Once Upon a Time...

 

Today I thought I would tell you a story about what used to be. It's a story about an old farmhouse - the place where we spent about 17 of our 36 years together. 

This was David's grandparent's house and by the time we got married, it was empty of people, but still full of furniture and memories. David loved this house, as it was just across from his own house, where he lived and grew up. This house was the home of his grandparents, one of whom was his hero, his grandfather Owen. Every day David would visit his grandfather and they would walk and talk and just simply spend time together. 

When we got married, the house was available to rent, so we paid $100 a month and back then...$100 was a fair amount of money. 

We spent the first 4 years there, living with space heaters, no central a/c, old wallpaper, indoor/outdoor carpet in the kitchen and other outdated amenities, but we were happy to have a house. But one day we brought home a baby boy and the heating and air situation got the best of us, plus we kind of wanted a home to call our own, so we moved across town to our first brick home that we bought for $28,500, where we stayed for the next 6 years. Enter second baby boy and a few job layoffs (healthcare) and we sold our house, made a huge profit and moved again.

Eventually we made our way back to the farmhouse, where we spent the next 13 years renovating it from the studs, up. We tore it down and built it back up, with our own bare hands and 2 boys to help (as best as they could). 

We wanted to give our boys the dream life filled with grandparents, horses, land and plenty of space to run and roam.

Here are a few pictures from our time there...

We had the best two horses. As we would drive down the driveway, this was our view each day. This was their grazing field. Every year we would have to close off this field for a few months and plant seed. They had acres of land to roam in, but when the time came for us to open the gates to this pasture, they were the happiest horses in the world. They would run and kick and play and then bend their heads to start grazing. We looked forward to the scene, as much as they did. 

David's grandmother's azaleas were beautiful at the front of the driveway. They only bloomed for a short time each season, but when they did, it was a sight to see.

This was the grazing pasture before the grass grew. 

One year we turned our land into a photo venue for local photographers. We had fun doing it, but after about 6 months of strangers roaming our yard and porch, we decided the profit wasn't worth our privacy, so we shut it down. But we had fun and it was an experience we still talk about from time to time. 

We used to have "front porch singings" here, as well. We would invite other musician friends over and have food and coffee and sit on the front porch with guitars and sing until it was late and dark. 

David and I would sit here on Saturday mornings, drinking our coffee, talking about all the things that still needed to be done, like finishing the barn that was only halfway built. There was a lot to do here, especially after a few hurricanes, where we lost about 30 pine trees that needed to be cleared. But we did our best and made this place a beautiful home.

In 2014 our oldest son Ted married his beautiful girl Alex right here under the carport. 

They drove off in David's old '49 army jeep with a homemade sign saying "Just Married". It was one of the simplest, most beautiful weddings I've ever seen. The horses even made an appearance, just after they were pronounced husband and wife. Oh, and we forgot to inform our backdoor neighbors that we were having a wedding that evening, so they were out mowing their land during the ceremony, but oh well 😅 it made for some great memories. 

We had a lot of good memories in the old farmhouse, but eventually another storm came and it just became too much. With David being one man, having a full time job as an administrator, his dad was gone by then, Ted was married, and that left Collin and I to lend a hand, and David's mom's house to tend to, as well, we chose to say goodbye to the farm life and moved to town. 

We regret moving, but that's life. It often requires changes that hurt, but are necessary. 

I never thought we would go from land and horses to apartment life with a swimming pool, but here we are and we are actually enjoying this season. 

Life in the old farmhouse was a part of our story that we will always treasure. And who knows? We may end up on land again or we may keep it simple and just keep living the life of city dwellers. Either way, we'll keep counting our blessings and building our home wherever God leads. 

With HIM, life is always an adventure.

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Libraries and Bookstores - two of my favorite places

 Hello Friends!

I hope your first week of September was cool and cozy, with colors of orange, yellow and autumn all around. I live in Texas so mine was...HOT! 

