April was a great month for Kyle and , but it also was full of really high highs and some unfortunately sad lows. We had some exciting things happen (no I’m not pregnant ha) that I can’t wait to tell you about. Kyle’s busy season ended and we got to celebrate his birthday. Sadly we had some family members end up in the hospital multiple times and one of them lead to Grandma Ellis passing away. So grateful to know that families are forever and that we will see her again.

Easter was fun! We spent time with both sides of the family to celebrate. My mom did a big easter egg hunt for the all of us and it was HARD! We spent over 90 minutes looking for the 10 eggs she hid. She did a great job and honestly it was way fun!

I teamed up with the Last Course to meet up with some of my followers and it was way fun. I’ll be honest, I was so nervous that no one would show up, so the fact that we had so many people there meant the world to me. I have to thank everyone who came. It truly meant so much to me.

I cut my hair (again). I was not loving the layered look, so I told my hairstylist to chop it so it was all one length. We weren’t able to totally get it one length since my bangs are still struggling to grow, but it looks much better and soon it’ll be able to all be the same length, which I’m excited for!

The funeral for Grandma Ellis was wonderful. We were able to spend time with family and celebrate her life. I almost didn’t share that she passed away. I took the photo and thought about posting it, but I’ve always had a hard time sharing posts that talk about sad things that happen in my life, because I’m not one to dwell on those moments. I didn’t want to post about someone else’s death as a way to “get likes” or “feel sympathy from others”. So I didn’t post it. Then I kept thinking that I love seeing what is going on in people’s lives and seeing the everyday life, which was exactly what our weekend was full of. So I came up with a positive caption (because I really didn’t want it to feel like I was looking for sympathy) and I just let it sit there. Another day went by and I finally asked Kyle what he thought. I didn’t want to post about his grandma’s passing without his permission because it really is a very personal thing. He said it was fine and so I posted it. Kyle and I began talking a lot about why people post things on Instagram and what my intentions were. I immediately starting second guessing everything and multiple times I almost deleted my photo. I decided to get off Instagram and stay off Instagram after I posted the photo. I know it sounds really silly, but Kyle and I have a hard time with posting sad things on social media for fear that people will think we are searching for sympathy or attention (which is one of my biggest pet peeves about social media). We ended up having a really good discussion about how we can share personal things that happen for the sake of letting others in and seeing our life, because as a blogger that’s a big part of it. I really struggled though because I didn’t want people thinking I was looking for pity, trying to use sorrow as a way to get more likes, or making the funeral any less personal.

I know a lot of people that seem to use their struggles as a way to “show off” on Instagram. I’m not saying that everyone does it, but I know a few people who have and I never want it to come across that way, which is why you’ll notice I rarely post about bad days or sad things that happen to me. Not only do I not want to have those things define me, but I want to focus on the good things. When I learn to focus on the positive things that happen in my life, I learn to live a happier life. It’s not that I don’t have bad days or sad things that happen to me, it’s just that I don’t care to talk about those because I don’t ever let those take over my life. What I do allow to take over my life is how happy my little family makes me, my amazing marriage, and the fact that I own two businesses that I love running. The positive things that happen are what I like to focus on. So yes, I’ll try to share what happens in my “everyday life” because I think that it is fun to look back on, but I also think that showing your authenticity doesn’t mean negativity, which I feel like has become a trend on social media lately. If you don’t share your trials and struggles, you aren’t being real. I’m here to tell you that is a BIG FAT LIE! Authenticity doesn’t mean I have to show all my trials. Authenticity means staying true to who you are, whatever that may be for you. So how can I judge someone for their authenticity when I don’t even really know them? Okay….sorry that rant went on for much longer than I thought! hahaha

We celebrated Kyle’s birthday this month too! We went out to eat with Kyle’s brother and his wife and then just spent some time hanging out while we watched on outdoor concert. For his birthday he had work and then played in his golf league and then had a soccer game. So not a whole lot happened the day of, but he was able to play sports so I’ll call that a success for him. We had a birthday party with our friends over the weekend where we played games and had Chick Fil A cater, which was all that Kyle has been wanting for forever!

I also want to share some of my favorite finds from the last month! Some I’ve purchased, some are in my cart, and others I have similar items and have worn them over the past month! Plus I’m sharing the top items purchased from YOU guys over the last month!

My Favorite Items:

Most Purchased From YOU Guys:

Of course I have to end the post with all my favorite photos of the pups, so let’s scroll through and see how obsessed I am with them! haha