Casual Fridays

Wow. It has been a hot minute since we've caught up around here. I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started this whole thing, and let me tell you: the temptation to just throw in the towel is real because there is a stack of books waiting to be recapped sitting in my little home library and some of them still date back to last summer. We're doing great. I'm sneaking this post in today so that when I look back at the blog archives, it will seem like I only missed one month instead of three which is the actual truth because the two posts I published in May were technically scheduled and ready to go in April. Oy to the vey. Let's ease back in with a chatty Casual Friday, shall we?

First of all: hi. This is what we look like in case you forgot. And if you missed it, we've been North Carolina residents for over a year now. So this photo is basically in our back yard. We are nestled right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and sandwiched between a national forest and a state forest. There's a waterfall around every corner.

And speaking of living in NC now: it snows here, y'all. We got nearly two feet of snow in January and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy because we were outside playing in it like a couple of kids. We were sledding down all the roads in our neighborhood, laughing and squealing like we were ten years old. All Cody's winter wonderland dreams came true, and you know what? Sitting inside by a cozy fire drinking something hot and reading a good book while there is a blizzard outside is not a bad life. Driving in it was terrifying, but we survived. 

In April, we went down to Myrtle Beach, SC for my littlest sister-from-another-mister's wedding. Funnily enough, this was the first time we've ever taken our dogs to the beach, and I think Cody had the most fun he's ever had on a beach in his life. Meggy was a beautiful bride, and her reception turned into a mini-Class of '06 reunion for me which was fun. I also convinced two of my BFFs to share an Airbnb with me so the whole weekend was basically one big party.

Also in April, my baby had a baby. I can't. I'm very "in my feels" about it, and you better believe I immediately drove down to Georgia to snuggle that little man. 

And speaking of being "in my feels" (as the kids say), my best friend and her babies came to visit a few weeks ago and I took her oldest out for a little date to one of my favorite spots and don't mind me crying into my Dr. Pepper over here while I stroll down memory lane remembering the day she was born. She's totally a teenager now and an amazing artist and writing her own books and somebody please stop time, for the love. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to May... 

...in May, I got to exercise my constitutional right to vote in the 2022 primaries. This was my first opportunity to vote as a resident of North Carolina. I'm so very grateful to live in a country where I'm afforded this opportunity. Even though politics and politicians can make me want to bang my head against a wall sometimes, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. God bless America. 

Also in May, Cody and I celebrated ten years of marriage. I actually got back into my wedding dress and my husband patiently indulged my request for a mini-backyard photo shoot. We watched our wedding video together, looked at photos, and went on our traditional date to Barnes & Noble and the Melting Pot. We also officially checked North Carolina off on our goal to #SeeAll50, but that's a post for another day. May is a crazy month always, and I blame my blogging failure entirely to that fact. Just in our immediate family, we celebrate three anniversaries and four birthdays. My brother and sister came in to celebrate our Mom's 60th birthday, but I have been strictly forbidden from posting the photos I took with them online. Oh wait! We did take a nice family photo at the Olive Garden. So here's that:

May also turned out to be my last month delivering packages for Amazon. I made it almost a full year. It was a good job, but I don't miss it. After a few too many less-than-safe driving experiences and being so entirely exhausted on all my days off, my husband and I decided the cons were starting to outweigh the pros of me having this job, and I gave my bosses my notice. I had great bosses, and delivering packages in the mountains of Western North Carolina certainly whipped my body into shape. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend being a delivery driver, but God provided for us through this job and I'm glad I was able to do it while it lasted. 

The first weekend of June saw us on a roadtrip to my beautiful Florida. Two of our nieces were having their first dance recital and there was no way we were going to miss cheering on those tiny dancers. We, of course, had to spend an afternoon with our boy, my sisters and I went to the beach for a day, and I got together with my book club. It was a jam-packed weekend trying to see as many people as we could and do as many of our favorite things as possible. (You know I came home with a stack of books from The Book Shelter.)

As I already alluded to, my best friend and her kids came for a visit the first week of July. Auntie Hannah had all the fun catching up with these babies. Our 4th of July fireworks got rained out, but that couldn't keep us down. We ate a lot of food, played a lot of games, and had a lot of fun. 

Y'all. I have a bush of the most gorgeous purple hydrangeas in my yard. Let me start this section off by saying I have the blackest of black thumbs. My house is where plants come to die. But these hydrangeas have been blooming on their own like crazy this summer and it has brought me no end of joy. 

