Sorry about the radio silence, y'all. I don't have an excuse. It's summertime, and I've been all over the place and that's okay. I'm trying to go with the flow and live each day as it comes. I'm in a really weird place in my life where summers aren't this huge amount of freedom like they used to be growing up, but at the same time, I'm not in any kind of routine. This is really hard for me, but so far I'm learning as I go what I need to fill my days with in order to feel fulfilled, and also what I don't really need.

I need productivity. I need to blog. I need to have school or work or something on my hands to keep me busy. I kinda need a little routine.

I don't need to live my life according to how I'm supposed to be living it. I've said all of this before, but it's something that I struggle with daily. I think anyone in my generation struggles with it at times, so shout out to you guys.
Scrolling through beautiful adventures posted by others in explicit detail on Instagram or various blogs, I'm constantly feeling like I'm not keeping up with everyone. My summer isn't "summery" enough. I haven't caught enough lightning bugs or gotten a deep enough tan line. I didn't wear enough neon shorts or took enough of the same pictures of the ocean. This sounds like a bitter complaint, but really it's a reality check to myself from myself.

I need to remember that life doesn't stop because the season does. Summers are fleeting, yes, but so are all the seasons.

I don't need to waste each one by not taking it all in, but I also don't need to waste them by worrying about whether or not I'm taking it all in, you feel me?

Here's a ton of pics from our annual trip to the mountains for my dad's birthday to make up for the silence. These photos are well over a week old, and I actually just came home from a trip to Asheville to see my boyfriend, and the short trip only made me miss it all more. As much as I'm always sad about summer ending, I look forward to going back to school and enjoying the fall. Another season, another chance to take it all in.

fast times.

Updates: my little sister graduated high school and the next day, I went on a week long family vacation to the beach. It seems as though since I graduated high school two years ago, time has been moving a million miles a minute. Especially during these longer summer days, I'm finding that I'm craving more time for reflection.

I feel as though I've touched on this subject a lot, as memory keeping has always been important to me, but with the free time that summer break provides, I've been wanting to actually buckle down and keep up with it. I'm making a goal for myself to journal a bit tonight. I journaled all throughout high school, either in sketchbooks or in composition books where I would doodle and paste images, movie ticket stubs, candy wrappers; anything which held a memory, big or small.

Someday soon, I would love to get my hands on Project Life, but for now, journaling a bit in my sketchbook once or twice a week sounds more like a realistic start. I strongly encourage old school pen to paper for real reflection, because it's much easier to control your audienc and get all thoughts and memories out of your head and on to something tangible without fear or judgment. To hold myself accountable, I may share a few pages if I find them artsy or cool enough. ;)

I will also be bloggin' about that beach trip I talked about within the next week or so, I promise. I've found that this blog is so much easier to keep up with when I break things down and give myself ample time to make each post a quality one. I'm learning as I go and it feels amazing. :)

P.S. If you're local to the Charlotte area and lookin for an AMAZE cake, check out Mo Betta Cakes. My father is colleagues with the wonderful lady who runs the small business, and she ain't messin' around with her cakes. They are damn good.