weekending/Hello Monday 1.30.23

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for this weekending recap and Hello Monday post. Can you believe it's already the end of January? Did this month fly by or drag slowly for you? For me, I usually feel like it's extremely long, but that's not the case this year with how I was getting ready for my job. Mine flew by with lightning speed! 

I hope you all had a great weekend! My weekend feels a little differently now that I'm working full time, but I'm okay with that. My Friday was good, albeit a little strange and unpredictable. Due to necessity, I was briefed very quickly on what to do in emergency situations, but all ended up being okay in spite of having the daylights scared out of me for two minutes. The rest of the day went on uneventfully, thank the Lord, which you know I don't say lightly. 

I love how inspirational elementary school classrooms are! I forgot to take a picture of my corner in the room, so I'll do that sometime this week and share them here. If you're like me, I love seeing things like that, and to get a feel for where people spend their time. 

You all know that before I started working full time, I spent every Friday with Dad. Well, he called me last Thursday night (right as I was about to call him) and when we started talking, I asked him if we could meet up for dinner Friday night. I offered all the options—to pick him up, to meet him and Sandy (my stepmom), or for them to come here, either to Collierville or to my house. They opted for the third option and came to my house to pick me up for dinner out. It was a wonderful dinner, but it wasn't about the food. I loved seeing them both and spending quality time with them! Most of you know that quality time is my top love language. 

I never really share heavy and serious things here on my blog and I'm not starting that now, but most of you know that Memphis was in national news this week, regarding the death of a young man by five police officers. The media outlets kept saying that there were going to be riots all weekend long, and they basically tried to scare us into submission by making us stay home. But God—I could stop right there with those two words—answered many of our prayers, and the weekend was a peaceful one. I'm so thankful for this, for a million different reasons. The first reason is that rioting and violence never solve big problems. Another reason is because many people I know and love are in law enforcement. 

That being said, I'm thankful we had extra people here to help our city in a very troubling time. I'm thankful that the protesting that did take place was very peaceful. The young man's family was honored in that and promises had been made to his parents that things would remain peaceful, and that is exactly what happened. There was some vandalism in certain spots, and though that is never warranted, it's to be expected when a large group of people are together. There are always a few in every crowd that are doing things for the wrong reason. My husband and oldest son were in the downtown area of Memphis all weekend, and Drew doesn't live too far from that area, so they're the other reasons I'm so glad things turned out as peacefully as they did. As I write this, it's Sunday night and they're all safe and sound. I am still praying for the young man's family and that justice will be served. 

About not living in fear, which I mentioned earlier, I thought I'd share one of my favorite Bible verses, 2 Timothy 1:7. 

I refuse to live my life in fear, which is one of a million reasons why I don't watch the national news outlets. I don't watch the news at all, truth be told. I rely on emails and a few podcasts to keep me informed, but I honestly don't want to be too informed for my own mental wellbeing. 

Moving on to lighter topics now....

Have you seen this movie? I watched it Friday night on Prime TV. 

I love both Jennifer Lopez (as an actress) and Josh Duhamel. This was so good! Again, not good as in clean, but good as in highly entertaining. (It was rated R for language and for one scene that was risqué.) This ended up being the only movie I watched this weekend, because I spent the rest of it reading. Todd worked Friday night, Saturday in the day until six p.m., and Sunday from noon to seven p.m. 

I was up early Saturday morning, and left at eight to go pick up my grocery order from Kroger. I also needed gas in my car, so since my order was going to take an additional thirty minutes to be ready, I made the fifteen minute drive to Costco to fill my car up, then made it back right in time to pick up my groceries. Todd helped me put everything away, then I got dressed for the day and met my mom and Trish for some errands. We ran to Target for all of us (we all needed something from there), then we had lunch at a favorite local restaurant (Huey's), then we ended our time together by going to Home Goods. It was a beautiful day! 

I resisted the urge to buy a candle, but did make it home with a baby toy I need for a shower I'm co-hosting on Saturday, a Valentine's set of potholders and this rug you see Oakley lying on. She approves of it, by the way. 

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been reading...come back tomorrow for the books I read in January! 

I picked out a new screensaver for my phone by browsing on Pinterest, I made myself some dinner, then I read some more. By the time I finished all of that, Todd had made it back home and we wrapped up the night by watching Big Brother on Netflix.

Jonah's girlfriend got a puppy this weekend! They ended up back here with Sadie, and this was her hiding under this little table from the big and curious Crash. 

I was up early on Sunday morning, as usual, so I enjoyed my coffee while reading some more. I really want to finish the book I'm currently reading! It's so good and I can't wait to find out what happens next. I love how lazy our dogs are every morning. I took these pictures and sent them to the boys later on in the day. Callie (the German Shepherd) is on this small couch right below. 

And below is Crash, Chip in the middle and Oakley. 

I had my quiet time before I got dressed for church, which I loved. I've been camping out on these verses in 2 Corinthians 4 for the last few days. 

I love to read passages in different translations in the Bible and I love how the Message version says it—not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. I got dressed right after this and left for church. 

It was kind of rainy and warmer yesterday, so I wore this, which is one of my favorite tops. Here's a better view from up close.

I am loving color right now, especially this magenta color. Our church service was excellent yesterday! We had a guest speaker, which I don't always love,  but he wasn't just a speaker—he is a preacher and he preached a phenomenal sermon. I was taking detailed notes the entire time, and it spoke right into my heart. I love it when that happens! After church, I was at home for the rest of the day. Our dryer isn't working right now, so I didn't do laundry, but I did get to catch up on that Saturday. I'm so thankful for that, because it may be another day or two before it works again. If not, I may be coming to see you, Mom and Bill! 😉 I read, I prepped for lunches and dinners this week, I meal planned, I got my bags ready for work today, and my outfit was all ready to go after I changed out of it from the morning at church. Thanks for that great idea, Jen! 

And just for fun and because it's so beautiful, look at this picture from a Saturday last year. My mom and Trish love to go to this home décor shop nearby called John Mark's. This was the entrance into his store last year at this same time of year—he is such a talented young man! You can check out his Instagram account here if you're interested. I love to follow people like that for inspiration.

I also love this reminder for myself. I am so thankful for my husband! Our marriage seems stronger than it's ever been before. I don't take that for granted.

I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to this week. We have some possible snowy weather headed our way, so that's kind of exciting to think about. I hope to have a family dinner tonight, too, so that's always fun. It's so hard to get us all together because of different work schedules for everyone. What are you looking forward to this week? I'd love to hear! Don't forget that tomorrow I'll be sharing about the books I read in January, and on Wednesday I'm hosting the month's Currently post for February. I hope to see you back here! As always, thank you for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 🖤