And while we're on the subject of nature, deer and bunnies and all kind of fun animals hang out in our yard. We see them on a daily basis. There is also a mama black bear with two small cubs that have been making the rounds in our neighborhood, but I haven't caught them on camera yet. I tell ya: it's a whole new world for me up here in NC. We've gone from lizards and sand hill cranes and gators to woodland creatures, and it's a fun change. 

And one more backyard photo. Because apparently I'm turning into my mother and taking pictures of things like spiderwebs. Here's a handy link to when I recapped Charlotte's Web on the blog. You're welcome. 

Last week we celebrated my Gramma's 89th birthday. And because we are so redneck and Polk County people till the day we die, we stuck a giant match in her cake when we couldn't find any birthday candles. Gramma and I have been alone on the mountain a lot this summer because my parents and Cody have had to travel a lot for work and having her all to myself has been really special. We have a standing Wheel and Jeopardy date each night which basically keeps me going while Cody's away. 

Are you still with me? I know: this has been a lot. But that's what's been going on around here lately. I also have to tell you that Cody read Little Women (one of my all-time favorite books) and watched all three of our movie adaptations with me this summer. He loved the book, and was properly indignant over the liberties taken in the films. His favorite was actually the newest adaptation starring Saoirse Ronan as Jo. 

Anyway, I leave you with this photo of my puppies, because aren't they just the sweetest? Be on the lookout for some actual book recaps coming your way next week, and drop me a line telling me how your year has been going!

Casual Fridays

Y'all. Casual Fridays have just died over here. Forget about it. So much time has passed. Where do we even start? I'll tell you where:

07/04/18

Because freedom and true love and the freaking 'stache. We spent our 4th of July eating way too much food and admiring Cody's magnificent facial hair. RIP The Mustache of 2018. Also, we played Euchre. Because I finally gave in and learned to play and now I'm addicted and can't stop. If you know this game, come play with me. 

Now for a proper bookish start to this post:

Here are some of the gems I've picked up at The Book Shelter lately. I think I've had pretty good self-control (considering the first time we went, I ended up with 14 books), but Cody's still a little fearful whenever I announce I'm heading for The Book Shelter. I've been back twice since that fateful anniversary trip, and along with all these fantastic books (including that Beth Moore Esther workbook which had nary a mark in it) I also scored the entire series of Parks & Rec on DVD. Because not only do they sell books, they sell board games and movies and video games—oh my! Have you read any of these? If I had to choose between Their Eyes Were Watching God, Rebecca, The Language of Flowers, or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for my 2019 book list, which one should make the cut? ("All of them" is an entirely acceptable answer.)

I'd probably be going to The Book Shelter a lot more frequently if I wasn't running off to the beach every spare day I get. Most of my trips have been solo, but I did manage to drag my BFF with me one day, and we ended up witnessing a totally casual wedding. (#memories) When we noticed they didn't have anyone to take a picture of the whole group, I sashayed my little bikini-clad body over to offer up my services as an impromptu photographer, much to the chagrin delight of my best friend. The family was very appreciative even though Christina wanted to melt into the sand. As you can see, my toenails haven't been entirely neglected this summer. That purple home pedi was flawless, but the beachy coral pedi was smudge city which has brought me to a new conclusion about smudgy pedicures: the nail polish brand matters. Anyone else find this to be true? 

I alluded to this in my God Is Able recap, but I didn't mention that my husband totally surprised me with these fun summery porch furniture cushions and they are making me so happy. Our porch chairs have been cushion-less since Irma, and I've been loving being able to (comfortably) spend more time outside this summer. 

06/04/18

I set a new world record Yahtzee score. (Ignore all of our confused faces, I was trying to figure out how to do a screenshot. #technicaldifficulties) But really though. 620??? That has to be a world record, right? Right?!

07/15/18

And speaking of my fellow Yahtzee Nazis (I just came up with that. Can I trademark it? Or is it offensive?), I squeezed in the quickest weekend roadtrip to see some of my favorite people recently. They're just extremely lucky I didn't smuggle my nephew home with me. Serious tears when I had to drive away from that baby. They're moving to Germany and even though they're really psyched about it, I'm still hitting my knees every morning asking God to make the Army change its mind. #sorrynotsorry Check Little Miss Thing eyeing her daddy like, "Gosh, you're so embarrassing, Dad!"

07/26/18

I got a few sweet hours with my other favorites yesterday. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are getting real good at faces-on-command. I treasure every second with these precious girls, and I hope they always love coming to Auntie Hannah's house. 

