Happy Friday Everyone!
One – Latest Happenings
Happy Friday, friends! The teens always have such an early Spring break in mid-March and one tradition we have is to have tea time at The London Tea Room. They have moved into a larger building since we had tea there last year. It was a fun time!
Nathan went on a 6 day band tour last month to Dallas and Houston, Texas and they also visited near Tusla, Oklahoma. This was the longest trip he had taken away from us! They played their concert at several churches, stayed in host homes a couple nights, had a couple days at Great Wolf Lodge and got to see a John Williams Concert by the Dallas Symphony. It was a nonstop tour and they even had to sleep overnight on the bus the first night (Nathan couldn’t sleep!), but he was a trooper and did well with it! Now in May, Autumn will be having her 8th grade class trip to Branson and I will be going on that one. I also have jury duty scheduled the Monday after we get back. I am going to be so, *so* tired.
Nathan has decided to do tennis this year for a spring sport instead of long distance track. It’ll be exciting to see his first match!
My sweet friend Jess has chickens and brought by a dozen eggs for me. They were so fresh!
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Our poor little rag doll Rose had a few itchy rash areas that she wouldn’t leave alone, so the vet had us cone her. She did NOT like the plastic cone the vet sent us home with, so Brian found this soft ‘plush’ cone online and she liked it better. I know she doesn’t look happy in that photo, but she got a little more used to it in time. Poor kitty!
Two – Belated Valentine’s Day Recap
Brian surprised me with flowers AND a delicious fruit tray from Edible Arrangements for Valentine’s Day. The chocolate heart on top was filled with caramel and was one of the most delicious chocolate covered caramels I’ve ever had. Yum!
Three – Some More Office Updates 🙂
I’ve been making some progress on my office that is in our basement. It is really coming along! I found a Colleen Karis frame for behind the desk AND I got my bookshelf decorated (almost everything is from Hobby Lobby). I will be doing a more thorough post once I get the office done with everything linked. I still want to get a little faux potted tree for the corner behind my desk.
There is a little nook in the room where I got a garment rack and I’m storing all of my table runners and scarves I use for my recipe/craft posts. I got a metal storage rack and tubs from Target to store all of my blog photo props. I have a bin for each season and then some extra bins for misc. items. I LOVE how organized it all is!! Yay!
Next up I’m planning to get a pinboard for the side wall next to my desk, a white craft table with a little storage underneath (we’re planning a trip to IKEA) and then I’m planning a little ‘sitting’ area where I’d love to get one of those domed wicker chairs, a little side table and then I’m going to put up a full length mirror next to it, so I can take some outfit photos in my office space.
Four – Latest Books I’ve Read & Shows I’ve Watched
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I’ve been trying to read one book a month and then listen to another on audio, so I can get through 2 books a month. So far it has been working out fairly well. I read Book Lovers by Emily Henry on my iPad and this was a really easy romantic read. This book is about Nora, a workaholic who goes to a small town with her sister Libby to get away from the big city. Libby is about to give birth and enjoys the relaxing time away from her family, but Nora picks up on some tension happening behind the scenes with her calls/texts to her husband at home. Libby makes a to do list for them to do while in town and one of the items is for Nora to go on a couple of dates with some locals. Although, one local turns out to be a Charlie, an editor from home that Nora had a bad lunch with that left her disliking him. Nora is curious why Charlie is in this town and then they start to hang out and get to know each other better. However, Charlie is not the only one she lands up on a date with and she gets to meet a couple other men from the small town. The small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina turns out to be the break that Nora and Libby needed and it changes them both forever.
Atomic Habits by James Clear was the book I read on audio last month. Everyone has been raving about this book and I’ve been wanting to read it for a long time! I thought some of it was common sense, but then it had some good ideas in it that I know I’ll use in the future. This was one of my favorite quotes from the book:
“The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.”
For instance, if you eat a piece of cake when you’re trying to be good, don’t let that piece of cake ruin your entire day to where you spiral out of control and eat several other bad things, or get off track for an entire weekend. This isn’t just with food, but good advice for everything!
He also stressed that goals are great, but once you reach the end of that goal you could go back to your old habits. He says that systems are better than goals. “Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. Winners and losers have the same goals.”
Here is an example of a goal versus a system:
Goal: Read 50 books per year.
System: Spend one hour reading each night before bed.
Goal: Lose weight.
System: Run for 30 minutes a day, buy smaller plates, and drink 64 oz of water each day.
So, a system keeps you going everyday and is more direct. If you’re looking for ways to become more organized and to achieve better habits, this is the book for you!
We still watching The Chosen and are in Season 3. It is so, so good! They need to do one for the Old Testament!!
Sometimes I like to be lazy and watch something good on Netflix. Recently I watched Your Place or Mine, which had Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher in it… but, ohh Jesse Williams (!!) was great in it too! Anyway, it is about Debbie and Peter who are best friends and total opposites. Debbie craves routine with her son in LA, but Peter thrives on change in NY. When they swap houses and lives for a week they discover what they think they want might not be what they really need. It was a really cute romcom!
Then, there is a short 3 episode series about the Murdaugh Murders… Ohh, this is a sad and very unsettling series and it is real life! All I can say is my heart just aches for that poor Mallory girl.
Five – My Latest Finds that I Love!
This is a cute outfit I came up with for a lazy day at home on the weekend. The Rose’ the Day Away shirt is an old yet beloved find from Target. The wide legged jeans are from Kut from the Kloth.
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We have two cats that are older with multiple health problems. One of them has hairball and upset tummy issues, so I wanted to find an easier way to clean the carpet. This Bissell Little Green Pet Deluxe machine is a LIFESAVER! It gets any sort of stain or odor out and the carpet smells so fresh afterwards. It does take a little bit of extra work, but I’ve gotten so quick at it that it really isn’t a bother to me to use it. We are planning on getting new carpet in a couple of our rooms soon, so this makes me feel more confident about getting new carpet with our older cats.
I have been LOVING this 6 minute arm workout! Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World posted about it and I gave it a try and it really helps to tone my arms and the sure do burn afterwards. Lindsey says she does it a second time in a row sometimes, so maybe I’ll try that next. I don’t use any weights, but you could try adding some light weights to the workout.
Target always has a cute seasonal cutting board for my kitchen and I scored their ‘egg-TASTIC’ cutting board in the dollar spot. Has anyone else gotten the glass honey bear? I got it, but I think I’ll be using it more as a photo prop. It is SO cute. It would take A LOTTA honey to fill it, though.
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
