ins-and-outs

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I know most of you have seen or heard the ins-and-outs trend that is all over the place on social media (or online) this year so far, and I am jumping on the bandwagon. (For anyone who hasn't heard of that, that's basically a different way of saying what habits/thoughts/practices you want to keep in 2024, and what you'd like to let go of.) I thought I'd have some fun with today's post and share some of what I've thought of so far this month regarding a few choice topics. I hope you consider doing this kind of thing on your own blog! I love, love, love reading posts like this. (This seems like a great spot to share that this post was inspired by Erika at A Little Bit of Everything).

Social media ins:

I am all about some happy posting on Instagram and TikTok! I love going to both of those platforms to see pictures, watch stories, reels, and videos on things like organizing, healthy eating, and dogs. I have gotten out of the habit of posting regularly, and I'd like to start doing that again. I'm even taking a class on it this week! I'd love to gain more readers for my blog and share more inspirational things. 

Social media outs:

I am done with posting birthdays on social media, excluding my husband, sons, and parents. I may even include friends here and again, but I am not committing to that and I am not going to post birthday posts for extended family members anymore. Here's why: once you do that for one person, you have to do it for every person! And if you forget someone, that could be hurtful to them; ask me how I know this. I've been in that situation, and it always hurts my feelings if I've seen something posted for someone in my family and then they forget to do the same for me or my family members. I just can't keep up with committing to do that anymore, and I am okay with this decision. I am all about wishing people a heartfelt happy birthday in real life. either over text or in a phone call. 

Personal life ins: 

—spending quality time with Jesus everyday, praying and pouring my heart out to Him in prayer 

—making the phone calls or sending the texts

—being a good wife/mom/friend/daughter/sibling/aunt/dog mom

—honoring the Lord in everything I do (Psalm 19:14), and being faithful and diligent (Titus 1:7-9). 

Personal life outs: 

—dwelling on the past

—letting go of things I cannot control

—trying to be a people pleaser

—not being one hundred percent honest all of the time

—speaking carelessly

—holding on to hurtful words 

I'm letting all of that go this year and I've never felt better about something! 

Miscellaneous ins:

—more reading

—enjoying being together with my family and friends any chance I can get

—savoring life with our dogs just as it is right this moment

—moving as much as possible

—doing things that make me uncomfortable and getting me out of the comfort zone

—appreciating my husband and telling him why

Miscellaneous outs:

—less tv

—unrealistically high expectations

—not being clear in communication

—making excuses

—being on social media too much

—complaining

This was a fun post to think about, and I would love to know some of your ins and outs for this year! I'm linking up with Joanne for today's post. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. 

weekend recap, 1.22.24.

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was pretty boring, thanks to the never ending snow that is hanging on for dear life. 🤪

We started off slow on Friday morning. Remember when I mentioned that Todd fell out of a ceiling a week and a half ago while he was on a work trip? And how we thought he was fine? Turns out, that's not quite the case. He has a very large hematoma on his upper thigh; he also managed to fully break two ribs. Because of his ribs, he's having to sleep reclined instead of flat on his back and has been sleeping downstairs. My mornings look a bit different now, because of this; I don't turn on the tv at all, and I only turn on one small light in the living room that won't wake him up. Not that I have to worry about this, because the dogs wake him up the second they come downstairs. He drove Noah to work one last time (his car is finally able to be driven now that a lot of the snow and ice has melted), then we just hung around here until eleven. We went to Kroger for some groceries, then we made a drive out to the country to check on my dad and Sandy. It was so beautiful out there! 

We also made a stop by Todd's shop to check on the pipes there, then we finally made our way back home. I got a text from Drew while I was out saying that he was going to be at home for the day. I urged him to bring some clothes in case he decided to spend the night, but he was pretty adamant about going back home. The bag that you see above is evidence that I have a son who no longer lives at home. Every time he comes over and leaves, I send him home with a goodie bag. I made a huge pot of tortilla soup; Drew was so happy to have one of his favorite meals. 

I talked Noah into a quick picture to document my happiness at all of my boys at home under my roof for an unexpected night. Drew left, then called telling me he had changed his mind, and he was coming back to spend the night. It was so great having them all home that night, and most of Saturday! 

And for the rest of the weekend, this is pretty much all that we did. 

I finished my book and we started watching the last season of The Voice. We had leftovers for dinner, and that was all we did. We did have church yesterday morning, so it was good to be there and be out of the house, then we were home again for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It's been so cold here that nothing is melting! Or, most of it isn't melting; it should do that today since we're finally getting back up in our temps. It's been nice and all, but I am more than ready to say goodbye to the white stuff. I'm ready to get out, for everyone to go back to work, and to carry on with life once more. I hope that happens today! 