The puppies are doing good. Although between the two of them, I've cleaned up more puke this week than I would have preferred. Colonel likes to eat baby wipes so all trash cans have long been placed out of reach of either mangy mutt, but this week he managed to snitch two wipes that were literally sitting right next to me while I was changing a diaper and naturally they came back up a couple days later because baby wipes are not digestible, y'all. Don't eat them. Major regurgitated his breakfast Wednesday for no apparent reason. Perhaps he felt left out? The world may never know, and I am so over it.

Last summer around this time, I started a segment on the blog entitled "Adventures in Coloring" because my husband got me this insane grown-up coloring book. In the entire year since then, I have managed to complete two more pages. Two. And recently started a third. I'm obviously slaying. My hubby thinks the fish lips page doesn't even look finished because of how much I left white, but look at those teeny tiny scales, y'all! Haven't I done enough?!

I let some random stranger at a Fantastic Sam's hack up my hair a couple weeks ago because I was so bored with it, but, as is usually the case, I was immediately remorseful. It's hair. It grows. Whatever.

And if you've actually made it to the end of this post, I have a serious question for you. I have Mere Christianity and Othello lined up for my August reading, but I can't decide on which novel I'd like to tackle next. Should August include The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, or Song of Deborah by Bette M. Ross? Help!

Did you make it this far? How's your summer been? To sum up: nail polish brand recommendations, 2019 book list choices, Yahtzee props, coloring encouragement, August novel vote. Annnnnd GO.

Casual Fridays

Ok, I have a lot of thoughts today, but the first thing we need to talk about is this: I was recently on a day trip to Gatorland with a group of 5th and 6th grade girls from my church as a chaperone (really, this should have been my first clue). I work with these girls in my church's AWANA program. Miss Mary has been running this group since I was in 5th grade and whenever I go on these outings with them, in my mind, I'm still one of Miss Mary's girls. So all these adorable girls show up with their cute little colorful backpacks, and we're all talking and giggling and comparing our accessories fashion when I have this sudden stroke of enlightenment that I've owned the little drawstring backpack on my back—which I got during my college days—longer than these girls have been alive. 

And then I died. The end.

But seriously when did I go from being a 5th grade girl to being old enough to have a 5th grade girl?? I can't. Let's move on.

LPL was a few weeks ago, and the dynamic was so different this year. It was right down the road from where the Parkland school shooting happened and there were family members of some of the victims in attendance. As a Floridian, I know I was feeling pretty numb that weekend, and it was hard to enter in to some of the more joyful worship that the LPL crew always bring. They began the weekend with a beautiful tribute to the lives that were lost in the shooting, and it was good to have an outlet for the grief that that heinous crime brought. Ms. Beth gave us a little "Hydrology Theology," speaking on how the Holy Spirit is the spring of Living Water within us. The best part of the weekend though was being able to attend the SSMT Celebration after the official LPL event concluded. 2017 was my third year participating in SSMT, but I haven't made it to any of the celebrations before now because they're usually in Houston. It was so fun meeting some of my Siestas and cheering each other on as we recited our Scriptures to each other. 

#beachtherapy

February 17th was a day for pink books and teeny tiny broken shells. The waves that pound you somehow have a way of smoothing the rough edges, too. God is good in the midst of it all. 

"I have learned to kiss the wave that drives me against the Rock of Ages." 

-Charles Spurgeon-

And here are just some random photos of life lately....

The crazies got haircuts this week. Yay! for less dog hair flying around! Aren't they sweet?

This is what we call "training up a child in the way he should go."

This happened. 

That's a 523 on the electronic Yahtzee. 

I'm such a winner, you guys. 

And stop judging me for keeping an electronic Yahtzee game in my purse. 

And now I will share with you my Mini-Banana Muffin recipe which is a total homerun. When we get random cold snaps in March (not funny, Florida), I bake. Seriously, this recipe doesn't miss. You're welcome. 

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon (I tend to go heavier on the cinnamon than the average human.)

2 ripe bananas (seriously, the browner the better)

1/4 cup + 2T sugar

2T + 2 tsp butter

1/2 egg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees then mix your dry and wet ingredients separately. Add the dry mixture to your banana mixture and mix till smooth. Spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray and then spoon your mixture into it. Bake for 10 minutes and enjoy. This recipe yields exactly 24 muffins which is one mini-muffin tray. Perfect. 

Link Love

- HiHo Kids : Welcome to my latest youtube obsession. Literally.

- International Women's Day : My feelings exactly.

- Family First : And while we're on James Breakwell—I died. This guy is too funny.

- KFC/Taco Bell : This makes me laugh so hard. Maybe my sense of humor is really immature, but I just don't care. 

