the books I read in July

Happy weekend, friends! I promised to make a bonus post about the books I read in July, so here you go! I'll still be back on Monday for the usual Hello Monday/weekending recap. I hope to see you back for that! In the meantime, I read some INCREDIBLE books this month! After two months of a reading slump, July's books pulled me right out of the rut I'd been in. These books are going to be hard to top come August and I'm fairly certain that some of my favorites for the whole year will be from this month of reading. Without further ado, I present to you the books I read in July. 

Click on the image of the book and you'll be redirected to Amazon, should you want to buy for yourself. All of the italicized description you read is from Good Reads.

First up is If For Any Reason, by Courtney Walsh.

⭐⭐⭐

Emily Ackerman has traveled the world, her constant compass and companion a book of letters her mother left for her when she died. With no father in the picture, her mom's advice has been her only true north. But when professional failure leads Emily back to Nantucket to renovate and sell the family cottage she inherited, she wonders if her mom left advice to cover this...especially when her grandmother arrives to "supervise". And especially when her heart becomes entangled with Hollis McGuire, the boys next door-turned baseball star who's back on the island after a career ending injury. As sparks fly between her and Hollis, Emily is drawn to island life, even as she uncovers shocking secrets about the tragic accident that led to her mother's death. With her world turned upside down, Emily must choose between allowing the voices from her past to guide her future or forging her own path forward. 

Personal thoughts: I loved the story line, the letters, the setting and the characters. I didn't love the length! It went on and on and even though I knew what would happen, it felt like it took half the book to get there. That being said, that was my reasoning behind how I rated the book.

Next on the list is People Like Her, by Ellery Lloyd.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

To her adoring fans, Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, is the honest "Instamum" who always tells it like it is. To her skeptical husband, a washed-up novelist who knows just how creative Emmy can be with the truth, she is a breadwinning powerhouse chillingly brilliant at monetizing the intimate details of their family life. To one of Emmy's dangerously obsessive followers, she's the woman that has everything—but deserves none of it. As Emmy's marriage begins to crack under the strain of her growing success and her moral compass veers wildly off course, the more vulnerable she becomes to a very real danger circling ever closer to her family. In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores our desperate need to be seen and the lengths we will go to be liked by strangers. It asks what- and who- we sacrifice when we make our private lives public, and ultimately lose control over who we let in.

Personal thoughts: Holy macaroni, this one scared the daylights out me in an underhanded way. I never do "psychological thrillers", but I don't know that there is any other way to describe this book than that. I really liked it and the suspense was enough that I read it pretty quickly. It really does make you think about what you put "out there" for all of the world to see, including here in this blogging world. It's kind of creepy and one I'll be thinking of as I see what my young mom friends post. I'm not sure I'd be on social media if I had little ones after reading this book. The ending of this book has me watching for a sequel...

My third book this month was The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When each summer begins, Belly (Isabelle) leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she has spent every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, but her favorite people are there: Susannah, her mother's best friend, and her sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember, and more than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad's brother, Jeremiah, Belly's heart belongs to Conrad. Will her offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything?

Personal thoughts: I've wanted to read this for a couple of summers, but kept forgetting—until I saw it on Prime Tv one night and binged the whole show in one sitting. I never do that, but the show was so good that I knew I still wanted to read the book and it was even better than the show! Of course it was. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was a trilogy, which leads to my next two books...

My fourth book was It's Not Summer Without You, by Jenny Han. **IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS SERIES, CONSIDER THIS YOUR SPOILER ALERT.**

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last year, all of Belly's dreams came true and the thought of missing a summer in Cousins Beach was inconceivable. But like the rise and fall of the ocean tide, things can change...just like that. Suddenly the time she's always looked forward to most is something she dreads. And when Jeremiah calls to say Conrad has disappeared, Belly must decide how she will spend this summer: chasing after the boy she loves, or finally letting him go.

Personal thoughts: The books just keep getting better! I broke my cardinal rule and bought each of these books and they were NOT on sale. It's fine. I'll probably read them again someday. 

Fifth on the list was We'll Always Have Summer, By Jenny Han. *Same drill about the spoiler alert!*

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she's almost positive he is her soul mate. Almost. While Conrad has not gotten over the mistake of letting Belly go, Jeremiah has always known that Belly is the girl for him. So when Belly and Jeremiah decide to make things forever, Conrad realizes that it's now or never...tell Belly he loves her, or lose her for good. Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face the inevitable: she will have to break one of their hearts. 

