Happy Friday, friends! How has your week been? Mine has been really good, in spite of a few irritating moments, but I have nothing to complain about. I'm glad it's Friday; the weekends have become my favorite! Speaking of that, here are some more favorite moments from my week...
This is my favorite spot to watch TV these days! I was waiting on J to join me when I took this last Saturday. I really love the time we spend together on the weekends; it's beginning to feel like he's always been around, but it also still feels new and really exciting. This part of my joyful life is so much fun! I am ready for him to start meeting some of my people.
This is one of my favorite things that I saw on socials this week! It's so true, unfortunately, and I've had some eye-opening experiences lately in regards to who I let stay in my life. My peace of mind is so much more important than trying to remain friendly with people who are no longer in my life and won't ever be again. This is where I like to employ the "let them" theory from Mel Robbins.
How good/true is this?
These shoes are my new favorites!
I've been wanting a pair of these block style heels forever, and love the way they look on my feet.
Sitting right here was my favorite this week! And so was getting some sun on my legs while J did yard work.
This cracks me up! It's so true, but it was worth sharing again this week.
These gold hoops for my second and third holes are my new favorites!
And so is this hat! I needed one for the pool and for some outdoor events I've got coming up.
This reminder is always my favorite!
Sending daily pictures back and forth on text is also my favorite!
This dress is a favorite that I've recently rediscovered in my closet; it's a tiny bit on the shorter side, but I just keep it adjusted properly in the front to keep it from getting too short in the front.
The Salad Station twice this week was my favorite!
Chocolate fudge and strawberry ice cream are my favorite ice cream flavors! I ate my feelings Wednesday night.
Doing this on his couch is my favorite! I saw him last night and we watched a couple of episodes of White Lotus; I don't love season three and kept falling asleep again.
What's a favorite from your week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!
Happy Thursday friends! Today I'm talking about things I'm grateful for this week. I'll jump in!
→I'm thankful for the fact that I was able (and kind of excited) to stay at home for two nights in a row this week! This is huge, friends. I've been unable to be at home at night for months on months the last year, and this felt like a major accomplishment! Monday night wasn't quite as enjoyable, since I was kind of in a bad mood, but I persisted and talked on the phone a lot. Tuesday night was so much better! I showered and washed my hair early, then settled in with dinner (I cooked, too!) and a movie on Prime TV. I worked on this week's blog posts, I talked on the phone, and after the movie I listened to a new playlist on Spotify. It was glorious! I was in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 1 a.m. 🤣
→I'm thankful for the fact that I finally finished a book this week! I refuse to give up on reading, because I'm stubborn enough to keep trying. I will not let my new joyful life ruin my lifelong love of books and reading. In order to keep making myself do this, and out of necessity, I ordered myself the newest and latest version of the Kindle! She arrived yesterday and is beautiful with her new hot pink cover and Kindle Unlimited subscription for three months. Now to just get her all set up and ready to go!
→I'm thankful for things to do when I'm not at home! I thoroughly enjoyed last night and having dinner with a sweet friend I don't see often enough. We enjoyed catching up and eating at The Salad Station (her first time), and then driving around later listening to music and continuing with talking.
→I'm thankful for the art of communication. It's definitely something I'm getting used to again, and I've enjoyed some heartfelt conversations with people. I follow all these accounts on socials that give life/dating advice, and I keep seeing these lists of things that are green flags in people. Here are some more of my green flags in relationships (both with friends and in the one I'm seeing):
a love for Jesus
excellent communication skills and the ability to talk things out without frustration
good morning/goodnight texts
checking in throughout the day texts
thoughtfulness
vocal concern (hearing it in their voice and being asked how I am)
them wanting to know about my life (my day, my job, my family, my hobbies)
late night phone calls
seeing how they treat others, particularly someone that can't help them in any way
what they do in their spare time
facial expressions...do they always look mad or content?
driving skills...I refuse to ride in the vehicle with someone who doesn't make me feel safe
→I'm thankful for the gift of prayer and this image that I saw on it yesterday.
What's one thing you're thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!