- Savchenko & Massot : Because just because the Olympics are over doesn't mean I'm ever going to stop watching this flawless routine by the Germans. Wow. Make sure to watch all the way to 6:00. 

- James & Cipres : Bonus figure skating video. It's not from the Olympics, but it's also mesmerizing. Be sure to watch till 5:15.

- I Ain't Doin' It (Easter Edition) : She just keeps gettin' better, y'all. 

And finally, my sister-in-love who is the prettiest pregnant fairy princess ever is due today, and I'm dying to meet my newest little niece or nephew. Let's go, Baby Oz!!

Jennifer Corcoran Photography

Casual Fridays

I can see clearly now the rain is gone. And let's just do a Currently I'm... post because it seems like a good idea.  

Reading...

... Ezekiel. I'll be honest, Jeremiah and Ezekiel have not been easy books for me this time around. I don't know if it's just been the craziness of Hurricane Irma or the KJV or what, but I've had a tough time staying focused during these two particular books. 

... Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. If you've been keeping up, this is my 17th read of the year so far, and it's also the last book I have left from my original 2017 book list! (Except for Sunset Lullaby by RJG which doesn't even come out till November 10th and will only take me about a day to read if past performance is any indicator.) 

Addicted to...

... the snack that smiles back: Goldfish. A bowlful a day keeps the doctor away. Or something like that.

... IBC Black Cherry Cokes. And there's no caffeine in them so I don't even have to feel bad about drinking them, right?!

... Taco Bell chalupas, no sour cream. Because a cheap meal and no dinner clean-up is what being an American is all about.

Craving...

... ALL THE THINGS that are not in my house. Cheese fries from Andy's, mall food court Chinese, apple cider, Publix pumpkin pie or chocolate cake with buttercream icing. None of it's here and I want all of it. I'm thinking these are sympathy cravings for my sister-in-law who's PREGNANT! in case you missed it last week. Caroline, I am here and willing to gain the baby weight with you, my friend. (Although I'm not sure Cody will be on board.)

Watching...

... Gilmore Girls. There's just something about this time of year that makes me want to revisit Stars Hollow. 

... The Dick Van Dyke Show. Personally, I don't know of anyone who can touch Dick Van Dyke's physical comedy. I love that guy. 

... Julie's Greenroom. Julie Andrews is one classy lady, y'all. This show is adorable. Not like, sit-and-bingewatch-the-entire-season-in-one-day adorable, but adorable nonetheless. 

Listening...

... to lots of Michael Bublé lately. He's my jam this time of year.

... to Kelly Clarkson. She was my yard clean-up music of choice this week. And her new song Love So Soft is dance-tastic. (Thanks for the tip, Reagan.)

... to Adventures in Odyssey. Perpetually. But particularly the "For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll" episode from album #29: Signed, Sealed & Committed. 

Feeling...

... very relieved that Hurricane Irma is over. 

... extremely grateful that we did not experience any significant damage from the storm and were without power for less than 24 hours. A massive thank you to everyone who is working around the clock to restore power to the state of Florida and helping with clean-up and restoration. #FloridaStrong

... sore from picking up our yard. I've used muscles this week I forgot I had. #ouch

Praying...

... for those who got hit worse than we did. Naples and Jacksonville are underwater and something like 60% of the state is still without power. God is always good, and God is bigger than Irma.

Loving...

... my family. Always and forever. But particularly having them in and out of my home all week taking hot showers, grilling up all the food before it goes bad and eating together, just hanging out in the AC--I love my tribe, y'all. 

What's currently going on with you?

Casual Fridays

It's been over a month since our last Casual Friday, and I thought I'd pop on today to spam you with photos of my adorable nieces.

You're welcome. 

Aren't they the cutest, sweetest, silliest girls you've ever seen in your life? I'm not attached to them at all. 

And GUESS WHAT!

There's another one on the way!! Well, I suppose we could get a nephew this time. Only God knows. Either way, I'm massively excited. 

And here are the cutest, sweetest, silliest dogs on the planet, in case you wondered if they still take up residence with us:

They have such a hard life, y'all. 

Frankly, I'm having a hard time stringing intelligible sentences together because the only words in my brain lately are "Hurricane Irma". We've been battening down all our hatches and praying God turns her back out to sea where she can't do any more damage.

Can you even see Florida on that map? Yeah, me either. Personally, I'm missing the days when hurricanes meant going out to play soccer with my friends. Not discussing whether or not we should board up our windows with my husband. Hashtag adulting and homeownership and all that. God is bigger. 

