What I loved in June

I loved June.

Goodness.

I feel like I became a different person in June. Without the pressure to go to work everyday, I just basically enjoyed life. I spent time with my husband and kids without feeling rushed to cram everything in. I relaxed. I practiced creativity. I enjoyed nature. I spent time with friends.

Before I write about my favorite books, movies and podcasts, here’s a quick summary of what our family was up to in June.

Jayda was in the musical, Lion King, Jr., through our local park district. This turned out to be a big deal because she had practice from 9 to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, every day in June! We ended the month with four straight evenings of performances. In addition to that, she had gymnastics practice and spent a week at summer camp!

Alayna had cheer most days and spent a week at cheer camp. She also managed to balance her never ending social calendar with her need to sleep at least 14 hours a day. 🙂

We spent most of our weekends watching Matt play travel baseball. He has had a really fun season, and we love his team. We’ve traveled to Ohio State University, Northwestern University and will go to Vanderbilt in a few weeks.

Andrew has been teaching swim lessons every morning, including Saturdays. June has been a very cold and rainy month, so it hasn’t always been pleasant, but he’s made it. He’s also been working on some creative projects, including writing and recording some rap songs.

This month, my list of what I loved in June also includes a few things that I did NOT love. For starters…

SMALL FRY

Small Fry is the memoir of the daughter of Steve Jobs, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. Her mother was Jobs’ high school girlfriend. When she became pregnant as a teen, Jobs denied that the child was his. Even despite a paternity test that proved it, he continued to insist he wasn’t the father until Lisa was around 7 or 8 years old.

Eventually, they end up building a relationship and she alternates living with her artist mom, who can barely afford a home at times, to living in a mansion with her multi-millionaire father.

The reason I did NOT love this book was just that I found it really sad and depressing. I have been a loyal and steadfast Macintosh computer user since way before Apple was cool. I have owned only Apple computers since I bought my very first computer back in college. I have always respected Steve Jobs’ genius, innovation and creativity.

But as a person, he seemed like he was a real jerk. There were just so many cringe-worthy anecdotes in his daughter’s book that sometimes I felt awkward even reading it. I wanted to finish the book to find out if he changed by the time he died. The ending was even more depressing than the beginning and middle of the book when he was a complete moron. He did kind of come to his senses, but then ended his life with so much regret.

If you want to read the book, feel free. But I’m not really recommending it. My heart still hurts just a little from the experience.

SACRED REST

Sacred Rest was my top pick for the month. I wrote an entire blog post about this book here.

THAT SOUNDS FUN

You already know I love the Enneagram, and I’m a big fan of the That Sounds Fun podcast. During the month of June, the host has been interviewing a man and a woman who represent each number on the Enneagram. I’ve really enjoyed this series of interviews and gained some new insight into several Enneagram types.

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE

If you need a lighthearted distraction, this Netflix movie was cute, fun and easy to watch. Nothing amazing, heart-wrenching, deep-thinking or life changing. Just a fun little romantic comedy. I think the world needs more of these.

TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE

And speaking of romantic comedies, ditto for this one. I know this movie is intended for teens, but hey… I’m in total summer, jobless mode. I can watch a teen romantic comedy on Netflix if I want to!

OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM

I also downloaded the audio version of Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, Outer Order, Inner Calm. I’ve read most of her other books and listened to her podcast for years, so I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while.

I knew it might not be a life-changing read after I downloaded it and realized it was only 2.5 hours long. I can basically sum up the book like this:

“Throw away your stuff. Yada, yada, yada. Clean your house. Blah, blah, blah. Pick up after yourself.”

Um, yeah. Nothing I didn’t already know.

Oh well.

ALI, THE GORILLA

Remember last June on the first day of the month when I randomly walked into the gorilla house at the Brookfield Zoo and saw a gorilla giving birth? Well, that gorilla is now a 1-year-old, so I wanted to go back to see her before my zoo membership expired. She’s super cute. You can see my photos here.

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So, what did you love in June? Did you read any good books? See any good movies? I would love to hear about them!

Leave me a comment!

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