Snapshots, Snakes, and Sheet Music: A July Life Update
Share 4 Somethings - July 2025
Each month I share 4 somethings that I have:
- Loved
- Learned
- Went well
- Let go of
And then I link up with Jenn.
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Something I loved
- Photo Album Joy, Take Two
I still love having hard copy photos in actual photo albums—the old-school, page-turning kind. There’s just something about holding a memory in your hands that feels more solid to me than tapping through a phone gallery.
So I’ve been slooooowly selecting and printing photos from the past ten years. I was excited to finish sorting my 2019 photos a couple weeks ago. I placed a large order with Snapfish for printing.
And then . . . I was disappointed when they arrived. The prints were too dark. However, Snapfish customer service was amazing! They let me tweak the photos on my end, then have the whole batch reprinted for free—including shipping.
After one more week of mini edits, I submitted the do-over order last Sunday. I got an email yesterday that the photos have been reprinted and have shipped. I’m looking forward to receiving them, adding dates to the backs, and putting them in my album. Onward to 2020 photos next!
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Something I learned
- Playing It by Ear (Literally)
After a lifetime of playing piano with trusty sheet music, I decided this year to learn to play by ear, something I’ve always been in awe of, but felt was out of my reach.
Is this even possible for me?
According to YouTube, it is possible. I’ve been working through a few videos with my keyboard and it’s actually working!
Don’t expect me to perform this feat for anybody else’s ears though (unless you count my husband Jeff overhearing me), but it’s been so fun for my private entertainment. I’ve loved picking out favorite songs and finally understanding how to layer in chords.
And because I won’t give up my beloved sheet music altogether, I downloaded a piece I’ve fallen in love with—I Giorni (‘The Days’) by Ludovico Einaudi. Playing it feels so good to my soul.
Listen to I Giorni here for a soothing meditation.
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Something that went well
- Walls So Fresh, I’m Afraid to Touch Them
After 20+ years in our house, we finally had the interior repainted.
Prepping was more intense than I expected (I still can’t find all the things I stashed away).
And now I’m currently living in fear of touching the walls. They’re just so clean. Like having a new car, I need to get that first ding out of the way so I can stop obsessing.
Next month: new flooring. Then hopefully we’ll be done for this round of major home updates. Maybe for another two decades?
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Something I let go of
- Coexisting, Snake Edition
I’m trying to let go of the false illusion that I don’t live in close quarters with all manner of wildlife. (Although I’ll still say it’s a myth that you’re always within 4 feet of a spider.)
When I spotted a very long snake sunning outside my back door, my old instincts kicked in to GET THE HOE. But my newer, more accommodating self said, “That’s a good snake.”
So I let it be. And watched as it slithered on its way through the backyard, hopefully not to return!
Same goes for the geese in my yard. Yes, they poop on the driveway, but lately I’ve stopped shooing them off (it does no good anyway).
And for the first time ever, I even let a spider live inside my house. I won’t make it a habit—it was a one-time-only offer—I just wasn’t ready to get a squish mark on my freshly painted walls. A spider’s lucky day!
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
You are a brave woman, my friend. That snake would not have slithered away in my presence…well, in my husband’s presence because I’m too afraid of them to try killing them myself. I tried running over one in our driveway with our car once and ended up chasing it up on to the front porch. lol
Go You for taking on the challenge of learning something new that you’ve always wanted to learn!
And freshly painted walls are a bit intimidating to me…it’s like you said…let’s get the first ding out of the way and move on. 😉
xx
One reason the snake got to live was because Jeff was gone. ha. A few years back when he was gone I tried killing a snake with his hunting rifle, and the only thing it accomplished was scaring the neighbors and me. But I was kinda glad I missed when all was said and done, so I guess something shifted in me then.
Yes, the freshly painted walls are a bit intimidating – that’s a great word for it! Next week we get new carpet which might be even more intimidating to me. 🙂
Your freshly painted walls do look wonderful, Lisa! You’ll get over that “new car smell” after a while. And as always, I love your one-second per day segments. You choose the best to share with us. Blessings!
Thanks, Martha. We’re really pleased with how the walls turned out, even though they’re the same basic color we had before. We’re not very adventurous. ha.
I love how you’re always challenging yourself, Lisa. 🙂 Whether it’s to learn something new or to overcome a fear. As always, I love the one-second video. Love, hugs, and blessings to you!
Thank you, friend. There is always something new to be learned! I’m just not very speedy as I learn them. ha. Hope you’re well!
Your grandson has such a cute laugh. I don’t know if I could have coexisted with a snake, even a good one. I like handheld photos and albums, too. I’ve wanted for years to make a “legacy” one so my kids would know something about my grandparents. Lately that’s been on my heart even more.
Someone asked recently what’s something we always wanted to learn. One of my answers was playing a musical instrument–the piano or cello (another was painting). But I’ve always felt that it would take so long to get proficient enough with it to enjoy it that it wouldn’t be worth the time, when I have so many other things I want to do. But learning by ear might be worth looking into.
