Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and her friend Erika for this blog post.

I so rarely include products in these Friday Favorites post that I thought I would actually do that this week and make this a useful space.  A couple of weeks ago, I ordered this from Amazon.  I use ground beef a lot and this tool is called a meat masher.  I used to break up the meat with a metal spatula, but we threw it away and I've been needing a replacement for a bit.  I love this tool!  I have used it almost everyday since I bought it and for multiple things.

This thing has over a thousand five star reviews on Amazon.  I used it Wednesday night when I made loaded baked potato soup and mashed up some of the potatoes with it.  It only cost around $9.

I also ordered my favorite mascara last weekend.

Anyone else been using this stuff since the beginning of time?

To read the rest of what I've bought lately on Amazon, scroll down to yesterday's post.

Cinco de Mayo was my favorite night of this week.  I came across this yummy recipe for baked tacos and it was family-approved.  Jonah asked me to make it again soon.  I topped mine with sauteed onions and bell peppers, sour cream, and salsa.  For the recipe, just type into the Google search bar "Mix and Match Mama baked tacos" and this recipe will come up.

Anyone who knows me knows that I could eat Mexican food everyday of my life.

Farm fresh eggs are my favorite, and these came from Graham's friend Chase.  His family sells honey and eggs, and I've been on the receiving end of both.  I love gifts like this!  Aren't they beautiful?  I really love the multi-color.

I created this image on YouVersion this week, and this passage I read is one of my favorite passages of scripture.  It's easy to create verse images on YouVersion, if they don't have a background you don't like.  You can click on the camera gallery option and choose one of the pictures off of your phone.  This particular background is a screenshot I took of some new phone background images someone I follow on Instagram offered to us last week.  It sounds complicated, but it's really not.

This particular day of scripture writing was my favorite, and the good Lord literally stopped me in my tracks as I read the passage and wrote it out.  I ended up writing an article for it for the online magazine I contribute to, so I look forward to sharing it with you soon.

Our church is my favorite.  I love that during this time of being quarantined they've included songs like this for the kids at their homes.  Last week the song was Waymaker, and it was the same look as this~bright and simple to engage them for the service.  I am so excited that we have a plan in place to start worshiping together again on May 24.  It's going to be really different and so strange, I'm sure, but I can't wait.

We still need to add landscaping to the front, but our completed home renovation is complete.  We need to landscape and repair the fence in the back and finish a couple of things inside and we will be done.  We're just waiting a bit, because we've spent a lot of money and this whole quarantine has been hard on us financially.  (Is that oversharing?)

These two guys are always some of my favorites.

This was us sitting on the deck Wednesday night.  The weather here turned really cool, so it was perfect fire pit weather. 

It's been a really great week.  It's been busy, which has been nice.  I've made giant strides in writing my portion of the Bible study we're currently editing and I'm almost ready to completely hand it off.  I've written it, I've taken it as a student, I've re-written a lot of the days, my friend has taken it as a student and gave me some great suggestions to add, and now I'm almost ready to let it go.  I have to add references and maybe edit two more pages, and I'll be able to do that.  By the time you read this, I will have turned it all in.  Big giant gulp.

My friend Barbee said it best: this whole process is like a young mom handing over her newborn baby for someone else to rock.

I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for reading, friends.  Love to all.

Amazon Lately

Anyone else loving Amazon as much as me these days?  Just this weekend alone, I purchased four things.   They were necessities, but I also purchase the non necessity items as well.  It's so easy to grab my phone, pull up my the app, search for what I'm looking for, add it to the cart, and checkout. 

First up that I thought I'd share about is this awesome meat masher tool.

You can use it to break up ground beef and sausage, mash potatoes, break up tuna, chicken, canned tomatoes, or just to mix ground beef when making hamburgers.  I love it and have used it almost everyday since I bought it.  It's $9 on Amazon, and I included a link for you, should you be interested.

I bought this on Saturday to replace the tube I was using.  This stuff has been around so long, why mess with a good thing?  I've always used this brand, and am more than pleased with it.  One tube lasts six months, because I don't use that much, and I only apply to my top eyelashes.  (I cry too often to do the bottom ones.)  Also, my beauty tip of the day to anyone who's interested: always purchase mascara in the blackest shade possible.  You're welcome.