But, what to do when it's still in the 90's outside? Decorate the library for FALL and pretend like the season is changing (even if you're sweating while doing it)😅

This week I got to decorate for Fall at the library and I had so much fun. I have a boss who gives me free rein to decorate and I just love that she trusts me with the task. We put a fall scent in the wax burner, turned the air down to 70 and by the end of the week, it was smelling and looking like a new season.

And speaking of books...over the holiday, we went to visit family and I also got to visit a bookstore I discovered on Instagram, called The Painted Porch Bookshop, in Bastrop. It was such a quaint little place with all kinds of books, as you can imagine. 

Take a look at that stack of books! There was a cozy couch just across from the fireplace and other comfy spots to sit around the store. 

I did end up buying one book from this collection of Everyman's Pocket Classics. The one I chose was Wedding Stories, about famous writers and their wedding stories. I had a hard time choosing. I love short stories and I also love series, so to choose just one book was really hard. I wanted to own every one of them 😅 But, that wouldn't be practical at this point, so I just chose one and will hopefully add more as the years go by. 

Of course...what's a cozy bookstore without the resident cat? This cat was laying on a bench, just under the window and we had to spend a few minutes petting him and listening to him purr. If I ever own my own bookstore, there will absolutely be a cat (or two) hanging around. 

Now the weekend is here and we are spending the day with our granddaughters. I think the local children's museum is on the agenda. It should be a fun day and I know we'll be wiped out by the end of it, but in the best way. 

I hope your Saturday is all you want it to be. Hopefully with some true, Fall-like temperatures to go with it. 🍁

Take care and I'll see you soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Over the Weekend

 Well, it's finally September!

You can officially drink all the pumpkin spice drinks your little heart desires and call it Fall. 🍂

Personally, I've never had any drink that was pumpkin flavored and will just continue on with my usual mocha flavored cup of calories. 😅

David and I had a great weekend. He worked on his truck, getting it ready to sell, we had a house showing on Saturday, I put together a gift for our oldest granddaughter who will be 10 soon, and then we went for a drive and ate a hot fudge sundae. Not bad for one day, huh?

We took a drive - first to DQ for ice cream - then drove downtown to see Beaumont's new river walk. As we were driving back, we passed by this old tree that I look at every time we pass it. Isn't it beautiful? It sits in the yard of an old church. There are others around the city, but this one catches my eye every time.

We also watched this movie, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I hope they make a series out of it.

I had these random pictures on my phone. While at work on Friday, I was flipping through a magazine and these pages stood out to me. It was an article about picking your style and they had several groups of styles (some I had never heard of) and of course, I picked cottage. I love all the colors and mis-matched patterns. This will forever be my thing. I just don't see how it couldn't be 😀

Today we are leaving to see family for a few days. I'm sure there will be pictures to come.

Have a great Monday and a restful holiday.

See you soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Books and More Books

 Hello friends...

It's been a great week, filled with friends, family and some much needed time to work on some things around here, such as rearranging my office and finally putting some order to my overpacked bookshelf.

David had a long day trip yesterday, so I had all day to move an entire room around and get this project done, before going back to work. 

It was good to have the goal of finishing before David got home, because it gave me incentive to keep going, even when my back was done and I really just wanted to sit down and read a book.

After all, much of my rearranging involved moving books and as much as I love my books...they aren't fun to take off the shelf and put back on, when you have a decent collection. But I did it and I'm happy with the progress I made.

These are some that I can pick up and read a few chapters and come back to later.

There's another row behind these.

Currently, I'm working with only one bookshelf and my books are stacked and double stacked. I'm holding off buying another one, but once the house sells, I will have that on my list of things I need. 

So for now, I've shelved them according to:

*MY FAVORITES

*DEVOTIONALS

*TO BE READ / TO BE FINISHED

*FEEL GOOD BOOKS

*BOOKS ABOUT HOME

*PERSONAL FINANCE

*WRITING BOOKS

*MAGAZINES

*REFERENCE AND OLD BIBLES

These are some of my absolute favorites.

Also my favorites

More favorites!

To be read or finished

The shelf is nothing to write home about, but it's working for now and at least I know where everything is. Years ago I had triple the books, but I gave away bags and bags, to a friend who loves books. I've regretted it at times, but I really had to pare down. 

