5 Things I Learned This Summer

Y’ALL. I made it. One full year of journaling and sharing the things I’ve learned each season, along with the WWL community & Emily P. Freeman. A year ago, I shared my very first list – 8 things I learned last summer. This also means that a year ago, I launched this new website – it’s my blog’s 1st birthday!

 

Watch for a giveaway coming later this week to celebrate and just to say thank you to you – my loyal readers! I’m still learning and figuring out this whole new space and what I want to share here. But for now, I’ll keep sharing my favorite Target finds, things I’m loving and learning, and encouraging you to live out your bonus days so you can gather joy in your everyday.

 

Now, let’s get to this summer’s list!

 

 

 

1. I’m slowly becoming an IPA drinker.

Being in the PNW and not liking IPAs, I’ve gotten some real intense eye rolls. I discovered last fall I like some dark beers, and now I’m expanding my baby beer horizons into the world of IPAs. Easy IPAS, that is. No doubles in the near future though – let’s not get carried away.

 

2. Just because everyone else loves it doesn’t mean you have to or will love it too.

All of my friends are raving about the bestseller Girl, Wash Your Face. But, if I’m being 100% honest, this book wasn’t my favorite. I know, please don’t quit reading this post! Hear me out. Leading up to the launch of the book, I listened to Rachel Hollis on multiple podcasts and fell in love with her. I loved her story, I loved her honesty, she sounded like my girl. Being so pumped to get my hands on this book, I requested it through my local library – #52 in the holds line. *GASP* This book has to be good, right? Well, it was. It was motivating, but it wasn’t moving. For me. My main problem was I had really high expectations for this book. And sometimes (read: most of the time) our expectations lead us into trouble. I’m not not recommending this book, but if you are looking for some motivating quotes and some solid truths, then I say give it a try!

 

 

3. We have visited a lot of places in Oregon!

After our latest venture to the northern part of the Oregon Coast, we realized just how many places we’ve visited in the last couple of years – and it’s a lot! From all of our adventures up and down the coast, the high desert in Central Oregon, and countless places in Portland, we are slowly leaving our footprints all over Oregon. I finally posted some of our favorite Oregon spots, including an ever-growing list of our favorite wineries and brunch spots. This post is always being updated, and I can’t wait to add more to it!

 

 

4. How to upload a php file via FTP to my website theme.

I still don’t even know what half those words mean and don’t ask me to try and repeat the process. 😂 But I learned how to create a clean page on my blog (sans menus and other features) for my instagram bio so readers can come over and find all the links they need! If you’re curious what that looks like, you can find it here!

 

5. Truly seeing that “done is better than perfect.”

But I’m still not perfect in that. Helping a friend with her new site, I caught myself repeating this mantra as we worked through her launch, setting up her Mailchimp sign-up, and her awesome self-care guides. And I kept telling myself “Danielle, take your own advice.” I can easily get hung up on all the details and wanting to make everything perfect that I end up not getting anything posted or finished to share with you. And that’s not the purpose of my mission. My main objective is to share with you what I know and what I learn, whether it’s “perfect” or not. Perfection isn’t the end goal. Sharing is the end goal. Showing up – messy or put together.

 

 

So here’s to another year of showing up – messy and all!