Category Archives: Friday’s Fave Five

Friday’s Fave Five

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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.

So here are five favorite things from this last week:

1. House-hunting online. I mentioned earlier this week that we are moving to TN. Most realtors have their listings online these days, and though it is not enough information to make a decision without going to actually look at houses, it’s enough to weed some out. Though at first the list of possibilities from the realtor looks a little tedious to sort through, it has actually been a lot of fun. Helpful hint to anyone selling a house: take LOTS of pictures, and of all the rooms. It’s frustrating when there are only 6 pictures, all of them outside.

2. Finishing two books this week, reviewed here and here.They were both good and neither very long, but somehow it seemed to take a long time to actually complete them, so it is nice to be done with them.

3. Magazines. I have a weakness for magazines, particularly decorating or “homey” magazines, to the point where I’ve actually had to discipline myself not to pick any more up. I enjoyed sorting through some Martha Stewart Living, Family Fun, and Taste of Home magazines as well as some decorating and “do it yourself” project magazines before passing them on to others. I love the good tips and projects in them, and even just the creativity they inspire.

4. Having a voice in issues and politics. I was reminded of this when my husband wrote a letter to the editor this week about an issue in our town. We have the privilege in this country of letting our voice and opinions be heard by our representatives and the press, and we probably don’t use it enough. There are still countries in the world where people are punished for expressing a different opinion than the approved one.

5. Safety on the roads. I was just reading a tragic story of a friend of a friend who was killed when she stopped her car on the shoulder of a road to get out and latch the back hatch, where some things had fallen out, when she got hit by a car and died instantly, with her two daughters seeing the whole thing. Life is just so fragile — just a vapor, Scripture says, or like flowers or grass that only last a short while. My husband travels so much, and I’ve had more travel with the family and alone in preparing for this move, I am so grateful for the safety we’ve had.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on by

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.

So here are five favorite things from this last week:

1. A successful first-ever solo road trip. (Thank you, Lord!!) That’s one reason this is late — I just got back this afternoon. I’ll tell you more about it next week. 😀

2. Rest stops. They’re clean, they have multiple bathroom stalls, and they’re quiet — no music playing over speakers. I got so tired of small, crowded, messy, noisy restrooms in restaurants and gas stations.

3. Mug’s Root Beer. I mentioned before liking root beer at restaurants because it’s decaf, and I can’t have caffeine, and I am not crazy about Sprite or 7-Up and the like. If we’re eating out I usually drink water, but if I am running errands and want something cold to drink, I usually go through a drive-through for root beer. Sadly, I found out a few weeks ago that Barq’s root beer, which most restaurants seem to sell, does have caffeine. A&W root beer is too vanilla-y. Bojangles is about the only place in town that sells it as a fountain drink (Taco Bell used to, but they stopped. 😦 ) I couldn’t find a Bojangles on the trip at first, but I found a drink machine with bottles of Mug Root Beer at a rest stop, and then I got…

4. Zaxby’s munchy crunchy small ice to pour it over. Yumsome! Plus that Zaxby’s only charged me 11 cents for a cup of ice — here they charge 25.

5. My own computer! Well, it’s actually the central family desktop computer, but everyone else has laptops, so I almost have this one to myself. My husband has a small notebook-type computer that is portable and nice for trips, but it is very small. This screen and keyboard seem so BIG after using that one!

That’s it for this Friday. Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on by

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.

There are a number of things I could mention this week, but I’ll go with these:

1. The first week of summer vacation! I have loved not setting alarm clocks!

2. Feeling better. Jesse had an awful cold last weekend and then I caught it and was pretty miserable Monday and some of Tuesday. Thankfully I am feeling much better now.

3. Chicken Chimichangas from one of my favorite Mexican food restaurants. Tuesday night Jim was away and I gave myself permission to get dinner out, but I didn’t feel like going out, so we got take-out and had enough to for lunch the next day, too.

4. This funny video on The History of the Book from The Wall Street Journal at Robin Lee Hatcher‘s site. I couldn’t get the video to embed here, so I’ll just refer you there.

5. This video of Andrea Bocelli’s mother’s decision not to take the advice of a physician and have an abortion when he thought her child might have a disability. I had never heard this story before. Andrea is such a gift to the world: what  testament that a disability is no reason to abort a child. And how sad to think of all the people with their various individual gifts who are not able to share them with the world due to abortion.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on by

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.

My faves for this week:

1. Today is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

2. My hydrangea bush is almost in full bloom. It was looking pretty sad last year, and I thought it might have some kind of disease, but it is doing well so far this year.

3. I rediscovered a set of six of these little Tupperware parfait dishes tucked in the back corner of a cabinet this week and promptly put them to use.

