Friday, September 21, 2018

Casual Fridays

Y'all. I ate a salad as a whole meal this week. For those of you who have never met me in real life: this is major. I've been a salad hater all my life and if offered a salad on any given day my quick response is something along the lines of, "Salad is what real food eats" or "Bring me that chicken and gnocchi soup instead" or even just a basic, "Ew, yuck." But my husband is a huge fan of Zaxby's Cobb salads and every time he gets one, I always think it actually looks good. And this week, I got one for myself. Granted, I dumped salsa all over it because I have yet to find a salad dressing (outside of The Melting Pot's secret house dressing) that doesn't make me gag (which, come to think of it, is probably why I've never been a huge salad fan—who wants to eat dry lettuce??), but I actually really enjoyed it and would eat one again. It was super yummy. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.
I discovered this song by Florida Georgia Line this week, and it's been playing on repeat ever since. Don't ignore the fact that I put the actual video in this post: hit that play button. You need this feel good jam in your life. Also, if you can write lyrics that make me think of my husband, you will get my money every time. Insert some hearts and other appropriate emojis here.
Cody and I started a new puzzle, and it might actually be the death of us. We may never finish it. If you want to come over and take a stab at it, be my guest. I've been tempted to just put it back in the box, but after all the agony we went through to get even this far, I can't bring myself to do it. 
So after my last post mentioning my home pedi struggles, my best sisterfriend Lyndsey (who is my personal hair/makeup/fashion guru) texted me that I needed to get this brand for a smudge free experience, and, as always, she was so right. Loving this brand and loving this color. (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Re-teal Therapy)
Speaking of feminine hygienic practices, I have two more things to relate. 1) I bought another Chapstick. Because I will never have enough and this Peaches-n-Cream one is my current obsession (along with that Florida Georgia Line song—have you listened to it yet?!). And 2) I gave up on the Native deodorant, y'all. It irritated my skin too much, and I finally realized there was no special way to apply it to avoid the irritation. If you don't have sensitive skin, I'd still recommend it. Their Coconut & Vanilla scent is the bomb.
Changing the subject, let's talk about something this blog is actually about: BOOKS. First of all, look at those pretty, pretty Penguin clothbound Jane Austen beauties. Personally, I would always rather buy 10 books secondhand than 1 quality new one, but I was telling my husband a few weeks ago that I'd eventually like to invest in a good set of Jane Austen's complete works, because currently my Jane Austen novels are all bound together in one paperback volume which is a little cumbersome to travel with (not that that's ever stopped me), and a few days after our conversation, this box set showed up at our door. Am I spoiled or what? I love that man for keeping me in pretty books
But since I just confessed that I'm a used book junkie, here's what I've found at The Book Shelter lately. And alert the media: last Saturday when I went, I walked out with just one book. My husband was so proud of me. Have you read any of these? I highly recommend Unbroken. It's one of the best biographies I've ever read. 

Let's catch up on some Link Love and call it a day.

100 Books to Read Before You Die : I love reading other people's book lists and lists of the greatest books of all time and just bookish stuff in general so I found this guy's process of creating this ultimate book list interesting, and I loved all the included links to the lists he used to help him create his own. 

Why? : This is heartbreaking. Every child should get a family. Politics are the worst, and the State Department sucks.

The Greatest Showman Medley : This is insanely good, and I can forgive him for not including my favorite song from the movie (Tightrope) because undertaking this at all is ambitious and he did it with impressive results. Mad props to this guy. 

Don't Be Yourself : The trend he addresses in this post has been bothering me for some time now, and I had been thinking about writing a post on this very topic myself, especially after reading Mere Christianity. But then I read this and thought, "He did it better. We'll just share this one." 

What have you been up to lately? What are you reading right now? 
And are you hooked on that S-I-M-P-L-E song yet??

10 comments:

  1. i need you to know that the salad thing made me gasp out loud at work and then my jaw continued to drop lower and lower the further into the paragraph i got. so, points for unexpected twists.

    maybe one day i'll click on that Florida Georgia Line clip. maybe one day.

    if that puzzle's still not done by Christmas; i'm down to come over and watch you guys try to finish it while eating your food and mooching your netflix. actually sounds kinda awesome. i'm in!

    i love a good boxset and also appreciate good book bindings, so points for the Austen collection. and that Cody. dude continues to excel at husbanding.

