Dirty Dozen

This was my summer of 12.

My love and I celebrated 12 years of marriage last weekend. We escaped to spend some time refocusing and recharging. We talked about what we want for our little family over the next few years and how we would like to achieve those goals. It was lovely and much needed.

And I read 12 books this summer. I started out with the Summer of Smut. I read escapism and it was exactly what I needed to kick off the summer. The quality of the reading did improve, marginally. Here's my summer book list:

1. Valley of the Horses - Book 2 of the Clan of the Cave Bear series, we read the first book for book club and I needed to finish the series
2. The Mammoth Hunters - Book 3
3, 4 and 5 - 50 Shades of Grey trilogy - SMUT
6. Bared to You - more Smut
7. Beautiful Ruins - not smut but a light summer read (Book club pick)
8. Freedom - A.MAZING!!
9. The Book Thief - fabulous
10. The Winter Palace - Catherine the Great (book club pick)
11. Bossypants - Tina Fey, who I love!
12. Far to Go by Alison Pick - which I am currently reading

You may wonder how I have time to read anything, let alone 12 books in 8 weeks, well...I ignore my kids or I sit on the deck reading while they play. So worth it. In 5 days I go back to work and it will take me one month to read my book club books. So I have to enjoy the reading freedom while I can.

Friends and Sun

This summer I have been able to spend a lot of time with friends. Old friends and new friends and best friends. It is so rewarding to spend time with people who accept you, don't judge you, love you and support you. It's encouraging to know that there are people in my life that celebrate my success and are rooting for me to do well. Sometimes, this makes the less positive relationships more obvious, more painful. I have some evaluating to do of some of the relationships in my life. Every one should be building me up, not tearing me down.

My Okanagan trip this year was amazing, fun and hot. It felt like an actual vacation and not just the obligatory visit with family. We spend a time doing the things that make the Okanagan special instead of just jumping from house to house. It was incredible. I am so grateful that I have so many wonderful people in my life.

Our trip ended with a day lazing on the lake, watching the kids jump in the water, hanging out on a dock, visiting, eating, and swimming. It was perfection. A beautiful day to end a beautiful trip.