Share 4 Somethings – June 2025 Edition
Loved • Learned • Went Well • Let Go
As June wraps up and we head into the second half of 2025, here’s my latest round of 4 somethings that I have:
- Loved
- Learned
- Went well
- Let go of
And then I link up with Jenn.
These little check-ins help me reflect and appreciate what’s been happening in my corner of the world this month. I’m also sharing my previous month’s One Second Everyday video . . .
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Something I loved
- BYE, CABLE!
We finally cut the cord. After years of paying too much for cable TV—and grumbling about it—we pulled the plug at last.
After talking to a few neighbors and doing my research, we landed on Hulu Live. It gives us access to regular TV channels, including the live stuff we care about (like news, sports, and weather), plus Hulu’s on-demand shows and DVR capabilities.
So far, it’s working great—and saving us money, too. Win-win.
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Something I learned
- PEDALING FOR UNITY
The average White American has:
- 91 White friends
- 1 Black friend
- 1 Latino friend
- 1 Asian friend
- 1 mixed race friend
- 1 other race friends
- 3 friends of unknown race
The average Black American has:
- 83 Black friends
- 8 White friends
- 2 Latino friends
- 0 Asian friends
- 3 mixed race friends
- 1 other race friend
- 4 friends of unknown race
That’s something I learned last week when we met the Riders for Race Amity. (I can’t verify the stats; do your own research; count your own friends.)
Until last Friday I’d never heard of the organization.
My husband Jeff and I met the 2025 riders when they stopped at our local public library during their 900+ mile ride from Madison, Wisconsin, to Montgomery, Alabama—on bikes. Ten teenagers (plus chaperones) are traveling the country to promote race amity, community building, and service.
During the program, each student shared why they joined, and then we broke into small groups to talk about our own experiences with racism and interracial friendships. It prompted such meaningful conversations.
On their stops, they also participate in service projects. In our city, they volunteered at Manna House, one of our favorite local food distribution centers. I loved hearing how impactful it was for them to serve there.
The students rode into Montgomery earlier this week, and are visiting all three of the Equal Justice Initiative museums. If you’re ever nearby, go visit yourself.
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Something that went well
- BIRDS: 100; SQUIRRELS: 0
Squirrel-proofing success—hopefully! We’ve gone through several different bird feeders and contraptions that claimed to be squirrel-resistant, but our squirrels outsmarted each one. And would eat all the food in a few hours.
But not with this bird feeder. Not yet anyway. The birds are loving it, and the seed actually lasts more than a day now.
That said, the ground is still a buffet for the neighborhood rabbits and mallard ducks who hang out to eat the spilled seed throughout the day.
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Something I let go of
- COMPLETION, NOT PERFECTION (IN PRINT!)
Jeff and I finally finished our Storyworth books! In January 2024, our daughter Jenna gifted us a year-long subscription. We were sent weekly email prompts about our lives that we would answer and email back in.
After completing all 52 prompts by January of this year, we’ve spent the first part of 2025 editing and adding extra photos. But we eventually called it DONE and sent them off.
Letting go of perfection was the hardest part about the project for me—I kept wanting to tweak just one more thing, make one more edit, add one more photo. But the finished books are beautiful and meaningful, and now we have a lasting keepsake of our stories. Sometimes done is better than perfect.
What is something you are loving, learning, has gone well, or had to let go of this month?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
I’m linking at these blog parties
Congratulations on the completion of your Storyworth books!
The mourning doves are the clean up crew under our feeders.
Our bird feeder suctions to our window so the squirrels can’t get there…. but they definitely hang out underneath and eat whatever the birds fling down! Congrats on finishing up your books.
Your story books look great, Lisa! Yes, sometimes we have to forgo perfection or nothing will ever get accomplished. As always, loved your video, too. Blessings!
Hi, Lisa – What a great post (as usual). Letting go of perfection — so very hard to do, and so very liberating when we finally do it! <3
Hi Lisa, I love your bird feeder although those pesky squirrels are cute but can be a menace. We don’t have squirrels in Australia. The statistics you provided for Pedaling for Unity are very interesting and certainly need a shake up. Congratulations of letting go of perfection and completing your Storyworth books. I’m sure they are a wonderful memory for you. Thanks for sharing at #WBOYC? and have a lovely July. (I can’t believe we are into the second half of the year) x
Hello Lisa. I truly enjoyed reading your four somethings. I hadn’t heard of the pedaling for unity group or those statistics. We have a higher population of Hispanics in my area, and have also made several friends on our frequent trips to Mazatlan, so I have more Hispanic friends than average, but otherwise the mix seems about right for me. As for something that went well for me this month, I spent a long weekend with two of my sisters in the Bryce Canyon area. We had a delightful time!
