Personal June 2024 Journal – June really just came out of no where. I don’t have a lot of plans as of now, but I’m hoping to get in some pool days, state park visits, and rover sits.

June 6th 2024

Work:

Work hasn’t been too bad lately. I haven’t been feeling overwhelmed at all. I moved into my new office, which is great. I have floor-to-ceiling windows and I can’t even put into words how much that affects my mood. I love it.
We have a team meeting later this afternoon and I think I’ll be taking on my next project so a little change of pace will be great.

Personal:

I feel like there’s been a lot going on in my personal life lately, mostly good stuff though! We’re 100% in the full heat of summer now.

I’ve recently watched a few new Netflix shows including Dancing with the Devil – a cult documentary, the Aaron Hernandez documentary, both of Kevin Hart’s Die Hart movies, and I’m still working my way through Sex in the City. I never watched Sex in the City when it first came out but I’m really enjoying it now.

🏠🏠 Home Stuff 🏠🏠

We had the plumbing repaired for HOPEFULLY the last time, but they won’t be able to come fix the new holes in the walls (laundry, kitchen and bathroom), until the end of the month soooo we’re just kind of living with that for now.

I did however, get the walls painted in the backroom so we could get some of our space and sanity back. I didn’t buy white paint but I’ll need to do that next go around and fix some of the spots on the ceiling and baseboards that I got grey paint on, but that’s a job for another day. Right now, I’m just super happy to have our space back.

I also sold one of our exercise bikes, which freed up some space in the back room too and it feels a lot bigger now surprisingly. I posted the bike on Facebook for $60 and after I received almost 100 messages, I realized I could have probably got a lot more money for it, but it is what it is.

I still haven’t finished the front patio area that Shana and I started working on. It’s 90% done, I just haven’t had the energy to put in that last 10% with the heat and rain we’ve been getting I’ve had very small windows to actually make the changes. I need to dig up the last little bit, lay some sand and weed barrier and then pour some more mulch on the last little section. Maybe next weekend. <- I keep saying this.

Speaking of home stuff, Jay and went and toured two new homes. We’re starting to think more seriously about moving. It’s tough because we both want to leave this neighborhood we’re in, but I bought this house right before the boom and NOTHING compares to the rates we got on this house and our bills will most likely double no matter where we move so it’s a stressful decision. I love this house, I don’t love the area it’s in. The neighbors are always loud, with a bunch of people coming and going and an unacceptable number of free-roaming pets around the neighborhood.

🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕

Speaking of dogs, I FINALLY got Bentley microchipped! He’s almost 6 years old and I just got it done, but better late than never! The local Humane Society was working with an organization to provide free microchips during the month of May and I was thankfully able to take advantage of that option.

I need to start thinking more seriously about options for Boone’s upcoming shots. I’m not ready to take him anywhere public like a vet office where there will be other animals, but it’s also really expensive to have someone come to your home so I’ve gotta figure out what to do. He also DESPERATELY needs his nails trimmed and I have to figure out what to do about that too.

I’m still doing Rover to make some extra money right now to climb out of the plumbing bills we’ve been accumulating. Last weekend I took care of a cat for the first time. That was an interesting experience because of the owner, not the cat…

This coming weekend I’ll be heading back over to check on Dunkel, who I’ve taken care of a bunch now. He’s super good and easy so that’s nice.

📖 Book Club/Reading 📖

I opted out of the book club book of the month this book because it just didn’t seem interesting to me.

Nonetheless, while I was on my road trip (mentioned in the TRAVEL section), I listened to three audiobooks including One of the Boys by Daniel Magarial, All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover, and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

I LOVED the audiobook of Where the Crawdads Sing – Highly Recommend!

I also listened to The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, but I don’t have much to say about that one. It was really hard to follow along with on audiobook. There were a lot of characters and storylines all happening at once and it was just hard to keep up. – Do not recommend.

✈️ Travel ✈️

Memorial Day weekend I got an extra day off work so I packed up and road-tripped my way up to Palo Duro Canyon State Park! I’ve been wanting to get back there for a long time. I had my first visit in 2018 and I didn’t get to stay long.
I hiked a lot, got some really beautiful photos on my phone, and camped for a night. I really loved the whole experience. Hopefully, I’ll have some blog posts coming out soon with more updates on the whole thing!
I stopped in Wichita Falls and actually did a lot while I was there too.
On the way back I stopped in at Caprock Canyons State Park and camped a night at Copper Breaks State Park too.
Stay tuned for updates on that trip!

June 12th 2024 -ish.. actually posted June 14th

Work:

Work has been okay lately. I was assigned two new projects so I’m excited to start focusing my energy on other things.

