4th of July and Lake Days: Thinking Out Loud #44

Happy Thursday and it's a few days late, but happy belated 4th of July🎉  I hope you had a great long holiday weekend and got a chance to relax. The weather was absolutely perfect and I got to spend time with my three best guy friends, so I really couldn't have asked for a better 4th. It's been a full week of running, lake time, and beautiful summer sunsets so let's jump right in to this weeks thinking out loud! 

1. My recent go to has been a fruit infused water bottle one of my friends got me for my birthday. The only thing I drink is water and sometimes I just need something with some flavor so this water bottle has been an awesome present. I've been mixing up all sorts of fruits for flavoring, but so far strawberry and lemon has been my favorite combo🍓🍋

2. Saturday was a very long and hot day of working outside. I spent the day cleaning out the boat, getting it ready to be launched, and launching it because there are fireworks over the lake every year. The boat was in just in time for the fireworks and I got to enjoy fireworks on the lake surrounded by some of my very best friends. I always feel like a little kid when watching fireworks because I LOVE them. I love all the colors, shapes, sizes, and it just brings back some really great childhood memories of watching fireworks on the lake with my family.

3. Sunday I spent all day outside cleaning up and doing various yard work. I finally got around to inflating the donut tube and I'm in love. It's such a cute tube and so much fun! It's been a hit with my friends and family in addition to Henry the swan.

4. Cora has been loving this summer weather. We've been spending the days outside playing in the yard and in the lake. While cleaning out the shed I gave her some old basketballs and various other toys that were rather old and you would have thought it was Christmas with how excited she was. Now when she's inside she sits at the door crying to go outside and play with her new balls.

5. The 4th was one of the best 4th of July's I've ever had. I started the day off with a six mile run since the gym was closed and my pacing was AWESOME🙌 I didn't intend to run as fast as I did, but all my miles were 20-30 seconds faster than I planned on going. 

6. After running I had to make a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things since my three best guy friends were coming over for a lake day. I picked up the usual BBQ items, beef burgers for the guys and turkey burgers for me. My friends and I aren't ones who drink a ton, but every now and then we like to have a few drinks. I picked up a case of Mike's Hard Lemonade and I didn't want any of the glass bottles to clink together and break on the way home so I strapped them in with a seatbelt. A guy next to me pulled in and was staring at me, but I didn't mind. Safety first right?!😂 And because I'm going to get hated on for sharing that I bought a case of alcohol I had ONE bottle of Mike's that's it. There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with drinking in moderation. The last drink I had before that was in February.

7. The 4th of July wouldn't be complete without some time out on the water. We spent time teaching one of my friends how to wakeboard and then we went tubing. I'm not sure when I last had so much fun with my friends and just genuinely enjoyed the moment. I hardly touched my phone over the holiday weekend, but it was great. I enjoyed living in the moment and just being with my friends. These guys have been in my life for the majority of my life so just being able to hangout and enjoy each others company meant a lot to me, plus you're never too old to go tubing😃

8. Talk about the perfect ending to the perfect day. We watched an absolutely beautiful sunset over the lake at the end of the day. I couldn't have dreamed of a better weekend. Nothing beats being surrounded with amazing friends, laughter, making memories, and living in the moment. I live for days like these because those moments are the ones that make me happy whenever I think about them💜

9. Lastly I want to say a big THANK YOU for all the emails, instagram DMs, texts, etc. that I have gotten about my last post. It's never easy to be so open and vulnerable, but the amount of love I have gotten has been overwhelming. I am so incredibly thankful for the amazing community I have been able to connect with and the friendships that have been made. I didn't write this post for attention or any such reason, I wrote is simply because it was on my heart and I thought others could relate. There's so much stigma around mental health in the world and honestly it's really ridiculous. It's perfectly fine to say you're not ok. You are not forever stuck in a place of not being ok. I really do encourage you to talk to someone whether it be a friend, family member, or professional because keeping things bottled up is not good. I'm not a professional but I am always here if you want to talk so please do not hesitate to email me, I'd be happy to listen. 

I'm going to end things there, but have an amazing weekend and I hope you get to enjoy some beautiful summer weather☀️

Do you have any 4th of July traditions? What's your favorite way to spend a summer day?