Friday Favorites, 7.28.23.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's favorite blog post of the week. How has your week been? Mine has been good, even though it got a really rocky start. And that's the perfect segue for my first thing this week.

What was not a favorite this week was finding out that my son Noah was involved in an accident while in Dallas, and the fact that he was rear-ended by an eighteen wheeler, thus totaling his car. (His new-to-him car that he'd only had a few weeks...remember me telling you that?)

Here's what I said about this on social media:

As a mom, there is never a good time to hear about your "kid" (no matter their age) being involved in a wreck. Noah has been in Dallas this weekend, and as he was heading back home today, he was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler truck. His car may be totaled, but thank God he and his friend are okay. (They're sore, and Noah has a cut on his face from it hitting the steering wheel.) Today could have been so much worse! For the second time in Noah's life, I am thanking God and praising Him for His word, particularly Psalm 91:11, which says this: For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways. (The first time I thanked God for this verse was when Noah was a young boy, and was hit by a car as he crossed the street.) Cars can be replaced, but life is precious in God's sight. Like I already said, today could have been so different! 

Every night before I fall asleep, I pray for my people. I ask God to watch over them, to guide them, and to protect them. I am praising Him for His mighty hand of protection today! I am thankful that Todd was close to home when Noah called him. He was able to leave for Dallas within ten minutes of finding out! As I write this, they're together and on their way back home. I said all of this to say that we never know from one day to the next what our lives will look like. We should all be living our lives like today could be our last day on earth. I ask this all the time, but do you know Jesus? If your answer is no or that you're not sure, what are you waiting for? Reach out to me if you want to talk about this more. Don't wait!

Date night is always a favorite! Last night, Todd and I tried a new restaurant, one called Sufi's. The food was Mediterranean, and was AMAZING. We were matchy-matchy in our outfits and colors, so of course I had to take a picture. And then afterward, he bought me some beautiful flowers. Sunflowers are one of my favorites! 

Seeing Christa on Saturday of this week was a favorite! How colorful are we?!

My mom and I ate at our favorite place on Saturday, and this soup tastes just as amazing as it looks. It's tortilla soup and has chicken, bits of potato, rice, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla strips on top.

One of my current favorite books...

And seeing this Sunday night was a favorite. Todd participated in a sea of red for a fallen Memphis firefighter. This is beautiful to me, how they honor the lives of the ones who take care of us.

My favorite funny thing from Instagram that I promptly texted to my best friend...

This is my favorite picture of my sisters and me! I am being held by Lisa, then it's Trish, and Debi on the right. This gives you insight on our age difference as well, Lisa and I are fourteen years apart, Debi and I are thirteen years apart, Trish and I have eight years between us.

Fruit has been my favorite food this week! I've enjoyed watermelon from Mom and Bill, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries. 

Something I love to do that's a favorite is to make my sons happy to be home. I love to clean their rooms when they go out of town, and I love for them to be able to come home to a freshly made bed, and to have a lamp or ambient lighting turned on. This was me doing just that late Monday night, before I went to bed. Todd and Noah made it home before midnight, but I'd washed Noah's sheets over the weekend and forgot about the fact that they weren't back on his bed. While I would normally let him do that kind of thing (putting the sheets back on), who wants to do that when you're exhausted and ready for bed, and stressed out from the wreck and day he'd spent traveling? So, I put them on his bed and turned the covers down like this. I texted him this picture and he sent me a big thank you and said that again the next day as he gave me a bear hug. Bear hugs are my favorite. 

I went to a cute little boutique on Tuesday with my mom, and got this adorable car-freshener. You should smell it—the scent was called Hawaiian Suntan. You know me and my love of all things coconut scented! 

Oakley and her adorable napping positions are my favorite. 

Little books like this are my favorite! I also bought this at the boutique I mentioned. 

I have second and third holes for my earrings, and needed some new smaller sized pairs. I bought these at Walmart this week and they're officially my new favorite!

This dress is going to be a new favorite. I ordered it from Amazon over the weekend, and when it was delivered and after I tried it on, I immediately ordered another one in navy blue. I bought these with fall in mind. It stays warm here through mid-October to early November, so these will be a great transition type of dress. I thought they'd be cute with a denim jacket and wedges. I'm excited to wear this one on Sunday. I'm impressed with the quality for the price I paid—the liner is thick and stretchy, but the dress material is chiffon and does not give. I love how it falls, the length of the dress part, the sleeves, and I love the V-neck. I was telling a friend that I am getting to the point of needing clothes because of the weight I've lost. I am able to make most things work, but some things are falling off of me, like my favorite jeans. I don't want to buy a lot of things, just enough to get me by for now. This dress was a fun purchase and I will wear them both as much as I can, while I'm able. (I'm hoping to lose more weight, so hopefully this will be too big someday.)

This is one of my great nieces, Madi, and this might be my new favorite picture ever. She got into her mommy's lipstick this week and when Erika asked her why she needed that, she said, "Cause I a mom." I mean, she's not wrong. I told Erika that she takes after her auntie Jen! I've loved lipstick for as long as I can remember. I used to get into my sisters' makeup, and my mom loves to tell the story of when I broke a bottle of foundation that she'd just bought for Debi. 

One last thing, and it's this favorite memory of a Friday with Dad. We were at the zoo on this day, watching the penguins, and after that we saw the sting rays. I love the picture under this one; they all loved touching the sting rays at this exhibit. The boys were most likely around the ages of 11, 10, and 7 (twins) at the time this was taken.

 

Did you read my other blog posts from this week? I'll link them below. 

Monday was my weekending post. 

Tuesday was a post where I talked about what's in my shower and useful things I love.

On Wednesday, I joined in with a link party called What's Up Wednesday.

Thursday was a throwback post on what our life looked like in 2017. I talked about days gone by and what our weekends used to look like when they were all teenagers. 

For a bit of blog business and because many of you plan your blogs out in advance, I thought I would share some dates and prompts with you. The Share 4 Somethings post always happens on the last Saturday of every month. The prompts always stay the same on this post: we share the things we loved, learned, read, and ate/enjoyed that month. This month, that date falls on July 29th. Additionally, Currently takes place on the first Wednesday of each month. On Wednesday August the 2nd, we'll be sharing what we're currently loving, looking forward to, starting, thinking, and wearing. I hope you'll consider joining up with one or both of those link parties! I'd love to have you join; they're fun to read. 

Thank you for reading my blog, friends! I hope your week has been great, and that your weekend is even better. Love to all! 💜