Now I only read fiction from the library and if it's really a keeper, I'll buy it for my own shelves, which I did recently with Richard Paul Evan's Broken Road series. But I found them on Thrift Books, so I got them at a great price and it was worth adding them to my collection of series. Speaking of series...once I find an author I enjoy, I will collect multiple books of theirs, especially if there is a series. I love having little collections around the house. 

I love biographies, but once I've read it, I will pass it on for someone else to enjoy. I also love books about homemaking, personal finance, cozy home books and story books written in the style that I write in, which are just short stories about life. 

In order for a fiction book to stay on my shelf, it has to have a feel-good element to it. I love mysteries, but I don't keep those anymore and I don't buy them. Thankfully I can read all the mysteries I want, straight from the library. But when a book touches my heart and I love the characters, I will keep it. Those are the books I want to hold on to, like old friends. 

I have a smaller bookshelf that stands beside my desk and I was able to move all of my journals and personal writings to that shelf. Now they are all in once place - even the extra copies of my own books - so I know where all my stories are and can easily reference them when needed. I don't know why I haven't done this sooner. But regardless, they are done now and it feels great to be organized. 

I have more books stacked here and there around the house. I love using them on side tables, as decoration. 

Yesterday I made a small bag for donation - books that never really moved me, but I'm happy to pass them on and let someone else give them a try. I also packed some of my own books into a small bag that I plan on keeping in the car. There are times when I've wished I had one of my own books to give to someone that I meet, but I never have them on me. I think it will be fun to leave some copies here and there, as I go places. 

Well, thanks for reading all about my books 😀📚

Books are and always have been a huge part of my life. Are you a reader? E-books or real books? Mysteries or not? 

Tell me what you collect and what you read. I would love to know. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Over the Weekend...

Good Monday morning, friends!

I thought I would steer away from the seriousness of my last post and give a weekend update.

Technically my time off started on Thursday, since this is my week off from work. Morgan and the boys came over for a few hours, just to visit. Those are the best kind of visits. She and I sat on the couch while Asa played with toys and Sunday James rolled around on the floor. I love spending time with my daughter-in-laws, just talking about life. I will always treasure that time they spend with me. 

Sunday James is 7 months old

He is serious most of the time and adores his momma.

I did manage to get a little smile out of him 😀

These are "the big three" as David calls them 😅

(Emmy, Addie, Ella)

We picked them up on Saturday morning so we could go back to the apartment and go swimming. David had gone to a trade show recently and brought home these sunglasses for the little "divas" as he says. Of course they were thrilled. 

We swam for hours on Saturday and had the entire pool to ourselves. It was so much fun. Here they are in the fountain. We all got a bit sunburned, but it was worth it. We ended the day by going to DQ for some ice cream and then taking them home, clean and tired. We stayed and visited with Ted and Alex for a bit, which gave us the opportunity to love on the babies (Calem and Eden) too. Have I mentioned we have 7 grandkids? 😅 My goal is to see them all at least once a week and usually we are able to make that happen.

Backtracking to Friday...I got my nails done, which I am so glad I did. Working in the public now, I'm more aware that I want my nails to look nice. I do a horrible job of painting them on my own, so this might just be a splurge I treat myself to from now on. I think I would rather spend the money on my nails, than my hair. It never seems to turn out the way I envision it, so I think I'll just let it grow and get a trim now and then. 

I asked the girls if I should start dying my hair, since I'm getting more and more gray. They asked what color (pink, purple, green) to which I said "never"😂 Then I said, "what about blonde?" and Emmy immediately said "NO! You're the only one in the family that has my hair color! I feel seen!" Oh, my tender hearted girl. And there you have it! Millie will not be dying her hair any other color than what matches my little Emmy 😀 (We're both brunettes, by the way).

Moving on...