My boss and one of my coworkers has been out all week so it’s been fairly quiet over here.

Personal:

Life is going okay right now. I’m really tight on money this month because of the home repairs, Bentley’s grooming appointment, I purchased an online course, and I had to pay my medical bill from when I had a boot back in March. Those extra fees this month really made things tight so I’m probably staying home as much as possible or rover sitting to try to alleviate some of that stress.

On a positive note though, my blog traffic keeps growing and I love to see it. I’m working hard and seeing some results so I just have to keep it up. I have a scheduled post ready to go live on Tuesday and I’m working this weekend while I dog-sit to get another one written to go live the week after. One a week + social media is all I can really handle.

🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕

Nothing new with the doggos. They’re living life. Boone has been enjoying the sun as much as possible lately and Bentley, not so much. He’s out and then right back into the air-conditioned house.

Bentley has been shedding a LOT. He’s desperate for a haircut, but his next appointment isn’t until 24th so he’s gotta stick it out. I chopped up his paws and hind legs with some scissors, but it’s not cute. haha

Last weekend I watched Dunkel and got super cute pictures of him. His owner tipped me AND wrote me a rover review which made my day. There are so many rover sitters where I live because it’s a college town so in order to stick out I really gotta start accumulating those reviews.

This coming weekend I’m house-sitting at a VERY FANCY apartment complex which I’m really excited about and my first ever laberdoodle! He’s a cutie and I’m excited to get some pictures with him. I’m also hoping to take advantage of some pool time while I’m there because the pool is fancy!

I’m also checking in on another home over the weekend, which is unfortunately on the completely other side of town so I’ll probably spend about $15 of my earnings on gas 😐 but I’ll still come out on top and make some money, which I really need right now so it’ll all be worth it.

📖 Book Club/Reading 📖

I posed a question on Facebook last week about great audiobooks for road trips, which hopefully someday I’ll write a blog post about, but I got a lot of recommendations and I can’t wait to start making my way through them.

Not one of the recommendations, but I started listening to “World Travel” by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever and it’s okay. It was written after Bourdain’s death and it’s being read by others and it just doesn’t feel the same. However, it does still have the Lonely Planet guidebook feel to it that I really love.

✈️ Travel ✈️

Nothing new planned, but I know it’s getting really hot so I probably won’t be hiking/camping again in the near future. I’m looking at flights and options for going north. Idk why but I’ve been really wanting to hear back up to Ohio. I’ve never been to Cincinnati and I just feel like that’s the move.

June 19th 2024

Work:

Work hasn’t been too bad lately. I’m making progress on my projects, I’m getting a jump start on next year’s housing application, and I feel good.

Personal:

I’ve been staying busy lately between Rover sits, writing, creating content, working out, and reading. I’ve felt pretty stressed lately, but it’s almost all due to finances. Once all my bills are paid this month I’m going to have $37 in my bank account which is the LOWEST I’ve gotten in over 2 years. I of course have credit cards and whatnot so I’m not going to be going hungry or anything, but nonetheless, that’s stressful.
I also have to put the home repair on my card which I was quoted at around $850 so I’ll have to take that out of my next paycheck. I’m sure Jay will help pay it, but we haven’t discussed it so I’m mentally preparing to take it all on if needed.
I did however get to relax a little last weekend and go to the pool at the place I was house-sitting and that was really nice. Jay drove over to join me and then we got lunch at a new spot in town and it was really good.

🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕

The last couple of days have been rough for Boone. He’s had nasty poops and has been going in the house. I think it’s because he ate some HUGE mushrooms we had in the backyard and mushrooms are toxic to dogs. He’s not showing any other symptoms so I’m going to give him a few days and PRAY that it passes because this is killing me. I’m always on my toes and worried he’s shitting somewhere.

Bentley is good but needs to be groomed HORRIBLY. He’s shedding so much and the couch cushions and sheets on the bed are constantly covered in fur. I’ve been brushing him, but it’s just not enough. His appointment is next Monday. THANKFULLY.

We have a potential house/dog sitter coming by tomorrow to meet the pups so she can watch them the 4th of July weekend. I hope it all goes well because she had great rates for the holiday!

Last weekend I literally drove back and forth across town 8 times to watch doggos at two different homes on the opposite sides of town. That part sucked, but I DID make a nice profit even after refilling the gas tank. I got to hang out with my first ever Goldendoodle who was a big, clumsy, snuggle-butt and I loved him and three little dogs at the other home, including this fluffy Frenchie (which I just learned exists). It was a jam-packed weekend.