I bought this on Saturday as well, to replace the Tresemme I had been using.  I alternate between cheap brands, and it's been a long time since I've used this one.  I love the smell and I like the way my hair looks after I use it.  Sometimes when I wash my hair the conditioner leaves my hair so soft that it becomes frizzy, and that's never a good look.  I need something without the parabens in most shampoo and conditioner sets to avoid that.  I've learned that since I turned 40.

My family is always looking for a "regular" pen, so I bought this box of 60 for less than $5.  It hasn't arrived yet, so I just requested a replacement from Amazon.  

Though I wish this cover would be updated, I recently purchased this as a gift.  You should read the description on this book on Google.  I gift this pretty often, because even though it'll leave you in tears, it's so sweet and teaches you to slow down and to enjoy your children while they're young.  Those really were the golden years, I like to refer to them as.  

I've also bought books for my Kindle, but it's too much trouble for me to go back to add pictures, so I'll leave you with that.  I never thought I'd be so grateful for a place to purchase things online!  I have tried to avoid places like Walmart and Target, but I hate to pay the grocery store prices for things like shampoo and conditioner and mascara.  I could add so much more to this post, like the things my husband purchased for our flag pole in front of our house (minus the actual pole) and all the things he buys for work, and all my lists on there, but you get my drift.  

What are things you like to order on Amazon?  Do share!

Thanks for reading.  Love to all.  

Women in the Word Wednesday

I thought I'd share a little bit of how I've loved studying the word of God lately.  I can't yet share the book I've been studying, because we haven't released the title of it to the ladies in our church, but it's been an honor and privilege to be able to study alongside some pretty amazing and godly women.  (If you're new to the blog, I'm helping write a women's Bible study for the ladies in our church.) 

First, I love to read the Bible slowly.  My favorite method of studying and reading to date is reading chapter by chapter, and really picking apart the verses.  Or, I'll sometimes read from subtitle to subtitle in my Bible.  This is called reading in context.  I never want to just randomly choose a verse to call my own and quote it often without really knowing the meaning and context of the verse.  For instance, Philippians 4:13 is one such verse.  It reads, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.  If you back up to verse 10 in that same chapter, though, you'll see that Paul (the writer) is tell the Philippians that he had learned to be content in all circumstances; with both a little and a lot.  God was the one who gave him that strength, though, and he was making sure the people in Philippi knew that.  That subtitle in my Bible goes from verse 10 to verse 20 and it has "appreciation of support" written above as the subtitle.

Secondly, I love to use other helps in reading.  One that I've used for the last seven or eight years is the Blue Letter Bible.  (Studying the Bible the Precept way is when I started using this tool.)  You can type in the verse or chapter and book you're wanting to look at, pick the translation you prefer, and click the search button.  It'll break the chapter down verse by verse, and if you click on tools, you'll see options come on to the screen, tools like interlinear, dictionaries, cross-references, Bibles, commentaries and miscellaneous.  Everything you need to understand a verse or passage is right there.

Additionally, I love to write out actual verses.  Writing helps me to remember the verses, and in my opinion, that's what it means when I read in Psalm 119:11 that I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Aside from writing out what I've read that day, each day in the month I follow along with a Scripture writing plan that Shannon from the Sweet Blessings blog puts out every single month.  This month's plan is on "kindness".  I love that she always has a theme for the month.  When I read in my Bible for that day, I always read the whole passage, again from subtitle to subtitle so that I can get the meaning in full context.

I love to journal about where I've read in the Bible, but I don't always do this.  I'm not doing it right now, but I will write out a verse if one jumps out at me.  During this whole quarantine situation, I've been writing out a chapter of Psalm for a lot of the days.  I've used a plain old notebook I had on hand for this. 

I believe that you need a plan to read the Bible.  I know for me at least that if I didn't have a daily reading plan, I'd probably not be faithful in reading it each day.  It's accountability and it's just good to have a guide.  I'm currently reading the Bible in a year in chronological order with some of the ladies from my church.