Last Sunday David and I started a new class at church, called Re/Engage, which is a marriage class. It's a 15 week Bible study, done in a group and we are loving it. There are about 7 couples in our group, all various ages and stages of marriage. I love that it is a mixed crowd because we get to hear testimonies from older and younger couples and everyone is learning from one another. Even though we've been married for 36 years, there are still areas where we can improve, and it's always good to hear how others deal with different circumstances. You're never too old to learn a thing or two. 

So Sunday evening we went to our class, came home and had homemade beef stew that I had made on Saturday. We watched a few episodes of The Middle and were in bed by 9:30. We had a full weekend and we were tired.

And why are we tired? Because we wake up at 3:30 - 4:00 every...single...day...uggg! Is this what getting older does to you? Waking up in the middle of the night basically? By 9:00 a.m. I feel like I've lived an entire day already 😓

Oh well...what can you do? We just get up, have our coffee, read and wait for the rest of the world to get up. I guess we're getting used to it by now. 

Today I am meeting a friend for lunch. This is my Mexican food friend. We bond over tacos, salsa and chips and we love it! Last time we had lunch, we stayed for 3 hours, just talking and laughing and taking up space. We meet up every few months and then make up for it by staying for hours. I look forward to it every time. She also recently went to work at a local library, so I expect we will trade stories today, which should be fun. 

The rest of this week will be busy with family dinner, David possibly having a work trip, and me going back to work on Thursday. I usually try to get groceries and make sure all the housework is done before going back to work, so that will be happening over the next few days. 

And there you have the weekend update 😀

It was a good weekend and I'm expecting a great week. I hope you are too 💛

So...

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Losing My Voice

 

Recently I was looking through some old journals, where I write my thoughts and prayers, and I was a little surprised to read some things from years ago, that I'm still talking to the Lord about today.  

As I read my words from back then, I thought "Good grief, I should be farther along than that!" So I started to analyze this particular area of concern and ask myself why it was still a place of struggle for me and to be honest, the best thing I can come up with is the old Flip Wilson saying from years ago..."the devil made me do it!" If you don't remember who Flip was, you'll have to google him 😀

But really, as I was thinking back to the time when I would blog every day and write with passion for encouraging young moms, I wondered what happened to my voice. I remember it like it was yesterday because it literally happened overnight. I went from having lots to say, to all of a sudden, having nothing of value to offer, or so I thought.

It was like my passion disappeared overnight, like the thief walked in, grabbed my passion and all my words and I've never been able to recover it all.  Funny enough, the timing corresponds with the beginning of my journey on Instagram and a few encounters in real life, if you want to know the truth. A journey of opening my phone every day and seeing the words of others who seemed more confident, more established, or maybe just more bold to say their words out loud. And hearing those words of others, slowly began to silence mine, until one day I just had nothing else to say.

That's the way the enemy works. He comes in like a thief in the night and steals something of value to you. The scenarios are endless, but the method is always one of deception and lies. 

He whispered in my ear that my words were no longer needed; no longer worth anything and guess what? I believed him. For years. 

I believed that those other women had it more together than me. 

I believed that God was using them, but not me. 

I believed that their "likes" and "follows" held more weight than mine.

I believed it all and still do sometimes.

So when I opened my journal from years ago and read the same struggles and realized they were still valid to this day...I thought how ridiculous that I've allowed the enemy to rob me of something the Lord once used me for. How fitting that Satan would take something that was meaningful to me and other young moms and glorifying God and reduce it down to nothing. 

Of course, just like in the Flip Wilson skits of long ago, it wasn't all the devil's fault. I had to agree at some point. I had to give in, give up, stop writing, stop ministering and start believing his lies. And I did all of that.

And now I see it all for what it really was and now, maybe, I'm ready to get my voice back. Maybe I'm ready to build new dreams and write new words and tell the devil where to go. I don't want to look back through the journals of 2025 and read the same things over and over. It's time to let the Lord speak through me once again and not look around at what others are doing or saying. They have their place and I have mine and neither is more valuable than the other. Different, but not less than or more than. Just different.

💛

Have you ever felt silenced? Has the enemy ever stolen your voice or your confidence? It's so easy in today's world to hand over our confidence, our gift, our offering, because it seems everyone is doing it better. 

