Monday, March 18, 2024

Hello Monday

 


Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Here were a few things that made me happy this weekend...




Spending about half an hour on Friday looking through old pictures made me so happy! I was looking for a specific photo and came away with some doozies. I love this one of Todd and me for my senior prom; check out the boat of a vehicle he was driving! It belonged to his parents, and was a Lincoln Towncar. 




Seeing Oakley lay in her happy position for almost an hour makes me smile! I love it when she does this. 




Finally watching this new(ish) movie made me happy, and so did the fact that I watched it at home for free and didn't spend money on it in the theater. It was good because of the backstory of all these movies, but it also somehow wasn't great. It was kind of sad starting out!




I guess bad movies was the theme this weekend, because this one was terrible when I watched it early on Saturday morning! I have to say, I don't love Lindsay Lohan anymore, and haven't for quite some time.




I found this picture on a page that I follow on social media; check out the gorgeous cherry blossom trees! This is a beautiful road in Memphis near the Dixon Art Gallery. 




You all know how much I love and appreciate beautiful architecture, and I loved this arched roof that I saw on Saturday when I went out with my mom. We went to a nearby town and shopped in a ritzy area for once. Well, I window shopped, but it was fun! 




I love all the mugs at Anthropologie!




Even their dressing rooms are beautiful!




We tried a new restaurant that was so cool inside, Local Lime. 




Our fresh guacamole and nacho bites with grilled chicken was incredible! We shared these two appetizers. 




I was so excited to come home and find that my dress had been delivered! I plan on wearing this to church on Easter Sunday; isn't it cute? I follow Mrs. Kari Clark on Instagram, and she shared about this dress one day last week. I promptly bought it with the understanding that I could always return it if I didn't love it once it arrived. I love it, though! Here's a link if you're interested; it comes in a bunch of colors. I love it so much that I immediately bought another one in a different color pattern. 




Here's a close up of the colors and print. It's a slight A-line dress with a tie at the neck and the fabric is viscose. It feels great on, and I plan on wearing it with saddle brown wedges. 



I ordered my favorite cheese pizza from Lost Pizza Co. and shared it with Graham for dinner; I watched episodes of my favorite show while I ate and worked on blog posts for the week. 


On Sunday we went to church dressed in our green, then I was back home for the rest of the day. Todd and Graham worked together that night, and Noah came home from Dallas. Jonah spent the day with his girlfriend out on their property in Mississippi, and I got to feed my Drew when he came home for a bit to borrow our lawnmower. It was a good day! I love it when I get to see all my people.



I always love an excuse to wear bright Kelly green! It's one of my favorite colors to wear. What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 




Friday, March 15, 2024

Friday Favorites! 3.15.2024.

 


Happy Friday, friends, and Happy March! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's favorite blog post of the week. How was your week? Mine was really good, and I hope you can say the same! Here are a few of my favorites on this lovely Friday. 





I have several new favorite things that I'm selling in the bookstore! In the first picture above this, you can see how many things I put out for the Easter season last Thursday. As of last night, most of that is now gone. I got some puzzles in this week that are adorable! I wish I was a puzzle person. 




I really love seeing unique artwork, and this one that I saw at Lane's Music store nearby me is my favorite! I don't know if this instrument is a bass or a cello, but either way, it's beautiful with the painting.






Spending time with my hubby at his happy place two different days this week was my favorite! I love that he loves his new hobby of riding his bike. He's ready for me to ride with him, but I don't know that I'm ready yet. I know I'll get there, but it makes me a little nervous to think about. The second picture you see is where he bought his bike from here in Memphis. The one we visited Saturday was in Southaven, Mississippi.





Having people over is always a favorite, because it forces me to clean and spruce things up around our home. Do you do this when you have people over? I'd love to do that more, honestly, but we just have too many dogs. As sweet as they are, they're not conducive to entertaining. 





I love the two door hangers I recently hung. The first one above this is new that I bought at Home Goods last weekend, and this bunny silhouette is an old favorite. (I need a command hook to hang on the door instead of the hanger it's on, but it'll do in a pinch for now.)





Seeing Chloe in my chair and Oakley's amazing puppy dog eyes are a couple of my favorite things in life! I think it's funny that Chloe sits in my chair that rocks; she's the only dog that's ever done that and that hasn't been afraid of its movement. For fairness, here are the other three pups.






Crash is the top one, and he's our old man at twelve. Callie is eight, and Chip is six. 




Hair day is always my favorite!








And so is delicious food with a best friend. Again...this second picture was before I spilled half of Christa's dinner all down the front of me. I'm just glad the sesame chicken sauce came out of my shirt! It was on my sandal and on my toes! I'm laughing, because only I can do something like that. 




These words above are some of my favorite that I've seen all week long! It's true;  I am human and mess up everyday of my life, but I pray that in spite of that, people see Jesus in me. 



Dinners like the one above are always a favorite type of an easy and quick dinner. I had this on Wednesday night: taquitos with a salsa/ranch dressing dip that I love, and an avocado. It was delicious! Taquitos in the air fryer are the best! 


I don't have a picture, but an impromptu date night and Sam's trip for the bookstore is always a favorite! We had dinner at our favorite taco truck, Tacos-n-Gana, and unloaded all the groceries at the bookstore before coming home and getting comfy in our pajamas. It was a rainy night, so we were glad to be home by six thirty, watching our show. 


