Fun Post: May and June Favorites!

This summer has been pretty busy thus far, so my posting hasn't been quite as consistent as usual. I'm sure all of you guys have awesomeness going on as well! :) Here are some of my favorites from the past two months. I've been:

Reading...
Burning Sky by Lori Benton. I texted Kimberly a picture of this book a minute after I finished it and said, quote, "THIS BOOK. It made me laugh and cry and pull my hair out and grin like a monkey as I read the last page. YOU MUST READ IT!!!" Not very elegant language, but hey, those were my immediate thoughts on the book. ;P It's absolutely awesome with tons of plot twists and amazing characters. <3 

Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar. I am an avid follower of Tessa's writing and would pretty much love anything she wrote. I did really enjoy this one, although it didn't feel quite as utterly raw and real as some of her others. It was still a very good book, definitely worth the read!! 

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson. Wow, guys...if you want to learn a lot about WW2 and also cry, read this book. :'( It's not as intensely tragic as "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", but still pretty heartbreaking. It's a really well written autobiography.

I did quite a bit of reading in the past couple months! These were just a couple of my favorite selections. :)

Completing...
A personal prayer challenge. Kimberly sweetly offered to help keep me accountable for this, and that really helped me to remember to stay on top of it. Basically I committed to praying for a set amount of time per day, of just prayer. Sitting down and looking at my prayer list, and spending the whole time just being still and praying. It was really a blessing to form that habit again...prayer is really the thing I tend to let slip the most. :'(

Eating...
A lovely BBQ dinner at church with my ladies! We had a super fun mother/daughter dinner around Mother's Day. We all dressed up in Western style clothes, and ate out of little baskets with red and white checkered paper in them. My dad and Bro. Chris made SO MUCH MEAT. Seriously, you would think we were a bunch of T-Rexes or something!!! ;P Haha! We did eat a lot, because it was absolutely spectacular meat, but there was quite a bit leftover for the guys back at home...snap, they were disappointed to have to eat up the extra meat. ;) We played charades too, which is always hilarious. :D

Visiting...
An antique mall about 25 minutes away that I had never been to before. I took Mama there for a slightly late Mother's Day outing, and I was...blown away. The building houses 75,000 square feet (over half the size of the average Costco warehouse), of every kind of antique booth you can imagine. It was so. big. I couldn't get over it!! We were there for over 3 hours and didn't even come close to seeing everything. There is a 50's diner on one side of the building, so we went there for a small lunch of onion rings and a milkshake, while laughing at some hilarious old movie playing on a big screen. It was so darling and incredibly special to spend that time with my mom! <3

Celebrating...
The liberation of my friend Jenny from the cold iron shackles of school!!!! (Commonly known as a graduation party. ;P) I traveled with her and her family to Moses Lake, spent the night at Katie's apartment, made delicious peppermint bars and worked on decorations, and then spent the day at the park. We had a blast playing games, talking, sharing memories, meeting new and old friends, and just celebrating with her. Congratulations, Jenny!

Learning...
How to witness more effectively during an evangelism conference we had at church this past month. It was really good to have that conference...sometimes I know the right things to do, and yet it takes a reminder like this one to stir me up to start doing them faithfully again.

Feeling bittersweet...
As I watched one of my best friends walk down the aisle. :') Hannah has been such a sweet blessing to me over the many years I have known her. (You can read a guest post by her here.) At her wedding, I turned around the instant before the doors opened at the back of the sanctuary and caught a glimpse of her face. I had a moment of the deepest empathetic joy and wonder and sense of the thrill that must have been going through her, and as much as I tried not to, I couldn't stop my eyes from filling with tears. What a blessing it was for me to be able to share in her special day! I wish her and Ron all of God's best as they begin their new life together in Alaska. Now I have yet another good reason to want to visit there! ;)

Thankful for...
The opportunity to have some extra online work this month. The sign that I designed and my dad carved into wood and painted. The fact that I'm getting better at racquetball. Reading the Bible together and playing Shoot, outside on the patio. Summer evenings. Lavender, pink, and golden sunsets like the one I watched last night. Days off. Getting a new phone with a good camera and no bugs. :) Kayson's NINTH birthday?!? The boys going on a camping trip. Talking on the phone with friends. Hot showers. Air Conditioning. Dutch Bros coffee. Playing piano at the public market, and actually making some tips! Getting my studio apartment downstairs all spiffed up (even *I* can sometimes get the spring cleaning bug. ;). Cherry season, and picking cherries with my family. Just so thankful for God listening to me, anytime of day, anywhere I am. He is so good to me!!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Fourth of July!! I look forward to hearing from you...what has God done for you lately? :) Love you all!
Mykaela