Five on Friday – Sayonara May

Good morning and happy Friday!  I’m super excited to have a free weekend to regroup, refocus and hopefully knock a few things off my to do list.  I’m sharing a few things I’m loving lately for Five on Friday as we kick off summer and say sayonara to May!

End of School

Last Day!  As in the last day of school is definitely a highlight of the week.  I love looking back and seeing how the kids changed over the school year and this year was no different.  Both Dillon and Carly transitioned from glasses to contacts, Carly added braces and Dillon is now a licensed driver!  They also both added a few inches.  I had to laugh because some things never change…like the weather stripping around my front door still just hanging around like it has been for probably the last 10 years!

Moms Rock May Style

I hosted my first ever style challenge on Instagram and it was so much fun!  The best was how blown away I was by the participation and sweet comments I received from readers who were playing along even if they were not posting.  It really did make getting dressed a little more fun but also a little easier and I utilized a few pieces in my closet I have not been wearing.  While my closet was pretty purged already, I did manage to purge a few items too because life is too short to have a closet full of clothes you don’t love!  Have you ever participated in a Style Challenge?  Would you like to see see something like this as a series here on the blog too?

Fave Instapost

Seriously this could not be more true in my life right now!  If I can make it through raising this last teen I’m going to feel so accomplished.

New Podcast

Are y’all tired of me and my infatuation with podcasts yet?  Well, here is a great listen I ran across yesterday based on a suggestion from another influencer.  Y’all, soooooo good especially if you are someone who feels a struggle with not receiving affirmation for your good work or if you have the all too common mommy guilt.  One of the biggest takeaways was to think of our life the way we would think of our financial investments.  You only really want to invest in those things with the biggest and best return right?  So stop worrying about where you aren’t spending your time and the things you aren’t doing and start focusing on the areas you are investing in.  The most important is to be present where we are!

Balance

First of all, let me just say the whole notion there is such a thing as work life balance is ridiculous.  At a recent conference the speaker referred to it as work life integration and I totally feel that concept is much more reasonable.  One area I’ve been neglecting, however, is balancing our bank account and staying on a budget.  Y’all, I balanced our bank account this week for the first time since April the 9th!!  This may not be a biggie for many of you but I typically reconcile our account weekly using a simple excel spreadsheet.  Yes, it might be easier to use a program such as Quicken but I tried that last year and it ended up making me crazy.  My point is, without having all of our transactions in one place monthly all categorized I have no idea how we are really doing.  What I can tell you is out of sight out of mind because holy crap we have been spending way too much on things like dining out!  I wrote a post over a year ago with a few of my tips and some links to helpful articles and such on budgeting if you are interested in Tips to Budget Like a Queen.  While we are in a fortunate spot at the moment, I also no how quickly finances can take a turn and knowing what we are spending our money on so we have some idea where to cut is huge for me.

And that’s a wrap for me!  It’s June 1st and I just love a new month with a fresh calendar full of possibilities.  This weekend filling in that calendar with all our activities is the number one priority followed by grocery shopping and meal planning.  Even though we are entering the lazy days of summer, June will still be a busy month for us and I need to follow my own advice and remember failure to plan is a plan to fail!

If you missed the blog this week you can catch up here!

Our Long Weekend Fun

What's Up Wednesday

What’s Up Wednesday – Recapping May

May Stitch Fix Review

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Linking with||Friday Favorites with ErikaAndrea & NarciFriday FrivolityHigh Five for FridayThe Blended Blog, Fab Friday and Awesome Life Friday