But there's only one who has been called to what you've been called to and with your voice. There's only one who can tell your story and if that story glorifies God, then you will have a target on your back. But the devil can't make you do anything. He can only do what you agree with, so stand firm and tall and keep at whatever the Lord has called you to do. You will find your way back and the world needs to see that, as well. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Storms of Life - Perspective is Everything

 

Do you look at clouds like these and see God's hand in the things we take for granted every day?

I never want to lose that wonder of seeing nature and it reminding me that we 

have the most creative Heavenly Father. 

 

It was a random Friday night and I had just gotten home from work. On the days I work, I usually don't cook. We either grab something out of the fridge or pantry. But that night I was hungry for a burger, so we took a little ride down the road to the burger place and ordered burgers and fries. The place was pretty busy (it was a Friday night, after all), so it took longer than we thought it would. But as we were heading home, this was our view. I grabbed my phone and stated taking pictures of the clouds. 

A few days later I'm thinking about these clouds and the fact that they were probably generated by one of the recent storms brewing south of us. From our perspective, it was a beautiful sight, filled with wonder, but no danger. But, for the people who came from the area where the storms were raging, they probably had a different perspective than we did. Maybe it felt ominous, threatening, and even a little scary, as big storms do. 

This reminds me of life and the storms we go through. Everyone's perspective is different, based off your previous experience. We've had some storms in our life over the past few years and I can honestly say, I am a little worse for wear these days. Little things scare me, where before, they were just little things. 

I heard it said best on a podcast this week..."My faith has been shaken, even though I've grown." And that's exactly how I would describe it. My faith was tested this past year and yes, the growth is there and I saw God work and move and am still in awe of what he is capable of doing, not to mention, willing to do for his children. But the storm that brought the growth left a mark that won't quickly be forgotten, even though we made it through. 

But the other side of that coin is that storms we live through help us to comfort others and have compassion where we may have never had it before. 

I love the verse that says...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our troubles, 

so that we can comfort those in any trouble 

with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 

2 Cor. 1:3-4

I've always loved that verse because it tells me that there is purpose in our suffering. Trials and growth aren't always just about us. I believe that God has purpose and reasons for everything he allows and what better way to use your growth, than to comfort someone who is coming behind you, trying to survive their own storm?

I remember the first time my husband got laid off from a job (good old healthcare), and we were young and scared. The ones who brought the greatest comfort were the older men at church, who had walked through years of jobs and taking care of their families. Their experience and wisdom meant so much to us as they reassured us that we would be fine and that this too shall pass. They were right! We made it through that first lay off and faced many more over the years and guess what? We are still here, making it!

I think that's the importance of sharing our testimonies with others and being willing to step into a storm with someone and give them support in their suffering. We can't always fix their problems, but we can point them to the Father who has comforted us, while we also suffered. 

Recently one of my grandchildren needed some medical attention and it brought back memories of what it felt like to be a young mom with a sick child. It's so stressful and all-consuming. The only thing you can focus on is getting that child back to good health. You just want them to feel good again. And truthfully, that worry never stops; even when your children are grown! But having lived through the fevers and late nights, I can say that we made it and with each incident, we became a bit more aware of what to do and how to react to certain situations. We grew and God was there as we lived through it. 

Storms are hard. Some scare us, some break us, some make us strong and some make us bitter. But through it all, God is still at work and his desires for us are still pure and good and he will get us through, one way or another. 

And hopefully there will be friends and family there to stand beside us, giving us the reassurance that this storm will soon pass and the view from the other side will be totally different. 

In the meantime, be that for someone else. Take inventory of your own growth and notice when the Lord brings someone into your life that is going through something similar. That's not a coincidence. It's a divine appointment to share the comfort you received with the one who needs it next. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Family Dinner and Other Fun Things

 We had our first family dinner (with all 13 of us) on Saturday and it was a fun night! There were kids and toys everywhere and we had tacos from one of our favorite places. 

The babies are crawling and rolling and on the move, which takes things to a whole new level 😅 But aren't they adorable?

