Well, Summer is officially over and here I am. It’s been a few days and I think I’m a mess. It helps though that a storm is rolling in right now so the weather is making me happy. I tried to show up here as often as I could but as usual, Summer stole my heart away and with that, my time. I suppose I’ve come here to cope *dramatic sigh*.

The end of summer always feels like the end of the year for me, is that odd? This is always the time of year where I look back on the past 12 months and ask myself what I really accomplished and what I want to do moving forward. I know most people do this at the end of December but for me, that time is right about now. Usually I’m left with an overwhelming sadness to be honest. I think it’s a combination of my favorite season being over and that I never feel like I’m where I want to be or I’ve done enough to get there, but this time is different I think…

At first, I was feeling my usual “oh shit,  summer is over and really…what have I been doing these last 12 months?” but at the first effort of deeper thought into the subject, I realized…Summer will come back and I’ve kinda been kicking ass at life if I really think about it. All my efforts might not have paid off in full yet and I’m still not perfect or someone who has it all figured out (I’ve heard that never really happens though) but Rome wasn’t built in a day my friends and hard work does pay off (Frank Gallagher voice). Oh yea, we totally got into Shameless on Netflix over the summer and just finished last night! New Episodes start again on October 2nd! Whoop whoop!!

I think another thing that makes me feel like the end of summer is the end of the year though is the way that everyone starts to get a second wind come holiday times, but it also seems like things slow down a little. There’s motivation in the air yet people seem to take time to remember that kindness and love and family are what truly matter in life. It kinda feels like the re-set button was pushed or something. It’s a nice time of year I suppose – once I get rid of my end-of-summertime-blues ;)

Those bluesy days combined with the end of an AMAZZZINNNNGGGG two week trip out west to visit family and party with friends have got me feeling a little nuts over this last week to be honest! Like I said, I’m a mess over here trying to recover and get back in the swing of things BUT I’m feeling hopeful, inspired, and motivated (for the most part, ha!). I’m feeling pretty strong and ready to keep my momentum going into this new (part of the) year. I’ve got lots of things I want to share here about things I’ve been working on and doing (including all about my trip out west!) but I’m going to ease into it all I think. I also want to finish my wedding series that I started eight million years ago :).

I just wanted to show up here today though to say that I haven’t forgotten about this little space or the beloved people who take the time out to read about what all I have going on. I have no commitments to a posting schedule for you but you can always check me out on ig @jlynnjustad (my account is private right now, I’ll be talking about that later…) or you leave your e-mail in that left column where it says ‘subscribe’ to get my posts sent right to ya!

Can’t wait to get back into the swing of things here and everywhere else! How was your summer??

xx