Ah JUNE…a month of…the official start of summer…local produce beginning to come in season…Dad’s continued recovery…long work days..and more…In the midst of it all, these are the things that filled my June days.

Reading…after sharing some spring reads, I’m making good progress on my personal summer reading challenge…5 (almost 6) books read toward my 15 goal: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert; Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate; Me Before You by Jojo Moyes; Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave; Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson – to be shared in a July reading round-up…

Crafting…another “go to” Shawlette off the needles, after a winning round of yarn bind off roulette…

Traveling…only 1 trip to Milwaukee…which aligned with downtown dining week so each evening yielded a tasty meal…with this trip I broke in a new wheel-aboard – my previous one lasted thru 10 years of seemingly constant use & this new spinner is just what I was looking for…

Listening…to the Hamilton soundtrack all the time…loving the wit in the lyrics…

Cooking…keeping it simple…a tasty & simple supper discovery is this Cheese Dog Pie – paired with a bit of chili it is even tastier than favorite coneys at Sonic…

Clearing…out the “no joy” items…7 bags already picked up by GreenDrop…2 more pick-ups scheduled for early July…

Streaming…Murdoch Mysteries whilst sorting through stuff…

Sipping…all the iced drinks, including a daily tumbler of tea or lemonade mixed with a shot of apple cider vinegar…

Watching…Finding Dory in the front row on opening weekend at the Movie Tavern with Gretchen & her girls…we all agreed that the reclining seats plus meal service made a pretty great way to enjoy the delightful movie…the girls are already plotting our next movie adventure…

Cheering…on Dad from afar – he walked out of rehab on June 3rd & continues to work on regaining his strength & mobility …

Looking ahead…more KonMari…more Milwaukee travel on the calendar…maybe some canning…and more…

Linking up with Leigh for the monthly What I’m Into round-up.

What are the things that filled your June days?

Ah MAY…a month of…the continued explosion of springtime blooms and pollen and green…a focus on Dad’s recovery from back surgery…long work days as a new project ramps up…more work travel…the anticipation of summer…

A few minutes of sunrise along the lakefront on a Friday morning

In the midst of it all, these are the things that filled my May days…

Airplane Reading

Reading…lots! 8 flights plus some downtime while home in the ‘Ville yielded a lot of completed reads…Goodreads tells me that I finished 8 books during the month – an assortment of fiction and non-fiction: The Travelers by Chris Pavone; The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood; Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung; The Sound of Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey; Wrapped in Rain: A Novel of Coming Home by Charles Walker; The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society by Darien Gee; Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter; Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave – a mid-June round-up of reviews on these (& more) is planned…

Watching…the season (& series) wrap for some of my favorites, including Castle, Mr. Selfridge, Wallander…

Streaming…when “The Republic of Doyle” popped up as a suggestion in Netflix I started on it and am hooked – I’m thoroughly enjoying this fun crime serial set in New Foundland – likable cast of characters surrounding a father/son PI business – beautiful scenery – great soundtrack (including a longtime fave, Great Big Sea)…

Listening…to the Beach Boys – while enjoying their performance on the National Memorial Day concert, I immediately snagged one of their albums on iTunes & have been listening to a favorite sound…

Comfort meal = Spinach + Eggs

Cooking…keeping it simple while home to balance all the eating out while on the road…a recent Sunday dinner routine has been a pan seared steak plus roasted green beans and a bit of blue cheese dressing – the leftovers pair with spinach and fruits for salads…keeping spinach & eggs in the fridge ensures a simple supper option on many a week night…

Early morning at the airport

Traveling…on the road 14 days in May…every other week in Milwaukee for some meetings – one of the May evenings included a return to another favorite restaurant from my time there in 2001…with both trips, I managed to grab a few moments of the sun rising over the lakefront before beginning my day…

The 5th Annual Brewers game with this crew!

Relaxing…with WI-fam at the end of my first Milwaukee trip – when I saw that I couldn’t fly out till Saturday due to the meeting schedule, I quickly reached out to see if they were available to come down for a bit of fun. As the work day ended on Friday, we met up and managed to cram a lot of fun into a short amount of time. Friday evening was a Brewers game – our 5th “annual” time at the park. W was thrilled to meet his favorite racing sausage – I was thrilled to get a picture with Hank! The game was fun, the beer & hot dog delicious, the time with Wi-fam a treat! On Saturday morning, the boys were waterbugs in the hotel pool for close to 3 hours as the adults caught up on life over breakfast treats on the pool deck.

Play Ball!

Cheering…2 major league baseball games in 2 different stadiums within a span of 4 days…after a Friday night Brewers game, the following Monday my team from work used our company tickets for a fun evening of connecting away from the busy that we all are experiencing these days – it was a perfect spring evening for a Phillies game…

A rainbow spotted after a busy day of meetings in Milwaukee

Texting…it’s a good thing we have unlimited texting on our family mobile plan…there’s no telling how much texting was going on between Mom, Rebecca & me as we focused on Dad’s surgery and recovery…the emoji game has been strong among us – auto correct has provided some good laughs…

Surprising…Dad by “detouring” to the ‘Ville for Memorial Day weekend! This was a much needed trip for all of us!

Looking ahead…more Milwaukee travel on the calendar…wondering if I’ll get any patio planting in this summer with my schedule…Dad’s continued rehab from back surgery…ready for the return of Saturday farm stand runs…finalizing summer plans with friends…

Linking up with Leigh’s monthly What I’m Into round-up. What are you into these days?