Eden and Sunday James are 3 weeks apart in age

After dinner we played Chameleon, which is such a fun game, but you have to have a poker face 😐 Everyone chooses a card, but someone is the Chameleon (because they chose the designated card) and has to pretend to be just another player. (This is why we all look so serious 😂) You roll the dice and everyone looks at the clue, but the Chameleon has no clue which word is chosen, so they have to pretend to know, but really don't. You go around the table and give one word, which should coordinate with the clue. As the Chameleon you have not been given a card with the clue, so you have to say a word and hope it fits in with what the actual word was. Make sense? It was a lot of fun and we played about 5 rounds that night. Hope the neighbors didn't mind all the laughter 😅

Sunday we had a great morning at church, came home for lunch and then went to pick the big girls up for another afternoon of swimming.  I'd say they are enjoying the apartment life, wouldn't you?

They actually did some art before going out to swim, which was perfect because we didn't get to the pool until 4:30 or so, so the sun wasn't as hot. We swam for about 2 hours, then headed inside to eat some leftover tacos and watch some tv. We took them home around 7:30 and everyone was happy and tired.

Yesterday (Monday) I had a day to just be home and work on things around here. 

I've started gathering all my Bible study supplies and sitting at the kitchen table after David leaves for work. I can spread out and do my devotional, write in my journal and pray in a quiet house, which just feels like a luxury to be able to focus and spend time with the Lord. 

I also spent time working on our budget. I bought the Budget By Paycheck Workbook recently and it takes some concentration to learn the method, but I enjoy that kind of thing, so it was time well spent. Basically the workbook helps you set up a budget, decide where extra money needs to go, helps you keep track of your spending and gives you a place to write your short term and long term financial goals. I've been following Kumiko (the founder of The Budget Mom) for many years and find her to be so inspirational in the way she handles money. 

I've been budgeting for many years, but I love to try new methods and with each new season of life, different tools serve you better and for this season, where we are paying rent and a mortgage, I really needed to have a good plan in place for the money coming in and going out. After the house sells, then we will reevaluate where the money needs to go at that point. But for now, this is the way to go. I hope I can keep it up!

Today will be another day at home, which I love. Especially since going back to work, the days at home are like precious hours that I want to get the most out of.  I will be going to the store for a few items because I've been craving lasagna and I need to get that made for dinner tonight. Then I will probably do a few chores, cook, work on an organizing project I've had on my list for weeks, and hopefully get some good book time in. Maybe I'll even sit by the pool with my book, if the weather cooperates. 🏖

Well, that's it for this update. I hope today finds you well and you have a little time in your day to rest and relax and maybe even read a good book. Or make a good meal or work on the budget. 😉

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord."

Colossians 3:23

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Mid-Week Update - Life Lately

 Hey my friends! 

How's your week been so far? I've made it through my latest work week (after today) and am looking forward to a week at home. 

💰I'm in budgeting mode right now, so I will be working on creating a new budget over the next week, which is always fun (I know...I'm not right 😅). I actually love personal finance and putting all the pieces together like a puzzle. I bought some new binders and tools to make it fun and I will spend hours figuring out the best ways to budget and organize our money, now that we are paying rent and still paying the mortgage until the house sells. 

🏡 Which speaking of...we got an offer on the house, but it was a very insulting offer, so it was a no-go. Oh well. Hopefully another one will come along soon.  

📚 I've also been on a reading kick lately. But then again...I work at the library. I've actually been an avid reader all of my life, but working at the library has definitely put the spark back in me, as I see all the good books that come through day to day. I can't keep up with my "to be read" list! It just keeps growing!

📗 I had the best conversation with one of our patrons yesterday - a sweet mom who is homeschooling her two children. I gifted her two of my books, including the homeschooling book I wrote and we had a few minutes to chat about homeschooling. She was so appreciative of me giving her the books and I was reminded that this is what writing is all about. Just sharing your stories with others and hoping that your words will touch someone's heart or help them in some way, is so fulfilling. 

