Letter from TeriLyn – August 2024

It’s hard to believe it’s September. Last year, I realized that I dislike Winston-Salem the most during the summer, so I’m not sorry to say goodbye to the heat! Here’s what’s been happening in the last month.

LIFE

Things have just felt hard lately, to be honest. Thomas must be going through something developmental because, wow, he’s had some big, big, big emotions lately. But the fun side of that development is that his imagination is incredible, and he is so fun. He’s very into Ghostbusters and wore his Ghostbuster shirt nonstop for almost a week straight (even sleeping in it). I was finally able to sneak it away to put it in the wash last night, and of course, he asked about it 10 minutes into the cycle.

Charles continues to be the happiest little thing. He is such a joy, and I love how much joy he brings to others since he smiles at everyone. He rarely cries unless he’s hungry or tired, and I do not take that for granted since Thomas was NOT an easy baby. Charles started solids last month, and it’s funny how nervous I am about it. I wasn’t really nervous with Thomas, and we did Baby Led Weaning. With Charles, I’m much more comfortable with purees, so that’s mainly what we’re sticking with so far. I would have expected the opposite with a first vs. second kid.

At the end of the month, our basement flooded. We had the plumber out, and they thought the water line from the washing machine was clogged, so they flushed it, and we thought it was resolved. Then, we did laundry again, and it flooded- but even worse. It turns out the sump pump had failed, and we had standing water everywhere- including under the floors- so we had to get all the floors ripped up. While I hate that the real issue wasn’t identified the first time, it’s also partly a blessing because I’m not sure we would have realized there was water underneath the floors if it hadn’t flooded a second time. There was definitely water under the floors the first time, but the second flood made it evident since even more water had pooled, and when you stood on the floors, water came up between the cracks. I’m so thankful it was the basement, not the main or upper level, which would have been worse.

It’s a pain to deal with (especially since the playroom and my workout room are now out of commission), but I’m incredibly grateful for our contractor, who came out the very next day (before a long weekend, no less) to rip out the floors to make sure we avoided mold issues. I’m telling ya, if you are in Winston-Salem, you can do NO better than using QFC for home renovations. Since they did our renovation, we now have access to them for all maintenance-type work, and it’s such a blessing.

TRAVEL

The big thing we did in August was travel to Utah to see my family! After we went to Utah for Memorial Day last year, I realized it was the BEST visit for two reasons: first, we weren’t in Salt Lake City, and second, everyone was together. When I visit my hometown, all my family is working, so we’re trying to fit in quality time around their work schedules, and it can be challenging. And my hometown is now SO big and so crowded that it doesn’t really feel like home.

Plus, I love it when my entire family is together. We’re so blessed that everyone gets along—all the siblings, in-laws, nieces, and nephews not only get along, but we like each other. And it’s just so fun and special to be with everyone, where we have lots of time doing things away from the day-to-day grind of life.

My favorite memories growing up are with my family over Memorial Day Weekend and our family campouts, and I hope Thomas and Charles get to make those same memories. So, my plan going forward is to schedule my Utah trip around those two things. It’s a lot more work than just flying into SLC since we have to drive 2-3 hours after flying to get to where my family spends time for MDW and camping, but it’s well worth it. (Remind me of that on the day we’re traveling. Woof, it’s a long day.)

Thomas had an absolute blast and is still talking about his cousins and asking when they’re coming to visit. I need to work on the Chatbook from our trip since we look at those at bedtime every night, and he loves them. He calls them “Thomas books,” lol—main character syndrome, much? But I really do think that helps him remember the names of my Utah family since we talk about them every night! (Hot tip if you use Chatbooks – email yourself funny things your kids say and then print them in the book. I have a quote page at the end of every book since I started doing it, and I love it so much. Use the code TERILYN when you order Chatbooks.)

WORK

I only had a few sponsored campaigns in August, so it wasn’t too crazy, which was nice after the madness of the Nordstrom sale! In August, here’s what went up:

Colleen Rothschild – I had a few IG stories go up about CR, which is always easy since I use their products daily and love them! I’ve worked with them for over a year now, and they are one of the kindest brands I’ve ever worked with. If you haven’t tried their cleansing balm, tinted eye cream or hair mask, you must! (Full Colleen Rothschild review here!)

Adidas – I’ve worked with Adidas a few times over the years, and while this campaign wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked (we had some issues with the shipments), I thankfully LOVED the featured product – the Dropset 3 training shoes. I’d needed to buy better shoes for lifting since I’m spending more time in the gym and this campaign came at the perfect time. I did CrossFit for years, and these are by far the best shoes I’ve used for lifting and plyometrics. See the Adidas reel from that campaign here.

Target – The 3rd round of content for my partnership with Huggies through Target went up in August. I’d used Coterie diapers for years; I found them when Thomas was six months old, and it was the only brand that didn’t give him a rash. They’re super pricey but very soft and didn’t irritate his skin, so I just stuck with them. But when this campaign came up, I tried the diapers out and was elated that the new Skin Essentials diapers are almost as soft as Coterie, a lot cheaper, don’t irritate Charles’s skin, and are much easier to get since they’re at Target. I canceled my Coteirie subscription and have been so happy! The Huggies Skin Essentials wipes are great, too (also better than Coterie!). I do miss the convenience of a subscription, but it’s easy enough to add the Huggies to my Target orders. You can see the August Huggies content I published here.

Mejuri – I’m always beyond flattered when Mejuri reaches out since it’s a brand I LOVE and I wear almost daily. They make the most beautiful jewelry (I have a full Mejuri review here) and for this campaign, I got to review a variety of pieces (earrings and rings). They requested a YouTube video which is always a bit out of my comfort zone, but I do think video is a great platform for that type of content to really show the quality and what makes it different! You can see the August Mejuri video I did here.

These weren’t sponsored, but you can see the two most popular IG post from August here and here and my personal favorite IG post here. My favorite blog post that went up was the Oliveda Internals blog post because those products have really helped my joint pain, and I’m so grateful.

As always, I’m so thankful when you engage with my content since it’s a major way that brands evaluate my campaign performance, and if I get to work with them again. On Instagram, comments and shares (simply sending my post to a friend!) are especially helpful!

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Alright, I need to get out of bed and go help Tommy with the boys! I’ve been up since 5 since Charles ate then, but thankfully he went back to sleep, and I’ve gotten some time to write!