August 2022 Bullet Journal Downloads

You can now purchase these summer-inspired August 2022 Bullet Journal Planner downloads for $5.00.

This set includes 16 pages:

🍽 Meal trackers

🧘‍♀️ Fitness Trackers

🍊Customizable Habit Trackers

Bullet journaling has been a hobby of mine since 2017. Over the years, the process has evolved to fit my needs and lately that includes creating my monthly spreads digitally and printing them on sticker paper. It’s so easy to fit these stickers to my A5 notebook. These pages are customizable and easy to size depending on the notebook you use. When you purchase and download pages from The Ameri Brit Mom, you receive a beautiful collection of spreads in a single PDF file.

You can purchase this download file for $5.00.

Order August 2022 Download

When you join my Patreon page, you will receive these downloads each month along with exclusive short stories and content.The price of these downloads are included in the monthly Patreon pledge.

Join my Patreon Page

The Ameri Brit Mom

England 2022 Series (Pt 4)

Our fourth week in England was a lot more chill than the others. We still traveled a lot and made the most of each day, but the pace was a little slower. Most of the week, it was just the four of us doing our own thing, but we still had some larger family outings too. The girls went to Puxton Park with their auntie and uncle while Sam and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in Yeovil and some drinks at a local pub. This week we also went to an indoor play park in Eastleigh, shopping in WestQuay (Southampton), a steamfair in Lyndhurst, and a bootsale and a traditional roast dinner in Bishopstoke.

As we enter the final week of our trip, it’s been fun to look back on all of the adventures we’ve had so far this summer with our English family and friends.

Check out Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here.

The Ameri Brit Mom

Chance: Five Minute Friday

It’s Friday, and finally the heat spell has broken in the UK! This week the weather broke records and while it felt like we may all just melt we have survived in a country lacking the infrastructure to stand up to excessive heat. I’m joining my positive writing community at Five Minute Friday for this week’s theme: Chance.

What are the chances that I will make it home next week without delay?

I’ve been following the news out of London Heathrow, and things are looking grim. So many long-haul delays and flight cancellations flood my newsfeed. I’ll be heading home at the end of the month, and I am not looking forward to all that is involved with airport travel.

Security can take ages when you travel with a family of four. I’ve stood in lines at Customs for over an hour with a whining toddler in tow. Airports are not always the most efficient at moving people from Point A to Point B.

The chances are pretty high that we will spend more time than at the airport next week.

And if I am stranded in an airport next Friday, chances are that I’ll not be able to join in on the weekly link-up.

Here’s to hoping my chances are better than I’m predicting for arriving home without interruption. If all goes to plan, I’ll be joining you all next week from AMERICA.

The Ameri Brit Mom

England 2022 Series (Pt 3)

Our third week of our annual family trip in England was marked by a massive heatwave. We spent a lot of time outdoors including our very first tent camping experience. In addition to our camp photos, I have so many wonderful snapshots to share with you this week including some trampolining in Hedge End, shopping at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, swimming at the Fleming Park padling pool in Eastleigh and exploring the creek in Yeovil. We’ve had several barbeques in the past couple of days and stayed hydrated and refreshed to the best of our ability.

Check out Part One and Part Two here.

The Ameri Brit Mom

Propose: Five Minute Friday

Happy Friday from the UK! This week I’ve done a lot more relaxing and reading and that has been my way of coping with this British heat wave. This morning I am joining my favorite little writing community with our Five Minute Friday prompt: Propose.

This weekend our family is embarking in our first ever camping adventure. I’m embarassed to admit that at my age I have never camped in a TENT. Cabin adventures are some of my favorites, but when my sister-in-law initially proposed a family camping trip I was a bit nervous. I love the great outdoors–so don’t get me wrong. It’s just the idea of only a thin layer of fabric separating me from the nocturnal animals that has kept me from really pursuing this type of experience.

Now, it’s the morning of the trip and I find myself excited. I’m looking forward to all of the family time ahead. We have packed some great foods and plenty of drinks that I am also looking forward to devouring. I even walked into town yesterday and bought a new book to read while camping.

So while I was nervous when this idea was proposed initially, I am pleased for the day to be here and to be preparing to make these memories with my family. Who knows, this may be the beginning of a long line of camping trips in our family’s future.

(Photos of this trip will be here next week so be sure to check back!)

The Ameri Brit Mom

You Are a Badass: A Book Review

Title: You Are a Badass

Author: Jen Sincero

Publisher: Running Press

Copyright: 2013

With a subtitle of How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living An Awesome Life, the expecations were high from the beginning. I approached this book with the end of the school year behind me. Each summer, I try to get rid of all the awful habits I formed while on survival mode during the school year. The reason this title spoke to me was because I needed a good pep talk to reignite my motivation after a pretty difficult year of teaching.

This five-part book explores the elements of self-love:

  1. How You Got This Way
  2. How to Embrace Your Inner Badass
  3. How to Tap into the Motherlode
  4. How to Get Over the BS Already
  5. How to Kick Some Ass

The gut punches came right at the start as Sincero explores the psyche of self-sabotage and the creation of obstacles to our productivity. The power of being present is something we have control over, but first we must manage our natural tendencies toward snoozing through life.