4. Getting a dinging noise in my dashboard fixed. Every time I stopped with my foot on the brake for any length of time, a light on my dashboard shaped like an oil can would flash, accompanied by persistent dinging, yet when my husband checked the oil it was always fine. So annoying! We finally got the sensor fixed this week.

5. Having over my son, daughter-in-law, and a visiting friend of theirs who worked with them at camp and was in their wedding. There were several things I enjoyed about it: she’s a sweet girl, and I’m glad my kids share their friends with the family :); having company spurred a house-cleaning session, and it’s always so nice to enjoy the fruit of that for a few days; she is gluten intolerant, and I was a little concerned about what to serve, then decided on fried rice with shrimp, chicken, and sugar snap peas along with a salad and the Jello parfaits above for dessert — she could eat everything I served and seemed to enjoy it (we did, too!); and I was reminded that I’ll never be perfect in this life, and that’s ok.

Since I am limited to five I won’t be able to mention that I also enjoyed several finales of TV series this week, though I don’t know why they have to cram them all into one week (was so glad to see Mike win Biggest Loser even though I’d been rooting for Daris. They all looked so great!) and we have some new paved roads in our neighborhood, and one of life’s little pleasures for me is driving on new, smooth roads. :D:D:D

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on by

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 really missed the Fave Five last week! I had planned to get a post together and then get back to visiting everyone when I could, but I just ran out of time — I was only on the computer long enough to eat a quick breakfast and lunch for a while there. I had planned to share a little bit about Mother’s Day, then, so I’ll share some of that this week. Even though it’s “old news” by now, I haven’t shared it on the blog yet.

So here are my five favorite things from the last two weeks:

1. Our church’s annual ladies’ luncheon. This is what I was working on so much last week. The Lord blessed, it went well, some of the tummy issues were kept in check, though not removed completely. I do have to admit I am glad it is over for another year! But I did enjoy it. I could make a whole Fave Five list from it, but I won’t since I just wrote all about it here.

2. My Mother’s Day feast. Traditionally my husband grills something for Mother’s Day dinner and gets all the family involved in making the side dishes and dessert. I love that so much more than standing in line for a table at a noisy, busy restaurant.They do a great job.

3. Mother’s Day gifts. Here are a few:

I had been wanting a bird feeder for some time. There was one here on top of a wooden pillar when we moved in, but the wood rotted at the bottom and it had to be taken down. Jason and Mittu got me this, and I am glad that I can hang it anywhere. I can see it from both the kitchen sink and the dining room table. The birds haven’t discovered it yet. but the squirrels have.

Jesse got me a gift card to Michael’s, and Jeremy got me this necklace from EDBDBeadz, the Etsy shop of Beth, the daughter of my friend Susan.

I wore it last Sunday, and I hadn’t realized until then that it sparkles when the light hits it! It is very nice.

Jim got me a few books, some hanging plants for the patio, and a gift card to Hobby Lobby.

I am blessed.

4. A restful week. Much needed after the busyness of last week. I’ve puttered around getting things in order and doing a little cleaning, but it hasn’t been pressured.

5. My desk chair. One of my criteria when getting it was that it had to be able to recline and the back had to be high enough to support my head when I leaned back. I’ve taken many a power nap in it lately.

I also wanted to let you know that I have begun hosting a meme on Mondays where we can share interesting quotes we’ve read from books, blogs, etc. It’s called The Week In Words: you can read more about it here, and I hope you’ll join us.

Happy Friday to you!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on by

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. Good results from the doctor. I mentioned last week taking a family member in for a procedure. We got the results back this week, and praise the Lord, it is not the big scary thing we most feared. There are still symptoms that we and the doctors need wisdom in dealing with, but we’re relieved and thankful that it is not as bad as it could have been.

2. A better week than last week, mentally at least. It hasn’t been as productive as I had originally planned, and I was under the weather a couple of days, but the “funk” I was in last week seems to have lifted. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

3. Google. Though it seems, I don’t know, maybe a little silly to list it, it has been a major help to me in getting ready for the upcoming ladies’ luncheon. I can’t wait to show and tell you more about it, but I want to wait til afterward so as to keep everything as much of a surprise as possible to those attending. But I was thrilled this week when I had a general idea for favors for the younger girls (thank you, Lord!), and searching online yielded just the perfect resources needed to implement it.

4. Just the right temperatures and rain. I have to admit I am not a big fan of rainy days, though I know we need them for food and plants to grow, etc. But I appreciate them more this time of year when they wash the pollen out of the air and off everything outside.