The point is to just read the Bible.  Pray every single day and do it multiple times during the day!  The boys all know that if they hear me talking while I'm vacuuming that I am talking to Jesus.  I pray when I drive, I pray when I shower, I pray first thing in the morning and last thing each night.  I talk to Him all the time, and I don't always pray in a formal way.  Sometimes I pray in frustration and when I need to talk to Him about it instead of blurting out the first hurtful thing that comes to my mind.  When I read the word of God, it prompts me to pray.  When I pray, He prompts me to read in His word.  It's all connected.  That is how I spend time with each and everyday. 

What about you?  How do you spend your time with Him each day?  I'd love to hear!  Thanks for reading, friends.  Love to all. 

simply Tuesday

I love the idea and thought of being in community with people around me.  I'll never forget about a decade ago, when we had left our old church to start attending where we are still attending at this present day, my friend Darlene really helped me with the hard transition.  Not just her, but I had several godly ladies who were never too busy to answer my calls or texts, which is why I always try to be available to help people who are new.  Anyway, my friend Darlene told me that she understood how hard it was, they had just made the move a short while before we did, from a huge church in Memphis to this one here in The Ville.  She told me the reason they made the change was because they knew they needed to be within the same community for everything: church, school, work, friendships.  I wholeheartedly agreed with this sentiment, and it's why I love where we live and attend.

This is why it's easier for me to get together with some friends over others, who live further away.   I still make the effort, but we're far less likely to bump into each other, or just swing by to drop something off.  It's why I see my mom and Bill more than my dad and stepmom and my in-love's.  Mom and Bill are always driving by our area and are forever stopping to say hello or to bring me something, like when Bill brought me some dressing way back at the beginning of this quarantine.

It doesn't mean I love any of them any more or less than the other; it's just easier with some because of location.  That being said, we still need to make every effort to keep in touch and to see one another.  I was talking to my best friend about all of this just the other day, and we were agreeing on the importance of still meeting with friends during the time we've been quarantined.  Now for us, our town is beginning the process of opening back up starting today.  I'm excited about that, because it's a step forward, but I don't know if it's going to chance what I do all that much.  A lot of places are requiring face masks, and I really want to try to avoid those places.  I'll still be at home more than I'll be out.

I hate that we waited so long into the stay at home orders to start meeting, but as soon as the weather consistently warmed up, we started doing this.  Last Thursday night was our third time to do this, and I'm hoping that they're still wanting to continue this next week.  It's good to remember that we're connected to each other.  These little nights in our church parking light have been life-giving.  We never see other people (except for the time that Tom the sound guy scared the ever living daylights out of us by walking out the doors of the dark building) and we just eat our dinner together, and we laugh and catch up.  I don't really want these nights to stop, once we get back to normal.  It takes effort, and it takes consistency.  Sometimes that's what we need to do to make certain things a priority.

I have a few other friends that I have to be more intentional with either because of life and circumstances or because of where they live.  A couple of them are younger moms, and one of them is my other best friend, Andrea, who lives about 30 minutes away.  Andrea and I are able to meet pretty consistently when a quarantine isn't taking place, and for the past few years have met almost every single month.  See what I mean, though, by effort and consistency? 

These are just a few thoughts I've had recently.  I hope it encourages someone to do what we do and grab some dinner (either made by you or picked up from your favorite place) and pack up a drink and a lawn chair and head to an empty area near you.  Ours just happens to be our church, because we diddn't necessarily want to see other people, like if we had met at a park.  Also, pavement means less bugs.  We've always kept our distance from each other while we did this to be on the safe side, and that was not a problem.  I love my husband and my sons, but sometimes we just need a girlfriend or two.  There is nothing quite like it. 

Thanks for reading!  Love to all. 

Hello Monday/the weekend

Happy Monday, friends.  I am linking up with Tanya from The Other Side of the Road for this blog post. 

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  On this weekend every year, my husband is usually gone the entire weekend.  He works with the sheriff's department and each year in Memphis, this first weekend is Music Fest.  All of May is called Memphis in May with Music Fest kicking it all off, then the third weekend is always barbecue fest.  There are other things that happen probably, but those are the two I'm most familiar with.  Needless to say, this is postponed until October, and he was more than a little sad.  Also what made it worse is the fact that the weather would have been perfect the entire weekend.  This never happens at Music Fest and it's always jokingly referred to as Mud Fest.

