Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are five of my favorites from the past week:

1. Locks! We didn’t realize until our first day in our new house that none of the bedroom or bathroom doors had locks on them! We pretty much have always had a policy of respecting the closed door, but we really emphasized it the past few weeks! Last weekend was one of the first we didn’t have something else to take care of (which could be a fave in itself), and Jim was able to change the doorknobs out for ones with locks.

2. Jesse’s visit to his old school. He has been wanting to go and visit his old school during a school day, but of course we wouldn’t let him skip a day here to do that. But his school had no classes last Thursday and Friday due to a teacher’s conference, and Jim had to go to SC for his work on Friday, passing right through our old town, so he took Jesse and dropped him off at Jason and Mittu’s, then they took him up to school for a few hours. Only one or two people knew he was coming, so he enjoyed surprising everyone. Originally Jim was going to pick him back up on his way back through around 3 or 4, but Jason was working and didn’t get off until 5:30 and wanted to visit with Jim, so they ended up staying for the school’s soccer and volleyball games, too. I’m glad he got to do that — he enjoyed it a lot.

3. Visitors to the bird feeder. Jim hung it up outside a while ago, but I just got around to getting feed for it this week. It took a couple of days, but a cardinal came by as well as some small greyish-brown birds. I need to get a basic bird book! But one of my favorite things about the bird feeder is that I can see it from the kitchen, office, and family room. And I haven’t seen any squirrels here yet, so maybe the birds will actually get to use it instead of its being raided by squirrels, which is what happened at our old house.

4. Banana bread. No matter how many bananas I buy, it seems no one eats the last one or two, and then they get too ripe to enjoy. I always say I am going to save them for banana bread, but rarely do. Well, this week I finally did. I had enough for two batches and made six mini loaves instead of two big ones and put the extras in the freezer. In one batch I added mini chocolate chips. It tasted good, but I think I added too many — they mostly sank to the bottom and the loaf was overly moist.

5. Finally getting my boxes of books unpacked. That was the hardest group to unpack as we have fewer bookcases here — two at the old house were built in. I ended up repacking a few boxes to store that I didn’t have room for but wasn’t ready to get rid of yet. But I did get three boxes filled to give away or sell. It’s so nice to get those out of the living room and have that whole area looking neater and more finished. And I am scouting around to see if there is another place we can put another set of book shelves to take the stored ones out. 🙂

Hope you have a great Friday!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are five of my favorites from the past week:

1. Jesse’s birthday. My used-to-be-little boy turned 17 yesterday! We’re not having most of the celebration until Saturday, because that is originally when Jason and Mittu were going to be able to come up, but they came yesterday. So we went ahead with Jesse’s birthday dinner yesterday. In our family the birthday honoree chooses what’s for dinner, whether it is something I make or a meal out. This year Jesse chose Five Guys Hamburgers. They didn’t have one in the town where we used to live, so he’s excited that they have one here.

2. Jason and Mittu coming! Missing Jeremy, though. 😦

3. This little bistro set!

We wanted to get a bench or a couple of chairs for the small front porch area, and we stopped by a local place with a sign out front about patio furniture being 40-60% off. Everything else seemed expensive, even marked down, but I was amazed that this was such a reasonable price. And it is sooo cute! It’s just me.

4. A new love seat!

This house has a small area just inside the door that we’re using as kind of a sitting room — it’s not big enough for a full-fledged living room. So we wanted to find a loveseat and a couple of chairs for it. Our old living room set was worn and torn, but we wanted something that would fit in with the decorations we had accumulated for that room. This was hard to find, let me tell you! There is not much in the upholstered market these days in pink that doesn’t look too red or too peachy. We found this at a Mom-and-Pop-type outlet place for about $300 less than a big furniture store had it for. We’re getting two chairs as well, but it will take about two weeks to get those in, and they don’t have the floral pattern — they’re just solid beige.