Ah APRIL…a month of…spring showers…spring snow(!)…spring blooms…primary voting and the associated ads and calls…longer and longer days…in the midst of it all, these are the things that filled my April days…

Reading…snowy days…rainy days…travel days…a decent amount of reading time…since the last reading round-up, several more books are complete (All the Light We Cannot See, Enchanted April, The Travelers) and will be shared in a future QuickLit…

Opening…joy filled mail from my TX cuties on a Friday afternoon…the plate that we painted when I visited in March a new picture for “their” frame on the mantel…

Coloring…continuing to spend moments with coloring books and markers to provide some calm in the midst of crazy…

Cooking…doing my best to stay focused on healthy eating in the midst of busy work times…weekend food prep is still the best bet; however, on several occasions, a quick supper of a skillet of crispy spinach and soft eggs at the end of a long workday was such a satisfying meal…other good cooking: Egg & Bacon Salad with Homemade Herb Mayo for breakfasts; Pan Grilled Steaks with Roasted Asparagus; Savory Oatmeal Muffins; Pizza Egg Bowl; Green Eggs & Ham Breakfast Pie; Cocoa Coconut Pecan Tea Cookies;

Sipping…lots of iced tea…in rotation is Tangerine Zinger…Spicy Oolong…Mint…and using a cute new panda for the tea accouterments…

Wearing…my new ballet flats are a perfect addition to my wardrobe and a 2nd pair has been added to the mix…work…errands…travel…these are becoming a staple…

Traveling…a new project at work has me gearing up for more travel in the coming months…in April was a trip to Milwaukee and dinner one night was at a cafe that I enjoyed 15 years ago when I had project work it in the city – it was as enjoyable this time…

Looking ahead…May days are filling up with work and fun…at least 2 work trips on the calendar…weekends filled with seeing some of my favorite people…contemplating a new chair for the patio for reading…summer vacation planning continues…

Linking up with Leigh’s monthly What I’m Into round-up. What are you into these days?

Ah MARCH…a month of…time change & the return of sunlight as I leave the office…daffodil bursting forth from the frozen ground…blooms and buds emerging on tree branches…long workdays with a big project…the feeling of “surviving” a winter and the anticipation of sunnier days…in the midst of it all, these are the things that filled my days…

Reading…a decent amount while on the road…finishing up my Lenten poetry reading…books reviews will be shared in a mid-April reading round-up…when the overhead light was broken on an evening flight, I *might* have used the flashlight on my phone to keep reading on my Kindle…

Watching…”finally” seeing several of the big Oscar movies…while in Texas, once the girls were in bed we enjoyed Spotlight and Steve Jobs…for months I’ve been wanting to see Bridge of Spies but would think about renting it “too late” on a Saturday night, this month – I finally remembered to rent it early in the evening & thoroughly enjoyed it…streaming Bosch on Amazon Prime…welcome back Mr. Selfridge…

When the current knitting project matches the current flowers & candle

Knitting…lots of knitting…diving into the stash to make simple shawlettes to share with friends and family…2 off the needles this month and a larger wrap in process in the colors of spring…

Coloring…so thankful for coloring books at the end of many busy days – I’ve got a post on that ready to share with y’all…

Cooking…after travel in the first half of the month, I was eager to return to some menu planning and cooking for the rest of the month…spinach and eggs in the fridge allowed for simply & healthy suppers when I was back home before picking up fresh groceries…the menu plans of earlier this year made it easy to pull some quick and healthy meals in the midst of unanticipated busyness…roasted veggies and baked chicken were a frequent foundation…a simple blueberry sauce was a great finishing touch to spring meals…a Zoodle Pizza Pie was a quick and healthy prep that yielded several meals…

Traveling…starting the month back in Marinette…a long weekend in Texas with my girlies was so restorative…

Splurging…on some fun ballet flats for the spring and summer seasons…indeed, there were so many Tieks colors that appealed to me…for my first pair, I decided on the Pacific Green…(yes, I can see more splurges in future seasons)

Looking ahead…making summer vacation plans…enjoying the transition to spring…diving into some serious spring cleaning…anticipating farmers market season…

Linking up with Leigh’s monthly What I’m Into round-up. What are you into these days? 

Ah FEBRUARY, the month of winter weather and glimpses of warmer weather…of a day to love on those dear to you…this year, a month with an extra day…these are the things that filled my February days…

A “stop in your tracks” sunset on a Thursday

Watching…quite a few fun things streaming through Netflix: the latest season of Crossing Borders; discovering “Alphas” and enjoying…laughing out loud at Dreamland on Netflix…

Reading…several reads shared in my QuickLit reviews…in this Lent season, a daily poetry reading…a WWII fiction in progress…

Crafting…a Simple Shawlette was on and off the needles in less than 4 evenings and on it’s way to a friend in the midst of cancer treatment…a few new dishcloths…diving into the stash for another Simple Shawlette for travel knitting…

Cooking…all sorts of fun in the kitchen with February meal plans…

Sipping…from my fabulous new birch mug from my favorite, Jennie the Potter – I was lucky enough to snag one of these mugs during the January pop-up on Etsy…

Traveling I…the month started with a long weekend in St.Pete with the family and some dear friends for another amazing briefing about The Jesus Film Project that we are privileged to be a part of…in addition to the great briefing, we enjoyed a quick tour through the Chihuly Collection that was just across the street from our fantastic “old Florida” hotel…

Traveling II…the month ends with a trip to Wisconsin – the originally planned weekend of fun with the WI-family ended up being paired with a week at our Marinette facility…

Playing…a rousing game of Disney Apples to Apples with the WI-family on this leap day evening…

Looking ahead…March means the return of spring…a long overdue trip to see my Texas cuties…

Linking up with Leigh‘s monthly “What I’m Into” round-up. What are you into these days?