Anyway, on Friday night, my best friend and her husband came over with their dinner and we all hung out on the deck until after ten.  It was a fun night!  I had my bluetooth speaker out there and we listened to either George Strait or 90's country the whole time.  We eventually had a fire in the fire pit, but it was a fun night and felt "normal".  While we hung out with them, all the boys played tennis at the park across the street from our house.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a lazy day.  I did a little bit of laundry, I vacuumed, made my bed, finished some work on the Bible study I'm helping write, then we sat around and watched tv.  That afternoon Todd left to go look for crawfish to buy (he didn't find any) and the boys and him all went to his friend Chris' house for a shrimp/crawfish boil.  I stayed home and enjoyed an empty house and watched my show on Hulu.  It was GLORIOUS.

For the second night in a row, I had this for dinner.  Sauteed (or stir fried) onions, mushrooms and bell peppers over rice.  It's the most satisfying meal ever and I think I could eat it every single night and not grow tired of it.  I've been craving veggies like this a lot lately and every time I grocery shop, I load up on more.  Drew and I are the only two that eat like this, though.  It would also be good with some diced up chicken thrown in and maybe some spinach even. 

(That is not a hair in the bowl, it's a crack...I always think it's a hair when I use this bowl.)

Sunday we enjoyed church online and I made a trip to the store for some things we needed.  It was a great weekend.  Todd thought Saturday was Sunday, so all our days are still running together, but that's understandable.  I've done the same thing, I think we all have. 

My plans this week include a Zoom meeting with the writing team from my church I'm on this morning, I would love to drive out and see my dad, I plan on meeting with a couple of my best friends again on Thursday in the parking lot of our church, cooking, maybe trying to get a little bit of color on my white legs if the weather is nice, finishing the book I'm currently reading and starting and finishing the new one I ordered a few weeks ago, writing and blogging, and I don't know what else.  I've found if I have one thing planned each day that the time goes by a little faster. 

What are your plans this week?  I'd love to hear from you!  Thanks for reading.  Love to all. 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and her friends for this blog post. 

It's been a decent week.  By decent I mean that we're all still making it, and I have some good news on the horizon.  And, I've been successful at selling a few things on Facebook marketplace, so that's been fun. 

I revisited one of my favorite movies this week, one that I'd completely forgotten about. 

This was out in theaters my senior year of high school, and man it brought back all the feels!  I love Billy Crystal in anything that he's in, and back in the day, this satisfied my craving for any and everything French related.  (I took four years of it in high school and still remember enough to know certain words and phrases.)  I'm still watching Friday Night Lights, as well, and just made it over into season four.  (Seasons two and three were not my fav.)  This season is looking better so far.

These are my favorite shoes.  They're Ugg slippers, and they save my feet from hurting when I'm at home.  They were a splurge, even as a gift, but I am getting great use out of them. 

Remember going to nail salons?  Fun times.  I redid my toes and fingers on Thursday, and was laughing at how different nail day looks now.  Also, I think I solved the problem as to why the polish keeps peeling quickly.  I think it's because the top coat I had been using was old and that was what was peeling, not the color.  I threw it away and am using this Sally Hansen double duty now as both bottom and top coats.  That spray you see lives up to its name and makes them dry crazy fast.

Nights out on the deck are still our favorite.  We were out there Wednesday night, even though it was extremely windy.  We finally had to come in.

Reading is my favorite, we all know that, but I love it even more when friends bring by books for me to read.  My friend just told me to pass them on when I was finished and I promised her I would do so.

May one means a new Scripture writing plan, and this month's topic is my favorite!  Everyone could use more kindness in their lives.  EVERYONE. 

Coming across old pictures are my favorite, and I came across these this week.  My breath caught for a minute when I realized that Jonah and Noah are going to be seniors in the fall, and I started compiling some photos for their senior memory moments.  Babies don't keep, y'all.  And once they get to middle school?  It's all a blur.  I know it's cliche, but it's so true!