💻 As a matter of fact, I've been itching to get back to writing or at least putting together my next book from things already written. It's just hard finding the time to devote to the process. When I have my days off, there's grocery shopping to do, chores to be done and most importantly...I have to see ALL my kids and babies before the next shift begins. Everything else comes after. This week I've been missing them like crazy and so that's #1 on my list starting tomorrow 😀

On the Homefront...

📺 David and I have been loving the new sitcom Leanne, on Netflix, starring the comedienne Leanne Morgan. She is so funny! 

🦶Several evenings, when I get off work, we will walk to the pool and sit on the side with our feet in the water. This does wonders for my aching feet, after standing at the library all day. 

🍔 Eating is a free-for-all right now. I cook when I don't work, but when I do work, we eat what we can. It's not my best I've ever done, but we're not starving, so I'm ok with it for now. Just being honest. 

🥮 I did make a cake on Sunday and we met friends for dinner and then had them back to the apartment for dessert. I made my go-to cake, which is just a butter cake with butterscotch chips mixed in. The chips melt in the bundt pan and when you turn the cake over, the chips make an ooey gooey crumble on top. It's delicious! 

Well, that's my quick update for the week. Nothing too exciting, but just finding the joy in the ordinary 💛

I hope you are enjoying the ordinary days, as well. They are truly where the blessings lie.

Take care, my friends! Have a wonderful rest of your week and I hope to see you here again soon.

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Catching Up

Look at these adorable salt and pepper shakers Morgan bought me 😍 

Last night we had Collin and Morgan over for dinner. Ted and Alex had some business to tend to, so we only had half the crew here, which was a good trial run for our first family dinner.

I fixed sloppy joes, potato salad, chips, apple pie with ice cream and sweet tea. It was delicious!

Asa and Sunday James were adorable, as always, and Asa enjoyed discovering all the light switches and watching the lights go on and off.  Asa found all the toy trucks and trains, rode the horsey and we even read a book together. There's nothing that will bless you more than having conversations with your grown kids and playing with the babies. It's the best! 

After they left, David and I walked to the mailbox to check the mail. It feels like a normal thing to do now and it feels like our little community.

I've been taking a break from social media this week and it's been so nice. I didn't realize how much of a habit I had gotten into; picking up my phone every time I had a spare moment. Even though I would only spend a few minutes looking at things, it was becoming a habit to pick up the phone constantly. I started to feel some conviction about it; knowing that it was stealing my ability to focus on other things. Then in church on Sunday, I really felt the Lord prompting me to take a break, so I committed to removing the apps off my phone for a week, just to see if my focus would improve. And guess what? It did. 

Is it really a surprise that my focus would be better when I'm not filling my brain with the lives of so many people that I don't even know? I won't go into a rant about social media, but I will attest to the fact that it fills up our minds with such clutter and (in my opinion or experience) doesn't leave a lot of room for more important pieces of information. 

People say they don't have time to read a book or their Bible or call their family or friends. Yet, if they took the amount of time they spend mindlessly scrolling, they could do all of those things and more. 

But I said I wouldn't rant, so...

In other news...I've been trying to get creative again, which always takes a back seat to life, but shouldn't.

It's amazing how getting out all the paper, stickers, notebooks, pens, etc. will calm your spirit and fill you up like nothing else. For others it might be sitting with a knitting project or painting. For me it's all about creating beautiful scenes with paper and pen. Pictures mixed with words, telling a story of some sort. This is more of what I want to focus on; enjoying that creative process and rest that I've talked about here before. It's a necessity.

It's been a great week off and today I'll start my week of work and I'm looking forward to it. I like the way my schedule allows for plenty of downtime because by the end of the week off, I'm ready to go back. I've played with my babies, swam with the big girls, sat by the pool at night, enjoyed an incredible morning of worship watching my boys use their amazing gifts, had my kids over for dinner, paid the bills, finished a book and started another, created another journal, read my Bible, watched some good shows, talked to one of my sisters and my best friend. Life is good.

I hope your week is going well and you've found some joy in the ordinary. That's where the magic really happens 💛

Until Next Time...

Blessings 😊