June, baby!

I love June. Maybe not as much as May and October, but overall, it's a pretty grand month. I say this mostly because my birthday is in June and I continue to love my birthday despite not loving the getting older part.

Since this blog has turned into monthly summaries, here are some highlights from June.

1. My brother-in-law Brendan and I went strawberry picking again. This time we drove an hour away to pick them. After the first place, which was a bust, we opted for a nearby alternative option that worked out way better. I picked another bucket, most of which I turned into jam and what wasn't jam-ifed, we ate. After our morning picking in the field, we stopped and got ice cream in West Liberty. Brendan and I are the ice cream fanatics in the Miller family and we always encourage each other's ice cream habits. 

I honestly don't know how I ordered such a big cone, but I regretted nothing.

2. I took round 5 of sewing class. This time, I am trying to make a dress. There have been a lot of hiccups along the way including cutting out my pattern wrong twice! But It's slowly coming along.

3. My mother-in-law Shirley and I had another coffee date. We've been going to different coffee spots around the city, which has been a fun adventure. (We've been to 5 different places so far). This month, we went to Galaxy Coffee Truck, picked up a drink and then headed to the nearby Park of Roses to walk around the blooms.

4. My brothers-in-law, Blake and Brendan, Levent and I had a rainy evening picnic in Jeffrey Park in Bexley. Because it was rainy, we basically had the whole park to ourselves. We sat under a shelter and enjoy the rainy views and a supper of sandwiches. I highly recommend rainy picnics!

5. My birthday weekend! I turned 39! It was so full of wonderful things that it's going to get it's own post, coming up next.

6. The 2026 World Cup started in June this year. It's actually still going on. (The final is finally this weekend). With how they set it up this year, it was so long! And I loved every minute of it. Honestly now that there isn't a game on almost every day, I am not sure what to do with myself. It was fun to work with the games on too.

7. I picked my first cucumber! I would say that I grew this, but honestly my mother-in-law has been doing all the garden maintenance. I am basically just the investor in this cucumber plant since all I did was buy it was from the farmer's market. But still! I never grew cucumbers in Kansas ever since I tried growing them when I lived with my sister and brother-in-law. The bugs ate the whole plant. So I never tried again. This time, in Ohio, the cucumber is thriving, despite the dreaded lantern flies that I catch on the vines. Eventually, I assume it will succumb to the bugs, but for now. It's living it's best life.

And that was June, baby!