Happy Hodgepodge day, friends! I'm here again with Joyce today for her weekly hodgepodge. I'll jump right in!
1. June 10th is National Herbs & Spices Day. Besides salt and pepper, what herb or spice container do you reach for more often? Is there a spice you truly dislike? What's a recent dish you made that calls for something more than salt and pepper? I love the Everything Bagel spice blend, and when I have some on hand, I put it on literally everything just about. Additionally, I use garlic powder a lot. The only spice I dislike is curry, or maybe it's that I just like it in very small amounts. I made a Paula Deen dish one time called Chicken Divan, and it called for way too much curry powder! I never made it again, but I should have tried it with less of that. I didn't make this, but last week Jonah made homemade shrimp alfredo, and it called for garlic powder. I think the last thing I "made" was the Greek bowl from Amy; it called for Greek seasoning.
2. It's been said that "variety is the spice of life"...in what way is this true for you? Elaborate. I'm going to use this to talk about music again. All of you know that I'm in a season of not being able to read a lot or even watch TV/ movies; on the days when I'm home and this is the case, I have music playing. I have mentioned this here before, but in case anyone new is here reading, I'll elaborate again.
I listen to different music at differing times of days, or depending on my mood. I like to listen to worship/Christian music in the mornings while I'm up early and when I'm getting dressed. I do this at work, as well! In the afternoons, I like something like Meghan Trainor or Maroon Five or any of the thousand playlists I've created on Spotify. In the evenings, I like something a little more chill, so I may listen to Ben Rector or Old Dominion or some older music. Right now I'm listening to a lot of Treaty Oak Revival music since I'm seeing them in concert Saturday night with J and his sons. I'm really excited about going to see them with him, because they're his favorite band right now. We're going to see Old Dominion this month, too, at the end of June. Who am I??? I have3n't attended concerts in years, and all of a sudden, I can't get enough.
Here's my Spotify profile if you want to follow me there, but don't judge me by some of the songs/lyrics you'll see. I have happy, sad, angry, and chill playlists for all of the moods I might go through. I love the different varieties of music that I listen to on a daily basis! Because it's all I do consistently at the moment, this is something small that spices up my life.
3. What's something in your life that adds spice (excitement, intensity) even if it also comes with challenge or unpredictability? Right now, Stella is the something that adds extra spice to my life. I'm trying to like her more and have been focusing on not being mad at her when she acts like a puppy. The timing of her coming to live here wasn't the greatest, but she's making small improvements each day.
She cute.
4. If you could master one skill or hobby, what would it be and why? I wish I could play the piano! Maybe I should try to learn, since I have a piano. I'd love to be able to sit and play without giving it a thought. I would love to play music that I can worship to; I love just sitting and playing the songs I do know how to play from muscle memory of taking lessons for a year while I was young. I think I'd enjoy this because it would feel therapeutic.
5. We're halfway through the year (!!!)...what's one book, movie, or activity you've loved this year that you would recommend to others? I'll go with an activity here since 2025 isn't my year to read and watch things. I tried going back to look at my bookish posts this year, and the only one I could find before last week was in January, which means I've only written two posts for reading out of the six months we've seen thus far in 2025. I've loved several activities this year that I'd highly recommend: walking with a friend, walking outside, listening to music with people you care about, being with friends as often as possible, journaling everything, and watching endless reels and videos on TikTok. That's how I fall asleep most night, either by watching videos on my phone or by talking on the phone.
6. Insert your own random thought here. My random thought for this week is another song! This one is called Higher Than I, and it's by Sons of Sunday.
Thanks for being here to read my blog today, friends! Do you have anything fun planned today? I am working today and then I have plans later in the day. I'd love to hear from you! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!
P.S. I will now be deleting any snarky anonymous comments, so if you're one to comment under that disguise, please tell me who you are. Thanks in advance. (I updated this since someone just said something pretty rude here. Stop being a coward who hides behind a screen!)
Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd talk about some more random things here today on a summery Tuesday.
