Dear Summer,

Dear Summer,  On Saturday morning, my neighborhood had a yard sale, and I said goodbye to a lot of little things that had been in my room for a while. It’s always hard to say goodbye to something that has sentimental value, but in reality, it's just a stationary item that has no soul. It's really the memories that count instead of the item. Besides that, I did get to sell some of my old clothes, or clothes that I don't wear often enough. When I started this blog, I also started a minimalist lifestyle which so far, has been a little difficult. “Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”- Joshua Becker , Becoming Minimalist . This means that I have to declutter my life of many unneeded things. Before I get rid of an item, I now ask myself these questions: 1. Do I use it enough?  2. Does it make me happy or just fill up space?  3. If I kept it, would I use it in the future?  I started a mini

Dear Summer, Lately, I have been so bored! It’s been hard to find fun summer activities that include social distancing. So, here I have compiled a list of things to do when you are bored: Have a bring your own lunch picnic with your friends.  I’ve done this a couple of times with my friends, and they were so much fun! You could do it at a park, your church grounds (if they are big), or your very own backyard. Feel free to dress up and bring some fun blankets to sit on to stay apart from each other. If you are going out of the house, you might as well look cute while doing it!  Go on walks or a hike while listening to a podcast or a book.  I use the app Libby to listen to library books on my phone, and I highly recommend you download it. I also adore podcasts; click here to see what my favorite podcasts are. I’ve recently gone on a few hikes with some of my friends, and it is so much fun and great exercise!  Buy a blow up swimming pool.  Since many pools are closed for the summer, t

Dear Summer,       A couple weeks ago, I got my hair cut. If I had it my way, my head would be shaved. My mom decided to interfere and say no, ha! I got 9 inches cut off my hair, and let me tell you--it was so worth it! My hair likes to grow really fast, and I normally like to keep it long. I've only had short hair when I was in elementary school, and I have maintained it long since then. Although, it wasn't until quarantine started that I really wanted to chop my hair short really badly. I started watching different videos on youtube of people getting major haircuts, and I thought that it was just what I needed to mark a new season in my life.       The end of 2019 and the start of 2020 was such a crazy busy season. I was a leader on my school’s worship team, I had my school’s musical to prepare for, a dance recital, a dance company showcase, and school to juggle. I was absolutely overwhelmed. So, on Friday the 13th when school was postponed you can believe that I went to bed

Dear Summer, I still haven’t found any pizza places near me that make pizza as tasty as the time I was in Italy. Wow, their pizza was heavenly, and not at all like American pizza! This leads me to tell you the story of when I got lost in Italy. Now, I wasn’t by myself so don't stress, but it was very stressful at the time. Traveling back from the Pantheon, our tour guide took us to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps (which are beautiful by the way) were truly where our journey started. Our tour guide told us that we had some free time and she told us about this famous gelato place and that it was so good. So four other friends and I thought that if we were in Italy, “Why not visit a famous gelato place!” The gelato place that we went to was called Giolitti, and it was amazing! However, before I review the gelato, I should tell you how we got there. To get to Giolitti, we had to travel back to the Pantheon. The trouble was, all of the streets looked similar to each othe

Dear Summer, Since it is the summer, I have been babysitting a lot! I naturally learned how to care for children by my mom since she was a kindergarten teacher, and now, she works at our local church as the preschool coordinator. I’ve learned a lot from her, and been given a lot of advice from her that I thought would be fun to share with you! So, here are 5 tips to remember while babysitting.  Always come with a plan or activity to do. This point is super helpful because you never want the kids to be bored. If the kids are bored, then they might not be having a good time, and if they aren’t having a good time then they will tell their parents that they liked the other babysitter better from last week. This leads the parents to put you on the lower ranking on their list of people to call for a sitter. The parents do this because they want the best for their children and if they are going to spend their money on a babysitter, it's going to be a good babysitter. Ho