Personal thoughts: Have I not convinced you to read these yet? These are going to be in my top five books for 2022, I am almost certain! But also? Watch the show on Prime Tv! 

I thought I was finished with reading excellent books, but then I read After I Do, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, my sixth book of the month.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the author of Forever, Interrupted, comes a breathtaking novel about modern marriage, the depth of family ties, and the year that one remarkable heroine spends exploring both. When Lauren and Ryan's marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes. Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren's idea of monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for? This is a love story about what happens when the love fades. It's about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you've got. And above all, After I Do is the story a couple caught up in an old game...and searching for a new road to happily ever after. 

Personal thoughts: While I do not at all agree with how Lauren and Ryan treated their marriage during the year they took off from being married, I absolutely and completely loved this book. There is so much truth within these pages of what happens in marriages when the fizzle dies down and the "honeymoon phase" is no more, which is something that happens in every marriage. It's a reminder to stay committed, diligent, faithful and honest. I'll be thinking about this book for months to come and as of right now it's my favorite book that I've read this year. 

My seventh book was The Blue Bistro, by Elin Hilderbrand.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction. But there is a mystery about their situation: what is it about Fiona, The Blue Bistro's chef, that captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether to open her heart for the first time, or move on, as she always does.

Personal thoughts: The only reason I rated this with 4 stars and not 5 is because the ending was TERRIBLE. It was such a build up and then...a very boring end to an otherwise fabulous book. I loved reading about the industry, which I'm fascinated with, but I also thought several parts of the book could have been left off, like when pages and pages go by of Adrienne's past boyfriends. 

My eighth and final book of the month was Book Lovers, by Emily Henry. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nora Stephen's life is books—she's read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs for a sisters' trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she's convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with handsome country doctors or bulging-forearmed bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute, if not for the fact that they've met many times and it's never been cute. If Nora knows she's not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he's nobody's hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they've written about themselves. 

Personal thoughts: I've only read one other book by Emily Henry and while I liked it fine enough, I went into this one expecting the same thing. I was very pleasantly surprised! I loved the characters, how the main female kind of makes fun of Hallmark movies and how unexpected both Nora and Charlie are. I really liked this book and felt like it was a great way to end an awesome month of reading. 

So, what are you reading right now? Anything you think I should know about? I'd love a recommendation or two, if you have one! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

Friday Favorites, 7.29.22.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea for this weekly blog post. I'll jump right in!

One of my favorite things to see is this big girl laying on a dog bed. Callie rarely lays on one of the beds—her preference is the couch or an actual bed. I went into Noah's room last week and saw that she'd been enjoying his bed while he isn't staying here. There was so much hair where she'd been laying that I had to pull everything off and wash it all. 

Noah technically still "lives" here and considers this home, but he's been staying with his best friend almost all summer long. Their friendship is my favorite. Have I ever mentioned the matching tattoos they have? I think most guys would never do something like that, but to me and Todd, it symbolizes their bond that is closer than a brother. They each have three crosses tattooed on the inside of their wrists and they're basically together nonstop. It's so funny that they never get sick of each other! Their friendship started with another mutual friend, whom they grew apart from. They've been to California, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana together in the span of their friendship. 

Jacob is on the far right in this picture. 

The new blush colored pink heart pillow is my favorite one that we have on our bed. We went to buy new sheets on Saturday and we also bought a new comforter, since this one is white and because we have dogs. We washed the sheets and went upstairs to make the bed with everything and I hated the comforter we bought, so I returned it on Monday. We kept the sheets and throw pillow, then I ordered some new pillow covers from Amazon to replace the white and gray one you see here. I ordered the wrong size for the second time in a row. I'm not dumb, I promise. The good news is that they let me return them for free and with no charge to have UPS print a label. The new ones should be here this weekend! I did love what they looked like and am excited to get them onto our bed. Also, I can't quit our white comforter. It's my favorite to date and I'll just keep washing it. I add Christmas pillows and a red tartan plaid blanket for Christmas.