Other favorite moments consisted of talking with friends on the phone, seeing a friend from church briefly on Thursday when I took something to her house, seeing two of my best friends Thursday night for a little quarantine version of girl's night out (six feet apart as always), and laughing with my husband.  We needed moments of laughter this week, so it was nice. 

How's your week been?  Share some favorite moments with me, I'd love to hear them.  Thanks for reading!  I hope your weekend is great.  Love to all!

these are the days {link up party}

Welcome, blog friends!  Grab this picture, or make one of your own, and link your blog back to mine for today's link up party.

Just like last week, these are the days I want documented forever.  I'm hopeful and prayerful that soon our lives will resume some semblance of order and normalcy again.  Until then, these are the days I want to remember.

I want to remember all the trips Todd made to Lowe's, though he would probably rather forget.  

I want to remember that though we had more good days than bad, some days were just plain hard and frustrating.  For everyone, and definitely for me.  All of our nerves are a little frazzled, and I keep trying to remember that just as God gives me grace abounding, I need to extend that same thing to everyone in the house, even if they hurt my feelings like one of my sons did last night.  (I bit my tongue and didn't say anything to him, though, because I didn't want meanness to come out.)

I want to remember all the projects we keep getting done!  This week my hubby and stepdad are working on the front porch railing and are also battling weather and work calls that my husband keeps having to go on.  (Praise God for those, by the way, the family business is struggling a bit with all this shutdown.)  

This was about what I looked like yesterday as I cleaned out a couple of boxes worth of photo albums and miscellaneous pictures.  I had to throw away some frames that were broken and I'm donating some, but I took the time to really go through all the pictures.  I figured since I was doing that I might as well start a stack of Jonah and Noah for the pictures I will submit to MHEA for their graduation next year.

I just got a little sick to my stomach when I wrote that.

Also this week, I cleaned out the dining room hutch and the cabinet in my kitchen that I refer to as the coffee cabinet.  It sits above(ish) my coffee pot and holds filters, coffee, the measuring spoon I use, to go cups, my own little Swig cups that I love, tea, and sugar and creamer.  I love a productive week, don't you?

I want to remember this time when I taught Drew to cook.  We are a homeschooling family (not just now, but always) and I've always incorporated daily life experiences into their learning.  Cooking was one such learning opportunity, and they've always been helpful in the kitchen.  A couple of them know how to cook, but a couple of them never had interest until just now.  (I need to ask Noah if he wants to learn now.)  Drew loves to eat good food, though, and I've been showing him how to make a few things.  Mainly, stirfry.  We always have leftover rice, and he just sautees onions and bell peppers in butter, soy sauce, and a little white cooking wine.  He eats that mostly for lunch sometimes, but has had it a time or two at dinner.

I want to remember the hundreds (seemingly) of times I had to repaint my nails.  I miss getting them done!  (I can't stand it when the polish starts to peel.)

I want to remember this as the time Drew made a lot of his t-shirts into sleeveless shirts.

I want to remember all the ramen noodles that were consumed in this kitchen.

I want to remember what it felt like wanting to get dressed up cute, but stopping myself, because why?  It's not like anyone was going to see me.

I want to remember all the pajama days we had.  Fun times.

I want to remember how Chip never had to go into his kennel during quarantine and lived his best life everyday.  When they go back to work, the dogs are going to miss these guys.

I want to remember the days when I didn't feel guilty about watching too much tv!  I've watched entire series and I've gone back and watched some movies I loved when I was younger but had forgotten about, like this one.

And this one, that I'd somehow missed and never watched.

Both of these were on Hulu, by the way, and this bottom movie is really cute and PG.  Movies are never rated that anymore, and I don't recall even one bad word.  I think this is based on the books by Sophie Kinsella.

I want to remember going through journal pages really fast, and having reality checks every so often.  One night last weekend I was about to have a moment (and not a good one), and sat down and started a gratitude list.  Every time I'm about to lose it, I do this, and it realigns my thinking with God and I start praising Him and thanking Him for all the things that brought a smile to my face.

I could probably go on, but I'll stop with this list.  If you're a blogger, I'd love for you to link up with me!  Thanks for reading and linking up with me.  Love to all!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter