June was a wild ride! From an incredible vacation to major house problems, we certainly won’t forget this month anytime soon! Read on for all the details. Check out Leigh Kramer’s linkup to see what other bloggers are into this month too!
TV Shows
Younger – It’s back!!! My friends and I eagerly awaited Season 5, but it hasn’t quite lived up to expectations yet. Hoping it gets better as the season progresses. Right now, totally Team Diana! Did you know Marriage Vacation is actually a real book now? I can’t wait to read it.
Game of Thrones – After visiting a few filming locations while in Northern Ireland, we jumped back into GoT and wrapped up Season 3 last weekend. By the way, how adorable were the pictures from Rose Leslie and Kit Harrington’s wedding!? I just love those two.
Movies
Letters from Iwo Jima – This movie tells the story of the Battle at Iwo Jima during WWII from the Japanese soldiers’ perspective. It’s a masterpiece. I couldn’t believe how invested I became in their plight. I’m looking forward to watching Flags of Our Fathers now, which shows the battle from the American side.
The Disaster Artist – We watched this on a complete whim one night and absolutely fell in love. James Franco is simply phenomenal as Tommy Wiseau, the producer, writer, and actor in his cult classic creation, The Room. It’s weird but oddly funny.
Fahrenheit 451 – I wrote a complete book vs movie review over on Literary Quicksand, which you can find here. To sum up, I adore the book but was utterly disappointed by the movie.
Books
Check out my latest reading roundup post here! I’m currently reading:
Events/Activities
One Year Anniversary – We made it! One whole year together (even with me asking every week if we could eat our wedding cake ha!) I was VERY concerned that our top tier wouldn’t taste as delicious after a whole year and two power outages. So, I ordered a backup cake. Surprisingly, our cake tasted pretty decent (at least once you scraped off the outer icing). Plus, we enjoyed a fresh chocolate cake as well. Win win!
Ireland Vacation – A significant portion of June was spent on a whirlwind tour of Ireland!! We visited all the highlights and fit in a day in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Isle of Islay! Here’s our itinerary. I’ll post a full recap of the trip soon.

Giant’s Causeway
Ceiling Collapse – After our vacation, we were looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home with no plans. Unfortunately our house had other ideas. We noticed a leak in the ceiling of our bedroom. The A/C technician fixed it within an hour, but just as he was getting ready to leave the drywall collapsed!! There’s now a gaping hole in 1/3 of the ceiling. We called insurance after cleaning it up and finding mold on most of the drywall. Sigh. Now, we’re waiting for the adjuster to come out and get the process started. #LifeOfAHomeowner
What I’m Loving
New Bookshelf – Jay made me a bookshelf!! I picked out the design, showed him a picture, and he worked his magic in the garage. I’m thrilled with the results and my books are happy to be off the floor.
Garden Progress – My garden this year consists of tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, and one resilient pepper plant that sprouted on its own from the remains of last years peppers! We purchased the broccoli and green beans from a local greenhouse. Although, broccoli apparently grows well in cool weather, so I’m not sure it’ll survive these 90+ degree days…
Scribd – Still going strong with Scribd!! At this point I don’t even listen to the radio anymore in the car. I might have to keep paying the $10 a month once my free subscription runs out. If you want to try it out, you can use my link to get two months free!
Ghiradelli Brownie Mix – If I don’t feel like making brownies from scratch, Ghiradelli is my go-to brand. I made these and topped them off with homemade chocolate frosting. Pure decadence 🙂
Reddit “What’s That Book” topic – Jay introduced me to the hilarity that is this topic. Users who can’t remember the titles of books they’ve read post vague summaries in the hopes someone will recognize it. Surprisingly a lot get solved and the descriptions are often hilarious.
What were you loving in June?
Here’s what I was loving in May!
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28 Comments
Linda Stoll
July 2, 2018 at 8:42 amRachel, oh that luscious looking cake.
Right now, please!
Visiting from next door at Leigh’s …
Michele Morin
July 2, 2018 at 9:05 amOh, I’m so sorry about your ceiling!
Hopefully the gorgeous new bookcase will distract you during this time of repair and renovation!
Kendra
July 2, 2018 at 12:30 pmHappy anniversary! I didn’t get to eat any cake at our actual wedding, and then we forgot to eat it on our first anniversary. Amazingly it still tasted good on our SECOnD anniversary! Love that bookcase!
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:40 pmThat’s unreal!! What an excellent baker you must have had.
Allison
July 2, 2018 at 3:18 pmOh no–so sorry about your ceiling collapse! I love the bookcase.
Can’t wait to hear more about your trip! I just checked out your itinerary and it looks like you saw some amazing places.
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:41 pmWe did! I love recapping trips because it’s a blast to go back through pictures and remember everything that happened. Ireland was particularly chock full of beautiful views.
