Taking Stock // Summer 2018

cooking veggies from our garden - one of the best parts of summer each year, no doubt. To be able to cook and eat something we've grown with our own hands, from a tiny seed to a delicious vegetable - it just never gets old  

drinking smoothies every morning; it's become such a simple and wonderful way to start the day, and I had a lot of fun finding ways to capture snippets of it every morning for a week, and sharing them on Instagram. Now they all live in a story highlight on my profile, titled, "Smoothie ❤️"

reading Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill*, and learning so much. I've heard about this book so many times before, and can't believe it's taken me until this summer to dig in

playing in the pool with Toby. We only got 2 or 3 weekends of pool time, but they were so sweet. We saw Toby get more comfortable in the water and swim at a really relaxed pace - and learned how that relaxed feeling instantly goes away as soon as someone else wants to get in the pool...

enjoying getting organized with Asana

waiting to get approved for an application my brother and I had been working on since February, for a new business we're starting together; the wait was finally over mid-August and since then, we've been going full speed ahead, getting our equipment, setting up our space, building relationships, and taking so many more little and big steps to move this new venture forward. It's something I'm really excited and optimistic about, and looking forward to sharing more details about soon

loving the sunshine and hot weather, of course! We had a really hot summer and, after last year's particularly cool one, I appreciated it even more than I usually do, despite the several heatwaves that kept us mostly inside the air-conditioned house for days

needing more hours in the day, or maybe some more helping hands... or both? Between working on the new business with my brother as well as my health coaching practice, trying to keep up with our vegetable garden (and not doing so well most of the time), and preparing for a big overseas trip my parents went on in July, our plates were full all summer long - and, to be honest, they only seem to be getting fuller this autumn too. Thankfully, they're filling up with things I absolutely love, so there is no complaining here

wearing whatever kept me cooler in the heat of the summer - most of the time, a uniform of shorts and tank tops (ha, I guess some things really do stay the same...while looking through old posts after writing the first draft of this post, I was a bit amused to notice this seems to be my hot weather uniform - it's exactly what I wrote about wearing during a hot spell last September too)

watching quite a bit of tennis. Between the Roland Garros and Wimbledon tournaments at the beginning of summer and the US Open in the beginning of September, as well as a few smaller tournaments in between, I couldn't get enough tennis! Of course, this only made me want to get back on a tennis court, racket in hand, that much more...and I'm still looking for ways to make that happen

feeling that back-to-school feeling and, even though I'm not going back to school this year, feeling almost like I am actually taking part in it somehow because, just like a new school year, working on new projects and buckling down to work feels like a similar kind of new beginning

listening to more podcasts than I have in a long while; some favourites have been The Perfectionism Project, Grow with Soul, and Money Making Maven.

dreaming of overseas trips

celebrating so much: birthdays (mine and my mom's), anniversaries (of moving to Canada, of moving in this particular house), receiving funding and taking steps forward with our businesses, and so much more; summer always feels like a new beginning to me, almost as much as January (but with more colour and daylight hours), and this year, that feeling was amplified thanks to everything that's been happening in my life and work.

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This summer has been a busy but full and exciting season and, although I'm not thrilled about the dropping temperatures, I'm feeling more hopeful about the rest of the year - and beyond - than I have in quite a while.

I'd love to know, how has your summer been? What stands out in your mind as a highlight of this (already past!) season?


*Disclaimer: The book link used in this post is an affiliate link.