a post of random and unrelated things on a Tuesday

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm running low on content ideas this week, so when in doubt, why not write a post of random things? 

We had our flower beds weeded and mulched on Friday afternoon and are so happy with how great they are looking. Remember me talking about the hydrangeas that we have planted in our side beds, and how they were dying? Or so I thought? It turns out that they're not!

They have little buds on them! I'm really excited about this and hope they last longer this year than the other years that we've had them. They didn't bloom at all last year, thanks to the several hard freezes that we had. 

I loved this view of our town hall as I walked out last week. I love a crisscross pattern that has been mowed into the grass, don't you? 

I love writing down prayer requests in my journal each week. This was me sitting down to do that last week, and I filled up half the page. 

I came across this old picture a couple of weeks ago, and my heart jumped. I loved the days of homeschooling all four of them, and I miss my table looking like this!

A couple of years ago, I decided to scale way back on the amount of books that I own, so I sold the tall bookcase that had been in our bedroom and in the process I found all of these old Bible studies that I'd completed. I remember asking at that time on social media, what one was supposed to do with all these books that had helped me study God's word over the years. Most people recommended saving them all, and I did for a while, but eventually I tossed most of these. I kept only the ones that had special meaning and whose author didn't go off the deep end. 

Look at Chip as a puppy! He was the cutest. Also, I loved this chair that we used to have, and apparently so did Chip. 

The anniversary of this picture above was pretty recent. Graham and Drew went on their first mission trip to Guatemala with their (then) youth pastor AJ and a bunch of other teenagers from church (when they were 16 and 15). When they left Memphis and were flying into Houston, they had to make an emergency landing because they were low on fuel; this happened in the town of College Station, Texas. When they got to Houston, that unplanned stop made them miss their connecting flight into Guatemala, so they spent the night on the floor of the Houston airport. That night some of them caught a flight directly to Guatemala, the others left the next day. One group flew straight into Guatemala, and their group flew through Mexico City, then onto Guatemala. They told me that they were shocked to see armed guards with machine guns in that airport; this happened on a Sunday, so I was a nervous wreck tracking them on their flights. I couldn't sit in the service and spent the whole morning on a couch in the lobby watching their plane on the airline's app on my phone. 

This one feels appropriate since I'm watching Friends while writing this post. Todd never saw the last couple of seasons either, thanks to that being a busy time for us raising little ones, and we've been watching it together since Sunday. This is one of the many little bags that I carry in my work bag or in my purse. I have a thing for little pouches like this and also for tote bags. 

Thanks for reading about my random assortment of tidbits today! I'm linking up with Joanne for today's post. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. 

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was good, but I really did not do anything. I did see my dad on Friday; we ate lunch here at my house, then we went to Sam's for me to pick up an order for the bookstore, then I went to the church to unload it all. Sandy picked him up, and Todd went out to ride his motorcycle. I made myself pizza for dinner, which I am pretty sure why my weekend went the way it did. It was good, but I think it made me sick! I watched a movie which is not even worth mentioning here; after that I opted to read my book.

That's pretty much all I did on Saturday too, but I did stop to buy myself a little something online! One of my sons picked it up for me from Academy shortly after I ordered it, but I treated myself to a zero gravity chair for my deck. This thing is so comfy, and I hope to spend lots of time out there reading in the next few weeks, especially before it gets too hot. 

Todd bought us sushi for dinner, then we watched The Big Bang Theory together that night. 

My favorites are spicy crawfish and spicy shrimp. 

Todd and I left together for church on Sunday morning by 7:15, and we were back home by 12:45. We had to stay after to unbox some five gallon coffee containers (five of them) that I bought for the big event this week at our church, then we ate lunch and watched Friends for the rest of the afternoon. We lead such incredibly exciting lives! 🤣 

Tell me your weekend was more exciting than mine! What did you do that you loved? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

p.s. Don't forget about the Currently link party that happens Wednesday and the new Share Your Shelf book link party on Thursday! On Wednesday we'll be talking about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, seeing, reading, and wanting. 

Share 4 Somethings

 

Happy Saturday, friends! Welcome to the April edition of S4S where we'll be talking about somethings we've loved or disliked, accomplished, improved upon or something that needs improvement, and noticed. I'll jump in!

Some things I loved this month were...

Making my bed the minute I woke up every morning while Todd was having to sleep downstairs...

... celebrating our sweet Drew on his 24th birthday...