Speaking of summer, I am not prepared for how hot it's already been! It hasn't gotten to the nineties yet, but the heat index has. We keep having lots of rain, and I think that makes it extra steamy on those days. I'm not necessarily complaining about the season feeling like the season we're in (I will be come August, though!), but I bought a new personal fan to get ready. This is one that Marilyn recommended...here's a link to this one pictured below.
It can be clipped to your waist band or worn around your neck. I bought it because I have some outdoor concerts coming up, and I'm beyond the point of caring. I introduced J to one of my portable fans this weekend; he was perplexed by it, which made me laugh. I asked him if he'd ever been around anyone that was menopausal, and his answer was that I was the most symptomatic he'd ever experienced. 🤣
This made me laugh way too hard, because it's extremely true. Marilyn, I'm talking to you again! Good grief, this made me laugh because of its accuracy. She recently had my phone deleting pictures of someone I dated a few times. She knew I was hanging onto the pictures he'd sent me, and she was not having that!
This is a picture my friend Lydia posted on socials last week; she's known for her love of reading. I thought I'd share this in case you're looking for something for yourself!
I love that my little town holds summer concerts on the square each week! I'd love to attend these for as long as I can stand the heat, but here we are last week on the first night. We left early because it was raining, and then it got unbearably hot. It wasn't as crowded as I had thought it would be, but I think the crowd will grow as summer goes on. I wore a dress to this to help keep me cool, and I'm glad I did.
My Sunday afternoon views were pretty nice! 😉 He had on long sleeves because he'd just finished mowing and was trying not to get burned. We sat in this spot and listened to music for a while before someone came over to help him with something. At that point while he was outside, I changed back into normal clothes and sat in his living room reading until we went to grab dinner, then we started season 3 of White Lotus...but we'll have to rewatch the episodes we watched since I was having problems staying awake.
Jonah has a new weekend hobby: riding four wheelers in very muddy places. This picture of him cracks me up! I took a screenshot of this that his friend Olivia posted, because of that muddy handprint on his back.
Mondays are always better when friends and good food are involved! We really, really love The Salad Station. It kept me full all day, so much so that I only had a few bites of chicken salad with almond flour crackers for dinner.
I love my little town! I didn't take this picture, but one of our town photographers did. I love being out on the town square!
What's something random in your life recently? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!
Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good, albeit a little low key. I hope you're able to say the same.
I got my weekend started off with a pedicure. I love going for one every couple of months, and this time the color was the reason why I went a week or two early. I love getting a neutral color in the summer since I get neon on my nails. This one is Funny Bunny by OPI. After this, I went back home for a couple of hours before leaving again.
I changed clothes (it was way too hot for jeans) and met J at his house.
He had an afternoon appointment to get some tattoo work done on his right arm, and asked if I wanted to go with him. I took him up on it, and kind of enjoyed watching that process. It took forever...four hours! I ended up reading a book on my phone that I'd been wanting to read, the latest Taylor Jenkins Reid. We were so hungry when we left there and went to eat immediately afterward. We made it back to his house and ended the night watching comedians on Netflix. I was out so late, but I got to sleep in the next morning. (I didn't get home until one thirty!)
Saturday was a rainy mess for most of the day! I met up with my mom and sister for a couple of things, but we ended up calling it a day pretty quickly since it was so nasty outside. We were tired of getting in and out and getting wet in the process! I came home for the afternoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with J. There was a crazy storm at his house, and when I was on my way home, a massive tree had fallen across his road. I had to turn around and go back home via interstate, which added fifteen minutes to my drive time, but I was grateful that I didn't run up on the actual tree since it was dark and it was in an S-curve. I was literally thanking God for this.
I was up at the crack of dawn for church and had to send pics of my new shoes to my friends. I've been wanting some of these block heels. For the rest of the day, I sat my J's pool. It wasn't a bad gig! I'm writing this on Sunday, and I'm hoping I put to good use the dating advice I keep hearing to be confident about myself and that I actually take my coverup off this week and get in the dang water. Here's to hoping! 🤣
What did you do this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for being here to read today, friends. Love to all!
.jpg)