5. This stool:

That little bar area looks into the kitchen. We wanted a stool with a back and arms and the ability to swivel, and I love the design of this one. We originally got two, but it made the area too crowded. Jim sometimes sits there to chat while I am cooking or cleaning up the kitchen.

It’s looking kind of like acquisitions week, but we’ve been searching for these various things almost since we got here — we just happened to get it all in this week. Thankfully, Jim’s relocation package included money for “incidentals” which pretty much covered these odds and ends furniture pieces we needed, so that was a blessing, and the Lord led us to some great deals. We’re still waiting on the futon for the sewing/craft/guest room to get in as well as the two chairs I mentioned. But it will be nice to do something else with our weekends besides look for furniture now!

Hope you have a great Friday!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are five favorite things from this past week:

1. Hershey’s miniature candy bars. Great for when you want just a bit of chocolate sweetness after a meal.

2. A new CD, Promises, by Soundforth. “Good Shepherd” is new to me and has especially ministered to my heart this week.

3, Getting a few things up on the walls. I’ve  been saving decorating for last after we get everything unpacked and get the couple of new furniture items we need. It takes me a while to decide where to put things, plus the previous owners covered all the wall holes and painted over them, and I have been reluctant to put that first nail in. But I unpacked a couple of things that had been in our bedroom in the old house, but would look great in the master bathroom here. Funny how a couple of pretty things to look at can boost one’s spirits!

Plus I love how these two just show up so well (or “pop,” as they say on decorating shows) in here. In our previous house they were on pink walls in our bedroom (too pink for even me) with a whole lot of other things, and they just kind of got lost.

4. Our new desk:

I haven’t figured out yet where to put everything in it.

5. Just a bit coolness in the air — not enough to pull out the sweaters, but it sure feels better than the oppressive heat and humidity. I’m not quite ready to rush the fall season in just yet, but I am ready for cooler weather!

Have a great Friday!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are five favorite things from this past week:

1. Pellet ice — by the bag! I’ve mentioned before that I like what I call munchy crunchy ice like Zaxby’s and Sonic’s has. We stopped by Sonic’s over the weekend so Jesse could get a slushy, and saw a sign that they now sell their ice by the bag. So we got one! It’s been nice to have it at home.

2. An unexpected visit. The little girl Mittu baby-sits was not going to be coming the latter half of this week and Jason was off Wed., so they came up for a quick visit. Nice to be close enough to do that!

3. A fan. Jason and Mittu had bought me a fan for the sewing room at the old house because that room didn’t have a ceiling fan and got the brunt of the afternoon sun, but I hadn’t really needed it yet, so it was still in the box. But I got it out this week to use in my bedroom because I wake up hot during the night, and our room doesn’t have a ceiling fan yet. It’s a big help. PLUS — it has a remote control. How cool is that?! Literally!

4. Being able to buy in bulk. Our old house was very short of storage space — a lot of my kitchen things had to be put in the living room closet. But now I can buy a package of 8 rolls of paper towels or several packages of toilet paper or use a coupon good on multiple cans of something because I have the space to put it. I am hoping that will lessen the trips to the grocery store in time.

5. People who go the extra mile. People have been very friendly at our new church — more than just hand-shaking and saying “It’s nice to have you.” But this last Wednesday night one lady went even further by telling me more about a new ladies’ Bible study that was mentioned in the bulletin and offered to send me the information via e-mail, plus searched for a church directory for me, etc. That was a special blessing this week because last Sunday I was feeling especially teary at church. I was in the restroom at some point, and heard people coming in and out chatting animatedly, and just all of a sudden was hit by a sense of not belonging, of not having any personal friends yet here (they weren’t ignoring me — I was in a stall). As I said, people have been very friendly, and I know it takes time to build friendships, and I know that will come in time, and I am not the type of person who spends a lot of time out with friends and have been enjoying some solitude at home in which to get things done. But it was just one of those weird out of the blue emotional wallops. And though I wasn’t consciously thinking about this at the time, later I realized that that was our first Sunday without seeing Jeremy, Jason, or Mittu — every weekend since we moved, between birthdays and helping them move we’ve been there or they’ve been here, and this was our first weekend without them, so that undercurrent may have been making me a little more emotional than usual. But this lady’s interest and helpfulness at the very next service there was just a reminder, that, yes, those friendships and that sense of belonging will come in time.