... and this sweet act of kindness from the Sunshine committee at work. They gave me this little potted flower as Todd recovered, which is the sweetest thing ever. I still have it sitting on my counter! 

Some things I accomplished this month were ... 

Maintaining the household chores...

...and being able to keep up with things at work in spite of my many absences lately. 

Something that still needs improvement is my motivation for home. I still need to work on several projects around the house, and I keep losing steam by the time I think about getting around to them. 

Something I noticed this month is that Todd and I can be together for days and days on end without killing each other. 🤣 As far as around town or in our own yard, I've noticed how green everything is right now. I love seeing the grass fill in again and the trees coming back to life. I think our dogs enjoy the grass again, too. They seem to like walking around in it and checking things out more than when it was colder. I've noticed on cool and windy days, they love to just stand there and sniff the air. It's the cutest thing to watch! 

I can't wait to read your posts this weekend! Thanks for linking up with me this month and for reading my blog. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! Love to all. 

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Friday Favorites, 4.26.2024.

 

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 great, albeit busy and sleepless; I hope you can say the same! 

About the sleepless part—I mentioned on my blog post yesterday that there is a huge event happening at our church next week, called Collegiate Summit. There will be an additional 700 people in our building for three days, and I am in charge of their coffee, drinks, and snacks. I will have some help, but it is a huge undertaking! I'm thankful for friends that work at church as co-workers who are coming out of the woodwork to pitch in and help me on those days. Anyway, when I have something big looming over my head, I dream about it; that's been the case for the last two nights! This also happened time and again when I first started working in the bookstore, and it would keep me up at all hours of the night. 

I'll be so glad to have this event behind me! I may or may not let the blog go next week, as I'll be working extra hours, too...so stay tuned! Also, before I forget, tomorrow is the last Saturday of the month which means it's time for Share 4 Somethings. We'll talk about the things we've loved or disliked, accomplished, improved upon or something that needs improvement, and noticed this month. Additionally, on Wednesday May 1st, it'll be time for the Currently post. May's prompts are things we're currently loving, looking forward to, seeing, reading, and wanting. I hope you make plans to join us for both link parties! I'll share the Currently prompts for June at the end of Wednesday's post, so be on lookout for them. 

Enough about all of that! I'll move onto some of my favorite things from this week.

On Saturday while I was out with my mom and sister, one of the places we went to has these funny coasters. Those are my favorites, and I feel like I need both of them in my life. The bottom one, though? That'll be how my end plays out most likely! 🤣

This cookie was a favorite treat from the weekend!

This day of reading and my quiet time were my favorites! 

I'll share about the books I read this month on Thursday May 2nd in the new link-up I'm co-hosting, but I read this book on Monday. It might be one of my new favorites! I love it when that happens; I sat down to read a chapter and accidentally finished it in the same day. 

Spending time with Todd is my favorite; however, you need to know a couple of things about this picture above. First, we were heading to an event that I did not want to go to; secondly, Todd and I fought on the way there and we were mad at each other for half the event. It was terrible. 🤣 On a positive note, I love this picture of us that Graham took! 

It's my favorite when little ones come to see me at work! This little fella is one of my faves. 

Sticky notes are my favorite! They were all over the place on Tuesday as I started finding out about this huge event next week. I needed to remember #allthethings and so this is what my workspace looked like. 

I'm a Dayspring retailer for the bookstore, and new catalogues are my favorite! I ordered a few things recently and look forward to ordering some more next week in one of the lulls. 

Being on the library board is one of my favorite things! I had a work session and a meeting on Tuesday night of this week. And speaking of that...

... this is one of my favorite views! I took this from my car looking back up to our town hall. I love our little town!

I sent this picture to Mom, because I wore a favorite dress this week, the original one I'd bought to wear on Easter Sunday. I didn't wear this one, though, but the second one that I ordered. These dresses are so comfy! I will add a caveat to this statement; if you're larger busted, this is not the dress for you.

These easy nights of dinner are my favorite! These are the best chicken strips from Walmart, and my dressing of choice was Blue Cheese. 

Magazine subscription day is my favorite! I recently subscribed to AD for only $10 a year, thanks to an Instagram ad that influenced me. I got a free tote with this year subscription, though, and you all know how much I love a tote bag! 

Mexican and margaritas are my favorite, especially when I add my dear friend Andrea! We met up for dinner last night after not seeing each other (on purpose) for a ridiculous amount of time. 