5. My husband’s helpfulness. I’ve mentioned this last week that I can chafe sometimes when interrupted or asked to help with something when I had other things planned, though once I actually get started my attitude changes. But my husband has always very willingly and cheerfully pitched in anywhere needed. Since he works way more than 40 hours a week plus keeps up with yard work and general repairs around the house, I try not to ask for his help unless company is coming and I am in a time crunch. But when I do ask him to do something, he never acts irritated or put out. I can’t remember what I made a mess of in the kitchen last week, but he just pitched in taking care of the problem. And whenever the kids need assistance, as well, he makes his time and expertise  available to talk or fix something or help with a decision, etc. Of course, sometimes he is in the middle of something and has to ask us to wait, but his general attitude is one of willing and cheerful helpfulness and availability to his loved ones, which is both an example and a rebuke to me.

And hey, I didn’t even mention food this week! 🙂 Though I did make Congo Bars last night…

Congo bars

1/2 cup margarine
2 3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 to 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt margarine and combine with brown sugar.Add eggs and beat well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Spread mixture into a greased 11 x 15″ pan. Sprinkle choclate chips on top. Bake for 20-25minutes. Makes 2 dozen, depending on how you cut them. Chopped nuts can be added if desired.

I don’t know why they’re called that, and in trying to find a recipe to link to, I found all kinds of variations! But this one is pretty simple plus makes more than the usual 9 x 13 pan. Great for when you need to take cookies somewhere but want to leave some home for the family as well. Though I am not taking these anywhere….

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

As I thought about this post yesterday and this morning, my initial feeling was, “I ain’t got nothin’ this week.” It hasn’t been a bad week per se, but nothing really stood out to me as a favorite. And then the last day or so I’ve just been in a funk, as we used to say — irritable over several little petty annoyances and possibly hormones. But as I thought about it this morning while driving around on a couple of errands, a few things came to mind. So this will be a little different “Fave Five” post than usual for me.

1. I am glad that God still loves us and is patient with us even when we’re petty, selfish, irritable, or hormonal.

2. I accompanied a family member to an outpatient medical procedure as moral support and the designated driver afterward, and, though happy to do so, I thought at the time how much I hate hospitals and medical buildings. There is just the association with something at the very least unpleasant, possibly painful, and for some, devastating, at those places. But I’ve also been reading about pioneer missionaries in a primitive area on the Amazon River — 18 hours from a doctor, carrying a patient over jungle trails and hills, bouncing along the Amazon in a small boat, sometimes having to do limited medical procedures on their front porch. That makes me shudder. For all it flaws, I think we probably do have the best medical care available in the world here and now.

3. Our family is “on hold” in a couple of ways, waiting and praying for results of the above procedure and waiting and praying concerning a possible major change for us. And, of course, we’d much rather know than wait. But you can’t rush the process, not if you want the best results. I was reminded of the children of Israel in the book of Exodus traversing through the wilderness until the pillar of cloud that was leading them stopped, and then waiting for an unknown amount of time until it moved again. They didn’t know how long they were going to be there or where they were going next. But they could trust the One leading them and patiently and faithfully attend to the duties at hand until it was time for the next step.

4. Several incidents that led to my frustration and irritability had to do with thwarted plans and desires: nothing major, just small things over the course of a few days. It would take too long to list them and there’s no need to rehash them. But it was a painful reminder to me of just how selfish I am that I can get so irritated when things don’t work out my way. I have to remind myself often that I am not just here to do my own thing: I am here to do what God wants me to do and to be available to minister to my family. Even though I have always felt that a woman’s family is her first ministry, I often have to adjust my thinking to that perspective in practical everyday life. And once I do that, whatever changes I have to make are fine. It’s just that mental hurdle.

5. I think I have probably mentioned Christian music a time or two, but I was blessed by it again this morning while driving around running errands. Not only was the music calming and soothing, but the words helped me to set my affection on things above (Colossians 3:1-2).

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

1. My Swiffer Wet-Jet. No, this is not a paid product placement. It doesn’t totally eliminate the need for an occasional deeper cleaning, but it is great for a quick mop-up.

2. This bug zapper.

It smaller than a tennis racket but larger than a fly swatter, which is nice because that makes it easier to actually connect with the bug. You press a button on the side while swinging at a bug, and when it connects it zaps it. Jesse even saw smoke ascending from a wasp he zapped. 🙂 That may sound cruel, but it is probably better than drowning it in bug spray or whapping it with a fly swatter and having it flail around til someone can grab it with a tissue and flush it.

3. I know I mentioned Texas Sheet Cake last summer when Jeremy made one for my birthday last summer, but I had a hankering for it again, so I made one. So good. Officially my favorite cake. I need to find or figure out a way to make a smaller version, though. It makes a cake the size of a cookie sheet, and though it’s flat, it’s very rich. It was all too easy to cut off a little square every time I went into the kitchen. To cut it down to just enough for everyone to have one serving would be perfect.