Let's end on a happier note: 

I stole away to my favorite beach spot for a few hours on Labor Day. I'm tearing through Tess of the D'Urbervilles and definitely thinking another Hardy will make it on next year's book list. 

Stay dry out there and fill me in on what's been happening with you lately!

Casual Fridays

Well, yesterday my wisdom teeth came out. As I'm writing this post on Wednesday in anticipation of not feeling like being a part of the land of the living, I have no idea how it went, but I imagine I'm probably lying on the couch right about now, watching a musical, and ringing a tiny silver bell signaling my ever-patient husband to bring me some more chocolate pudding. Or I'm in Heaven with Jesus because I didn't wake up from the anesthesia. We'll find out.

Anyway, Happy Friday to you and here are three PhotoGrid collages to send you on your weekend. 

First of all, I finally got my beach day! Last Friday, right after I published this post complaining about how it still hadn't happened, my boss texted me saying she wasn't bringing Little Man, and I immediately threw some sunscreen and one of my favorite books in a beach bag and started driving east. I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather or for a more perfect day. #iloveflorida #westcoastisNOTthebestcoast #eastcoastgirlforevaaaaa

Back at the end of April (yes, it's been a solid month since this actually happened--have I mentioned how crazy it's been??), I got to go to LPL with my BFF Christina. This year, Ms. Beth talked about the blessed EMBRACE: what it means to embrace something, things we should embrace, and things we shouldn't embrace. No secret Siesta photo this year, but we almost made the recap video! If you pause it at 2:14, we were literally standing right next to that girl. To her left, if you must know. So that's....well, that's nothing really, but as always it was a wonderful, uplifting weekend. 

And finally, my sweet niece had her first birthday recently! I try to tell them that growing up is not actually allowed and also it's highly overrated, but to no avail. Auntie Hannah loves you, baby girl! 

What are you up to this weekend? You are welcome to come mock my bruised and swollen face as long as you come bearing Boston Market mashed potatoes or sweet potato casserole. 

Casual Fridays

Hi there! I think the best way to play catch-up this week is with a Photo-Prompted Post so let's just jump right in with it.

PhotoGrid to the rescue once again! Last week, I was on a Girls Only cruise with my BFF Danette, and let me tell ya, we had a fabulous time. We stopped in Key West and Cozumel, soaked up lots of sun, ate to our hearts' content, relaxed, read (of course!), played loads of Yahtzee and other assorted card and board games (all of which, I am loath to admit, Danette proved the Ultimate Champion of the Cruise), and just had a generally wonderful time together. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and I couldn't have asked for a better friend to share this with. P-Nutt, I hope your first cruise was everything you hoped it would be, and I can't wait for our next adventure together!

These are the books I ended up reading on our cruise: Under A Maui Moon and Sisterchicks in Sombreros both by Robin Jones Gunn. Neither of these are on my 2017 book list, but I had a little agreement with myself that if I finished John Adams before the cruise, I would take all my new Robin Jones Gunn books with me. Mission accomplished. I really loved Under A Maui Moon. It's such a sweet thing that I've grown up reading RJG and been able to connect with characters going through the same things in life that I'm going through--not only in my teen years, but now as a grown-up married woman as well. I'm always encouraged reading Robin Jones Gunn. And reading my first Sisterchicks book (there are eight! four of which I've recently acquired) was super-fun and totally apropos seeing as Danette and I were on our own Mexican cruise! Robin, you never disappoint!

Summertime has officially arrived in the Sunshine State and Cody has been making us smoothies for lunch every day this week. (Disclaimer: the above photo is some stock photo I stole from the internet to talk about how great Cody's smoothies are and not a photo I took of the smoothies Cody actually has made this past week.) He makes LITERALLY the best smoothies in the world, and now that he's back to work today, I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself come lunchtime. Seriously though, if you want the greatest smoothie you have ever tasted in your life, you have to have one of Cody's. I'm not exaggerating about this.

And finally, I know this is what you really come here for, right? The pups are doing great, and I have to say, I've been really proud of them this week. My mom gave us this bag of colorful balls, and the baby boy I nanny has been loving them (they're all over my house). The dogs have not eaten or even attempted to chew on a single one of them. There was a time in the not so distant past that Major would have taken it upon himself to personally demolish every single one and look at him: not so much as a sniff even though they're touching him. #dogownershipwin #codydoesallthetraining #ijustbragaboutit

That's it for today. I'm going to go eat some strawberry shortcake to console my smoothie-less self. Fill me in on your life lately, and have fun welcoming April this weekend! (I can't believe we've flown through the first 3 months of the year already!) Adios!