Lastly, this is our neighbor's house down the street; they've had it completely remodeled on the outside, much like we did to ours back in 2019. I think it's gorgeous! I love this blue color they picked for their home, and I think it fits the style of the house perfectly. Do you like to see color on houses? I don't usually, if I'm honest, but they knocked it out of the park with this one. 

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

On Monday I linked up with Hello Monday. 

Tuesday was when I shared a day in the life. 

On Wednesday I linked up with What's Up Wednesday. 

And yesterday was Thankful Thursday.

What was a favorite from your week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. I hope to see you back here tomorrow for Share 4 Somethings! Love to all. 

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope your week is going well. Mine is—it's actually flying right by. I will say that I wish this part would slow down just a bit. I only have one more weekend that Todd will be home with me before he resumes his old schedule. Even though he had surgery and had to spend those weeks recovering from home, I'm grateful for the time we've had at home together. I kind of think our life is about to change drastically once again with one son moving away and with Todd getting a new job that will make even busier; you can see why I want this time to slow down a bit. 

I'm so glad you're here linking up with me each week! More than that, I hope that practicing intentional daily gratitude has made a difference in your life like it has mine. 

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

• time with Jesus that has been extra sweet this week

I was reading a difficult portion of Scripture yesterday morning, and rather than read it, I listened to it instead. Doing that one thing helped tremendously! We're going back and forth between the books of 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and Psalms. Yesterday we were reading more about genealogies, and I was having a hard time coming away with a God-shot, as Tara Leigh Cobble from The Bible Recap calls it. I borrowed from what she said: in reading yesterday, the family history lesson paused, and a story was injected right in the middle of that. It was about Jabez and a prayer that he prayed. (Remember that old book from the 90's?) She went on to say that she wasn't sure if Jabez's prayer was beneficial for others or if it was for more selfish reasons. Nonetheless, God lovingly receives all of our prayers, no matter the intent of the heart. He will always answer the prayers that we lift up to Him in the way that He knows is best. Isn't that such a beautiful and comforting thought? 

• moments of worship

I don't get to participate in corporate worship as much as I used to, now that I'm in the bookstore working at our church. Part of that statement makes me extremely sad, but then I remember that I have moments of worship throughout all of my days. Yes, I do still go into the service on Sunday mornings, even if it's a bit late, but I do usually catch one or two songs being sung before the preaching starts. Just last night as I wrote this from the bookstore during church hours, I had worship music playing over my Bluetooth speaker and was able to worship while I was in here alone. God is gracious to give me these moments! 

• authors who inspire

All of you know that I recently took an online course about writing a book with Joanna Weaver, but I haven't mentioned that I am also participating in a virtual email course with another one of my favorite authors, the beloved Fiona Ferris. Speaking of her, I just finished an excellent book that she wrote on this topic. As much as I love her, I've only read her eBooks that are available on Amazon; yesterday at Shay's recommendation, I bought my first physical copy by her. I can't wait for it to get here this weekend. She is the best and easy quick read of an author that I have ever read and loved. 

• friends and co-workers willing to pitch in

We have a huge event happening here at our church next week: a collegiate summit for college leaders in this area and the ones surrounding. We're expecting 700 people in the building on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week. This is the first time we've ever held anything here of that capacity, and it is definitely my first time to be running the store that will be in charge of providing all of the drinks and snacks. I could have easily have gotten overwhelmed at this task, but thanks to my wonderful friends and co-workers, so many people are offering to pitch in and lend helping hands. I'm so grateful for them! 

• great books to read
• the fact that Todd does the housework when I'm not home
• boys that will eat anything and never complain
• friends that I get to see weekly at my job
• my wonderful church home (way more than just a place to work)
• delicious coffee drinks that I have learned to make
• mercy and grace upon grace

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

p.s. I'm not sure why it says that this link party can't be here, but just click on the blue button and you can still link up. Does this have to do with me buying the domain recently? If you're techy and know the answer, please share!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What's Up Wednesday

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm joining in with Sheaffer and Shay for today's blog post. I'm going to jump right in, and then I'll wrap this post up with an exciting announcement. I hope you stay tuned! 

What we're eating this week: 

Apparently, this is the week that I'm gone every night, so I'm either eating out, or eating what I made for them to enjoy after I leave. On Monday night we had the annual sheriff's department dinner, so Todd and I ate there. On Tuesday night (after working longer than usual because of a funeral), I made something quick and easy, which is just nachos with taco meat and Rotel. It's always delicious! We'll probably have leftovers tonight since I'm working again, and tomorrow night I'm eating out with one of my best friends, but I'm making dinner for the family while I work that day. I can tell you one thing I was I was eating right now, and that is Jeni's Gooey Butter Cake flavored ice cream in a homemade waffle cone.

