weekending/ Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for this weekly blog post. Thanks for all the kind words you wrote to me on Friday. I am feeling almost completely back to normal with my back and am so glad for that. I'd planned to take a day trip with my best friend on Friday that we ended up postponing until a later date, but we were both okay with that. We do something like this every year, but it's usually closer to mid December before we go. We agreed to go the week after Thanksgiving this year, instead of waiting so late. So, because we didn't do that on Friday, my dad came over as usual. It was so good to see him! He and I ended up driving into Memphis to meet Drew for lunch. It was equally as great to see Drew and to catch up. Both of us enjoyed being with him and our lunch went by really quickly. 

We came back to my house and chatted for the rest of the afternoon, until I took him home. 

I always love to reminisce by looking at old pictures. It's so hard to believe these were taken eleven years ago! We always used to go downtown for the annual Veteran's day parade and one year the boys had the idea to make posters. They ended up on our local news that night! We loved doing that with Dad every year and made so many great memories together. 

Todd and Graham both worked different shifts that night and Jonah and Noah were both out with friends. It was a quiet night at home for me, so I had leftovers that I made into a burrito bowl and watched a movie.

This was great! Have you seen it? Hallmark has upped their movie game this year and I am fine with this. 

I slept in a little on Saturday, then came downstairs for coffee and (another) movie.

I love it when the movies are musical, being someone who loves to sing. After that I sat and caught up on my Bible reading and Scripture writing, then did some laundry and went upstairs to get dressed for the day. I had made plans to have lunch with my friend who was on the writing team with me, Dedee, whom I also go to the beach with occasionally. I miss seeing her regularly, so we try to meet every few weeks so that we can stay in touch. We went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, and I ran into my mom and step-dad! Isn't that funny? I don't know why I thought that would happen, but I actually wondered if I would see Mom there, since she loves it as much as me. Three and a half hours later, I made it back home. Dedee and I can talk forever about nothing and everything. We never run out of things to discuss! Todd stayed home Saturday night and he picked up sushi takeout for us, then made a Walmart run for some new fuzzy slippers for himself. (His words, not mind.) This is what he came home with.

He cracks me up! The dogs think these are toys, by the way. Our sushi was delicious and he ended up thawing out again once he changed into fleece pajama pants. He was freezing because when he went to Walmart, he ran into an older gentleman who had lost his car. Todd stayed to help him find it and was chilled to the bone after walking around for ten minutes. Did I mention that the temperatures dropped to below freezing this weekend? I'm not complaining, but I know several of you saw snow this weekend! I'm not quite ready for snow yet. 

This was so good!

I read the rest of the afternoon and evening and finished the BEST book! You need to read this ASAP.

It was extra special since I was just there and knew some of the spots she mentioned in the book! I love it when that happens. I thoroughly enjoyed my view while reading.

I was up early and dressed by six on Sunday morning, so as I drank coffee, I watched (another) Christmas movie! 

Again—this one was excellent! If nothing else, I've given you tons of movie recs from the Hallmark channel. I was almost late to rehearsal that morning, believe it or not, and that never happens. I actually would have been okay, but I had promised my Noah that I would make him a lunch for work that day, so I had to stop and do that before leaving. After church I caught up on chores I didn't do over the weekend, made a grocery list, watched a movie, worked on my blog and read some of my book. It was a great weekend, but I'm looking forward to the week. I only worked one day last week, so I'm glad to get back to work again. Also, I'm looking forward to Bible study on Wednesday and it's our last one until after the new year. As much as I love it, it's also nice to have a break for the holidays. 

Other things on my agenda this week include things I've already mentioned and getting together for a girl's night out on my town square with my sweet friend Andrea. We did this last year and had the best time! We didn't take coats last year, so note to ourselves—this year, we need to have our coats! It's going to be a cold night again, which makes it even more Christmas-y.

I cannot wait to do this again and the bonus is that I get to see one of my best friends. Here are a few pictures of what our town square looks like at Christmas. I can't wait to see it all in person this year!

And then, there was the year it snowed!

It's so beautiful here. I feel so grateful to live in such a beautiful town! 

It's shaping up to be a better week already than last week, and for that I am thankful. So how was your weekend? What's something good from your weekend that you can share? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

p.s. I'll be posting a day in the life type pictures on Instagram all day today. It's the annual #onedayhh that is hosted by Laura Tremaine...here's a link to Instagram for my profile if you care to follow along!