4. Ladies who extend themselves to my mother-in-law. She is friendly when people speak to her but has never been one to initiate friendships. She’s uncomfortable around a lot of people and has always been content to have just a few special friends. So it has been nice since we moved her here that a few ladies at church make a special point to come over and hug her and talk with her, and a couple of them go to see her about once a week. That’s a blessing to us as well as to her.

5. Fun family conversations, especially when we’re all together. This was a while back, but Jeremy was showing us some of these photos resulting from a man who gets up in the wee hours of the morning to take pictures of sleeping bugs covered in heavy dew. Though the shots are amazing, Jason remarked how odd it would seem to be on a date with a girl and try to explain doing this for a living.

I wish I could remember the exact words, because the conversation was so funny, but it developed into a scenario of the guy then throwing water on the girl so he could take her picture and the date not ending well.

I love my family! ♥

And just one more: I know I have mentioned this before as well, but I am amazed and grateful that the Lord meets our needs for the day so aptly in His Word. I was reading something a while back about how the writer preferred church services that were spontaneous and wanted the preacher to say whatever came to him at the moment rather than studying and planning ahead, as if the only way the Holy Spirit works is by spontaneity, giving someone what they need in the moment. He may do that sometimes, but He also works through preparation, planning, and study as we seek Him through the whole process. And this is a perfect example, when a passage I am reading in the course of progressing through the Bible, written thousands of years ago, or a devotional book written decades or even hundreds of years ago, has exactly what I need today when no one but the Lord could have known what my particular needs for the day would have been. Marvelous!

Happy Friday, and I hope you have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

My favorites from the past week or so:

1. Gorgeous weather this week at just the right temperatures.

2. Things are coming together for the ladies’ luncheon next month. We’d had the date, theme, and speaker for a few weeks: this week we got the caterer and menu lined up and got a good dent put into making favors at the ladies’ meeting Monday night. I need to get invitations and tickets made and printed off this weekend, then finish favors and centerpieces in the next week or two.

3. Chicken teriyaki and fried rice from the Japanese place at the mall. Jim volunteered to get that for dinner Monday night as I had a lot of preparation for the ladies’ meeting that night. Not only was that a big help to me, but I really like the stuff, too. 🙂

4. My Cricut Expressions cutting machine. My dear husband had given it to me almost a year ago, and I’ve played around with it, but hadn’t really gotten into it yet. I used it for a couple of pieces for the favors we made this week, and was able to get acquainted with it and figure some things out. Cutting 80 figures out with a machine was so much nicer and less time consuming than doing so by hand! And I so enjoyed “creating” and want to get back to doing more.

5. Some people might think that putting a Scripture passage on the same list as chicken teriyaki and nice weather is making light of Scripture. I don’t see it that way. Scripture is, of course, on a higher plane than these other things, but why wouldn’t something I read in the Bible be among my favorite things from the week? Anyway, in the last couple of days I have been in Exodus 32-34, where the children of Israel made the golden calf at the very time Moses was on the mountaintop receiving God’s commandments for them — after they had already promised to do what God said, and after all they had seen Him do. God in His anger at them wanted to wipe them out and start a new nation with Moses, but Moses interceded for them. Then God spared them, but said He would not go with them. Moses again pleaded with Him, and in one of my favorite passages in the Bible, God promises, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Moses replies, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence,” in other words, “We don’t want to go anywhere without you.”  Such a poignant scene, and such a wonderful promise, that we can trust Him not only to lead us but to be with us.

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

My favorites from the past week or so:

1. Easter! We were out of town and attended a wonderful church service, and then we traveled home, missing our usual Easter festivities. But my son and daughter-in-law surprised us with an Easter dinner and goodies when we got home. I wrote more about it earlier here.

2. Rain. I mentioned yesterday I was hoping it would rain and wash some (actually a lot!) of the pollen away, and it did! Plus the rain cooled things off considerably.

3. Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits! Had one just this morning.

4. Friends who pray. I had a personal prayer request which I could not make public, but contacted just a few friends about it. Their responses and their faithfulness to pray were such a blessing to me.

5. An impromptu family night. We wanted something a little different for dinner last night, so we went out to a little local Italian place, and called Jason and Mittu to see if they had eaten yet and wanted to come. They came, and they had been planning to return the DVD they had rented of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs after dinner, but they brought it by the house and watched it with us first. Fun times!

Bonus:

I don’t usually go into TV shows much here, but this past week’s episode of Lost was one of my favorites, both because we got a little crack in the door understanding of what might be going on, but especially because the episode centered on Desmond, one of my favorites. And we got to see Daniel again! (Lost fans will understand. 🙂  ) Though I think it is right for the show to be coming to a definite end — dragging it out would kill it — I am really going to miss it when it is done!

Hope you have a great weekend!