Life's Sweet Journey: June First Friday Favorites Link Up

As I knew might be the case, First Friday Favorites has kept me (mostly) accountable to get something up once a month, but that's about all I'm managing right now. Life has been crazy, in good ways, but it has left this little space neglected. More on that, hopefully next month! For now, here's my First Friday Favorites for June:

Favorite Read: Changling Series by Molly Harper

While I have been struggling with physical reads this month, I have been listening to a lot. I have so many audible credits built up because I tend to listen for free on Hoopla or Libby. I figured I would give a few Audible exclusives a try in order to use credits on something that I can only find there. I stumbled on the Changling series by Molly Harper. There are three books and I am halfway through the second.

I am really loving them. They are short, easy listens, but have such a neat storyline. Think Harry Potter meets Bridgerton, with a female lead. Here's a synopsis of the first book:

Changling synopsis

If 14-year-old Cassandra Reed makes it through her first day at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies without anyone discovering her secret, maybe, just maybe, she’ll let herself believe that she really does belong at Miss Castwell’s.

Except Cassandra Reed’s real name is Sarah Smith and up until now, she lived her whole life in the Warren, serving a magical family, the Winters, as all non-magical “Snipes” are bound by magical Guardian law to do. That is, until one day, Sarah accidentally levitates Mrs. Winter’s favorite vase in the parlor... But Snipes aren’t supposed to have magical powers…and the existence of a magical Snipe threatens the world order dictated during the Guardians’ Restoration years ago. If she wants to keep her family safe and protect her own skin, Sarah must figure out how to fit into posh Guardian society, master her newfound magical powers and discover the truth about how an ordinary girl can become magical.

Amazon Find of the Month: Photo Organizer

Photo Organizer (I would recommend the larger one)

We have been working, very slowly, on getting our junk room organized so that we can move our guest room into it. It has literally been holding all the overflow stuff we didn't want to sort through after we moved into the house (over a year ago). Being the disposable camera queen of the 90s and early 2000s I have thousands upon thousands of photos.

I bought this photo organizer to try to consolidate pictures into one box. It was a 3+ hour project, but I am so much happier! I didn't quite get everything to fit, so I would definitely recommend going with the slightly bigger size organizer. The one I got fits 1600 photos, the larger one 1800. I may have also stuffer extra in where possible. Between the organizer, some photo albums, and the box that the photo holder came in I was able to fit all my pictures and a couple other keepsakes. I also threw out probably another 1000+ pictures (doubles, blurry, or what they heck even was that?!). The purge felt very freeing!

Favorite Quotes of the Month

I finally recorded some of my favorite quotes from the books I have read recently into my quote journal. Here are just a few of them:

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you are missing."

-Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

"Maybe we're all born with that. Maybe it's part of being this thing we call human. The ache for another. The desire to reach into the night and find someones hand reaching back. To wake to the sound of someone breathing in your ear. To know the warmth of another. To pour two cups of coffee."

- Charles Martin, The Letter Keeper

"You can mute it, wound it, stab it, shoot it, and shove it in the corner, but no matter what you do or how hard you try, you can't kill it. Sooner or later, some part of you is going to look at that mysterious shape in the corner and compare it to the wound oozing in your chest, and you'll think to yourself, "I wonder if that'll fill the hole." And when it fits perfectly into place, you wonder how it knew. How did that one thing fit the hole nothing could ever fill? Too jagged. And yet it did. Custom fit. That thing is hope."

- Charles Martin, The Letter Keeper

May Recap

Two piece suit (currently under $20)

One, how the heck have we already made it through May. This year is flying. May was a great month though! We FINALLY made it on our 10 year anniversary cruise (three years later). It was a wonderful weekend away, though we did discover that we are now part of "the old people on the cruise" club. We decided we probably won't get a drink package again (we just can't keep up), we are ready for dinner by 5:30 (no more my time dining for us), and we did not make it to the adults only comedy hour (zzzz, which actually happened to be one of the jokes in his family friendly comedy hour). All in all though it was still great to be back on a boat!!

It was also full spectrum on the littlest loves in my life. We celebrated my youngest nephews first birthday and then the next weekend took the middle one to Adventure Island and my favorite seniors graduated!! WHAT?! My nephew, and the girl I had the absolute pleasure of watching since she was 6 months old, we're both seniors this year. And now they are graduated, semi-adults, heading off to college. My brain can't seem to wrap my head around it, but I am so proud of them and the people they are becoming! I can't wait to watch these next few years unfold for them.

Oh, and I also upgraded my ride!! I have had my car for 20 years. I LOVE my Ford Escape, but it was time for her to finally make way for a newer model. So I basically just got a grown up version of her. Enter my Ford Explorer; I will forever be a Ford girl! I tried to branch out, but it just felt like home!