Joyce asked last week (I didn't participate but I read everyone else's answers) "Describe your July in exactly five words."
Intentional moments became lasting memories. Yes, ChatGPT helped me with that. But it's so true!! Being intentional in our marriage has led to its longevity. Choosing to save money to travel with friends, set time aside to do so, and preparing our lives for those two weeks was intentionality that has led to another great lasting memory. A friend who grew up with the Bells came down for the weekend and her intentionality with them has led to more memories for them. July was a good month to build memories for the Bank of Life.
So now that I've covered the "intentional moments", here is some randomness that became unplanned memories:
July 1st
Yes, I played pickleball on my anniversary. Yes, that was o.k. with the guy I've been with for most of the last 37 years - ha! We took this picture for our friend Ashley who was diagnosed late last fall with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Sadly, she lost her battle here on earth a few weeks ago; only in the Lord's understanding, He brought her home to be with Him. This has hit our little community so hard - she was a faithful fighter to the end. Her youngest son just graduated from HS last spring. Life can be very difficult and full of pain. The t-shirt Jess is wearing in the front was designed by a friend of Ashley's for us to wear as we prayed for her healing here on earth. She is no longer in need of those prayers, but her husband and four sons sure need them now. And I know that Ashley believed what is written on that shirt all the way to Heaven.
Yes, I played pickleball on my anniversary. Yes, that was o.k. with the guy I've been with for most of the last 37 years - ha! We took this picture for our friend Ashley who was diagnosed late last fall with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Sadly, she lost her battle here on earth a few weeks ago; only in the Lord's understanding, He brought her home to be with Him. This has hit our little community so hard - she was a faithful fighter to the end. Her youngest son just graduated from HS last spring. Life can be very difficult and full of pain. The t-shirt Jess is wearing in the front was designed by a friend of Ashley's for us to wear as we prayed for her healing here on earth. She is no longer in need of those prayers, but her husband and four sons sure need them now. And I know that Ashley believed what is written on that shirt all the way to Heaven.July 4th
Tommy (leaning on the chair) always shares his birthday with our country :). We celebrated over here with the Bells that were around and the doggies were getting their expected treats from Miss Barbara. Chelsea (the older dog who she is feeding) brought us all together 9-10 (??) years ago :) Barbara likes dogs, Chelsea liked her, a life-long friendship was born. Tommy and Barbara are our "framily".
Tommy (leaning on the chair) always shares his birthday with our country :). We celebrated over here with the Bells that were around and the doggies were getting their expected treats from Miss Barbara. Chelsea (the older dog who she is feeding) brought us all together 9-10 (??) years ago :) Barbara likes dogs, Chelsea liked her, a life-long friendship was born. Tommy and Barbara are our "framily".July 5th
Playing our new favorite game with some Bells after church before we took off for Europe :)
July 6th- 17th 
Playing our new favorite game with some Bells after church before we took off for Europe :)
Europe collages:
Toasts with new flavors and old favorites
Incredible views across 4 countries in 13 days
The BEST people to travel with (yes, already signed up to do it again next year!)
And castles, and churches, and town squares - all waaaaaayy older than our country!!!
July 19th
A new-to-him truck - something our son bought this month and immediately brought over for Tom to work on :)
It was fun to be home for the World Cup finals - with our doggies - we watched every minute of it! And now. . .College Football Season can't come fast enough. But don't rush the summer. . .ugh.
A new-to-him truck - something our son bought this month and immediately brought over for Tom to work on :)
July 20th - 
Walking up to my in-law's house at 6:36 a.m. so I could take them to the hospital - my MIL had a 7 a.m. appt for another procedure. We should have been home by lunch but due to some scheduling issues we didn't leave until 5:30 p.m.! That day she did great - many, MANY more appointments ahead in August.
Walking up to my in-law's house at 6:36 a.m. so I could take them to the hospital - my MIL had a 7 a.m. appt for another procedure. We should have been home by lunch but due to some scheduling issues we didn't leave until 5:30 p.m.! That day she did great - many, MANY more appointments ahead in August.July 22nd - random Wednesday screenshot of "all my people" in the middle of the day: 
July 24th - a rare splurge. I got my nails done in early July since I was going to be out of town for two weeks, then decided at the last minute on Friday (meaning, I only went to the salon to have the gel taken off and just have them paint my natural nails) to have them done again! I don't have the time or money to keep this up, but I do really like how they last :)
And then you know those times that you capture something that you don't know the significance of at the time? This is one of those pictures. . . 
We'll see if there is "more to the story" as time marches on. She never lets us take her picture but Barbara had my phone and she posed for it (I'm in the background so obviously not the photographer). This also tells the story of a full house, a dinner for many, and "living life".
And then you know those times that you capture something that you don't know the significance of at the time? This is one of those pictures. . . 
July 25th
We helped Robert & Ellie move into a new space. . .while the two below were up in Ohio spending time with their Foster people. Life. Living life. This is important to me. . .to capture the moments that we are living.
