Casual Fridays

Hello internet! I have been pretty inconsistent with the Casual Fridays around here lately, but hello. We call them Casual Fridays for a reason. (note the emphasis on "casual") I will now proceed to throw a bunch of semi-recent photos at you and call this a Photo-Prompted Post. May the force be ever in your favor. Or something. 

First of all, books and reading because #priorities. Since our last Casual Friday post, I've finished reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson (not my fav), Anne of Green Gables (ALWAYS my fav), and I've started in on some super-fun Christmas-y reads that I've been saving for the end of the year. I also posted my recap of Murder on the Orient Express which brings me to my next photo/topic....

As promised, I am telling you what I thought of the movie. And I have to say: thumbs down. Now, before you go accusing me of being a total book purist and Scrooge or whatever else, hear me out. I went into this really wanting to love the movie. I had high hopes because, as I told my husband before we went, the book reads practically like a screenplay already. Straightforward. No rabbit trails. Good character description and dialogue. Not hard, right? But once again, Hollywood royally screwed it up. To be fair, this is the only Agatha Christie novel I have ever read so I have no idea if they were drawing from any other stories of Poirot to create a character with more depth, but even if they were: unnecessary. Just my opinion. Hate me if you must. If you want Murder on the Orient Express, skip the movie. Read the book. 

On to happier things like girlfriends and pumpkin pie soda. Yes, you read that right, and yes, I really loved it. I know I'm a little crazy about all the pumpkin things, but even I was a little skeptical about pumpkin pie soda. However, it was fantastic, and I wish I was sipping on an icy cold bottle of it right now. (Thanks, Emily!) The week of Thanksgiving, I got to have these sweet friends over for a little mini-Camp Gilead reunion. We all became forever friends working as counselors the summer of '07, and I'm so thankful we got to snag this little pocket of time to catch up with each other. We're not waiting another 7 years to do this again, right girls??

I can't not share this one. How cute are these three? This is a snapshot of my everyday, and I love it so much. These guys are best buddies, and I love watching them all entertain each other. Definitely makes my job easier. 

And the sweetest ballerina had her first recital. Remember how it was the biggest deal on my calendar? Well, we missed it. Because apparently, 3:00 means 2:50 and "recitals" these days only consist of one three-minute song. Oy. It's totally fine. We made her do her dance for us in the parking lot with the phone cranked up as loud as it would go, and it was the most adorable thing you ever did see. 

Speaking of phones, I am definitely living that flip phone life again (aka: my best life). My little iPhone 4 died a long, drawn out death, and, while that was a fun 2 and 1/2 year experiment, I can't say I'm sad it's over. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find a phone that doesn't have a touch screen these days. My little no-contract phone company (shout out to straighttalk!) only had ONE option. Good riddance, Smart phone.

My BFF Danette and I had a little matinee movie and lunch date last weekend, and it couldn't have been more perfect. If any of you are looking for a GOOD movie to see (unlike that Murder on the Orient Express trainwreck—oh yes, pun intended) you should definitely go see Wonder starring Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts. But don't go without tissues because, unless you are the actual Grinch, you will absolutely need them. LOVED it, and I always love spending time with this girl.

My amazing, hard-working man built me this beautiful fire pit this week. Y'all, I know everyone is getting snow and everything but it's cold in Florida. I mean, 55 degrees in the middle of the day? I can't. Anyway, not only did my husband build this fire pit with his bare hands, he tore an eyesore of a fig tree out of the ground and put the fire pit where the tree had been. He's my hero, and I love him. And I especially love sitting by a blazing fire with him, trying to find shooting stars during a meteor shower. Merry Christmas to me.

Our church's Christmas concert was this past Sunday, and I have to say, even though I was singing in the choir and not sitting in the audience enjoying it, I was so blessed to be there. Our choir director chose beautiful music and Scripture passages, and he worked hard with us and the orchestra to make everything excellent. And it came together. If you missed it, you missed out.

Don't miss out again. If you want to take some time out of the crazy that is December to quiet your soul and focus on Christmas, this is the service you want to come to. And you are welcome.

I'm going to wrap this post up with a little Link Love because why not?

- The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul : Yes. Yes, it is.

- Sick People : Just stay home, y'all.

- Free Hugs : Because we just need a little of this in our lives sometimes.

- Arch-Nemeses : Because today's the day! Even though I probably won't get around to seeing it for a few more weeks.

- Food of Life : It's Christmas, y'all. You just eat whatever you want, okay? No judgment here.

P.S. I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Compassion for my birthday. With your generosity, we raised more than enough money for 15 water filters. That's so awesome. Thank you.