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.

1. I mentioned it earlier, but our church’s Thanksgiving praise service is one of the highlights of the year to me. The majority of the time is open for people to share testimonies, and, though we have testimonies other times, this one is just special. Often it’s a look back over the year, praising God for blessings and good times, thanking Him for grace and help and lessons learned through hard times. I don’t usually say anything, but I enjoy listening.

2. Autumn spices. We use cinnamon year round, but nutmeg, cloves, and ginger come out primarily in the fall. I was thinking as I made pumpkin pie Wednesday that I loved the smell of those spices.

3. I could probably make a whole Fave Five out of Thanksgiving — foods and smells and Pilgrim decorations and the opportunity to stop and count my blessings. Though we’re supposed to be thankful year round, it’s just a special time and emphasis.

4. Everyone’s having time off from school and work and regular routines.

5. Naps. Any time, but especially Thanksgiving Day after the meal and clean-up.

Smiling Sally hosts a Blue Monday in which we can post about anything blue — pretty, ugly, serious or funny — and then link up to other Blue Monday participants.

I thought today I would show a couple of pieces of jewelry I have with blue. In fact, I think this is the only jewelry I have with blue, which is a little odd considering I’ve had a lot of blue clothes over the years.

I’m not real big into jewelry, and I am kind of particular, but I do love the pieces I have. This is one of my favorites, given to me by my husband.

This was a necklace from an aunt and uncle when they lived in Jamaica for a time.

I believe it is made from some type of seeds. I wore it quite a bit as a teen-ager. I haven’t worn it in a long time, but I still treasure it because they thought of me and got it for me.

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.

1. No more political ads or calls! At least for a while.

2. This live webcam of a box of puppies brought to my attention by my son. Very cute and very relaxing to watch! The only downside is not being able to pick one up. It will likely only be up a few more weeks.

3. The weather this week has been just perfect: no rain, a little breezy, a little cool in the mornings and a little warm in the afternoon.

4. Our ladies’ meeting Monday night where we watched a DVD titled Peace Child from the book by the same name, reviewed here. It’s just amazing how God opened the hearts of headhunters and cannibals who thought Judas was the hero of the story because they valued treachery and caused them to understand the gospel. A scene at the end with a native hut filled with former headhunters singing hymns is just thrilling. And the missionaries, I am sure, do not want to be thought of as extraordinary Christians, but rather just faithful Christians who took Him at His word and trusted Him not only for their personal safety but for wisdom to know how to reach these people with His love, yet their example is still inspiring.

Plus the fellowship at the meetings is always a blessing. And the hostess made loaded potato soup, which I love, and even sent some of the leftovers home with us!

Then some of the same ladies plus a couple more met again last night to have another session to make cards for our missionaries for Christmas. I so appreciated their willingness to come out another night in the same week( had to meet this week because next week is missions conference), and once again enjoyed the fellowship and the creativity. It is so much fun to do that kind of thing in a group and get inspired by other people’s ideas.

5. Homemade banana bread! Though it doesn’t last long around here.

I enjoy this opportunity to look back over the good things from the week! It extends the enjoyment of and thankfulness for them a little longer.

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story has begun a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share out five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details.

1. Ibuprofen. It has been my friend this week. Bless the inventor of it!

2. Finding out that my tooth/gum/jaw ordeal wasn’t any of the bigger things I thought it might be but was just an abscess (relatively) easily fixable with antibiotics and a root canal (and ibuprofen!) Though I am not looking forward to the root canal, I am thinking of it as a means of relief. And though anything dental is not usually on my list of favorite things, I am glad we live in an age and a country where dental problems are easily diagnosed and relatively easily handled. I’ve known missionaries in third world countries who go somewhere to learn how to pull teeth while they are home on furlough because there are no dentists in their area, and they want to be able to do at least that much for villagers with tooth pain. Can you imagine?

3. A comment my husband made. I had put up a few fall decorations while he was out of town, and a day or two after he came back, he commented that he enjoyed them and it was fun to be surprised from room to room seeing what was new. As I am the only female in the house, I had thought no one else really noticed or cared much about decorations, so that was nice to hear.

4. A conversation with my mother-in-law. I’ve mentioned before she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s but does have some confusion and memory problems and enough awareness to know that she does. Once this week, after asking me about something we’ve talked about several times, she said, “I think I’ve had this conversation before…” Then yesterday she mentioned that, though she loves to read, she can’t remember what she read even the day before. I said, “Well, that means it’s always something new.” She laughed and said, “That’s the way to look at it!” I think I actually got that thought from Melli, so thanks, Mel!