Jim painted most of the interior rooms of the house at the beginning of this year (he had done a couple of bathrooms and bedrooms earlier, then decided to leave the rest until he retired). I know what you mean about having fresh, clean walls! There are a few things I still haven’t hung back up. I’m not a minimalist by any means, and I love my decorations–but I’m also kind of loving the cleaner look of less stuff on the walls.
I love the idea of a legacy photo album to hand down. I have boxes of old photos that I should do something like that with. When I did my Storyworth book, I included several photos and stories about my grandparents in case future generations should ever care to read it. ha.
I encourage you to pick up an instrument because you could learn enough fairly quickly to enjoy it! I have a friend our age who just started learning to play the piano by using her kids old piano books. She’s already learned enough to play a few songs that she really enjoys, then goes back and learns a little more.
We still haven’t hung anything up on our walls except the calendar. Priorities! ha. But we’re getting new carpet next week, so I might as well wait until all the work people are finished banging around the house before I put anything up. I actually lean toward minimalism, so having the bare, clean walls has felt refreshing. Nonetheless, I do want to put my family pictures back up before too much longer.
Oh no…no…no…no. The snake would freak me out. I was mowing our yard a few years ago when I ran over something, yep, a snake. I didn’t know what to do, do I keep going forward, stop, or what. After a mini freak out I just kept going, couldn’t even look at it to see what damage I might have done. I never mowed that yard again, LOL! I couldn’t risk it.
I have a mini freakout just reading about your running over a snake on the lawn mower! lol. Snakes are just so creepy (no pun intended).
Lisa, right? I am scarred for life, LOL!
I’m glad that you let that spider have a lucky day. Fresh, clean walls and one happy spider – win-win all around! <D
Yes, it was a good day for everyone! 🙂 Until I see the spider again somewhere else…ha.
Lisa…always appreciate what you share!
I have used “Shutterfly” in the past as the quality of their photo prints has been so good. On your recommendation, I just placed an order on “Snapfish” as they are currently having an amazing sale on their 4×6 prints for 2 cents (plus shipping). I am doing up blank cards with photos on the front …photos from my devotional book. I will be selling the cards and copies of the book at our Holiday Bazaar which will be the end of October. Stay tuned!
What a beautiful idea, Lynn! I love that you’ll be selling photo cards from your book. I hope Snapfish does a good job for you. I’ve used Shutterfly also and have been pleased with their photos too. But yes, Snapfish has amazing deals from time to time and you can’t beat those prices.
I actually got my reprinted photos in the mail today and they turned out great! I’m so pleased!
I’ll let you know how the prints come through…they are on their way so it won’t be long!
Yay! Another thing I like about Snapfish is they do the job fairly quickly. Do let me know how they turn out!
The walls look so lovely! Living right on the water we have a crazy amount of geese on our lawn at any time and I’ve completely given up on trying to shoo them away. They just come right back moments later anyway!
Exactly – our geese rule the neighborhood and there’s nothing we can do about it. So I give in. We have a spring-fed lake in the middle of the neighborhood so technically the geese were here first anyway and we’re the ones who invaded their territory. 🙂
I haven’t printed photos in so long. I can’t even remember how long. I love the idea with an album to thumb through and share with visitors.
I don’t print photos very often anymore either, Carol. But I do love to have actual photos to hold in my hand! Maybe it’s partly nostalgia. But it’s also fun to send photos in the mail to my young grandchildren. I hope they get a kick out of them when they see them.
I giggled at the spider squishing comment – and shuddered at the thought of always only being a few feet away from one. We have a grass snake that lives in next door’s bamboo and occasionally slithers over the fence. It’s one of the nice ones… Thanks for linking up with us.
I sometimes wonder how many snakes we could see if we had x-ray vision (or whatever kind of vision it would take to see through vegetation, ha). I’m glad you have a nice snake, too. My husband says the only good snake is a dead snake, but that’s not true. lol.
I hope your photos come out well! On living with wildlife, I just read a lovely book, Bird Cottage, about a woman who made her home a bird sanctuary (and she loved spiders too). I’m sure she didn’t appreciate any bird-eating snakes, though …
I’m interested in how you’re learning to play by ear, do you mean you’re learning to copy what you hear without looking at music? Or improvising chords to melodies you know? I also wish I’d learned that skill. If I ever had time I might try your YouTube method.
Bird Cottage sounds like a beautiful premise! Jeff and I honeymooned in Hawaii many years ago, and our hotel room opened up into an atrium filled with birds each morning. They were an amazing sound to wake up to.
Yes, I’m trying to learn how to add chords to songs I hear. I can pick out the simple melody notes fairly easily, but I’ve never understood how to add in the left hand harmonies. Slowly but surely, I’m getting there! It’s been a combination of book learning about chords, but also a lot of trial and error by experimentation.
