What's Up Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shay (and her friends) from MixAndMatchMama for this blog post.

1. What we're eating this week:

Well, I made a GIANT pot of taco soup for my Mom's birthday dinner last night, so we'll be finishing that off in the coming nights.  We're all about to be gone for several nights in a row, as well, so it'll be a 'you're on your own' type thing, too.

Also, this.

Mom left half her birthday cake here with us.  Praise the Lord, from Whom all blessings flow.  This is ridiculously good.

2.  What I'm reminiscing about:

I spent the first half of yesterday deep cleaning the downstairs, and this hit me like a ton of bricks.  I love (and sometimes hate) then and now pictures.  That first one is just precious to me, and what I felt like were the good old days.  They loved eating meals outside on the deck, and our backyard was THE place to be.

See?  We had all the good stuff in our yard, and all the neighborhood kids were always here.

(By the way, that was the time they made their own zip line in our yard, from the playground fort to the fence, and then talked Noah into trying it out.)

3.  What we've been up to:

I'm still recovering from being sick last week.  Our weather changed again and it hit me all over again on Monday, and I felt like I had an asthma attack coming on.

Also, Drew started his freshman year of college this week.

And Jonah and Noah are in their second week of their sophomore year of high school.

4.  What I'm dreading:

Have you read the Farmer's Almanac prediction of our winter?  It's not looking great, if you're anything like me or Lorelai Gilmore.  They predicted a warmer, wet winter all across the country.

5.  What I'm working on:

Decluttering this house.  Deep cleaning it, including the wood blinds.  I got a good start on this yesterday.  Also, thank the good Lord for making Jonah the way He did.  Jonah cleaned the tornado closet and the pantry yesterday, which really helped me out, while I went and grocery shopped.

6.  What I'm excited about:

September!  I think it's my favorite month of the year, only second to December.  It seems like every September, the mornings and evenings take a plunge, temperature wise.

7.  What I'm watching/reading:

It's almost fall, so I started over again (for the fourth time) my favorite show of all time: Gilmore Girls.  Also I'm reading two books, My Oxford Year (for pleasure) and The Jerusalem Secret (for book club).

8.  What I'm listening to:

This.  Over and over and over again on Spotify.  I love worship music!

9.  What I'm wearing:

So I have this adorable friend named Melanie at church.  I met her about four years ago, during a day when we volunteered to decorate Christmas trees for church with the music ministry.  She's the next phase in life ahead of me.  All her kids are grown, she has FOUR BOYS, and she  homeschooled them all.  We found all this out about each other that first day we met.  I just love her to pieces, and I've gotten to know her even more since we sing on praise team at church together.

She has worked independently for Premier Design Jewelry for a long time, and while she still sells the jewelry, she has started helping people shop their closets to make a fuller, trendier wardrobe.  She posts these videos on Facebook telling how to do that, and I watch them all the time.  She inspired me to start making more effort in the way I dress.  Though I love t-shirts and still have a bunch, I did not wear one of the old ones even ONE TIME all summer.

Because of all that I said, I try to look cute every time I leave my house, even if it's just to a friend's house for book club.  I bought several shirts over the summer (and will again probably sometime soon) and try to wear them with different pants or shorts and jewelry to make them into more than just one outfit.  While I will never win any fashion award, I try to buy things that are not too trendy or busy in pattern or color.  It's a little tricky to dress nice and still not own too many clothes, but somehow, it works.  (I try to have a wardrobe that borders on minimalism.)  That means I have four pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, a couple of pairs of cropped pants, some dressier pants for church, a bunch of shirts, two dresses (one that I'm saving for my nephew's wedding), and several pieces that can be worn over shirts.  And I just switch them all up to make them different from time to time.  Like I said, somehow it all works.

Here's one example.  I will not wear the shoes in this picture, but some cute rose gold birkenstocks I have, and I'll add a necklace that's short in length.

I will add here that making more of an effort with the way I look has helped me to feel better about myself.  I still have days when I can't stand how I look or what my hair is doing, but mostly, if I am put together outwardly, I feel like I have more confidence.  The spiritual side of me has to also say that none of this matters, accept for my heart.  Jesus only looks at our heart, not our outward appearance.  Balance is key, and I need to also remember to not make anything like the above an idol in my life. 

That was WAY longer than it should have been, but I digress.

10.  What I'm doing this weekend:

Oh my WORD.  I am so excited about this weekend!  One of my sisters is hitting a milestone birthday on September 2, and to celebrate, we're going to Nashville for two nights!  I cannot WAIT!  We will leave early Saturday morning and come home later on Monday.

11.  What I'm looking forward to next month:

I'm going to try to pull out all the fall decorations from the attic.  I love decking it all out for fall!  I'll switch all the candles back to the fall ones, put out pumpkins and front porch stuff and it will stay there until Thanksgiving night.  Like I said, September is my favorite month, only second to December.

12.  What else is new:

I'm pretty sure that about sums up life lately.  I'm still getting used to having only TWO boys at home all day, every day.  We're adjusting.  And having to think about breakfast again is weird.  Since Drew leaves so early for his Monday and Wednesday classes, he needs to eat a really good breakfast.  I bought a whole bunch of stuff for him with this in mind yesterday.

If you made it all the way to the end, way to go.

Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.