6. Jeremy’s first week on his new job seems to be going well — he has enjoyed it and thinks he will be able to handle it well. Plus the friend he knew before he moved there has had him over a few times.

I think that’s about it for this week! Oh, except I didn’t mention any food for Thom. 🙂 One of the favorite dinners of the week was Chicken Enchilada Bake when Jason and Mittu were here, and I love the mini apple strudels one grocery store here has. The big ones are just too much, but a couple of the small ones are just right.

Each of those is about big enough for two bites.

Happy Friday!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are five favorite things from this past week:

1. My Birthday!

I think Mittu and Jason put up the signs.

2. Having the family all together for my birthday!

3. Eating dinner at Outback with all the family on my birthday! And having it almost free between gift cards the ladies’ group gave me and a certificate that Jim had.

4. Having Texas Sheet cake for my birthday!

5. Visiting our old church in SC (it sounds strange to say “old church” as we’ve only been away three weeks…). I hadn’t told anyone we were coming (except one friend who ended up being out of town) because I wasn’t sure we’d be there. We were in town both to celebrate my birthday with the family and to get Jeremy’s things on a U-Haul and ready to move, and I wasn’t sure if we would be able to go to church, but Jesse and I did. Got a lot of teasing along the lines of moving back already.

6. (Bonus one today): I wrote more about this yesterday, but though Jeremy’s moving to RI was not a favorite in that he’s so far away and we miss him, I was very thankful he got there safely and I am excited for this new phase in his life.

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

I have multitudes of favorite things this week — or two weeks, actually, since we were moving last week and I wasn’t able to participate then. I don’t know if I can condense it to five — we will see!

1. The move went relatively smoothly. My husband’s company paid for movers, but we hadn’t contracted with any yet because we wanted to wait until we officially closed on the new house. Then when we did start calling them, it looked at first like none would be available the week we wanted to move, but one came through. Then we had several phases of moving: Wed. the movers came and packed; Thursday they loaded the truck and then we drove to TN that evening; Friday they unloaded in TN; Saturday Jim rented a U-Haul and drove back to SC to move Jason and Mittu into our old house while Jesse and I stayed here and started unpacking; Sunday he loaded up his mom’s things from her assisted living place and brought her here to TN, and then we moved her into her new place. Moving three households in one week seems absolutely crazy, but it had to be done, and everything worked out pretty much as planned and went fairly well. A few mishaps, but nothing major. Even though there is still a lot to do, it feels a little more relaxing because we can do it at our own pace now.

2. My new house! I could make a FFF just about it. I already wrote about it here, but to make a subset fave five, some of my favorite things about it are that it is one level — no steps except for a couple at the front and side doors; the kitchen/dining area has a more open feel than our old house; the kitchen has many more cabinets, much more counter space, a walk-in closet pantry, and lighting over all the counters; a garage (we’ve never had one before! And garage-door openers! So far I still get a little thrill pushing that button!); our master bathroom (only the second time in 31 years we’ve had one); pink floral towel racks left in the master bathroom by the previous owner as well as a pink and green striped rug; walk-in closets; quiet neighborhood….let’s see, I think that’s more than five already.

3. Two neighbors have come over to introduce themselves. One brought produce from her garden, the other brought home-made jelly. Both invited us to their churches. It’s nice to be welcomed!