Maggie
July 2, 2018 at 3:18 pmOh no! So sorry to hear about the ceiling collapse. Ugh, homeownership can be so difficult sometimes. Best of luck with the insurance and the repairs! And happy anniversary!
Angela
July 2, 2018 at 7:32 pmOh, no, I hope that ceiling issue is fixed soon! Happy anniversary! We ate the top tier of our cake on our 1st, as well. Looking forward to your Ireland pics – I’ve always wanted to go there!
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:38 pmHopefully the first batch will be posted next week! Was your cake any good after a year?
Allison @ My Novel Life
July 4, 2018 at 11:38 amWow! What a month. Happy anniversary. That’s awesome you guys went to Ireland. I bet it was amazing. I’ve always wanted to go there. I hope your ceiling gets fixed soon. Homeowner’s insurance claims can be slow and frustrating. We had a leak in our bathroom tile this past winter and ended having to remodel the entire bathroom after finding black mold in all the walls. I feel your pain!
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:37 pmSounds horrible! It’s weird knowing it’s been there the whole time while we’re happily living in the house. If you ever make it to Ireland let me know and I can give suggestions!!
Carly
July 5, 2018 at 8:43 amWhat an eventful month! Your trip to Ireland sounds so amazing. Such a bummer about the leak/drywall– definitely one of the joys of being a homeowner, lol. I hope you guys are able to get it fixed quickly once the insurance adjuster comes out. I haven’t read Fahrenheit 451 in years and remember not really liking it, but I did want to see the movie but I’m not in a rush to see it.
Carly
July 5, 2018 at 8:46 amWhat an eventful month! Your trip to Ireland sounds so amazing. Such a bummer about the leak/drywall– definitely one of the joys of being a homeowner, lol. I hope you guys are able to get it fixed quickly once the insurance adjuster comes out. I haven’t read Fahrenheit 451 in years and remember not really liking it, but I did want to see the movie but I’m not in a rush to see it. Love your new bookshelf- I’m reading Us Against You right now too.
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:36 pmI’m flying through Us Against You! So far, it’s living up to Beartown. What do you think?
Confuzzled Bev
July 5, 2018 at 9:39 amOh wow, sorry about your ceiling.
The bookshelf is gorgeous!
Kay
July 5, 2018 at 10:16 amThats really unfortunate that the ceiling collapsed. So sorry.
Rose and Kit’s wedding pics sure were gorgeous!
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:36 pmI had to explain to my Mom that Rose and Kit were married in real life because she thought I was spoiling a GoT plot line!!
SMD
July 5, 2018 at 11:16 amI love your bookshelf!
Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings...
July 5, 2018 at 12:16 pmI tried the Ghiradelli Brownie mix back in the winter. One bite and I knew I had messed up. No other brownies stand a chance now… LOL! Ireland looks lovely. I would love to go back and see the Giant’s Causeway. What an interesting site that must be! #LifeOfAHomeowner indeed! Sorry about your ceiling debacle. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 2:35 pmHa! It really is that good. Ours were gone in two days. The Giant’s Causeway was more breathtaking than I expected! There are a few trails to hike as well, which made it even more worthwhile.
Olya @ The Siberian American
July 5, 2018 at 1:33 pmYay for Ireland and congrats on one year of marriage! 🙂
Kristin
July 5, 2018 at 3:17 pmYounger is on Hulu? I just finished season 4 and would love to keep going.
Congrats on one year!
Rachel Kamery
July 5, 2018 at 3:19 pmSadly Season 5 isn’t on Hulu 🙁 I’m watching on TVLand.com, but you’ll need a cable subscription (or a friend with a cable login like I’m doing ha).
Kristen
July 5, 2018 at 3:53 pmoh your new bookshelf is so pretty! hope you like us against you, it took me a long time to get into it but i loved the end. oh my gosh the ceiling! that is terrifying. hope it is fixed soon!
Laura
July 5, 2018 at 9:20 pmUgh so sorry about the house stuff!! Happy anniversary though! And I have just heard about the show Younger, I need to check it out!
Dani
July 6, 2018 at 12:50 pmUgh, so sorry to hear about your ceiling- that’s awful! I hope you get it fixed up soon! So jealous of your Ireland trip- and getting to see GoT filming locations! I love that show so much, and can’t wait for it to return. I love how you packed everything in to your itinerary too- it looks very similar to how I plan mine! Happy anniversary!
Rachel Kamery
July 6, 2018 at 3:06 pmI’m counting down the months until next year as well! We saw a live set where something was on fire while we were in Belfast, so I’m eager to watch next season and see if we can spot any of the buildings we saw!!
Leigh Kramer
July 7, 2018 at 2:31 pmIreland is my favorite place! What a wonderful trip. Happy anniversary!