Friday Favorites - what happened to June???

Or, more accurately, what happened to February, March, April, and May????

I have gotten hit up more than once about not keeping up with my blog. . .I'm glad people noticed?  I was in a slump at the end of the winter (big surprise) - started a Day in the Life in February and never finished and then just moved on. . .and on. . .and don't think anything is "interesting" enough to blog/journal about but really, I just haven't had a routine all this time.  I THRIVE on routine and structure -- made by others or made by me -- and just haven't found a rhythm yet, even though I have been an empty-nester for 10 months now.  Maybe I'm not patient enough with myself (and everyone who knows me says "ya think?") or I am waiting for something or someone to come along and give it to me.  A little "Jenni insight" for your reading pleasure ;)

ANYWAY, I'm going to just "pick up" here. . .I do have favorites to talk about (I mean, do people talk about not-favorite things on their blogs/social media?) and then maybe, hopefully, I'll move backwards and fill in some of the holes. . .if not for those that do occasionally stop by to read, then for me, for my family as the years go by.  Blogger tells me that I have 437 posts.  Wow!!  Please feel free to grab the the graphic and link up with bloggers Andrea (who just traveled to California with her family) and Erika (who recently traveled to Iceland) for some favorites from this week.  See??? Although I haven't been writing a blog, I have been reading them :).  

Since June symbolizes the lake and one of my Top 5 in my life FAVORITE things, that is the picture I led with at the top.  Here are a few more: 

All the kids made it out, plus Ellie & Emmie.  Yes, we had to keep those names straight all day :). Erin (lots of E's too!) got all the girls' hair braided at the boat shed while Tom got the oil changed on the boat.  Believe it or not, this was the first (and so far only) chance we've had to make it to the lake this year.  The middle picture on the left is our first view of the season, the last picture on the right is the traditional end-of-day stop at Livingston's DQ.  The water was still a bit chilly for just swimming around in (it won't be this weekend!) so tubing, stopping at an island for lunch, and visiting some marinas were all the adventure we had.

Moving backwards through the month, we finally had a "chill, at home weekend" last weekend.  It was cloudy, then rainy and just a good weekend to stay put.  The weekend before we had been in Cincinnati and Troy, OH, the weekend before that Dale Hollow Lake, the weekend before that, Athens, Greece, the weekend before that we travelled from Nashville to NJ to Athens. . .so a weekend at home was certainly welcomed, especially by Tom!!  The rain helped my flowers out tremendously!!  

The garden is going bananas too -- we had an appetizer night last Friday night to eat some of the goodness with our family and neighbors that plant and tend it :)

Always a joy to have some of the kids stop by, grandparents, and our framily down the street. . .everyone contributes and it's an "easy" night.

Father's Day weekend!

The kids hadn't been up to see my parents (both live in Ohio) since Christmas, so we found a miracle weekend when everyone had some time and we made the trek up there together.  My dad and Tom's dad both had health scares in May (and serious procedures performed) so this was an especially good time to celebrate the holiday.  

Erin and I headed up first, on Thursday after work.  My mom took us to dinner on Friday night to buy Erin her first legal drink in the U.S.

They were fancy!

Saturday we travelled an hour north to see my dad.  We stopped for treats at our FAVORITE grocery store in the entire world - Dorothy Lane Market - seriously, if you are ever in the area, it's worth the stop.  Anyway, we put a spread out when we got to his house and after visiting for a bit we headed to the pickle ball courts.  He hadn't been "officially" released by his doctor to play yet but it's hard to keep him away.  We had a really good time!

Afterwards, we headed to the kids' FAVORITE Ohio pizza place - Marion's Piazza.  Another must-go if you are in the Dayton area.  This is Grandpa with all his Bell grandchildren :)

Tom got a few projects done for my dad at his house and we headed back to my mom's.  

You would think we would be "done" with food for the day, but there is so.much.goodness in southwest Ohio that we headed back out with my mom to a new-to-all-of-us restaurant, Two Cities Pizza Company (yes, pizza twice in one day!)

I didn't get the pizza, rather meatballs sounded good to me.  My mom got the calzone and they had a GF pizza crust for Tom.  The kids tried both a NY style and Chicago style pizza.  

Ω

If you ever find yourself in Mason, Ohio, I would highly recommend.  The inside decor was really cool -- this was a repurposed government building and they kept a lot of the original features and blended them in with their restaurant space.

I have a new spot at work -- with a window!  A FAVORITE, for sure.  I've worked here since December and it's the third place they have sat me -- I hope I get to stay here :)

And the best FAVORITE is coming in to an unexpected sweet note, hot drink, and breakfast for an early morning training.

The FAVORITE of the month, and probably the year, was our family trip to Greece at the end of May/beginning of June.

My aunt and uncle (at either end of this picture) decided to go with us!!  

Last summer someone I knew from Cookeville was putting a trip together and announced it on Facebook.  I asked for more information and, after lining up schedules, getting the dates on our calendars, and paying for the trip, we were OFF on May 27th.

There is so much to say, but this post is already super-long (and late getting up on Friday) so I'm going to stop here.  Fingers crossed that I will go back over these last months and put some posts up -- I really do miss this part of my life, once I sit down and get going :)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!!