HTC Happenings, Updates & Favorite Reads // June
Now that the 4th of July has come and gone, it’s really hit me that the year is halfway over! Half of me is a little bummed that the summer is going by so fast and the other half of me is SO excited because, in just a couple short months, I can break out all my pumpkin candles and Christmas decorations! #sorrynotsorry. Here’s what’s been going on in life, here on the blog, and around the web during June:
Happenings
//OUR BIG NEWS: If you don’t follow me on snapchat (@cwhit145) then you probably haven’t heard that the little Carr family are moving to Las Vegas in September! I know, I know, another move?! Dustin’s job in Louisiana with ADT was always going to be a summer gig and we’ll be leaving the Deep South in September. Dustin and I talked about going back to AZ for a long while, but after talking about it and doing some research, we decided to go to Vegas instead. To a lot of our friends and family, that may seem a little random, but there are a lot of reasons for us to go there. For one, I have to live in the Southwest because the weather patterns (or lack thereof) really reduce the pain I feel in my left knee and hip. Las Vegas runs about 10-15 degrees cooler than Arizona, so we’ll still be able to enjoy the warm weather in the winter without being TOO warm. Las Vegas is closer to my family in Utah and Idaho, some of our best friends from college live there, it’s a bit more affordable than Arizona and there are some great Government programs to assist with first-time home buyers…which will hopefully be us in the next year!!
We’re really excited to try out a new city, to be closer to our family and friends and to experience Vegas. Dustin and I don’t have kids yet and feel like this is the time to move around and try out different places in the US so that we’ll have a good idea of where we want to settle down (although we are hoping Vegas will be it for us!)
// We saw both Independence Day: Resurgence and Finding Dory in the theaters. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND SKIP INDEPENDENCE DAY! It may have been the worst movie I’ve seen…ever. The acting was horrible, the plot lines too busy and the emotion was so cheesy. Dustin wanted to get our money back at the end. Finding Dory, on the other hand, was five stars and perfect in every way. I had a smile on my face the whole time and it was well worth the wait.
// We haven’t done much in regards to travelling, but that’s about to change in the next couple months. We have my brother’s wedding in Chicago at the end of July, I’m going home to visit New England in August and then making a pit stop in DC to visit my best friend before coming back to NOLA.
// I’m fast approaching my 10-year remission date and Dustin is taking me to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to celebrate! I’m serious when I say that I get teary just thinking about it. Harry Potter has always been my safe place during the years. Whenever things got too much for me during my chemo treatments, college exams, or my anxiety & PTSD escalated, Hogwarts was always there for me to escape to. Harry Potter reminds me daily that it is possible to enjoy the small things in life, even when things are super hard.
// Dustin qualified us for the annual ADT team trip in October! We’re going on a week long cruise to the Carribean, sailing with Royal Carribean on the Allure of the Seas. We are so, so excited to be cruising again this year and to try out a cruise line we’ve never been on before. Any tips for first timers with Royal Carribean?
//So yes, in conclusion, that is a ton of traveling coming up for us in the next 4-5 months. It’s a little overwhelming and I was actually having a lot of anxiety about it all and the toll it might have on my body, but I realized that I just need to go with the flow. There was a time where I would have given anything to live a life with this many adventures and I’m going to try my best to live in the moment and enjoy them to the fullest.
Hey There, Chelsie Blog Updates
June was another slow month for HTC on the blog front, but I spent a lot of time defining this space and figuring out where I want to take it from here on out. I feel very inspired and motivated to write again, to connect with my community and to share my pursuit in living a vibrant life.
In case you haven’t noticed, the blog also got a little facelift and I am so, SO thrilled with how it turned out. More about that later this week, but I finally feel like I found my style and branding!
AND! I finally hit 5K followers on Instagram! Hitting 5,000 followers has been such a HUGE, HUGE goal of mine and I’m so grateful, humbled and amazed that I hit it this last month! Thank you so much for supporting me over there!
HTC Recent Reads
// How I Rediscovered my Blog’s Identity
// Bloggers, BEWARE Passionfruit Ads
// What’s in my PopSugar MustHave Box (April & May)
// On Being in Limbo (in Both Life & Blogging)
// DIY Hair Mask & Permission to Spoil Yourself
// Cruise Vacation 101: How to Prep & What to Pack
Favorite Finds/Reads from Around the Web
13 Best New YA Novels for Every Summer Mood – Sea Salt Secrets // “Don’t ever become a victim of your own life.”
13 Best New YA Novels for Every Summer Mood – Now that the 4th of July is over, I am counting down the days until I can burn my pumpkin candles and pull out my sweaters. I love it when a photo from this FB page pops up in my feed and gives me ALL the Autumn Feels.
13 Best New YA Novels for Every Summer Mood – Daily Dose of Design // Beauty & Fashion bloggers who are looking to up their affiliate link game, this post is for you. It’s a thorough breakdown on how to use the ShopStyle platform and it convinced me to leave Rewardstyle!
13 Best New YA Novels for Every Summer Mood // I’m a high school teacher by trade, so I have a special spot in my heart for YA lit. I definitely want to get my hands on a couple of these books for my poolside reading!
So, that’s where life is at now that June is over. We have a lot of amazing things coming up, I’ve got some great collaborations in the works for this space and I can’t wait to see what the second half of the year brings.
Let me know what life has been like for you recently; I’d love to catch up!