My friend Marilyn commented here this week how much my mom and I resemble one another in a post I made on Monday. I went and created this collage and I was blown away! I have heard this most of my life, but I saw it more than I've ever seen it before when I made this. Isn't Mom beautiful? We have the same eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and smile. This picture of her is one of my favorites, along with the memory. It was when we left for Florida together.

This is one of our favorite snacks to have in the daytime from Costco. I love that they're big, very low in sugar and that they contain so much protein. They really do fill both Todd and me up. We usually eat one between breakfast and lunch, which makes us hold off on lunch until around one.

My morning routine is my favorite, which I've mentioned many times, but journaling is a big part of that. I'm reading the Bible chronologically this year and I try to sit and take notes while I read. It helps me to slow down and to pay closer attention to what I'm reading and it also helps me to remember later on, what I read that morning. I almost always try to have one take-away from the day of reading, and I loved the verse you see written down. I also always make an entry for each day. It's a check-off list most of the time, but I also write down actual things as well, like what we had for dinner and I write it down when it was something I made up. I sometimes write out my prayers when words are hard, along with people and things I'm praying for and when God answers. 

This is my new favorite candle, because it's handmade and from my son's girlfriend. It smells so good! It's vanilla and cinnamon. I love thoughtfulness. 

Our town square is my favorite! I love a wall mural, don't you? We have a new one that I keep meaning to go see in person, but I keep forgetting. Now that I'm writing this, I'm going to try my best to remember to do this today with my dad. He'll get a kick out of seeing it. We always try to do fun and different things when we're together on Fridays. Sometimes it's going to Costco, or we'll stay here. He'll go anywhere with me and is always such a good sport for my meal ideas. A couple of weeks ago he wanted to drive around the high school to see the new campus again. We have a gorgeous high school campus that is only three years old. It looks like something you'd see at a university. Too bad my boys never used it! 

Lastly, these ladies are some of my favorites. This is the writing team that I co-write Bible studies for women with. We had a fancy dinner out together Wednesday night and had a great time catching up and making plans. 

We shared two appetizers (only one is pictured)—a Philo dough puff pastry filled with feta cheese and spinach and shaved beef tenderloin with naan bread. (My mouth watered as I wrote that sentence.) My steak and baked potato were TO DIE FOR, as was the salad with blue cheese dressing and skillet cookie I had for dessert. I didn't eat much that day in order to save up and it was worth the wait and every single bite. This restaurant is my favorite restaurant in town and we only go there on special occasions. It's called Jim's Place Grille and is a version of the old restaurant I grew up eating at. The food is amazing, the service impeccable, and the atmosphere is fun. We actually sat at a table by the bar, where people were gathered watching a baseball game. I was shocked that they were so busy on a Wednesday night, but they were packed. I love watching the wait staff at places like this—thanks to books I keep reading based on restaurants, I always think it would be fun to work some place like that. I do know that there's a "front of house", which is all of the area the guests see, and the "back of house", which is kitchen staff and serving line.

Speaking of books, I'd said originally that I would write about them in today's post, but I'll make a bonus post sometime over the weekend. Be sure and check back on Monday so that you can check out what will for sure be my favorite books of 2022. I'm 46 books into the year and going strong! July's books will be hard to top. 

In case you missed any of my other posts from this week, I'll include links below.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! I hope you have the best weekend. Love to all! 

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you've had a great week so far. Mine seems to be flying by for some reason...it's been like that for a couple of weeks now. It's strange how some weeks are like that and others seem to drag by slowly. Does this happen in your life? I'm not sure what it says about my life right now. This week has been exponentially better than last week. Ah, the ebb and flow of life. I'll jump right in with what I'm thankful this week.

I'm thankful for thoughtful gifts. 

Graham's girlfriend Jessi has been experimenting with making candles and this is one of them. She brought three of them over Tuesday night and left them all with me! This one is vanilla/cinnamon and the others are apple pie scented. They smell so yummy! I sent her this picture this morning as a thank you. I enjoyed my quiet time with this lit on the table beside me as I read the Bible this morning. 

I'm grateful for kind words. I am a words of affirmation girl all of a sudden, when I've never been that before and my husband has been very generous with his words toward me lately. You have NO IDEA how this fills up my emotional love tank! Most of you can probably guess that I'm talking about the 5 love languages. Do you know yours? I'd love to hear what yours is! My other one is a tie between physical touch and quality time.