5. Word games online. I love word games but my family doesn’t often play, so I was glad to discover Word Twist and Scrabble on Facebook. I think I bug my friends there a little too much with them. 🙂 But it is nice to have that outlet.

• Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

• Does anyone watch The Amazing Race? I was sorry to see those guys get eliminated especially for such a thing as reading the clue wrong. It’s those little things that will trip you up!! It was “fair and square” but I sure would rather those grouchy girls had been the ones to go.

• I have had pain in my left jaw, gums, and somewhat in my ear and left side of my head all weekend. I am not quite sure where it is all coming from, but I was going to start by seeing if I could get in to see the dentist today. But it is actually feeling immensely better even without the three ibuprofen I have been taking around the clock until this morning, so I may wait…maybe whatever it is is going away? I can’t see any redness or swelling anywhere. I’d appreciate your prayers that it would go away and for wisdom about whether to go to the doctor or dentist to see about it.

Smiling Sally hosts a Blue Monday in which we can post about anything blue.

This is a plaque I got at our local Christian bookstore, both because I liked what it said, and the blue and pink fit perfectly in my kitchen.

Also in my kitchen was this little spring arrangement with a hidden nest of eggs in it, though I took it down when I put up fall decorations.

I painted a regular clay flower pot blue with craft paint — because that’s what I had on hand. I have spray painted clay pots other times and that works just as well.

And while we’re on containers, this is a blue vase I found at the thrift store. I just liked the color, and I think it was 99 cents.

Plus there is an old candle holder with some blue floral picks I tucked in a long time ago.

You can find more Blue Monday entries at Smiling Sally‘s.

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story has begun a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share out five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details.

I am late to the computer today, but here we go:

1. The cooler temperatures of fall!!! We’re just starting to be consistently a little cooler here, though our change of seasons goes back and forth between old and new for several weeks.

2. My new purse! I had been looking for one for a while.

3. Good Christian radio stations. We’re so blessed to have not one but two here that I switch back and forth between. I especially like to listen to them as I am cooking or cleaning in the kitchen or as I am falling asleep at night.

4. Fall decorations that I just put out yesterday. I don’t decorate a lot for fall — not nearly as much as Christmas — but I like to have something of the season around. I didn’t show pictures of them since they are the same as last year’s here and here. I was getting tired of the idea of scarecrows til I pulled them out again and was reminded how cute they are.

5. Our ladies’ meeting Monday night making cards. It was actually rough to prepare for just in the since of being a super-busy day, but I enjoyed it a lot. Plus we had leftovers of the refreshments I made, so our family has been enjoying them all week (Frosted Banana Bars and Oatmeal Cookie squares — I can’t find an online recipe for those, but they are made from a recipe that used to be on oatmeal boxes, only pressed into bar cookies, and I add a powdered sugar glaze over the top.)

Outside My Window...it’s sunny and cool.

I am thinking… that I enjoyed the days off we had last week and what we got accomplished, but I am glad to get back to routine. A lot of routine always makes me long for a break: a little break makes me ready to get back to routine.

I am thankful… that my family in TX has their power restored now after Ike.

From the kitchen …I made peanut butter Rice Krispie treats last night with melted chocolate and peanut butter chips spread over the top. I like them any time but especially when they’re just-made and gooey.

I am wearing… a lavender plaid seersucker dress.

I am creating… our ladies’ ministry newsletter/booklet this week.

I am going… nowhere today except to see my mother-in-law for a little while later this afternoon.

I am reading…The Longing by Beverly Lewis.

I am hoping… that my son’s girlfriend gets over her cold soon — and that it doesn’t spread to the rest of us!

I am hearing… my husband typing and the computer making noises.

Around the house…I need to straighten, declutter, and pull out a few things that need to go to the thrift store.

One of my favorite things… is the cooler weather that comes with autumn.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Besides the newsletter and tasks mentioned earlier, I need to get to some correspondence and I hope to get to those family room curtains this week. They won’t take long to do once I get started…at least, I don’t think they will…but other things have taken priority thus far.

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

I don’t suppose I could count this for breakfast even though it does have cereal in it…

For more Daybook entries or to join in, go to The Simple Woman.