The above showcases over fifty years of making family with those not born or married into your life - those that you choose to "ride or die" with. Tom's family has always been blessed with the fusion of these two families. Jennifer came down for a visit and brought her energy!
Three generations out there at 8 o'clock on a Sunday night installing a drawer system into the new truck :)
And then headed to Troy, Ohio to see my dad and Virginia
And ended the day on the patio with my sister when she got off work 
No picutre of us - I was terrible with pictures this trip. I had also gotten together with another good friend from my teaching days and didn't once think to snap a pic (I was even at her new house and usually I'm ALL about taking pics of beautiful spaces!) - but I DID purchase a book she had written while I was with her and received that in the mail when I got home :)
I worked from my sister's house all day (with Frankie, her granddog). . .after work I headed back up to Dayton (I went to Dayton all three days I was in Cincinnati!) to see another good friend that I've known for close to 20 years. We had a great visit - I got to see four of her girls (and one son-in-law), one of the girls cooked us dinner when she got off work, I saw the spaces she has been improving in her house, and we talked for hours. And I never once got my camera out - I absolutely can't believe it!!! I think this trip was all about "getting away" maybe? I saw my mom every day too and never snapped a pic with her either. Sometimes it's good to live in the moment and only have the memories and feelings to take away. And I try to get the blog written so I can look back here also :)
We helped Robert & Ellie move into a new space. . .while the two below were up in Ohio spending time with their Foster people. Life. Living life. This is important to me. . .to capture the moments that we are living.
While we were 80 miles south with the Robert Bells and another two were 250 miles north visiting "all the spots", the Senior Bells (and Kathy) were enjoying time with their life-long friend from Dayton, OH in Knoxville, TN
July 26th - 
Breakfast together before Jennifer hit the road to head back home. . .and probably passed this one on his way back:
Three generations out there at 8 o'clock on a Sunday night installing a drawer system into the new truck :)July 27th
Monthly production of our Onboarding workbooks. . .I got this done before packing it up and heading up to Ohio myself the next day to work a few days from there and catch up with my people :)
Monthly production of our Onboarding workbooks. . .I got this done before packing it up and heading up to Ohio myself the next day to work a few days from there and catch up with my people :)July 28th - me and my sis
July 29th - I took the day off and started it with blog friend Maria
And then headed to Troy, Ohio to see my dad and Virginia
No picutre of us - I was terrible with pictures this trip. I had also gotten together with another good friend from my teaching days and didn't once think to snap a pic (I was even at her new house and usually I'm ALL about taking pics of beautiful spaces!) - but I DID purchase a book she had written while I was with her and received that in the mail when I got home :)July 30th - The only picture I captured that day - ha!
I worked from my sister's house all day (with Frankie, her granddog). . .after work I headed back up to Dayton (I went to Dayton all three days I was in Cincinnati!) to see another good friend that I've known for close to 20 years. We had a great visit - I got to see four of her girls (and one son-in-law), one of the girls cooked us dinner when she got off work, I saw the spaces she has been improving in her house, and we talked for hours. And I never once got my camera out - I absolutely can't believe it!!! I think this trip was all about "getting away" maybe? I saw my mom every day too and never snapped a pic with her either. Sometimes it's good to live in the moment and only have the memories and feelings to take away. And I try to get the blog written so I can look back here also :)July 31st (a week ago today) started at 4 a..m. when my alarm went off in Cincinnat, I was in KY at 6:49 to capture this sunrise:
wasn't it gorgeous???
wasn't it gorgeous???At my desk at 9:15, on the tennis court at 6 p.m. and with this fun tennis group (and Tom) at 9:30 p.m.
We were celebrating Andrei's birthday (on the end)
And that's a wrap for July 2026!! It's taken me an entire week to write this post so if you didn't make it to the end I get it - ha! It was a busy month and so much has already happened in August I can hardly keep up. Life changes. . .so far mostly unexpected but "life happens" and marches on. More on that when we're ready to talk about all of them. Or not - not everything is meant for the "world wide web", right?
Since it is Friday I'll link up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites - I don't think I could pick just ONE favorite from this post, right? 
If we're going to be technical and pick a favorite from this past week it would be this family picture from Fred & Nancy's birthday party Saturday - all of this from a marriage that began 64 years ago!
And then we added the two of us who married into this wonderful family :)
More to come!
Love,
Jenni
You had a very full July! I'm going to need a family tree graphic to figure out all these characters!
ReplyDeleteI am the same with nails. I love having nice nails, but can't do the visits for the maintenance - don't want to right now.
I am loving the Kur Londontown original nail concealer. I got a professional regular manicure for them to trim, file, do cuticles, and polish and then I have been keeping up with it every 5 days or so. This might be something for you to try.
Happy anniversary to you and your husband. It sounds like July was a wonderful month and what a fantastic trip!
ReplyDelete