I LOVE the sound of that Storyworth. What a fantastic keepsake. I’m off to google that… Thanks for linking up again this month.
those stats are amazing and eye and heart opening. wow. and squirrels!! we had battled them this year too though I did enjoy watching their antics as they tried to beat our ploys. Your latest feeder looks great. and congrats on finishing Storyworth. I know I was glad to get our complete and it felt so good to have that accomplished.
Loved your video. It’s just so hard to wrap my head around how much your sweet grandson has grown, Lisa. He’s adorable. I especially enjoyed his fishing experience.
Completion not perfection…that’s a hard one for me. I had to laugh this morning at breakfast. We’d gone out for breakfast and were sitting at our table waiting for our food, when I glanced over at my husband and saw him straightening up the sugar packets in the container. I looked at him and with a smile said to him, “Is my OCD rubbing off on you?” The sad thing is that the older I get the more drawn I am to “perfection” rather than completion.
I loved hearing about the Pedaling for Unity group! What a blessing. One thing that caught my eye when I saw the poster was “I don’t see color”. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all could claim that? I try, but I know there are times I fail.
I really enjoyed your 4 things Lisa! Well done on the book, I’m sure they’re a great keepsake for you and your family. It is hard to let go of perfection though isn’t it?
Thanks for joining us for this month’s #WBOYC and all the best for July.
Just a note–your video is the May one rather than the June one. 🙂 I did find the June one on YouTube by clicking on your name there in the May video. Your grandson is getting so big! Looks like you had a full month.
We quit cable, too, some time back. My husband wanted to–I didn’t. 🙂 But it has worked out okay. He got the Amazon Fire Stick which lets us watch and record regular programming. We pay for a few streaming services that we can watch through it.
What an interesting thing for the Riders for Race Amity to do.
Your books look so nice! How fun to have them completed. I understand wanting to continue to tweak and edit. I am that way with just about anything I write. I started “Mom’s memoirs” for my kids a while ago but never got back to it. I may look into something like this for both structure and pacing.
I was slower too to give up cable than Jeff was. But no regrets so far. I imagine your family would love for you to finish your “Mom’s memoirs” one day! That would be a treasure for Timothy to read too when he gets older.
You’re right about the video…I have to post the older one each month because the current month isn’t over yet when I post the Share 4 post. 🙂
Thank you for sharing that information about Riders for Race Amity, an inspiring project. Your StoryWorth books look so beautiful, truly a treasure for keeps.
I just went through the kitchen and found assorted jars and mismatched lids to let go of. I allow those to pile up far too long! A small thing but it does give me a sense of accomplishment.
What a great project – the Storyworth Books – what a treasure for your family. I know I would have wanted to read the words from my grandfather and grandmother! Your video is so precious – those grands are life-changers aren’t they! We’re expecting a new one early next year. One of the things I have been blessed to see as my sons have grown up, is their friends that came for Hamburger and Hotdog Thursday – so many beautiful friends around the table – where value was placed on the heart of the individual (and probably ability to make good jokes) instead of skin color. Some have been there since high school, some joined in college – and they are all doing life together now. Riders for Race Amity sounds like they are doing life together, too.
Such a beautiful picture of your family and friends gathering around for Hamburger and Hotdog Thursday. That is a gift not only to each of you, but to the world at large that you continue to invite all to your table, Maryleigh!
Your Storyworth Books are beautiful and will provide precious memories for your family! And now you will have me thinking about friends and counting 🙂
The Race for Amity project sounds so enlightening! I will have to watch for events near me to learn more. Before I retired, my district did so much work in this area and I was blown away by all the misconceptions I had, mostly out of ignorance. Congrats on finishing your Storyworth books! What treasures! My nephew had gifted my mom with one just as Covid hit and she wrote in it religiously. She passed away quite quickly in August of 2021 (10 days from her diagnosis until she passed) and I’ll never forget my nephew stopping by our house a few days later with Mom’s newly published Storybook! I cherish it!
Crying as I read the story about your mom. I’m sorry that you lost her. What a treasure that she wrote her Storyworth stories and you now have her book! We never know what the future holds.
Lisa, I enjoyed reading about your four highlights for the month of June. The part about the ducks waiting for you to leave so they could have a snack made me laugh! I’m also glad to hear that you successfully squirrel-proofed your feeder. We cut our cable years ago, and it was the best decision we ever made. Thank you for sharing your post with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party; we truly enjoyed it. 🙂 I hope you’ll join us again for the next party starting tomorrow!
Glad to hear that you have no regrets about cutting the cord. It’s been less than a month now for us, but so far I’m happy about it! And even happier when our AT&T bill now is much smaller with only internet and not U-Verse cable costs. 🙂
Those are interesting statistics. Even having lived overseas, I can say that most of the friends that have kept in touch have been white…I never really thought about it. Yay for a birdfeeder that is working well! The story worth book idea sounds amazing!! What a great keepsake.