Today I’m thankful for: Water. Water, water, water. Especially after kickboxing class.

Re-entry into the normal routine was rough today. For the past four days, this was the view I enjoyed with my morning coffee. My hubby and I spent four magical days at a friend’s lake house with some of our favorite people in the whole world and I wish I was still there.

The weather was perfect the entire time.

There was swimming.

And reading. (Hubby is very engrossed in this book.)

And fishing lessons. Alas, we didn’t catch anything.

Sunset boat rides.

So lovely.

Not sure what was so amusing … but we had a good time.

These two. My bestie and her boo.

My soul mate friend. Seriously. Now that we live hundreds of miles apart, I savor the times when we are together.

I was melancholy all day today because I miss this place and these friends already. Plus, the AC was broken when we got home. What a welcome. But I am so, so grateful for the time we spent on the lake swimming, drinking, eating, talking, relaxing … I feel better, more myself. I’m thankful to have these people in my life, and for the time we were able to spend together. These are memories I’ll treasure.

P.S. Find my friend Abbey’s blog at The Book Borrower. She’s a super writer and has great book recommendations to boot. I think we spent roughly half our time together talking about cool stuff we’ve read, writing, journalism, etc. One of the many reasons we are bosom buddies.

Goal #1: Workout 3-4 times a week.

Killed it this week. Not only did I fit in FOUR workouts instead of three, I did my own push press/burpee/kettleball swing routine all by myself (i.e. for the first time without my trainer). The hardest part is focusing on my workout and not people watching/feeling self conscious that people are watching me. I’m working on it.

Goal #2: Pack and eat healthy snacks.

Total fail … probably because I didn’t do a very good job grocery shopping this week. But I did finish VB6 and am eager to try some of the recipes.

Goal #3: Eat all the CSA veggies.

Another fail, because I didn’t get my box this week. I guess I’ll just try again next week.*

*We’ll see if that pans out, though, because I’m going on vacation for most of next week. My hubby and I are going to hang out at lakehouse with some good friends. We intend to relax do as little as possible. Also, there is no Internet at the lake. I count that as a perk, so you won’t be hearing from me much next week. But I’ll try to keep the momentum going when I return.

TGIF. Have a great weekend, y’all.