📖 Book Club/Reading 📖

I started reading Daisy Jones & the Six on my Kindle recently and I like it so far. I’m only about 30 pages in so no real comments yet.

I’m also listening to a recommended audiobook called Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris. I recently put out a request for audiobook suggestions and someone said “anything by David Sedaris” and it was one of the only suggestions for a book/author that I’d never actually heard of so of course I was intrigued.
I don’t know how I’m going to write my review for this book when I’m done because I can’t stand David’s voice, but also, without hearing him actually read some of the jokes, it just wouldn’t be the same. Additionally, there are some chapters of the story that were really creepy to me and some that were so good it almost made me forget the creepy.. so it’s been a roller coaster thus far. I’m 50% of the way through.

I’m really proud of myself for getting back on the horse and trying to do some of my schoolwork as well. I’m so far behind I don’t honestly know if I can catch up, but at least I feel better now that I’m trying. I was literally in a complete stress freeze for almost 6 months. Now I have a month and a half to read about 400 pages, study, and pass the exam…. no biggie right?! 😭

✈️ Travel ✈️

I don’t have anything planned for the rest of this month. It’s a bit too hot for me to be out hiking/camping and I’m also broke soooo I’ll hopefully be spending my weekends dog-sitting to make some money.

We have solidified 4th of July plans though and I’m super excited because we got a beautiful beach house with a pool and we’ll be floating the river with friends!

June 26th 2024

Work:

Work hasn’t been too bad lately. My chair set up at the new desk is still making my office pretty uncomfortable, but I’m working through it. I am loving the sunlight in my office everyday and that the office isn’t always freezing, that’s another bonus. I have my own office temperature.

I’m making good progress on setting up my new housing app that goes live in September. I took on two new projects and I am looking forward to get working on them.

Personal:

Life has been good lately, we’ve been busy socially and that’s been fun. I’ve been to the pool twice and went to an event at the Cove this past week. I miss that place!

I have been sticking to my workouts which feels good although I haven’t been seeing any changes in my body lately, but that happens I suppose. I started intermittent fasting a week ago and it’s been okay. I don’t know if it’s doing anything, but I doubt I’d notice results in just one week. I’m only doing a 14:10 split right now (14 hours of no eating, 10 hours where I can eat) so I’m not all in on the 16:8 split yet where I’m sure I’d see more results.

I had quite a bit of TV time last weekend which was nice. I watched a few new crime documentaries and started watching Sweet Magnolias, which so far, I am loving. It reminds me a lot of Gilmore Girls, which is one of my all-time favorite shows. Jay likes it too so that’s a plus.

YPA had our leadership meeting this month at C&J BBQ, which is nice because 1) I’ve never been there and 2) It’s close to my house so didn’t take up too much of my time.

Jay and I met up with some friends to watch the College World Series last weekend. We started off at Big Shots to do some golfing and then moved over to a bar to watch the game. It was really fun and I quite enjoyed myself despite the Aggies losing. I’m not really an Aggie fan to begin with, but when in College Station… 🤭

🐕🐕 The Dogs 🐕🐕

Bentley finally got his much-needed groom! His fur has been out of control for the last couple of weeks. It was long overdue. He looks great now and hopefully, we can deep clean the house and he won’t shed as much when the sitter comes next week to hang out.

Boone has been good. Nothing new to report on him.. He’s still his sweet, sun-loving, cuddly self.

Thankfully we’ve had good weather lately and the boys have been able to get time outside to sniff around and play.

I’ve booked quite a few Rover walks and dog-sits lately because I am financially strapped and can really use the extra income. As I mentioned in an earlier post though, I actually really enjoy it. The driving all over town isn’t fun, but most of the dogs I’ve taken care of so far have been really sweet animals and I enjoy spending time with them. I also like going to people’s houses and just having a little stay away from home every now and then. That may seem silly, but I like a change of scenery.

📖 Book Club/Reading 📖

✈️ Travel ✈️

I am getting a little antsy not having any real travel plans in the works, but we are going somewhere for the 4th of July weekend (extended weekend really) and I am so excited for that. We got a really nice Airbnb with some friends and I can’t wait to be out on the river or laying out next to the pool and relaxing.

After the 4th of July weekend, I don’t know when I’ll be traveling again due to finances. We’ve hopefully finalized all the plumbing repairs in the house and the concurrent wall repairs but it will take me a few months to catch up financially from that hit so I’m kind of stuck at home.

I need to start looking at conferences I can go to this year for work though so I can get some free trips and do some networking. I actually love conferences so I look forward to starting that research.

Write ya next week!