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




Thursday, March 14, 2024

Thankful Thursday

 


Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you've been having a great week! Mine has been, albeit busy as well, but I have lots to be thankful for this week. Thanks for linking up with me today, if you're choosing to do that! I always appreciate that each week and hope that being intentionally grateful has been a blessing for you, as much as it has for me. 






I am thankful for birthday celebrations and a table full of people! Particularly these people; they're the grandparents. What a blessing it was to have them all in our house this week as we celebrated. I don't say this lightly, friends!



I am thankful for friends who love my sons like they're their own. This is my dear, lifelong friend Marcia, and she sent me this picture on Monday night, when she and her family ran into Graham playing pickleball on the court next to theirs. Marcia and her husband Brad are those friends that I called "lifelong", because it doesn't matter that we rarely see each other, I know that they're there and that if we ever needed anything, they would jump at the chance to help us. Our kids are all around the same ages, and we used to spend nights on the weekends with them playing cards while our kids all ran around upstairs. When Todd and I traveled to Iceland one summer, we made them our "just in case" people to finish raising our boys, if anything happened to us. There's nothing that will give you a lifelong bond like writing that in a will. 


Needless to say, I cherish this picture, because it represents friendship and love to me. And look at my Graham's bright smile! I love this picture of them both. 



I am so thankful for this dear friend Christa! She and I met up for dinner on Tuesday and had a great time eating delicious food and catching up with one another. It's been a few months since the last time I saw her, so this time was good for us both. 


I'm thankful that I got to have my hair done this week. That may sound silly to someone, but it's the truth! It's a treat to be able to do that, one that I only started doing when I turned 40, and I will never get over it.


I am thankful for my dear friend Mandy at work, and how I've had the opportunity to get to know her since I started back in August. I don't think she'll live here forever, because her heart is in East Tennessee, but I will cherish the time that I have with her in the present. If you think of her, will you pray for her? She's coming up on the one year anniversary of her mom dying, and she is struggling this week. I cried with her yesterday as we talked. Would it even be a week in the bookstore if I didn't shed tears? I think not.


I'm thankful for the amazing weather we've been having! I think it's getting cool again today, so I'll miss the warm temps and the sunshine. 



I'm (mostly) thankful for the antics of these pups. They make us laugh and bring us all kinds of joy, and sometimes frustration. The good definitely outweighs the bad! If you're not a regular, left to right are Oakley (our son's dog), Chip, Crash, Chloe (another son's dog), and Callie. 


Other things I am thankful for this week include being able to unwind at night with a funny show that Todd and I watch, a good book to read, writing inspiration, videos on YouTube from authors who encourage, podcasts by excellent Bible teachers, the living and active word of God, phone calls with my mom, and fun days at work. 


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


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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

some things I love right now

 


Happy Wednesday, friends! I thought I'd share some things that I love right now that I haven't talked about before, or maybe that I just haven't mentioned in a while. Happy reading! 


I am loving reading the Bible chronologically again this year! I really love Tara Leigh Cobble, founder and author (teacher) of The Bible Recap. Every morning I listen to the Bible being read aloud to me while I follow along in my own Bible. I highlight, make notes, answer questions, and ponder what I've heard, and then I look for something that tells me about the character of God. Sometimes it's obvious, but on other days, I really have to dig around for something. After I've done all of that, I listen to the less than ten minute podcast for that day. Sometimes there are extra videos and links to articles, and when I have the time, I watch or read even more to learn something new. I don't mind devotionals, and think they're good to use for a while, but my preference is definitely just the word of God. There's no wrong way to spend time with Jesus everyday, friends! Any time spent reading His word will be the best thing that you can do for yourself in a day.


This may sound vain, but I've been doing my hair in a way that is so much easier for the last few months. I have very thick, naturally curly hair and I always dread wash day. I only wash it about once a week now, but I wet it in the shower almost everyday. When I get it wet, I still use conditioner to untangle the ends, then I have changed the products I use and the way that I apply them. I use a curl cream on my hair while it's very wet and after I've brushed it out. (I no longer dry it well before I do this.) I rake the product through my hair while it's flipped over, and then I scrunch it up. After that I use this mousse and apply it all over my hair two different times using the "praying hands" motion in which my hands are flat and my hair is sandwiched between them. After that I do not comb or brush through again, I just start scrunching the product in. While I do this, I "hear" the water squishing in my hair that's mixed with the products, then I use a microfiber towel to scrunch my hair in to absorb the extra. I let it air dry and then I sleep with it loosely piled on top of my head, but I'm thinking of buying a turban thing to start using instead. It's made a world of difference in my hair!


Anyway, that sounds complicated, but it's actually so much easier than it used to be, so I'm loving the new routine. 




I love the new journal I bought at Marshall's a few weeks ago! I love a new journal, period. I love filling the pages with ideas, to-do lists, "weekend happies", quiet time notes, sermon notes, and blog ideas. Are you a journal lover like me? I've loved them (and writing) since elementary school.



I am having a moment with Canva, and I love it right now! I love creating new graphics for my blog or my social media cover photos. I have access to a pro account that I just learned about, so I'm excited to play around with that sometime soon!




I am also having a moment with the color pink! I love it in these jelly bracelets that I love to wear, and in flowers around our home. I don't even know who I am. Would you believe that I hated this color for years???



I am loving reading my favorite series of books again. I'm on book two at the moment, and every time I read them, I laugh out loud. It's the Sisterchicks series by Robin Jones Gunn. 


These are just a few things I thought of; what are you loving right this moment? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, 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! Here were a few th...