Hello Monday (6/10/2024)

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was so much fun and I did a few of my very favorite things. It was a typical Friday for me; I did all my normal things, and added in laundry, vacuuming, dusting, and organizing some books that I put together for my friend who's going to borrow them. 

The book stack was so pretty that I had to take a picture to show you. I have two favorite series of books that top every other book/series I've ever read. It's a two way tie between this series, The Yada Yada Prayer Group series by Neta Jackson, and The Sisterchicks series by my favorite author, Robin Jones Gunn. This series above are why I know how to pray. They're fictional, but it's about an unlikely group of women who become friends at a weekend event; though their lives are vastly different, they're forever bonded through tragedy and that one weekend when they are all put into the same prayer group. This is a series that leads to another, that leads to another, that leads to another. In case you don't remember this about me, that is my favorite type of series! I highly recommend these if you're interested. Here they are in a bundle for your Kindle on Amazon. 

I lingered over my quiet time before I got up to start doing all the normal Friday mornings things, and I wrote the bonus Saturday post, the second edition of my new series titled The Cozy Chronicles: the morning routine. I'd love for you to read it and leave me your morning routine thoughts! 

Dad came over at 11:30; we visited and then ate lunch at 12:30. I made us lunch this week, and then we took my car to get it washed, then I picked up an order from Sam's for the bookstore. We took it to the church afterward, and Dad sat and waited on me while I restocked some things for Sunday. 

Sandy came to pick Dad up that afternoon, then I went to Mom's and Bill's for dinner. It was delicious! We had fresh veggies for dinner; I visited for a while with them and then left right before eight to come home. I will always love a summer country sunset! 

I enjoyed a very leisurely Saturday morning at home; I watched a Hallmark movie when I woke up. I haven't done this in ages! I've been reading more lately, so it's been a while since I've taken time to watch a movie instead. 

This was cute, have you seen it? I love the ones that are filmed on location; I subscribe to Hallmark Movies Now, and there's a whole "around the world" collection of movies there. 

Later Saturday morning, I did some cleaning downstairs, and cleaned out one shelf in our kitchen where I keep my devotional books, and I came across a few of my favorite books. These books are not only excellent to read, but have inspired both my personal life and my prayer life. I cannot recommend them enough!

I really love this book above; it's probably my most used book in my home! I've used it so much over the years that it's falling apart. My friend Denise gave it to me years ago while I was homeschooling our boys; she was my Bible study teacher in the group that I belonged to, and was also the one who encouraged me to get a prayer partner. 

I didn't intend for this post to be about so many books, but I might as well go with a good thing; this is another excellent resource for those of us with grown "kids". There's also one called The Power of a Praying Wife/Parent/Husband, and the ones I've read are all great. They inspire my prayer life, and that's always something I am thankful for! 

On a lighter note, I participated in this IG challenge on Saturday, about sharing pictures from each month of the year. Can you believe we're halfway through 2024?

I went to my friend's house to let her dog out and enjoyed the view.

Then I came home to shower and get ready for our date night! Todd and I went to Bonefish for dinner Saturday night, thanks to the gift card that our oldest son gave us for Christmas. It was delicious, and I enjoyed it for lunch the next day as well! 

I was at church by 7:20 Sunday morning and wore this favorite dress; imagine my surprise when my Mom showed up wearing the same pattern in a shirt! This made me laugh ridiculously hard; do you know how often we do that kind of thing? We always show up matching!

I had to share a picture that my favorite Mexican restaurant shared; this is La Perla Tapatia, and they're being filmed today on the show America's Best Restaurants! Isn't that amazing?! I knew it was good, but I'm so proud of them! Also, there goes our little best kept "secret". It'll be hard to get in there now to eat! Todd worked with the sheriff's department Sunday night, so I enjoyed a quiet evening at home reading, then watching TV, and working on my blog for this week.

A couple of you asked about the mattress I referenced in my Saturday blog post; Blogger won't let me share the link, but here's the exact information you need (you can even Google "Costco Sealy Posturepedic mattress"): Sealy Posturepedic Plus Mount Auburn 13" Medium Mattress. Here's the post from Saturday; it was the June edition of The Cozy Chronicles (the morning routine). I hope you come back often this week, I've got some more great blog post ideas lined up! 

What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! If you comment and it shows "anonymous", will you make sure and tell me who you are and leave your blog address for me as well? I'd love to return the comment love! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!