What did you do this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Before I go, I'm curious who here read the book for Shay's online book club this month? I did and will be over there today participating in the comments section as we talk about what we read. You should join in with us for February! My only complaint is that this is online and not in person. I want to be in a book club so bad! Until then, this kind will have to do. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. 

Friday Favorites, 1.19.2024.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's favorite blog post of the week. How's your week been? Mine has been really good; it was the perfect combination of productive and lazy with all the snow we had. 

And on that note...

The snow has been my favorite! Well, it started out as my favorite, but I'm over it now and would like for it to melt. 🤣 That first picture above is one that someone shared on a Facebook page that I am on. Isn't it beautiful? I have to say, there is nothing quite as beautiful as a sunrise and sunset against the backdrop of snow. It has shut down all of the schools and a lot of places of business this week; we never get snow this good! People have been cross country skiing on major city streets, I keep seeing ATVs going down our street, and people are sledding anywhere they can find a hill in our town. I love seeing all of these pictures!

Each week at work after staff meeting, we sign and send out these cards to people in the church that we prayed for during the meeting. I usually don't go to the meetings since it's not a requirement for me, and because they take place on Mondays, the only day I have to myself each week. That being said, I have only signed these one other time, but I did it again yesterday, and it was one of my favorite things. I think this is one of the sweetest things that I've seen from a church, and it is so special to be on the receiving end of one of these cards! 

This was a favorite view this week while I waited at work for Todd to come pick me up. It's always wonderful seeing the sunshine after a week of snow/rain/dreary days. 

I wore one of my favorite sweaters to church on Sunday. I love this baby blue color, and I love the softness of this sweater that I bought last year at Marshall's.

This cozy/comfortable outfit was my favorite at work this week! And so are these new tennis shoes that I bought at Rack Room last week. I was hesitant to dress like this for work on Wednesday, so imagine my surprise when I got there and everyone had on sweatshirts with jeans/athletic pants and tennis shoes! I laughed to myself over this, because the snow was our excuse. Another favorite from a cold work day was that the church treated the staff to lunch! I thought that was really sweet, and it was fun sitting in there with everyone.

Hot chocolate has been my favorite hot drink this week, and so has this mug that my sister bought me several years ago.

This is my favorite makeup routine! I had two days in a row that I stayed home, so these were the only products that I used on my face on Monday and Tuesday. 

Our new coffee pot is my favorite! It makes a k-cup, a full pot of coffee, and iced coffee! We bought this at Costco last Sunday before the snow started.

I saw this on Instagram this week, and it was kind of my favorite thing! Have you seen this?

Did you catch my other blog posts this week? I'll link them below.

I shared a post on Saturday about useful things I've learned recently. 

Monday was my weekend recap.

On Tuesday, I shared the first installment of a new thing I'm doing this year, called Third Tuesday Check-In. 

I shared about this week's snow days on Wednesday! I also participated in a link-up this day, about closet organization. 

And Thursday was Thankful Thursday. 

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

Thankful Thursday, 1.18.2024

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you've stayed warm and cozy wherever you are this week. It has been frigid here all week long, but you know what? I have loved it! I have so many things to be thankful for, so I'll jump in. 

In the last few days, we've had a lot of snow, so I am always thankful for God's protection over my family as they've all been out and about. I never want to take that for granted! 

I am thankful that we've not had a lot of power outages thus far in our city. I realize this can change at the drop of a hat, but I think a lot of us in our area have done our part to conserve energy as much as possible so they wouldn't have to do rolling blackouts. I am not sure how true that latter statement is; it may have been a rumor.

I have never been so grateful to have a wood burning fireplace!

I am thankful for delicious meals I've made this week! This is my time to cook, I feel like. I love hearty foods and soups, and I like eating on them for days. 

I am thankful that it's been an excellent reading week! I've had all the spare time to use toward my favorite hobby. 

I am thankful for the extra time I've had in the mornings for my quiet time. I have been loving reading along with The Bible Recap people and have watched all the extra videos and checked into the links they've shared. I usually don't have that spare time on the days that I work. 

I am thankful for the fact that my husband doesn't mind driving me around! He drove me to work yesterday and again today, then picked me up both days. Our roads are terrible! He had to take Noah to work as well, since little sports cars don't play well in the snow and ice. Graham was able to pick him up yesterday when he got off. It's nice having helping hands! Jonah did my grocery shopping since they were all over the city, it seems like. 

I'm thankful they've had some days off from work. It's been fun having them home and I know they've thoroughly enjoyed the time off with their friends. My oldest son went to Topgolf yesterday to play a round with his good friend; they decided to go when they found out they had heated rooms (or whatever it is there). I think that's amazing!

I could go on, but I'll stop with those. What are you thankful for this week? I can't read to read your posts! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

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Let's look: closet organization

 

Welcome to my Wednesday bonus post! I read the topic of today's Let's Look link party and had to join in, because it's a fun one. I'm linking up with Shay and Erika for this one. I'll jump in, because I love organization!

