Friday Favorites, Merry Christmas 2022 edition!

 

Happy Friday, friends and Merry Christmas Adam! (Adam and Eve...Christmas Adam, Christmas Eve...get it??) 

First up on my favorites list is this image that Jen shared on her blog Wednesday. I was so busy on that day, that I forgot about the date and the fact that it was the winter solstice! 

I love this and wanted to share it here with you as well, because much like her and how winter is one of her favorite seasons, it's also one of my favorites! I would say that I love fall the most, with winter as a close second. My favorite thing about the winter season centers around one word—cozy (or hygge, which is Dutch, as it's called in Dutch). You should go and read Jen's post about this. It was my favorite kind of post! 

I have a whole board on Pinterest called The Cozy Season. You should go check it out! Just click on that title. I love this image below that I found on Pinterest! We all love a bucket list, don't we? 

I read one of the best articles online this week! It's called Tomorrow is Not Promised and it's written by my friend Heather that I mentioned in yesterday's Share 4 Somethings post. Her words are so true—life is short. We need to make that call, and we need to check on our friends. We never know what someone is going through and we all need each other! These kinds of articles are my favorite—the ones that challenge, inspire and make me think.

Along the line of articles, one of my favorite things from this week has been reading old blog posts from my early days of blogging. Here is one that I loved and had forgotten about, called The Character of my Kids. It's funny how some things never change about your kids, but I'll say this—Graham's leadership skills and "legalistic" personality have turned him into such a smart and kind young man. It's funny that I wrote about him that he was 12 at that time and going on 22, because now he is 23! And Drew, Jonah and Noah have remained almost the exact same as they were when I first wrote that blog post. 

- an old favorite picture of them taken during Christmas break -

I've been doing lots of reminiscing this week because I've been trying to find my earliest blog post in 2007. I have not been successful, but I've remembered some wonderful times with the boys. I say that, but I also want to tell you that they are my favorite ages right now. They're such nice guys, they make us laugh, they're kind, they're very helpful (all of them ALWAYS stop to help people they see stranded on the side of a road), they're loving, thoughtful and they're so much fun to be with. The Lord has given us the ability to love any age they're at and that has continued on through the years. 

Mom and me on Wednesday

Moving back to present day, Wednesday was my favorite day of the week! Mom and I had decided that this would be our annual day of last minute Christmas shopping and a yummy lunch that has nothing to do with Christmas food. So, I met her at the nail salon that morning at 9:30 and off we went! Don't her nails look beautiful? I have always loved peoples' hands, especially those of my husband, mom and dad. Mom's hands are so pretty to me and more familiar to me than my own. I took that picture to send to my sister Debi, who was the inspiration behind this nail idea.

I am smiling as I write this and look at this picture above not because it's my favorite, but because the 70's called and want their favorite outfit back. I won't say that I would never wear something that bright, but I'd definitely never wear something that bright on both the top and the bottom. The shirt is kind of cute, in my opinion, and would look good with jeans. The material was so soft and you know how I love a billowy shirt.

Our Christmas lights date night with the dogs was definitely my favorite night this week! This night was also a favorite for our dogs Crash and Chip.

Out of all the lights that we saw that were beautiful, our own flagpole Christmas tree is my favorite. We were driving down the street that runs perpendicular to ours and when I looked down our road, our beautiful tree stands tall and proud above lots of our neighbors' homes. 

I have some favorite outfits from this week!

It's been colder this week, so I've been wearing all my favorite cozy things. On the days that I worked, I came home and changed into my favorite black lounge pants from J Jill (They're flowy!) and my beloved Hallmark Christmas movie sweatshirt. It's my warmest and coziest shirt that I have and wear for lounging around the house. I've also dressed in layers, which is a favorite, like with the outfit I had on Sunday at church, and I've been wearing my favorite red sweater and this new magenta colored Nike sweatshirt I treated myself to with some birthday money. It's so cozy! I am also still loving my new and favorite purse that you see in the picture of me at church.

One last favorite that I don't have a picture of is that I bought a coat yesterday! It's one that I found at Walmart—it's a black puffy coat that is warm but also thin, and it's mid-thigh length. I can't wait to wear it this week! The temps dropped here yesterday and today our high is 15 degrees! Where my sisters live near Denver, their actual temperature dropped below zero. I can't even imagine! Cold weather at Christmas is my favorite! It makes it feel festive to me...I'll never forget last year when our Christmas day was hot. 

I'm not a hundred percent sure that I'm going to write a post for Monday, but regardless, the next time I write to you will be after Christmas! So, my friends, I hope that you and your families have a wonderfully beautiful, happy and Merry Christmas. I pray the day is everything that you hoped and need it to be! May the Lord Himself bless you, keep you close, be gracious to you, bring you peace and make His face shine upon you. 

(Numbers 6:24-26)

Even if I skip a post for Monday, I will be back Tuesday through Friday, so come check out some of the fun posts I have planned for next week! In case you missed out any of blog posts from this week, I'll list them below.

Monday was a weekend recap and the Hello Monday link-up.

Tuesday I shared a couple of my favorite Christmas songs with videos and the story of how my blog and blog title came to be.

Wednesday was a post that I titled Merry Everything- fun things and Christmas memories. and Wednesday's bonus post was the December edition of Share 4 Somethings, in which I shared some exciting news about continuing on with one of my favorite link parties. You should go check that post out and make plans to join in with us beginning on Saturday, January 28th, 2023! 

Thursday was the usual Thankful Thursday post, where several of us share all that we are thankful for that week. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends. I appreciate all of you so much! Your encouragement and love mean a lot to me and I am so glad we've all found each others' blogs and that we're friends. Much love to you and Merry Christmas! 🎄