    Unbroken! i know you're gonna go see the sequel. lemme know. i've heard mixed things.

    i appreciated that article "don't be yourself" even more than i thought i would. "self-love" is a secular farce, and one that is meant to keep us in the never-ending cycle of searching for acceptance from outside sources, ironically. people are silly.

    still reading Harry Potter, i'm on book 4 now. i have a couple flights coming up next month, so hoping to get a good chunk out of it.

    and Hannah. Florida Georgia Line is not a good band.

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    1. First of all, I never said Florida Georgia Line is a good band. Don't put words in my mouth. But I do like this song. And the one they did with Tim McGraw. Sue me.

      Second, I'm not really all that interested in the Unbroken sequel to be honest. I'm not so sure I'll see it. But if I do, I will definitely let you know what I think.

      Third, now that you're reading Harry Potter and into it, 49% of me is ready to just give in and go for it, but 51% of me has dug my heels so far in the Earth I'm halfway to China.

      Also, I'm 97% sure that puzzle will not be done by Christmas. A couple weeks ago, I said to Cody it should be our goal to finish it by Thanksgiving and he was like, yeah that sounds good and neither one of us has touched it since then.

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    2. Hahahahaha I love you guys. All three of you. So much.

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    3. Because we are total puzzle failures? lol

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  2. Book lists, so fun! I think I'd read somewhere around 21/100. I looked at the list of 500, and it wasn't compiled correctly. I saw some titles 2-3 times, written slightly differently (pet peeve on those lists!).

    Tightrope correctly describes being married to someone in the military. #justsayin

    Great article. Meshes well with Lifetime Guarantee (probably mentioned it before).

    Busy chasing the boys, doing Children of the Day with a small group, and grading for Liberty. Ean's grandma is visiting, so it's time to be tourists again!

    Reading (sigh) - I read like a chapter of so many books and stall. Currently more than halfway through Farmer Boy (Little House is a list book/series). Started On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior (so good!). Read the intro of What Did You Expect by Paul Tripp - also good.

    I thought the song was fun and catchy, but I never listen to country anymore. Garth Brooks wrote a great song for the guy on America's Got Talent. Maybe this one will make you think of Cody too :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTvJvFWe7hc

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    1. I noticed that on the list of 500, too! Ugh.

      Lifetime Guarantee? I don't think we've talked about that...?

      How are you liking Children of the Day? I'm doing Priscilla Shirer's "He Speaks to Me" with my Sunday school class, and it's really good.

      I have been hearing Paul Tripp's name a lot this past year. Is this the first book you've read by him? What do you think?

      That is such a beautiful song! And it's amazing that Garth Brooks wrote it for that guy!!

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    2. Lifetime Guarantee is a book about what it means to walk in the Spirit vs. walking in the flesh. It encourages us to live as who we truly are - new creations in Christ. There's a good deal about our new identity in Him. The author had a video series in the 80s that my parents had, and I wish I had watched it all the way through. It points out some problems with the way we tend to talk about the old man (Rom. 6:6).

      I'm really liking Children of the Day! Taking the time to write out each chapter makes me ponder the wording more. The videos always surprise me with the direction she takes, but I think I'm getting a lot out of it.

      He has a Parenting book that came out last year that's been widely recommended that I heard of first. I found both books at a sale, so I plan to read both together. I'm not very far in, but the introduction in the marriage book about expectations was spot on.

      Good men are hard to find, but we both got one! The show followed Michael's story - he's a nurse, and they've adopted multiple kids with histories of abuse and special needs. So the song seems like a tribute to him as much as it was written for him to sing :)

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    3. Beth Moore did that with the James study, too, and I also got a lot out of writing it out. I'm finding that I prefer book studies over topical studies so I'm hoping my church might do Children of the Day soon.

      Aw, that makes it even more special! I've never really watched America's Got Talent, but I like that the premise includes people with all different kinds of talent. Didn't a 12-year old magician win it recently?

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  3. I’m so proud of you.

    Just painted my toes a new colo or same brand called “Peachy breeze” and I need the peaches and cream chapstick...NEED!

    Reagan obviously doesn’t know the makings of a GREAT song. (Love you bro.)

    Your links are all 💯. Love you.

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    1. He also doesn't know that mediocre bands can sometimes hit on a great song. LOL!

      I knew you'd be proud of me for eating a salad. I almost called you. Hahaha! Love you!!!

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