things I've been meaning to tell you

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I have a few things I've been meaning to tell you that I thought I'd share today. These are just random little tidbits and pictures I've had on my phone for my blog. Here's to another enlightening blog post. (I'm being sarcastic.) 😉

Have you used this soap? Mrs. Meyer's soaps and all purpose cleaners are things that I love. I like to clean with products that smell good and their seasonal ones are the best. This acorn spice scent is one of my favorites. I especially love their fall and winter scents—I have some peppermint scented soap and cleaner waiting on me to use. 

Do you remember when I asked you to help me pray for my pastor's wife? She had covid with pneumonia and was in the hospital/rehab for nine weeks. I am so happy to tell you that she is back at home, as of a week ago today! Praise God! Thank you for praying for sweet Darlene. (She's lovingly nicknamed Dar.) I cannot wait to see her in person when she's able to return to church.

I have shared this image before, but I have some friends who are going through some hard trials right now. I have an alarm set on my phone to pray for them each day, and the list of people to pray for is growing. I don't share that with you to boast, but to encourage you to set alarms as reminders to pray. It has changed how I pray! I pray at set times throughout the day for different people—I pray every Tuesday night with my church family, at 9:00 p.m., I pray at 8:30 every week day morning for our neighbors, and I pray every morning at 9:00 a.m. for my friends. 

Also, aren't the words in the image above powerful? Maybe someone needs to hear them today.

Speaking of Dar, my pastor's wife—she leads a Thursday morning bible study every week in the semesters and since she was sick and hospitalized, everyone knew she would want them to continue on in studying, even if it was without her. So, we took turns leading for her. I only did this one time and it was one of the sweetest days I've had in a long time. Those ladies are precious and they love to study the word of  God! I stepped WAY OUT of my comfort zone and stood behind this podium and everything, y'all. I didn't teach, because I am not a teacher, but I facilitated the group and led them in the discussion over the homework. 

These pictures are an office on the town square here in The Ville. Several times over the past two months, I've gone to an attorney's office to witness someone signing a will. It's close by my house and it never takes more than fifteen minutes, so I never mind doing this. I was paid for my time in the form of a Hobby Lobby gift card, which is right up my alley. I used part of the gift card over the weekend—I bought a Christmas sign for our front porch and I bought some stands to hold the plates up that I want to display. I have plans on how I want to spend the rest of the money.

This is the drive at my dad's house—I will always love this view. I wouldn't want pine trees at my own home, but I love how they look lining a driveway. He lives off of a busy road and when my sister and I were doing his lights last week, we were at the end of his driveway right at the road, and it is scary being so close to cars going very fast. I never used to think anything of it, though and when I was younger, my best friend and I would ride our bikes down the road to the corner store, about a half mile away. We would ride our bikes and go get a cold bottle of Coke. (I realize this ages me. 🤣) It was a different time back then and the road wasn't nearly as trafficked as it is now.

This is Jonah's room, and up until the end of June, he and Noah shared this space. Jonah's bed was where it is now, and Noah's was on the opposite wall. It's the smallest room in our house and it was the most crowded. There was a time when all four boys slept in this room!

This was what the same room looked like in 2016. I'll never forget the night they asked to do this—they came up with the idea entirely on their own and we made it happen a few days after their request. It didn't last very long, probably around six to eight months, then they wanted their own spaces again.

This was the room after Graham and Drew moved back into their old  room.

And here is Graham's and Drew's old room. They shared a room up until December of 2017, and they each got new bedroom furniture, tv's, and their own rooms for the first time in their lives. Graham was seventeen, Drew was sixteen.

We hired people to do this remodel for us—the playroom at the end of the hall that was going to be Graham's room needed to be painted and we had our bedroom and bathroom repainted. It always seemed like we were rearranging bedrooms and furniture. Those were the days!

I am looking forward to my day! My mom-in-love and I are spending part of the day together. I'm taking Oakley to her house and we are going to do a little shopping for Christmas and birthday (my birthday is December 14), we'll eat lunch at Cheddar's and during all of that, my dad-in-love said he would watch Oakley! How sweet is that??? 

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. I'm also excited about the peppermint milkshake from Chick Fil A that I plan on getting at some point!

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. ❤