4. Jim’s mom has adjusted really well to her new place. We had wanted to set up her room as much as possible like her old one, but we couldn’t because it is arranged so differently. But she doesn’t seem to mind. Jim and I had a meeting with one of the ladies in charge this week (we had met before, but this time we got down to the nitty-gritty details) and we’re really pleased with how they handle things and the attention they give her. She came out for lunch while we were there and saw us and came over, then one of the residents came over and welcomed her and invited her to eat at her table. When I visited her yesterday, she exclaimed how nice everything was and how good the food is. 🙂 So far there doesn’t seem to be much confusion, except the first day she went down the wrong hall. This facility is a very small, homey place, and so far we’re really pleased.

5. Jim’s relocation package included a bit of money for “incidentals,” and since we went from one and a half bathrooms in the old house to three full bathrooms in the new, we needed some new towels. I got some to match the pretty towel racks in our bathroom:

So that’s five already, and I haven’t even mentioned yet that Jesse had his first experience with the youth group here and enjoyed it, that a dear friend agreed to take the ladies’ group in SC, at least on an interim basis, and they had their first meeting Monday night and did fine. It’s a blessing to know I am leaving it in good hands. And I have mentioned my GPS before, but it has been invaluable in finding our way around a new town.

So it has been a very good if very busy couple of weeks. School starts for Jesse next week, and though he is a little “weirded out” by the thought of starting a new school — he had been in the same Christian school from K-5 through 10th grade, so this is his first time to be “the new guy” — I have every reason to believe he’ll do fine, and I am looking forward to settling in to a new routine.

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Some of my favorites from this past week:

1. We had the closing for our new house in TN on Monday! That was exciting, plus it was nice to actually see it again. Though I am having mixed emotions — the excitement of the new place and the sadness at leaving the oldest kids behind — we’re already planning the first visits!

2. Finding more “treasures” in cleaning out boxes. One was a notebook of angst-filled teen-age poetry. I haven’t had time to go through it yet, but I am glad to have found it, especially since it wasn’t where I thought it was! Another was a newspaper clipping of a column I wrote in a local small neighborhood newspaper for our school when I was in 11th or 12th grade. My speech teacher knew someone involved with that paper and connected me to that opportunity. I had forgotten about it, and since I was throwing away most things that looked like newspaper clippings (because most of them were recipes or articles that I’ve lived without for all these years now), I was glad I spotted that without throwing at away. Another was a note from the business office of my college that someone had put $500 on my school account back then — that was a special reminder of a special blessing.

3. A good, soaking rain. We’ve needed it and had sprinkles here and there, but finally got a good rain in our area this week.

4. Scheduling the movers for next week. I mentioned a few days ago that in my husband’s preliminary conversations with them, it didn’t look like they could come in the time frame we wanted, but it all worked out well.

5. Helpful kids. I’ve had to call on each of them for various kinds of help — moving boxes, sorting through things, computer help, making goodies for Jesse’s party tomorrow, etc., and they’ve all graciously been willing to pitch in wherever needed.

I don’t know if I will be here for FFF next week — we’ll be in the midst of moving, and I don’t know when the computer will be set up and operational. Hopefully as soon as possible!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five so we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God gives. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

1. Celebrating Jason’s 23rd birthday last weekend.

2. Chicken nuggets and frozen French fries. Not the healthiest meal on the planet, but it does make for a nice quick meal on those days when you don’t have much time.

3. An old friend today who is having some serious physical issues asked on Facebook for verses of encouragement. At first I didn’t know what to say considering what she specifically was dealing with, but the Lord laid some things on my heart — I hope they’re an encouragement to her, and they ministered to me as well.

4. More things ticked off the list in getting ready to move — but it seems like for every one checked off, two more spring up in its place. I may not be able to do as much of the sorting and discarding I’d like to before we move — but I guess I can do that there as we unpack.

5. I know I have mentioned AC before, but I honestly don’t think I could have lived without it this week. Even my mother-in-law, who is almost never hot and often wears a sweater, was hot this week.

Gotta run! Catch up with you soon!