Happy Friday, friends! We drove down to Georgia after picking the girls up from camp yesterday. We don’t have many plans beyond taking the kids knee boarding, playing board games, going for walks, and enjoying each others’ company. My favorite way to relax in the summer! But before I get fully immersed in family time, I wanted to share with you a few favorite things form the week. If you’d like to join in, I’d love to hear what thing in life is making you smile or changing your world for the better recently!

Finley is 9 Months Old

Just like how I feel a switch flips at age 4 1/2 for humans, a switch has flipped for Finley over the past couple of weeks. We had an in home visit from her trainer this week to fine tune a commands and get some clarity on some questions we had, but now… she’s getting so close to being a super well trained dog. David and I both now fully understand best practices for using the Mini Educator (which I HIGHLY recommend). It’s helping us being very clear with communication.

Our trainer encouraged us to keep things black and white for another couple weeks before introducing some gray area. For example, she’s not allowed on any furniture at all right now. Once that is clearly established we will work on commands that invite her up to join us when we allow it. We’ve been working on “place” using her elevated cot, and the clear boundaries have made it a useful tool. Plus, she seems to think it’s comfortable, so she goes on it on her own often, too.

Learning more about the nature of dog psychology and pack mentality has been enjoyable for me. This puppy journey has been a TON of work, but I’m thrilled that we are going to end up with a really well trained and well behaved dog.

Pantry Storage Upgrade

I was in Charlotte this week meeting a friend that is taking on the project of shining up a long term rental property of ours to get it ready to put on the market. Since I was so close to South Park mall, I decided to swing by The Container Store to find an alternative to the containers I’ve been using for flour storage but that have been falling apart. Y’all… I am IN LOVE with the new containers I found and they are making me want to do a complete pantry overhaul (in time, perhaps).

I didn’t go for the cheapest option (because I made that mistake last time), but went for the highly rated option and was blown away at the little extras and features they thought of when designing the containers. I bought 2 flour containers (for all purpose and whole wheat), a baking storage kit (for bread flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and powdered sugar), a grain storage for rice, and a coffee storage for our coffee beans. All are airtight and have a higher capacity than I originally anticipated.

Lemon Dill Salmon

If you haven’t prepared salmon using this super simple method yet, what are you waiting for?! It’s become my new go-to method because it’s quick, easy, and everyone loves it. Anytime the dinner protein can be prepped and cooked in under 15 minutes is a win. I am getting our wild salmon from Butcher Box (currently offering free bacon for life) and like it, so I recently bought some scallops and cod to try through them as well.

I’ve been trying the method of cooking rice, cooling rice, then reheating it when ready to eat because science shows that it creates a lower glycemic response. I shared this on Instagram and was reminded to be sure to cool the rice quickly and reheat it thoroughly because apparently improperly stored rice is a common source of food born illness.

Summer School

I got word that my curriculum has shipped, including both our Gather Round units and the All About Spelling kit I purchased for Kaitlyn. Yesterday I put some time into considering our start date and though it sounds a little crazy to me, I think we’ll ease back into our school routine the week after July 4th. They had Winshape Camp (a full day 7:45-5:00 camp they love) this week, and still have a half day sewing camp and a half day basketball camp in July, but I don’t want to wait until mid-August after our Disney/Universal trip to begin.

You know how I like the flexibility and relaxed school vibe around the holidays and this will allow me to fully embrace it. Plus, we are starting with SPACE and staying up late to look at the stars and learn about our incredible solar system just sounds like a lot of fun.

Trekking the World

You might have noticed me sharing this game over the past couple on months. We are board game junkies and have had deeply committed moments to both Ticket to Ride Europe and Settlers of Catan. Well, I’d like to formally introduce you to our newest obsession: Trekking the World.

This game is multifaceted and has several different ways to earn points and win. It sounds complex at first, just like the other games we love, but one careful read through and a choppy first game will have you fully understand it. It says for ages 10+ but Kaitlyn (who just turned 8) plays just as well as any of us. The educational aspect of this game really gets me geeked out, as it allows us to brush up on continents and important cities and landmarks. Plus, it’s just a ton of fun to play.

Have I already added its sister game, Trekking the National Parks, to the top of of Christmas wish list? Absolutely I have; is there anything more up our alley?!

Ribbed & Cropped Lounge Top

Is it a top? Is it a bra? I honestly don’t know. I’ve seen people pair it with jeans, but this ribbed and cropped lounge top is basically all I wear around the house in the evening and mornings during the warm weather months. It offers some support and holds everything in place while being super soft and comfortable; it doesn’t feel restrictive in the least. I have them in multiple colors and saw yesterday that some of the colors and sizes are on sale, so wanted to share.

That’s all I have for today! I hope you have a really nice Friday and have a great weekend, too. Thanks so much for making checking in here part of your day; I’m finding that blogging is really lighting me up recently and appreciate you checking in. If you have any topic requests, send them to me. I’m feeling chatty lately 🙂 Hope you have a very happy weekend!