100 things (summer edition!)

I love sliced tomatoes with sea salt. Basil from the garden, on everything. Eating berries like candy and watching my fig tree grow in the front yard. I love perusing the farmers market on a Saturday morning and bringing home bread and veggies and coffee. I love watching fireflies light up our backyard at night.

I love zumba classes in the morning and splash pads in the afternoon. I love outdoor yoga at Bailey Park. I love when we “cheers” at the dinner table and the boys clink their plastic sippy cups together. I love riding scooters and playing tag and feeling like a kid again. 

I love making a batch of no-bake energy bites for the week and eating them in two days. I love banana pancakes for breakfast and giant salads for lunch. I love the smell of wood-fired pizza at Cugino Forno. I love cookie dough ice cream, especially when it gets a little melty. 

I love flower bouquets from Trader Joe’s, meeting other families at the park, and afternoons spent splashing in the creek. I love reading in the car on road trips and watching the boys run in their matching yellow Crocs. I love 4th of July picnics and eating endless bowls of my mom’s homemade pasta salad. 

I love creating family photo albums on Shutterfly, and I love how much the kids enjoy looking at them and naming everyone. I love Shark Tank reruns and the Jubel remix of Dancing in the Moonlight. I love reading The Jesus Storybook Bible. I love baby announcement photos and bringing food to a new mom.

I love sinking my feet into the sand right at the shoreline, and the feel of the ocean water rushing over them. I love biking everywhere at the beach and getting just slightly sunburned. I love jumping into cool water after getting sweaty, and baking in the sun when I get out. I love when I find that absolutely perfect seashell and am convinced it must be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries known to mankind. 

I love listening to August by Taylor Swift and Mmmbop by Hanson, preferably in the car with the windows down. I love the Survivor album by Destiny’s Child. I love rereading Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and watching Season 4 of Stranger Things with my eyes half-closed the entire time. 

I love the sound of the ice cream truck, and that little bit of chocolate at the bottom of the cone. I love filling up the baby pool in the front yard, bringing out popsicles, and letting the boys run around in their diapers. I love checking on my garden and finding that a tomato has ripened. 

I love going on a walk after the kids are in bed and listening to a podcast, or just the cicadas. I love when I catch a glimpse of the sunset behind the towering trees in our backyard. I love that Juneteenth is now recognized as a federal holiday. I love when people have their windows down at a stoplight and I can hear their music. 

I love making small talk about the weather with my older neighbors—Did you know there’s supposed to be a record high today? I love the sweet smell of gardenias and brightly colored rainbow chard plucked straight from the dirt. I love slicing into a peach and knowing it’s going to be a good one. 

I love the sound of ice clinking in a glass and the taste of cold brew with cream. I love stargazer lilies when they’ve just bloomed. I love writing in the morning light of 6am and the feeling of satisfaction when I submit an essay. I love emailing with my writing group and texting funny memes to friends.

I love the smell of my sister-in-law’s cinnamon rolls, hearing the crash of ocean waves from the deck, and watching my boys play with their cousins. I love celebrating all the July birthdays in our family, celebrating our wedding anniversary (6 years this August!), and looking at wedding photos.

I love library story time and ice cold watermelon and bright, puffy blue hydrangeas. I love when Josh grills on a Friday evening, and I love hamburgers with pickles and ketchup. I love spending an afternoon at the pool and then going straight to Five Guys for dinner. I love listening to Maverick City Music.

I love watching the boys make imaginary food in their outdoor mud kitchen. I love going blueberry picking in the relative cool of early summer mornings. I love smoothies and iced lemon water and the coconutty smell of sunscreen. I love colorful chalk drawings on sidewalks and messages written in the sand.

I love the sounds of popcorn popping in the microwave and fizzy soda cans opening. I love pulling the kids in a wagon and hanging beach towels over the railing to dry. I love eating lowcountry boil off a newspaper and looking up lobster roll recipes, even though I will probably always leave it to the professionals.

I love the sound of a baseball bat making contact with a baseball. Salty, crunchy peanuts right out of the shell. A crowd cheering for the home team. When the fireworks stop and everything feels quiet. 

I love reading Elin Hilderbrand books and dreaming of visiting Nantucket. I love pineapple Spindrift and picking the crumble topping off a cobbler. I love letting my hair air-dry and painting my toenails pink. I love the splash of cannonballs in the pool, water balloon fights, and the sweet, slow cadence of summertime.

(Inspired by this post from Katie Blackburn!)