5 on Friday! FriYAY Catch-Up

Happy Friday Friends! It has been a little sparse around here lately. There has been a lot of life going on, the highs and lows and in-betweens. I figured today was a good day to look on the bright side and catch you up on some of the happy moments that have been happening around these parts... 

1.) We just got home from the beautiful Tennessee mountains! We go every summer to spend a few days with family, who live on a lake in a small town about 40 minutes from Knoxville. We ended up getting to stay almost a week and it was just what my soul needed. Life runs at a slower pace while we are there. We take long mornings to sip coffee, don't typically change out of our pjs until noon and then spend the rest of the day bobbing in the water or out cruising on the boat, just laughing and catching up on life with each other. It. Is. GLORIOUS! Between the hustle and bustle of daily life, the sad events that hit way too close to home here in Orlando and the constant to-do list that seems to just keep growing it was nice to get a little peace and quiet and porch sitting! 

2.) National Outdoors Day was June 11th and we spent it hiking out at Wekiwa Springs State Park about 40 minutes from home. It quickly became one of our favorite central Florida hikes; with all the different environments we got to walk through there was something new to see around every turn. Another great perk?! Jumping in the spring to cool down after you finish your hike! 

3.) It may have topped out as one of our favorites, because it was also the first time we went Geocaching!! SO. MUCH. FUN! If you love to hike and enjoy the outdoors, this is a great way to add an extra element of adventure into your trip!! We can't wait to go again and hope to find our own little spot to stash a cache soon!!  

4.) When we are not out adventuring I have been a reading machine! One of the things I enjoy a lot about being in a book club is reading things I wouldn't normally pick-up, but if the book ends up being something I have gotten angry at (Me Before You), I need to add in a little fluff reading to reset. I just finished Mean Streak by Sandra Brown and it was the perfect book to do just that and made for a great road trip read! I just couldn't pick up After You (this month's book club pick) immediately following its predecessor, but now it's time to dive back in. What has been on your reading list recently? 

5.) One last little adventure- Sweet Babe planned a wonderful surprise a few weekends back. I got home from work and Flo was gone, as was Babe. On the door to the house was a note with coordinates of where to find them! And I was off! I found them nestled under the trees at Moss Park, a county park not far from home base. We spent less than 24 hours in the park, but it was the perfect little getaway. For only $18/a night it really can't be beat when you need a little escape! I love waking up to the sounds outside Flo when we are camping. We spent the morning riding bikes and exploring the park a bit before going home! The spots were well spread out and each one seemed to have a great setup for beautiful, wooded views! We can't wait to go back!! 

Hope your weekend is beautiful and finds you with some space to breathe and time to adventure!! 

Happy FriYAY! 

Linking up with the lovely 5 on Friday Ladies! 

Prayers for Orlando: The City Beautiful

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In light of the recent events that have rocked Orlando, the city that I call home, I will not be hosting this month's #TravelTuesday link up. I hadn't finished the post and honestly did not have the heart to even open it back up right now. Instead, I would like to offer up a prayer for not only our city and the victims and their families, but for all of us. So if you came looking for the link up, I ask that you use the time you would have to link through and visit others posts to please send up a prayer or encouraging thoughts. Pray for your own city, for your community, pray for Orlando, pray for the victims and those waiting tirelessly on hospital chairs to hear news of those healing. Just pray and support one another. Maybe pick up the phone and reach out to someone who may need an encouraging word right now. Spread LOVE!

Lord, 

I pray today for my city.

I pray for Orlando and I ask you to keep this community in your hands. 

I thank you for the helpers. 

Thank you for the first responders, 

for the people who risked their lives to help someone else. 

Thank you for the police officers. 

Thank you for the medical staff. 

Be with all those who saw first hand the images that will stay with them. 

Help to instead replace those images with those of a community supporting one another. 

Lord, be with the families and friends of those who lost their lives, 

comfort them and bring them people to hold them up while their world is crashing down. 

Be with those who are healing, 

Help to ease their pain.

Lord, for those with hatred in their hearts, 

please bring people into their lives who can fill it with light, 

who can help them receive care so that this violence doesn't continue. 

May we all learn to be people who Love the way Jesus showed Love while He was here. 

May we not judge people, 

May we embrace one another as they are, 

May we stand alongside each other, do life together and support one another always. 

Just help us to LOVE 

and Love well. 

I pray these things across Orlando and around the world, 

in Jesus name, 

Amen

June Currently and a Wonderland Giveaway!

June had just begun and I am joining in again for another Currently link up! 

To kick off the month with a little happiness, I am currently hosting a giveaway over on Instagram. 

Feel free to head over and join in to try and win a de-stressing, adult-coloring-fun adventure in Wonderland!! 

Aside from that, here is a little taste of the rest of my world currently... 
{Planning} Future FloRida ReVa trips and a trip to Georgia with the nieces and nephews at the beginning of August~ Any tips for road trips with kiddos? We usually pack little surprise goody bags for them to open every few hours, but would love any other ideas! 

{Enjoying} Binge reading both Me Before You and After You, though enjoying is not probably the best of terms. I couldn't put them down, so soaking in all that reading time has been enjoyable- but the frustration and tears that came with Me Before You had better balance out once I finish After You!! 

{Buying} Hopefully nothing this month! Ok, so nothing may be an exaggeration, but I am beginning to walk through the book Seven (An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess) by Jen Hatmaker and am starting off small with trying to go a no spend month on my credit card and keep to a $70 weekly cash budget for essentials (food and gas mostly). Wish me luck!! I'm going to need it! 

{Craving} Some blueberry cobbler, topped high with vanilla ice cream! 

{Pinning} Road-Trip-Fun planning ideas, quotes galore, camping recipes, and some of my Teachers-Pay-Teachers plans from back in my classroom days including a new writing unit out for some summer practice. 

Happy June Y'all!! 

What are you up to currently?!