Making It Through the Challenges of Summer

We are so, so close to getting our house finished and even starting to take some pics to share.  Hopefully by this time next week I will start showing you rooms that have been completely redone and it’s exciting (to me at least). Redoing a house is one of those things that teases you.  You think that all you have left is to paint this one piece of trim and you turn around and see you forgot to get a lamp for that corner and you didn’t sew those pillow closed yet.  On and on it goes.  I do actually have a list, but it keeps growing even though I am slaving away over here.

In the middle of all of the house fire recovery (if you haven’t read about our fire you can find out about it HERE) our daughter in Dallas had a baby and another daughter got engaged.  If that wasn’t enough, the engaged couple decided to have the wedding AT OUR HOUSE.  IN NOVEMBER.  So that gave the home repair projects a whole new level of urgency.  Besides finishing inside, we now have to work on the outside.

We started with the back deck.  Y’all, it had scary railings.  I mean, from a distance it looked OK, but up close I’d have to warn guests not to lean on it unless they wanted to risk crashing to the ground.  My 19 year old actually ASKED if he could take on the project of rebuilding the railings.  Um, let me think about that. OK, if you really want to.  I gave him complete freedom to do whatever he wanted and those railings are so wonderful! This mama is proud and happy.

Yes, if you look at that pic closely you can see a kid in the pool.  We try to swim as much as possible because it is too hot not to be dripping wet.  I experienced the heat extreme last week when I was driving home from Dallas after helping with new baby and the A/C went out in my car.  I am not kidding…it was 107°.  At first I was all naive and thought it would be no big deal because I could just roll the windows down.  Yeah, that didn’t work since it was HOT air blowing on me.  So I went to plan B….getting as much ice as possible and putting it in my bra.  I pulled into a Sonic and ordered a large lemonade with “extra extra ice” and two large cups of ice on the side.  The attendant said, and I quote, “Huh?”  I said, “I NEED ICE!! THEN MORE ICE!!!”  She brought me my 3 large cups and I immediately stuck my hand in one of the cups of ice, clutched as much as I could in my sweaty fist and slapped it on the top of my head.  “Soooo….do you need 3 straws?” she asked as she backed away.

That ice lasted about 2 hours then I stopped at another Sonic.  I texted my husband while I waited for the ice and told him I might be dying of a heat stroke and if I didn’t make it home he should give everything to the kids except my Dooney & Burke Disney bag which goes to my friend Sara.  He said he’d make a note of it, but he might forget about the purse in the hubbub of planning the funeral and all.  Thankfully I made it home and before I even hugged anyone I shed my stinky clothes jumped in the shower.  Sorry kids, Mommy loves you but she can’t stop to say hello even though you haven’t seen her for a week.  This is where I am reminded that I have the sweetest kids because while they waited for me to cool off they emptied my car and put everything away.

I am taking my car in to the shop tomorrow and hoping it doesn’t cost a jillion dollars to fix it.

Since I know you all have had your own challenges this summer (I see your FB and IG posts about kid camps and heat and family crisis) I thought I’d share with you what I used to hold myself together during this so-far-really-tough-summer.  Maybe you need a boost too.

1. Peppermint.  My number one summer pickmeup.  I put it in the diffuser every morning and I used it a LOT in the car when I was feeling woozly from the heat. I put a drop in my hands and would hold my hand up to my nose when I needed a mental boost to keep driving.  It would help me stay focused on driving instead of the ice melting in my bra and down my side.
2. Lavaderm Cooling Mist. This is a spray that has aloe vera, lavender, helichrysum, and Northern Lights Black Spruce (my favorite single oil!).  I kept spritzing my face while I drove in the hot car and I spray it on my bed every night before I go to sleep.  It’s lovely!!!
3. Purification.  For the stinky house.  Let’s just say I diffuse it a lot in the boys’ bathroom.  And the laundry room.
4. Lemon.  I can’t go a day without some lemon.  I add the Lemon Vitality to my water and I put it in the diffuser and I sprinkle it on the couch pillows.  It’s just so cheerful!
5. Savvy Minerals Lip Gloss.  I have fallen pretty hard over this stuff.  I’m a lip balm addict and I always make my own.  But sometimes you want to dress up the old kisser so I like a light shade for summer.  My two favorite colors are Abundant and Embrace.  Abundant is a light, summery pink (it’s the one I wear most) and Embrace is a shimmery nude.  Because they have peppermint in them they serve for balm too!
6. Thieves Laundry Detergent.  Summer means lots of laundry and I want our skin to be free of toxins (just sweat and oils for us baby!). I stock up on it so I don’t run out and plus I love the look of it lined up along my utility room shelf.

And the money in the photo behind the bottles is what’s come through the wash.  I call it my laundry detergent fund.  There’s at least $5 at this point.

It’s so so easy to incorporate these things in your life if you really want to.  I never have to worry about what it’s doing to our health when I use these products instead of what you get at the grocery store (yuck).  If you don’t already have a kit go grab one and let’s get you going!

I hope you’re having a good summer so far and have had as many blessings as we have!  Come back next week for a rebuilt house tour! <3