Summer has always held a special place in my heart. There is a feeling of warmth and sunshine that comes with the activities that summer holds, and I love it. The beach, being on the boat, fishing, amazing food, fun memories, and a somewhat slower pace of life for a few months. Plus, the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, so of course I love summer. I’m not sure where to begin with recapping all the adventures this summer held. It went by so fast that it all feels like a blur. How is August almost already over? This summer held memories of traveling, planning and unplanned, the most amazing view of fireworks on the fourth, a girls trip, shooting new projects & some sweet couples, lots of ice cream, and a daddy-daughter fishing trip. The ending of the summer brought an adorable surprise nobody saw coming, so keep scrolling for a little life update!
To kick off the summer, Isaiah and I headed back to Georgia to spend Memorial Day with my family at the Lake! We enjoyed lots of good food, a concert on the lake, some jet ski fun, and a cruise up the river!
A few weeks later, Isaiah came up to Birmingham to move into his new apartment. After decorating a boy’s apartment, I should add interior design to my resume. Shoutout to Home Goods & TJ Maxx. We got him moved in and situated in the new apartment, and then afterward, we made the trip down to Islamorada for a few short days. We didn’t know our next road trip would be so soon after our last one!
I had an engagement session in Jekyll Island and got the privilege of my mom’s company on the trip! The session was an absolute dream, even despite the weather. There is already another blog about this Jekyll Island engagement session and details of our trip, but here is a picture of our ice cream before it melted and ran all down our arms; that’s the real picture that I should have on the blog!
A few weeks into June, Ansley got engaged (more to come on a different post from her & Christopher’s engagement session), and Isaiah flew into BHAM for the Savannah Bananas Game! If you have never been to or heard of the Savannah Bananas, I highly recommend checking them out and attending a game. It was so entertaining and offered some great family fun!
One of my favorite holidays of the year is the Forth of July! I love everything about it, celebrating our country, fireworks, hot dogs and hamburgers, ice cream, I love everything about it. I flew to Orlando for several days to celebrate with Isaiah’s family! The days were full of pickleball, spending time on the water surfing and swimming, and eating some amazing food. We celebrated the Fourth of July on July third and fourth… I wasn’t playing when I said it was one of my favorite holidays! We had a delicious dinner on July third and then went resort hopping on the monorail until the fireworks show at Disney. We had the most incredible view from California Grill and I think it was the biggest and best fireworks display I had ever seen. If you are ever visiting Disney World consider watching the fireworks from The California Grill located at The Contemporary Resort, the lagoon located at The Polynesian Resort or courtyards located at The Grand Floridian Resort. On the actual holiday, we spent the day on the water, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, and then ended the night by watching more fireworks from the boat.
After such a great trip, it was time to say goodbye to my boy for the rest of the summer! I’ll tell you, whoever said that airports see the most happy and sad moments, that is a very true statement.
As you saw in the road trip blog post at the beginning of the summer, Anna (Isaiah’s little sister) graduated from high school and just started college at Samford. We were thrilled for her to move up to Birmingham and have her so close, but before she could head up here, we had to celebrate her properly with a girl’s trip to Rosemary! I think it was the most relaxing trip I have had in so long. We read by the beach, the pool, on the balcony, in bed, and repeat. I think my favorite part of the trip was biking around the neighborhoods of Rosemary and taking the time to slow down and actually relax, without an agenda. The food, as always, was amazing, and the company was even better. We ended the trip with a picnic on the beach during sunset, and dessert to go from my favorite restaurant, La Crema. I loved getting to spend the weekend spending time with the girls in Isaiah’s family and celebrating our graduate!
The fanciest way to drink sweet tea: out of a champagne glass!
We are almost done, so hang tight and keep scrolling; I promise the announcement is coming at the end! You’re almost there! The last trip of the summer was a spontaneous fishing trip with my dad. We have been trying to plan one together for a long time, and I am so glad we could finally make our calendars line up. We spent two days fishing out of Carrabelle, Florida, a small fishing town east of St. George Island. The days were spent catching lots of Mahi Mahi, and the nights were spent eating great seafood and local ice cream. 10/10 highly recommend taking a trip with your dad. I am thankful I get my love of boats and fishing from him!
We both wore a shirt on the second day because we both got cooked on day one!
Finally, after 2-1/2 months of long distance, Isaiah finally moved back to Birmingham! We finally celebrated our anniversary, put the finishing touches in his apartment, and spent some time together before our busiest season of life started.
——–This is where the surprise comes in, so drumroll, please!!!!!!!———
MGP FAM, MEET ISLA!!!
We adopted a puppy, and boy, has she stolen our hearts!!!! One of my sweet MGP couples fosters puppies from Two by Two Rescue. Macie and Garrett were amazing and answered every single one of our questions. Once Isaiah returned to Birmingham, we picked up sweet Isla and have been smitten ever since! Named after Islamorada, it’s safe to say that Isla has adjusted very well to her forever home. You can read all about our first few weeks and our first adventure as a little family here.
It’s been a great summer full of making memories and enjoying the slower things in life, such as reading and taking sunset strolls. I hope everyone is buckled in and ready for the busyness of life to start up again. With the days going by so fast, it’ll be Christmas before we know it! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a great week!