Right before Christmas, I decided to do another major closet clean-out. I feel like I am always maintaining that space, because it's such a small area that gets easily cluttered and becomes a hot mess. Todd and I share our closet, and we also keep all of our clothes in there, even the ones that are out of season. I have said before that we have a modestly sized home; it's large to some people and would be small to others, but we've all fit in it perfectly for the last twenty years. That being said, we use every square inch of space that we have, because as you'd imagine with four kids, we have had a lot of stuff. Organization has always been my thing that was born out of necessity. So, as I said, I am always working on our closet. 

Before Christmas, I took about an hour and did a much-needed purge. There were items of clothing I hadn't worn two years in a row, so I donated all of them to someone who lives in our area. I found her on a Facebook group, and within twenty minutes of me sharing, she was here picking up the items. That's the best: when you don't even have to take them anywhere! I just took out the items for donation and folded them neatly into a bag, then I reorganized my hanging items. I keep out of season items on the far left and right sides of my closet, then everything else goes in between the "book ends". I arrange my sleeve length, color, and texture, which is what best works for me. That's the key in closet organization or any in any other area in the home; everyone should do whatever works best for them. 

Here's somewhat of an example. My shoes stay on the floor in rows, and I just try to make the best use out of the space I have. Also in the last six months, I helped Noah organize and clean out his closet, because it was overwhelmingly messy. 

We got rid of everything he hadn't worn in a couple of years, we threw away a lot of stuff that needed to be tossed, and it has pretty much stayed like this ever since. He has to go in and straighten up on occasion because of his early work hours, but you get the picture. I love doing this kind of thing and was glad to help Drew and his roommates last summer when they moved. My "job" was unpacking the kitchen/laundry and organizing its contents. It was so much fun and I loved that they were so grateful for my help. I love those boys to pieces and would do anything for them! 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! I can't wait to read the other posts in the link party since this is a favorite topic of mine. Love to all! 

❄️snow days❄️ (January 17, 2024)

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I thought I'd share about what it looks like here right now, because it's beautiful. I don't ever want to be too old to enjoy a snow day! Even if our sons are grown, even if schools being closed never affects us, I will always love and appreciate a forced cozy day (or a few) at home. Our schools and church offices were closed yesterday, so I stayed home again yesterday, and it's looking like it's going to be the same for tonight, with Wednesday night activities being canceled. 

Here's what the weather has been doing here: On Sunday around two, it started snowing and did not let up for about twenty four hours. The temps were down in the twenties on Sunday, and on Monday, the high was around 11*. We got close to seven or eight inches! This is unheard of for us in the South; where we live near Memphis, we usually get one or two snow falls a year, but sometimes it's not even snow. Usually it's more of the freezing rain and sleet that we get. I've seen some great videos of people cross country skiing down major roads in the city! I've also seen some dumber videos and pictures of sleds being pulled by trucks or ATVs. I say this is dumb because of an accident that Todd worked one year and was later rewarded for in their life-saving actions. Regardless, it's been a fun and beautiful few days. 

Here are a few reasons why I love a snow day so much.

I love the excuse it gives me to be lazy! I do a lot of reading on these days. 

Even though it's a royal pain, I love watching the dogs get frisky in the snow. Chloe has been crying to be let out to play in it and Jonah let her stay out for about fifteen minutes on Monday while he played with her. Apparently, she also likes to eat the snow. 

I love the morning views it gives me while I sit and have quiet time!

And I love having makeup free days at home to let my skin breathe. On Monday I showered, put on fresh warm pajamas (fleece pajama pants and a hoodie), put lotion all over my body, and slathered my face with these things. 

See? I had to keep adding lotion to my hands because they're chapped, and I did the same with my lips. I love the Christmas peppermint Chapstick, but I also love Chapstick Total Hydration in the coconut scent/taste. If I don't keep something on my lips all the time, they become very chapped in the winter months, so I keep these things right by my chair. 

Also in this little container are flossers, cuticle scissors, cuticle oil, essential oils, and pens for when I answer the company phone for the guys. 

I ventured out into the driveway on Monday night after dinner for some obligatory pictures for social media, and I wanted to share them here on my blog as well. 

I think snow is so beautiful! I love how it looks at dusk, when the sky turns a little pink and the front porch and twinkling deck lights are turned on. I even love the cold! I really try to embrace all of the seasons, and whatever that weather brings us. I also love how beautiful our town looks! This is a picture that someone else took that I saw on social media yesterday. 

God gave us all the seasons to enjoy, so I try to do just that. What about you? Have you had snow yet where you live? What is something you love about it, even if it's not your favorite? I'd love to hear! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!