The tools for embracing our badass may seem simple at first, but Sincero gives stories and practical steps for breaking out of the self-destructive cycles. A strong focus on self-love is the theme of the book, and many examples are provided for ways in which you can love yourself more each day.

Falling back in love with your life and the God who made you is the premise here, and when I got to the last page I felt like I just got a kick in the seat of my pants from an old friend. Jen Sincero does a great job of motivating through tough love and strong truths. I came away from this book with affirmations and goals to live the most badass life I could imagine.

I gave this book a 4/5 stars. I tend to prefer novels and fictional books, but a good non-fiction every now and again has the power to change your life. While I’m not sure much of this book was earth shattering in my journey, I did feel pumped up to get to work on myself.

Check out my Goodreads account to see what I’m reading next!

The Ameri Brit Mom

England 2022 Series (Pt 2)

It’s the second week of our family excursion to England to visit family and friends. We will be here the entire month of July and each week I’ll be checking in with photos and short descriptions of what we’ve been up to. Our time has been filled with making memories with those we love so we can store those up in our hearts until we meet again.

Check out Part One here.

During this second week, our itenerary has taken us to The Play Shack in Hedge End, Bognor Regis beach, Itchen Valley Country Park, and the historic city of Winchester. We’ve visited with my mother-in-law and her partner along with my soon-to-be brother-in-law. My husband’s aunts visited from Dover as well and enjoyed being worn out by our energetic children at the park. Our menus this week have been filled with the customary British foods: fish and chips, sausage rolls, picnic sandwiches, and I tried cockle for the first time on the seafront (not sure I’d ever order again, but it was fun to give it a go!)

Week Two Photos

The Ameri Brit Mom

Twenty: Five Minute Friday

Happy Friday!

I’m over in the UK visiting family during the month of July. I’ve been a little less present on here as I’ve been enjoying the slow British lifestyle. This week I’m joining the Five Minute Friday community and our prompt is Twenty.

Twenty years ago I was twelve. My world was small, but everything seemed so large. Every problem, fight, or accomplishment was all encompassing. As a preteen in Ohio, I never dreamed that in twenty years’ time I’d be writing a blog post from a home in England. Doubtful I could even point out England on the map of the world.

Twenty years has brought me so much to fuel feelings of blessing.

I’ve finished schooling (all the way up to my Master’s Degree in English from BGSU). At twenty years of age, I married the love of my life–and my family and world expanded to include England as a permanent fixture. Two lovely girls have entered my life since that time and brought with them sunshine and an extra dose of purpose. Twelve years ago I began teaching in a position that I’ve been blessed by in innumerable ways. I’ve also bought a home and adopted a pet cat.

Those are all giant ways in which my world has expanded since twenty years ago, but there are many small ways in which I have changed and grown. I’ve learned to appreciate the small moments and to not take people or blessings for granted. The health of myself and loved ones has become a priority because I aim to have many more years ahead. I’m feeling extra sentimental this morning as I consider these changes over the past twenty years.

The Ameri Brit Mom

England 2022 Series (Pt 1)

Our family has made is safely to England and as we continue to adjust to the change in time, we have already experienced many adventures. We flew from Detroit to London Heathrow and despite rumors of delays and nightmares in UK airports, things went smoothly all the way through.

At this point in our trip, we have been to Eastleigh and Drayton. We’ve spent half the time with my father-in-law and the other half with my mother-in-law. Aunties came to visit in Drayton and we spent the weekend feasting with them. Already, we have visited two country parks: Staunton and Lakeside. Of course, we have stopped at nearly every playground we have passed on our pedestrian journies. Reuniting with family (and the girls’ COUSIN) has been a blast and I am thankful that our girls have not lost any time getting comfortable with life in the UK.

Week One Photos

The Ameri Brit Mom

Trust: Five Minute Friday

It’s Friday and my first weekend in the UK. I’ll be here throughout the entire month of July and so the next several FMF posts will be inspired by my travels abroad to spend time with family. This week our prompt is Trust.

When we travel abroad there is a wealth of trust we put in others. We trust that the pilot has been trained and knows the flight path well. We trust that TSA is completing the security checks to prevent dangerous people from embarking with us. We trust the airline to check our bags in correctly instead of damaging or losing our cargo. We trust customs officers to let us cross the border. We trust that taxis and trains are running on time to get us to our final destinations. All of this trust is to ensure that we are safely delivered and the mission completed.

Have you ever had a flight where trust was misplaced?

I’ve flown to England every year since 2007 and so I have a mental list of times when my expectations were not met by those I trusted to get me from Point A to Point B. I’ve had luggage lost. I’ve had to spend six hours on the tarmac. I’ve had flights delayed and flights cancelled.

Luckily, my most recent excursion was free from mishaps. My trust in the airlines and their personel was not betrayed (this time). And as I sit here, thinking about our journey from Columbus to Detroit and then to London, I am thankful that things went off without a hitch this time. These next few days will be spent adjusting to the five hour difference from EST. There will be lost of naps, exercises, and reading sessions to help my body adjust to moving ahead in time.

The Ameri Brit Mom