What I'm reminiscing about: 

On that same note, I'm still thinking about the weekend away with these sweet friends! We had such a great time getting to know each other. It was fun to be able to talk in real life, and about the things that we don't really mention on our blogs. There was a lot of information we shared with one another that we all just agreed to not talk about with anyone else outside of those walls. It's wonderful to have friends you can trust with things that you don't really talk about, you know? 

On a different note, I'm also reminiscing about the graduation season! My social media memories are flooded with all the fun events that my boys had when they were graduating. So many of you also have upcoming graduations that you're looking forward to; it's such an exciting time in life for these young people! The world feels like it's theirs for the taking, and I hope that they have success in going forward. 

What I'm loving:

Lots and lots of things! I'm loving all the green I see out our windows at home, I'm loving the temps we're having this week, which actually feel like spring and not early summer or late winter, the new shirt I bought myself this weekend that's my favorite brand, the sunshine, the French dip I chose for my nails this time and the bright red I picked for my toes, a necklace that my sister bought for me, bangle style bracelets, some black pants that I "found" in my closet that I'd forgotten about, Everything But the Bagel seasoned kettle chips from Trader Joe's...I could go on, but I'll stop with those. 

What I've been up to:

Work. Dogs. Church. Trying to stick to healthy eating. 🤣 Reading. Watching episodes of When Calls the Heart as they come on each Sunday night. (I usually watch them on either Friday or Saturday mornings.) Writing. Praying. Lots of good things! 

What I'm dreading:

I'm  dreading the end of May, when Noah is hoping to make the move to Dallas. I have experienced this once already, and I cried for the whole week that Drew packed up his room, but I didn't cry the night he made the move. I have no idea what this time will be like, but I've already shed tears. I know that this is what we're supposed to do: raise them to be on their own. I'm happy for him, but my heart is breaking for Jonah (his twin) and myself. Our sons are really close in their relationship, so this will be hard to adjust to. I know I'll be fine and that he will probably love it there, but if he stays there, nothing will ever be the same. My heart almost can't take it! Feel free to pray for me! (I made myself cry writing this.) 🤣 Parenting adult kids is not for the faint of heart. 

What I'm working on:

At work I am working on cleaning out my two closets. I'm making slow progress! I'm working on putting my phone away more. I'm working on my attitude toward a hurtful situation my husband is going through. 

What I'm excited about: 

I'm excited about summer and my first swim (float) of the season! I love pool days so much; they're my favorite way to relax in the heat of summer. 

What I'm watching/reading:

Todd and I are watching On Patrol live on Peacock, and The Big Bang Theory on Max. And if I'm alone, I watch my usual favorite and movies. I'm reading the best books lately! I'll share about them next Thursday on May 2nd. Speaking of that, you should visit my blog that day, because Joanne, Tanya, Marilyn and I are starting a new link party titled Share Your Shelf. We'll host this link up on the first Thursday of every month; all we ask is that you use the graphic that Joanne created somewhere in your post and that you share some comment love with the others who link up. 

I hope you'll join us! 

What I'm listening to:

If I don't have Spotify playing, I'm listening to YouTube channel with a pretty background image and jazz music playing in the background. 

What I'm wearing:

Whatever the weather calls for is what I'm wearing! 

Here are a couple of things I've worn recently: my favorite faded jeans on Saturday out with my mom and sister, and this new Umgee top that I found at a boutique last weekend (2nd picture). 

What I'm doing this weekend:

This will be the last weekend that Todd is home for most of the weekend. Next weekend he can go back to riding shifts with the sheriff's department, and soon after that he is starting a new job with the state of Tennessee with the department of transportation. He'll be in one of those emergency vehicles that you see on the sides of the Interstate helping people with break downs or in situations where a wreck has occurred. He'll have weekend shifts starting out, most likely, so this will take him away from us for a while. I know we're going out to dinner at least once this weekend, and we'll make a Sam's run for the bookstore while we're out. There is a huge conference being held at our church next week, and I'm working more hours than normal for that. I have to stock up on all the things! 

What I'm looking forward to next month:

I'm looking forward to seeing another sister that will be here from Denver (Lisa, this time) and also seeing my niece Erika and her four girls at the end of the month. They are not coming together, this will be two separate occasions. 

What have you been up to lately? I'd love to hear! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! Love to all!