I was thankful to have a full afternoon of showers yesterday! We have got rain galore in our forecast and it's wonderful. We haven't had hardly any at all in over one month.

I am thankful for fun and new opportunities! I worked a morning shift yesterday morning at my favorite store. I was there to shadow the other ladies for the morning to see if it's something I'm interested in and the bonus is that they're paying me for my time! I didn't expect that and was so pleasantly surprised. I'll share more when I hear from the owner. 

This was me walking into work on the town square. 😍😍😍 You know I love our town square!

I'm thankful for good playlists on Spotify, like this one that is my current favorite.

I'm so thankful I got to have a REAL FAMILY DINNER with all of my people at the same time on Tuesday. Drew requested French dip sandwiches with au jus and they were delicious.

I am thankful for pool time with my mom-in-love on Tuesday. 

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

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What's Up Wednesday

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for this monthly blog post. I'll jump right in! 

What we're eating this week:

We had leftovers on Monday night, but made into something new. It's the second time I've made a casserole from taco meat we had leftover. I layered the bottom of the baking dish with black beans and taco meat, then added rice, a can of Rotel tomatoes, a jar of white queso and crumbled tortilla chips on top. I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes, and it was delicious! Last night Drew requested French dip sandwiches with au jus, I'm going out for dinner tonight with some friends from church and tomorrow night we'll either have fish or chicken. 

I'll also be enjoying my favorite brand of peanut butter once again! My Kroger had the small jars back on their shelves and I sure did snag two of them. I feel strongly that someone needs to know this.🤣 

What I'm reminiscing about:

Oh, you know...

...just the beach, these views and being with my sweet friend! She's back here now, but I haven't seen her in way too long and I miss her. We've been texting a lot and have plans to go out soon so that we can catch up. 

What I'm loving:

This fan that I haul all over the house with me.

It literally is saving me right now. It's. So. Hot! 

What we've been up to:

Well, I always feel like I say the same thing here, but pretty much the same. One thing that is new for me is that I'm on an interview today! Well, it's not so much an interview as it is a morning of shadowing my friend at her place of business on our town square. I'm so excited about the possibility of this! I have no idea if it's going to work out, but if it does, I'll share more when I know more. Speaking of the town square, I loved being there last week for lunch with my friends.

 

What I'm dreading:

I don't mean to keep talking about the weather, but August is my least favorite month of the year. We often have our hottest temperatures during this coming month. My mom in love and I made a plan yesterday that we will keep swimming at least once a week during the month. Their pool stays open until Labor day, so we've got a while to enjoy it still.

What I'm working on:

Well, other than a possible new part time job, not much. I'm keeping busy somehow, though! I'm doing all the typical house-wife things like laundry, cleaning, straightening, purging/organizing, grocery shopping, cooking, watering flowers, taking care of our pups, writing here, volunteering at church and seeing our parents regularly at least once a week. It may not sound like much, but it's enough to keep my week filled up. I've not had a full day at home in two weeks! 

What I'm excited about:

I'm excited about school starting back so traffic will go back to normal. Sorry moms and teacher friends. I'm excited about fall getting closer, because it's my favorite season of all. I'm excited about a trip I have planned with my sister Lisa and the prospect of a trip with my husband. We haven't been away together in way too long. I'm excited about choir starting back at church and Wednesday Bible study. 

What I'm watching/reading:

I've not been watching tv and my reading life has picked back up again. I read so much more when I don't watch anything. I do have a show that I like to watch when I go to bed, but I've seen it a hundred times, so I don't count that one. 

I've been reading THE BEST BOOKS. I'll share more about what I read on Friday, but the last book I read and loved was After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It's one of the best books I have ever read and it's such a true and poignant picture of marriage and how you have to keep at it, even when the fizzle and excitement dies down. I am still thinking and talking about this book!

What I'm listening to:

Right this moment I'm listening to our dogs play. They're fighting over an antler and Oakley won the fight. Music wise, my favorite Spotify playlist is Ben Rector Radio. I also love the Coastal Grandmother station and this week I've been playing Cozy Summer Jazz.

What I'm wearing:

A bathing suit and a cover-up as often as possible. I'm wearing shorts and flowy tops. Summery dresses that are the same. As light and flowy as possible, because again with the temperatures.

