Seven Simple Joys of July

Wow! What a quick month July has been. I don't know if you feel the same, but for me it feels like I've blinked and here we are at the end of the month. July's been a really good one for me in both work and personal aspects. I've not struggled this month picking out my simple joys. Let's take a look...

Simple Joys this Month

Camping

Towards the end of July we took our eldest daughter on her very first camping experience. And it's safe to say, it was a complete hit! For all of us! We drove over to the Lake District, deciding to pitch up at Skyeside Campsite near Brotherswater. We chose this as the location was to die for and it also had all the necessary amenities an unexperienced three year old camper would need... I'm talking toilets, showers, even a shop. It was the perfect place to pitch! I'm going to be doing a full blog post about our camping getaway, so watch this space!

Blogging

I've had a really great blogging month this month. I've been able to work on a variety of projects and really feel like I've nailed the work/life balance this month. Next month may be a totally different story (because June certainly wasn't as great work wise) but we'll see. I seem to be on some sort of manifestation momentum at the moment so I'm hoping August will be more of the same.

My favourite blogging collaborations this month:

• OpenTable: I worked with OpenTable creating a review of a Thai restaurant that's been on our radar for such a long time!
• Thea Pharmaceuticals: For this collaboration I created a blog post & instagram feed post raising awareness of dry eye disease and how we can combat it this Summer.
• Wicked Uncle: Finally after applying to work with Wicked Uncle I don't know how many times, the stars aligned & I got to work on a collaborative blog post about promoting creativity through play for our children.
• Dolma: I'm forever on the hunt for sustainable alternatives and Dolma bring just that to the beauty world. I worked on a giveaway with Dolma which has gone down brilliantly & gained lots of traffic to my website.

Sports Day

I can't believe my daughter is old enough to have a school sports day, but here we are! The kids had a blast and so did we! It was fantastic getting to go into the school and experience our very first sports day.

My little superstar came away with three awards. First was a certificate for taking part (of course), she was also on the winning team, but perhaps my favourite award of all was the honesty award! My sweet girl was deemed the most honest in her class. We laughed at first because being honest isn't sporty in the slightest, but thinking about it, it's probably the best award she could have won!

Park Run

At the beginning of the month I took part in my very first 5K park run! I've been running for the last couple of moths with the aim of completing a 5K and this month I made it! I wasn't the fastest and it was as red as a lobster, but I did it! And I'm really proud of myself for doing it! I've not managed another one since, although I do want to keep up with it. I'm still running regularly, but if I can do a 5K park run once a month too, I'll be happy. I'm hoping the vitality park run will be a regular on my simple joys posts.

Summerhouse

When we bought out house back in September, we'd planned that the summerhouse would be a multifunctional space. This month we've transformed it! There's a bar area, a games area and (of course) a dumping area for the bikes.

We've had friends over this month and it was the perfect space for entertaining. We played many a game of Mario Kart in there that day! It's also particularly nice on an evening when the kids have gone to bed. We sit up there with a glass (or two) of fizz looking out onto our garden space, it feels like we're on holiday. It's brilliant!

GYO

I've spent the best part of the year growing my own vegetables and it's during this last month where I've been able to reap the benefits. We've dug up potatoes, carrots, harvested plenty of broad beans, peas, raspberries and strawberries.

I've loved the process of planting and growing our own veggies this year and am already excited to do it again next year! I've got an internal list of things I'm going to do differently in 2023 and I can't wait! I've caught the GYO bug!

Exploring my Hometown

Moving back to the North East has been brilliant for us as family. We spent seven years living in Leeds so a lot has changed in Guisborough since we've been away. It's been lovely getting back and exploring what our new (but old) area has to offer. I feel much more appreciative of whats here and I've loved being able to show the girls things I experienced when I was growing up.

July has been really good to me! I've found lots of simple joys this month and I'm hoping August will be exactly the same.

Let me know in the comments what your simple joys have been this month.