Friday Favorites, 12.29.2023.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's favorite blog post of the week. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! As much as I love the season, I'm not a huge fan of the actual day, oddly enough, and am always relieved when it's over. Call it whatever you want, but I was beat that night! It wasn't anything in particular that made me this way, I've been like this for many years. I always feel so melancholy on the day of! Are you like this at all? I think it's worse since our sons are all grown now. In spite of my feelings, it was a sweet day. 

I will say that I felt very emotional all day, as well, which is irritating to me. Sometimes I'm glad I cry easily, but I also hate that I cry easily. It was over things like an unexpected text, telling the story of two men that made me cry at church on Sunday, a tiny bit of hurt feelings that our sons bickered and were rude to each other over something, memories of years past, and wondering what lies ahead in the new year. Aging parents is partly to blame for this; I don't want to take one minute of time with all or our parents for granted! Okay, I'll move onto lighter and brighter thoughts now. 

I can't remember if I mentioned last week that my stepbrother Trey and nephew Jaxson came into town last week for a few days. I got to see them for a few minutes while I was at work on Thursday, and then I went over there for dinner on Friday. I am so glad they were here and that we got to catch up! Jaxson is a sweetie, and it didn't take much for us to become friends. This is really the first time he's met me since he's gotten old enough to remember! He's in fourth grade, and we've already spent time this week texting back and forth. I love his age! And his daddy...well, Trey has always been such a goofball, but man I love him. Seeing them was a favorite from my week, and I know Bill loved it as well! 

Bill outdid himself on the lights at their house this year! It was stunning. Christmas lights will always be my favorite! 

I was putting the Christmas away and cleaning this week, and wanted to show you this adorable gift that my friend Dedee gave me for my birthday. It's a church made out of a book! This is one of those gifts that is perfectly me, and it was so thoughtful. Having a friend know me so well is one of my favorite gifts from God in my life. I know I am not alone in this sentiment! 

I wore my favorite shirt on Saturday when I met up with my mom and sister. I also really love our Saturdays together most weeks; they're one of my favorite things to do on weekends. Sometimes I shop with them, sometimes it's more like us just running errands together, and sometimes we go and do different things. I love quality time, and it's a good opportunity to have that. 

Driving through Starry Nights with Jonah and his girlfriend Laura on Saturday night was my favorite! We used to love doing that with all of us when the boys were younger, but it got kind of redundant, and we stopped going for a while. It's been several years since we've been, and it was great! We'd never pay for this, though. Todd gets to go free because he's with the Sheriff's department.

Having my sons sit with me in church during my favorite service of the entire year is the best!

The people I work with are my favorites! Yes, they are this much fun all the time.

I'm dreaming of another trip to Colorado to see my favorite young people! I loved seeing these pictures of them on Christmas day. Look at all the snow they woke up to on Christmas eve! 

Having all of the cluttered decorations from Christmas put away for another year and starting fresh is my favorite! I've missed this simple look for the past few months; it's been since the last week of August since I last saw these items!

I got a new tumbler for my birthday from Todd's parents! It's the same brand as the Christmas one I'd been using, the Meoky brand. I found this one on Amazon and they bought it for my birthday. I love the pink and how it fades.

Everyone who knows my husband knows that bourbon is one of his newer favorite hobbies, and he has grown quite the collection of pretty bottles. I had the best idea ever on Tuesday as I was putting away the Christmas decor and cleaning the house; I decided that the top of the hutch in our dining room is way more conducive to holding these bottles than being stuck down in a low cabinet. I also had the thought to thread some fairy lights in between them all, and I love how it turned out! Most of these bottles were gifts. He has his few favorites that he prefers and pretty much only buys the same one or two bottles.

Late afternoon writing is my new favorite time! 

I found a new favorite spot to check my makeup in the mornings when it's sunny out. This is in the half bath downstairs, with me facing the window. It's excellent for facial grooming as well! 

And lastly, I had my nails redone this week, even though it'd only been two weeks. I had some birthday money that I used this for, because the green and gold was fun until Christmas, but I was over it right after. I got one of my favorite colors, one that I haven't worn in a couple of years at least! It's a dip powder color called Galactic. I love how the sparkles in it are blue! 

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

On Tuesday I shared about our Christmas celebrations. 

I shared about Todd on Wednesday, and how we celebrated him for his birthday!

And yesterday I shared the weekly Thankful Thursday post. 

Don't forget that tomorrow is our last Share 4 Somethings of 2023, where we'll talk about things we loved, learned, read, ate and/or enjoyed in December! I do plan on bringing that back in the new year, with some new and fun prompts for the entire year. Stay tuned for those in tomorrow's post. The link will open on Saturday morning at midnight, so I hope you join us! Additionally, the first Currently post of 2024 will take place on Wednesday this week. In January, we'll be sharing what we're currently loving, resolving, looking forward to, doing to stay cozy this winter, and cooking. I've decided that all year long, we'll keep the two prompts "loving", and "looking forward to" for the Currently posts, then I'll add three different ones each month. If you have any prompts you'd like to share with me to add, leave your suggestions in the comments! I always appreciate feedback. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.