My photos came in today and they turned out SO much better than the original batch! I’m glad I put in the extra effort to edit them for the send printing, even though it was time-consuming. I made them look a little too light and a little blue on my laptop, so when they were printed, they looked just right. That’s not how the process *should* work, but this time it did. ha.
Have you always played the piano or is this a new skill? I love it that you are stretching yourself into a new level of skill. that is so cool but a snake… ugh…
Yes, I’ve played the piano since I was a young girl, but strictly by sight-reading. My uncle who passed last year was an amazing piano player by ear. We could hum a favorite song to him, and he could start playing a full rendition of it. It always seemed like magic to me! And something far out of my reach. But maybe not? I’ll never be as good as he was, but maybe I can learn enough for my own pleasure anyway. 🙂
I’d still rather NOT see another snake near my house again, for the record though… ha
Hi, Lisa – I was sure that I commented on this post, but I have no idea where my comment went. Just in case it is permanently lost,
I loved reading this update and am delighted that the spider got to live another day! <3
Thanks, Donna. Your other comment is showing up now, but I always appreciate hearing from you again. 🙂 I haven’t seen another spider yet, but I have killed a couple of houseflies – but I waited until they landed on something other than the wall before I swatted them! lol.
<3
As long as it’s the right sort of spider, spiders in the hosue are good luck (and help prevent you getting malaria…). Not sure about the snakes….
Love that you are aiming for music by ear. I don’t know how anyone does that but I keep seeing so many musicians who can. It’s an incomprehensible feat (and astounds me that brains can do that).
Go you! #WBOYC
Interesting facts about spiders – I didn’t know that, Lydia! But yeah, snakes…I definitely prefer they stay a bit further away from me if possible. ha.
I still can’t understand either how some people can just pick up an instrument and make beautiful music right away with it. I’ll never achieve that – it’s a gift I don’t have. But hopefully I can learn enough music theory to make it happen more methodically, since I can’t do it naturally. 🙂
Hi Lisa, your posts are always a joy to read and so inspiring. I’m so very behind on photo albums and travel books that it has become too overwhelming. I’m hoping to do a couple of our smaller trips to get me back into the swing of things. What a challenge to play by ear but I’m sure you will rise to the challenge as you do with most things. Thanks so much for joining us for #WBOYC. Have a lovely August. Sue L xx
Getting so far behind caused great overwhelm with my photos too, Sue! And the further behind I got, the less likely I felt like tackling it. But somehow I got the motivation to start again last year, and I’m so glad I did. I love your idea of starting small. I bet it will do the trick to get you going again!
I am trying to let go of the idea my house has to look perfect when people come to visit. Not doing real well on that yet.
June was the month for new flooring and cement driveway. July was a new air conditioner and a new furnace. Hopefully, there won’t be anything in August.
We are working on creating a wild flower and prairie garden instead of grass in our yard. We have lots of birds and bees and butterflies, a few bunnies. The fence keeps out the deer.
I can co-exist with bugs (except black widow spiders) and don’t mind spiders. Snakes are a big no.
And you’re surviving all these updates – that’s encouraging, Willow! 🙂 Maybe I can also. Just the painting and flooring is about to do me in. I love that you’re creating a wildflower and prairie garden. That sound so beautiful and so life-giving to all the creatures, including you!
That was a lucky spider Lisa, due to the walls just having been painted :). The snakes are a worry to me here in Aus as they are so venomous, but although I know we have them on our property they don’t get seen that often so I pretend they’re not there! Well done on the playing by ear, that’s a great skill as is being able to play the piano. Have a great month ahead.
Yes, sometimes I like to just pretend I’m alone rather than surrounded by all the critters. 🙂 But yikes, so many venomous snakes in Australia is quite terrifying. We do have a few poisonous ones around here–mainly rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins, but the majority are harmless (to people anyway). But either way, it’s a startle to the heart when you see a snake, regardless of what kind it is.
Good for you, Lisa, for recognizing a “good” snake. They serve a purpose in the environment, especially the non-venomous. My husband has a philosophy about those kinds of things that I’ve adopted too: Is it a clear and present danger? A non-venomous snake slithering in the backyard? No. A copperhead on the front step? Yep.
I love your husband’s philosophy, Ashley. And those questions are right on target. 🙂
Your room looks great Lisa. I’d be afraid of touching the walls too. Good for you letting go and coexisting with your wildlife. Though I do have to tell you my heart rate went up just reading about it. Lol.
Thanks so much for sharing your 4 Something’s with Sweet Tea & Friends this month sweet friend.
Thanks, Paula. We still are playing tiptoe around our walls. I’m sure it won’t last much longer though; I can’t be careful forever! ha.
Happy September Lisa, just popping back over to let you know I’ll be featuring your post at out Sweet Tea & Friend’s September Link Up.
xo