What I'm doing this weekend:

I really want to go to Trader Joe's. I haven't been in a long time! I'd also love to see my Mom and Trish, since it's been two weeks and because the weather is going to be in the lower eighties.

What I'm looking forward to next month:

I already said this, but I'll be glad when school starts back. I always am ready for things to return to normal, even if I no longer have kids in school. Everything at our church shuts down during the summer months and there's less that are in attendance. I'm excited for new things going on there and just the newness of a month in general. I love a fresh start, whether it's a day, a week, a month, a season or a year. It always feels ripe with possibility.

What is something you're looking forward to in August? Another thing for me to look forward to is my mom's birthday! She's an August baby. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. ❤

Share 4 Somethings, July edition

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm linking up with Heather for today's post, where we all share things we loved, gleaned, braved or saved and achieved. I'll jump right in!

I loved celebrating the freedom that we have in our country. Fourth of July is always such a fun day! On the actual day we didn't do too much, except that we enjoyed being at home and having a lazy morning together, then we went to Mom's and Bill's for a catfish fry with French fries and hush puppies. Mom made homemade banana ice cream and I took a key lime pie. 

I love this old picture of Mom and my nephew Tyler. This was taken over five years ago, but I love her laughing smile here, because he'd leaned down and stuck his cap on her head and I caught with these big smiles. We also loved watching the fireworks in our little town from our front yard.

I loved all the books I read this month! I had been in a reading slump during May and June, so it was good to read some great books again this month. Four that I read will definitely go down in history as some of my favorites of all time. I'll share them in another post later this week, so check back!

I've gleaned a lot of history about our country and some of its landmark places. Todd and I have found a couple of documentaries on Fox Nation that we love—one is called What Made America Great and my favorite episode so far was about the home of the Vice President of the United States, for instance, did you know that it's a temporary home for the person who holds that office? You should Google it to find out more, it was fascinating! I love anything having to do with American history. This is coming from the mom who has finished homeschooling her kids, yet decided to keep all their textbooks on economics and history. Seriously, we had the BEST curriculum for these subjects, put out by Notgrass History. I will always recommend them! I have written about them here before, and one time someone from their company reached out to thank me for giving them a shout out on my blog. Isn't that cool?

The other one I mentioned is fascinating because it's a walk back through time—it's called Who Could Forget and it takes you through the top news stories from certain years. So far some of my favorite episodes came from the nineties.

I braved going to my dental appointment at the beginning of the month. I hate going to the dentist! I've not figured out yet if my new filling is going to work. He had mentioned that it may not, and that I may need a route canal if that's the case. Those words are terrifying to me, but he assured me it wouldn't be any worse than having a filling. I am still having some pain in my mouth, but I've also been battling my sinuses because of the humidity we've had, so I really don't know which issue it is. Yes, my teeth, jaw and ears hurt when my sinuses are acting up! I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.

It's been so hot here that I also feel like I brave the heat and high humidity every time I step outside of our house. I've been doing things like keeping the blinds shut in the daytime and keeping the lights off to help it be even cooler inside. I am so thankful that our A/C works and that it does a great job of keeping it cool inside. We also have huge trees in our backyard, which help tremendously and shade our house during these months. Everyone in our area has been complaining that their gas and electric bills have gone up and true to form, ours was one that also increased by $150 because of this heat. Needless to say, I will LOVE when Fall arrives with cooler temperatures, though we have a while before that'll happen. August is often one of our hottest months of the year.

I achieved a lot of cleaning out this month. I'm working on selling my books, a few at a time. My goal is to get rid of the bookshelf in our bedroom so that we can do a little bit of rearranging. I've been cleaning out my portion of our closet a little at a time, I've cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, our dining room hutch, the laundry room cabinets, our pantry and the bookshelf in our living room. I LOVE being able to have the time and motivation to do things like that. 

What's something you loved or achieved this month? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

weekending/Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. How was your weekend? Mine was really good. I started it with Dad on Friday—he went with me to Costco and we had lunch there. We both love their pizza! We each got one slice and a drink, his was pepperoni and mine was cheese. Have you had their pizza? It's my favorite. You can buy it from the food court, but the one in the back where the meat department is, is different than what is sold in the food court. Most people don't know that, so you're welcome. Also, anyone can go there anytime to eat, with no membership. It's totally worth the trip and I told Dad he was cheap date. For both of us to eat, it was less than $5.

