end-of-month gratitudes {june 30, 2022}

It is the end of June. 2022 is halfway through.

June has been a good month. Lots of blessings to count. 

My list of June gratitudes:

1. Visiting my brother and sister-in-law at their beautiful new home in Tennessee. During this visit we visited Cherokee Dam and Panther Creek State Park, spent the day at Great Smokey Mountain National Park and drove the Cade's Cove Loop. Grainger County tomatoes. Drive past the Bush's Beans factory (the visitor center was closed). Rent a boat and cruise around Cherokee Lake. Visit the Veteran's Overlook at Bean Station (lots of history in this region). Drive through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel starting in Tennessee and end up in Kentucky. Stop at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on the way back to Ohio. Explore Middlesboro, KY. Drive across the Big Mac Bridge in Cincinnati to avoid a traffic back up.

2. Seeing deer and their fawns along the neighborhood nature trail.

3. Find $4.99 gas when most other stations' prices were at $5.15 and above.

4. The Fountains of Light at RiverScape Metro Park.

5. Shopping at Treadway Gardens.

6. Cooking with fresh veggies from farmers' markets.

7. Seeing the duck couple in yards around the neighborhood and in the creek by the nature trail.

8. Visiting my 98, soon-to-be 99 year old mother-in-law.

9. Planting basil and parsley.

10. Day in Dayton: Visiting the Dayton National Cemetery and finding Joshua Dunbar's grave. Then visiting Woodland Cemetery and finding Joshua's son's grave, Paul Laurence Dunbar. Stopping at Figlio for a Balsamic Salad and a Figlio Manhattan while a crazy thunderstorm passed through. 

11. Make garlic scape pesto.

12. Going outside at 1:00 a.m. to gaze at the Strawberry Super Moon.

13. Thursday, June 16. Getting a call from my son saying that it's time to have a baby! We weren't expecting this call until the end of the month so we got things in order, made the good ole Mac and Sausage casserole for future meals for the new parents, and drove to Cleveland to dog and house sit during their hospital stay.

14. Making Rice Krispie Treats for hospital stay nibbling.

15. June 18...the birth of our grandson! Just call me Didi.

16. Holding my sweet little guy for the first time. My heart bursting because my baby has a baby.

17. June 19...Father's Day! T's first Father's Day as Grandpa and A's very first Father's Day.

18. Walking around Lake Erie on a gorgeous day, taking in it's vastness, admiring the Cleveland skyline view.

19. Enjoying the photos and daily stories of Orv and Willa and their two eaglets who fledged thanks to the Carillon Eagle Friends.

20. Making a yummy Asian flavored salad with zoodles and other veggies.

21. The new parents come home!

22. Using $1.30/gallon Fuel Perks to get gas at $3.66/gallon.

23. Buying formula for future use for feeding the little guy.

24. Uncle P getting to see and hold his nephew for the first time.

25. Lots of beautiful sunsets.

26. Seeing Top Gun: Maverick. 

27. Exploring downtown Columbus: the Ohio Statehouse, the Ohio Supreme Court, the Scioto Mile, Leveque Tower, dinner at Marcella.