Hey there, everybody! Now that summer is ending**, I thought I’d link up with Leslie at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After to share my Summer Adventures List! Usually Gene and I don’t do a whole lot during summer because it’s so very hot here, but THIS year we did a few really fun things!

(**Yes, summer is ending! I choose to go by the meteorological seasons which means summer is June, July, and August. This makes my brain much happier. I appreciate the precision of astronomical seasons—autumn begins on September 22–but it just seems awkward, doesn’t it?)

Anyway. Back to summery things!

In June we took a weekend to get away and celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary! We LOVE the Hendersonville, North Carolina area, so we snagged an amazing little house (studio apartment) via VRBO. You can see the listing HERE. It’s perfect for a couple! Really clean and well prepared. We napped, read books, rested on the amazing deck, and ate our way through the area (per normal). We enjoyed a nice hike at the Carl Sandburg home which was just down the road. Oh! We also saw our first post-Covid (ha!) theater production at the Hendersonville Community Theater. What a fun night! AND we saw the incredible “In the Heights” for our first post-Covid (we thought), in-theater movie. It was a worthy choice! I drafted half a dozen blog posts about this trip…in my head, apparently! I’ll share some memories and recommendations from this trip in the coming weeks. We’ll recommend this area over and over again!

In July we did an amazing thing that we still can’t believe really happened! We went on a teaching trip to ISRAEL! Goodness gracious, you guys! I had never wanted to go to “The Holy Land.” I figured I could love Jesus right here, thank you. Gene had deployed to the Middle East multiple times during his Air Force career, so he had exactly zero desire to go back. Well, within about 72 hours God gave us the desire and the opportunity to go THIS YEAR! Just a few weeks after we signed up! I can’t wait to tell you all about it, so stay tuned!

In the middle of getting ready to go to Israel (read: date changes, many hoops to jump through, Covid protocols), we went camping for a few days in North Georgia, near Cleveland. We tried out our new tent, ate at the same restaurant three days in a row (it was THAT good), hiked a bit, and enjoyed the beautiful views. I wrote about it HERE. I have other travel tips to share with you soon. This area would be a great place for you to visit this autumn.

I did two other things this summer that mean a lot to me:

I started following Sharon McMahon, @sharonsaysso on Instagram. I love to learn, and Sharon is an amazing teacher who specializes in the US Constitution and law. She’s smart, funny, and kind. She offers Government for Grownups classes and leads the #Governerds in non-partisan, fact-based, KIND discussions on daily news, world events, US history, and occasional fun facts about everything from whales to presidential trivia. She has a knack for explaining our country’s processes clearly and with (again) kindness and patience. Follow her! She’s good for your brain AND your heart! You’ll see!

I gave blood in June and am scheduled to give again this week. You guys, this is SO IMPORTANT! Due to an increase in trauma cases, organ transplants, and elective surgeries, we’re dealing with a critical blood shortage right now, so if you’re able to give, please consider scheduling an appointment and saving a life! There so much we CAN’T fix right now. I get excited about doing something so simple, something that costs nothing, but something that can truly change lives.

So now it’s nearly the end of August. We conquered jet lag from the Israel trip, finally unpacked our bags, and I learned how to make pitas and falafel. We’re still processing all that we learned and experienced in Israel. I wanted to work through all that and do more research on all the sites we saw before I blog them, but I’ve realized that I’ll be processing all the things for months to come! I’m eager to share photos and memories with you here!

I’ll wrap this up for now. I have SO MANY THINGS I want to share with you! I really hope to do more writing. I love sharing stories, and I appreciate your stopping by to read them!

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