After he left, I read my book and then waited on my best friend to call me for dinner out. We met in town, then we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Am I the only one (other than Missy) who loves that place? The salad and breadsticks are enough for a meal for me, but I also got chicken parmesan. I always get the same thing, because it's that good and I always have enough for leftovers for another day. On this day I decided to share my leftovers with my Drew. I called him and asked if he'd eaten dinner yet and when he said no and when Missy agreed to go with me, I delivered them to him. I'll share more about this in a minute.

This was me Friday afternoon documenting my good hair day and the fresh highlights I got last week. the best part of our night is that we wrapped it up early enough to be home by around seven thirty. I took a shower and then I watched part of a Hallmark movie, but my tiredness set in and I went to bed.

On Saturday I had plans to attend a wedding shower, but I changed the plans and spent that morning and day with my hubby. This was a great choice for both of us and I'm glad we had the time together. It was kind of a lazy morning for us, but we ended up going shopping for sheets. We found the ones we were looking for at Marshall's and we also bought a comforter and a throw pillow for our bed. It was a great thought, but Graham and I packed the comforter back into its package and I'll return it this week, because I didn't like how it looked and the funky smell was overpowering. I do love the sheets and the throw pillow and we'll just buy another coverlet from Amazon.

When we got home I read for the rest of the day. I finished one of the best books I have ever read. It may be my top book for the year! It was After I do by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Have you read this? It had so many great quotes. The premise of the book is all about marriage and how the fizzle dies down with time. I highly recommend every married person to read this! I don't agree with what they decided to do to try to make their marriage work, but I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come. There was so much truth to it and I had all the emotions all throughout—tears and laughter.

I watched a Hallmark movie after I finished my dinner, since I was the only one home. I was in bed by nine thirty.

I was up early and dressed by five thirty Sunday morning because I was singing on the praise team that morning at church. Our worship and sermon was so good! I was taking notes during the sermon and the pen in my purse ran out of ink. That was so distracting to me! Hopefully I'll remember it this week and be able to recall what our pastor said and the points he made from Psalm 23. 

This was a quote he shared during the sermon that a friend posted on social media. I love what it says! 

For the rest of the day, we came home, I ate lunch and then had a short nap, I read the book I started today and I ended up going grocery shopping for Drew. He is struggling right now and could use prayer. He hasn't been working much because he's letting his foot heal from a fracture. He had money to pay his bills, but other than that, there wasn't much extra, so he hasn't been eating very much. I cried when I found this out. On one hand it broke my heart for him, but on the other hand, I am so proud of his fierce independence. I know this is an area most young people struggle with, but he'd rather go without than admit defeat. And he never admitted defeat! The Lord prompted me to ask him a few prying questions and when I asked the last question, I immediately got up to get dressed again and I went to buy him enough food to fill up his pantry and fridge.

I'm sharing this because parenting is hard. And sometimes that small, still voice could be the Lord prompting you to dig up information. So, Mom to adult kids—here is my advice to you: check on your grown kids. Make sure they have their bills paid and make sure they have food to eat that will nourish them. He had food, but not the nourishing kind, and I feel like it's one reason why he hasn't been able to kick not feeling well. I loaded him up with good things yesterday and then after we put it all away, I stood there in his kitchen for half an hour and washed his dishes and cleaned his countertops. Because he never asks anything of us and it felt good to be able to do that one small thing as his mom. 

Once again, I sincerely hope he never reads this, but I'm 99.99999% sure that he won't. I'll end this little story on a better note—he has started to get an inkling of what he wants to do in the future, so he is making steps in that direction to achieve that goal. Also, his foot is feeling so much better and he's picking up two shifts on Friday that will be easier on him and his foot, so things are on the up. He made plans to come eat dinner with us Tuesday night, as well and he requested one of their favorite meals—French dip sandwiches and au jus. That being said, if you want to pray for him, I would be honored to have you do so when you think of him. Thanks for being that kind of friend! I really do love this little space and the community that we've built in the world of blogging these last few years. 

Tell me something good about your weekend! I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all. 💙