Friday Favorites, 4.22.22

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this week's edition of Friday Favorites. 

How has your week been? Mine has been good. It's been a good balance of being at home and being busy outside of my home. I had expected to stay home yesterday, but I woke up wanting to run a few errands. I had a few places that I needed to go and the bonus was that my mom went with me. We met up at Kroger and I hopped over into her car for our little mini day out. Those days are always my favorite! That being said, I have a few other favorites I thought I'd share with you from my week.

While the rain is not my favorite, I'm glad that all the April showers really do bring about May flowers. All of these springtime blooming bushes and shrubs are my favorite! This first one is the one at the end of my dad's driveway. It's even more spectacular in person! 

It's like Christmas, going outside each new day to see what plants are blooming. Everything is starting to come back to life and I am loving every inch of our beautiful flower beds. It's for this reason that I have enjoyed so much of the spring season this year. This time of year has never been my favorite, but I've loved it this year. I do love the encouragement to be present in every part of life. I read that this week in my Bible study. Seeing all these beautiful blooming plants reminds me of a favorite passage from the new testament. This is Matthew 6:26-29.

Consider the birds of the sky: They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these.

This kind of evening is my very favorite.

We had eaten dinner, the kitchen was cleaned up after and the house was quiet. I think there may have been someone upstairs, but Todd hadn't made it back home from church yet, so I sat and started a new book. I read for at least half an hour before he came home and I warmed up his dinner. 

Speaking of reading and books, another favorite thing of mine is to find a new author. I've recently discovered the author Nancy Naigle and she invited me to be a part of the launch team for her newest book, What Remains True. I haven't finished the book yet, but I can already tell you that it's going to be yet another favorite that I've read so far this year. Have you read any of her books? I'm not sure how I've missed out on her! She writes very clean love stories, of the Hallmark variety. You all know how much I love that kind of thing! I was excited that she sent me an advance copy to read before its release date at the end of this month. You should seriously consider preordering this book! It's available at all of your favorite retailers.

I loved the quote that I highlighted in this book, because it's true! "Who knew saying yes to new opportunities could bring so much unexpected joy?" I feel like I've experienced that very thing time and again. I always ask the Lord for opportunities to serve Him and He is faithful to bring me times to do exactly that. It's not always comfortable for me and it feels unnatural, but it's good for me to be pulled out of my comfort zone every once in a while. It's good for all of us, for that matter!

In an effort to be more mindful of how I spend my time, I've started a new nightly routine that just might become my new favorite. 

This was last night as I was about to go to bed. I went up earlier because I wanted to take time to give my face a good cleansing, so I pulled out all of my old faithfuls that I use when I spend the extra time. I always start by washing my face with coconut oil, then I use that Witch Hazel toner immediately after to remove any that the coconut oil missed. You'd be surprised at what it misses. I used that illuminating eye cream (I'm not sure if it works, but here's to hoping!) and then I moisturized with Cerave. I use a hot washcloth to remove my makeup. I brushed my teeth, then I put lotion on my hands and arms before I climbed into bed with my book.

Funny side note: when I travel, I take my own washcloths, because I hate the thought of putting my black mascara onto someone else's towel. Is that normal? I'm wondering if any of you do this. I don't care if it's all over ours, but they always come completely clean after I wash them.

This one's random! Are you a fan of Pinterest? Lately it's become my favorite way to waste time. It's also so much better for me than TikTok, which I keep in "deep sleep" mode on my phone.

I am on Pinterest as jenlloydgoodwin. You can click here to find me. I love to use Pinterest for recipes, home décor ideas, hair tutorials, vacation inspiration, Bible verse images, blog ideas, journaling ideas, you get the idea. I love to do a search for "pretty phone screensavers" and take a screenshot of them. I edit the screenshot on my phone to crop out the edges, then I save it and "use as" my wallpaper and lock screen image. This picture above was my current one until yesterday, when I found one with gold hearts and a soft pink background. You should try it! You're welcome. 

Speaking of pretty things, I am also a fan of using YouTube for a screensaver on our television in the den, but because it uses up our Wi-Fi data, I've just been using the free moving screensavers that Todd put onto our main home page. I'm currently using one with images from around Paris and I play music most of the day over our Google nest speakers. I'm currently listening to easy afternoon jazz by the BGM music channel on Spotify. There are TONS of options there. I like the soft and instrumental sort of music. It even seems to calm our dogs! Literally as I wrote that sentence, Chip and Oakley started wrestling. I'm rolling my eyes.

Music has always been a favorite for me and even when the boys were little, it was always playing in the background. I love to change it up with the seasons. For some reason, when I start cooking I like to go to the Ben Rector radio channel on Spotify. In the mornings, I like French café music and at Christmas, I like Christmas worship to be going 24/7. Speaking of French, I was speaking in French to our Google device last night and she started speaking it back to me. I didn't understand it, though, and only remember some of the basic phrases and words. Todd and I were cracking up over this and I promise, the more she spoke in French, the more his Southern accent came out. She doesn't even understand him half the time. 🤣

One last one and I'll wrap this post up.

You know that nail day is my favorite and that was the case yesterday. I told my friend who does them for me that I loved the color of the shirt I had on, then I showed her an idea from Pinterest that I'd saved and that's what she came up with. I love them! The next time I go, I'm doing this again and adding one gold one on my ring fingers. She's sweet to accommodate me every time I go, and she never minds when I can't make a decision.

I'm still doing the dip powder. 

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