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!