Happy Friday Everyone!

 

One – Easter & Latest Happenings

Happy Friday, friends! Well, I hope you all had a blessed Easter! We had some heavy stuff weighing on us this weekend for the week ahead, but we always find comfort in what Jesus did for us. Thankfully, my husband made it through a surgery he needed and even came home early and now he will recover at home for a few weeks. We are thankful to have this big and scary surgery behind us and for all of you lifting us up in prayer right now. I wish I could say we are completely out of the woods, but only time will tell and I’m praying my husband will be fully healed from all of this and can live in peace.

 

 

On Easter we always go to a delicious steak place and I got a filet with lobster, with mushrooms, scalloped potatoes and mac and cheese. I was SO stuffed from it all!! We got to see Brian’s cousin Alan and his wife Hannah at our home that evening.

 

 

I ordered Brian these orchids when we got home from the hospital. They are so beautiful and really cheered him up. His mom loved orchids and I had remembered him telling me that, so I ordered them so he knows she’s looking down on him with love during this rough period he is going through. Now I just need to figure out how to care for them. Someone told me that they just need a little light and 4-5 ice cubes every 1-1.5 weeks.

 

 

Autumn has had a BUSY and exciting month. She did her faith statement at church for confirmation AND she did 4 days of a dance clinic/tryouts for the dance team for high school next year and she MADE THE TEAM!! Yay!! We have a future Lancerette!! I guess all of those years of dance lessons have paid off! Ha, ha!

 

 

My friend Becky, who was my maid of honor in both of my weddings (she is the one with the reddish hair) had a memorial for her sweet momma who had a very long battle with cancer. It was a touching service and Becky did a beautiful speech for her mom at it. I also saw my old best friend from junior high through high school, Melissa at the memorial. I hadn’t seen her in YEARS, so it was nice to catch up with her. She has a skirt on with dinosaurs (it even glows in the dark), because Becky’s mom loved science/dinosaurs, etc. and had been a science teacher.

 

 

I went with my mom, my friend Becky and one of their mutual work friends to the Jewel Box in St. Louis to see their Easter lilies. They didn’t have as many Easter lilies out as they usually do. It is a beautiful glass building in Forest Park and I don’t think I had ever been inside it before. Here is a sweet photo of me with my mom inside the Jewel Box. We finished the day off with lunch at the Boat House.

 

 

Two – Spring Gift Exchange with Jessica

Jessica, who owns Rural Cute Creations enjoys doing gift basket exchanges with me a few times a year. She made me some adorable Easter and Spring earrings this time and they’re so cute!

 

 

The photo on the left is the gift basket I put together for Jess. She has CHICKENS, so of course there is a lot of fun chick stuff in it. I got her some freshly baked cookies from a bakery 2 minutes from my house and I added a few beauty/spring items in it. The gift basket she made me is on the right and OF COURSE she brought me 2 dozen eggs from her local little chicklet farm. I have been enjoying avocado toast with a sunny side up egg with berries for an easy lunch and it is SO yummy AND easy. She got me some beauty items, cookie cutters, chocolates and more. Thank you, Jessica!!

 

 

Three – Office Updates!

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I’ve been wanting a pinboard for my office, because before we had the kids I used one of their rooms for an office and I LOVED my old pinboard I had in there. I researched pinboards online and settled on the Pottery Barn Linen Home Office Pinboard in Brass.

 

 

Four – Latest Books I’ve Read & Shows I’ve Watched

Wow. I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this one got it on Goodreads (the site I use to keep track of the books I read)! I could NOT put this book down. It was SO good. It has a huge surprise at the end. It was not at all what I was expecting when I picked it up, but this is my FAVORITE book from Taylor Jenkins Reid. Daisy Jones, Malibu Rising and then Carrie Soto are others books I’ve read by this author (in the order of how much I liked each one, with Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo being my fave). The title pretty much sums up the book, but there is SO much more to it. Evelyn Hugo is famous actress who finds an amateur writer to write her life story in a book. We go through all of Evelyn Hugo’s husbands and I can’t really get into those or I’d give away the book. But, if you read any of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books, I’d suggest you start with this one!
 
 
Colleen Hoover came out with a recent new book called Heart Bones and I really enjoyed it! Beyah needs somewhere to stay for the summer after an unfortunate event happens with her mother. She lands up staying with her father, who she barely knows and she finds out he has a new wife, a house on the ocean and she has a step sister. This book talks about how she can finally learn to relax a bit under the care of her father, how she hits it off with her step sister and some others close to her age in the area. She hits it off with Samson, the boy next door, yet he has been hiding away some secrets of his own.

 

 

Annnd, I love me some health books! Ha, ha! However, I haven’t read a health book in awhile. The Blue Zones (9 Lessons for Living Longer) is by Dan Buettner and I found out about it from an iFit trainer named Tommy Rivs. This book shares all of the blue zones in the world, which is areas where people live the longest. It covers why they believe these people live longer in these areas and then covers the overlaps of what a lot of these areas do the same (such as eating farm fresh produce, they have a strong family/friend community, more plant based diet, etc.). I found it interesting that only one of these blue zones was in the U.S., which didn’t surprise me since the American Diet is awful. It was a really interesting read and very insightful!

 

 

Brian and I box read this book awhile back (when we were in Hawaii before Covid) and we just started the Amazon series on it.

   

 

Five – My Latest Finds that I Love!

I was at Hobby Lobby getting Jessica’s gift basket together and I came across ALL of these fun lemon items!!! I typically do a lemon theme in the kitchen during the summer, so I’m always looking for new items for it.

 

 

I enjoy making iced coffee at home on Mondays and I keep seeing this adorable white rainbow venti tumbler at Starbucks and one of these days it is going to come home with me!!! 

 

 

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Another rainbow item I have been eyeing is this Rainbow Cutting Board on Amazon. I need to just hit the button to put it in my cart. I love displaying one or two cutting boards in my kitchen and I know this would be a great one for when we are ‘in-between’ holidays. It comes in different colors and the light pink one is super cute too!

 

 

Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World always has a lot of great tips for dealing with anxiety. I’ve always been known as a stress head, so I have been thinking about getting more into meditation lately. She recommended The Calm App and I’ve been enjoying the ‘7 Days of Calm’ series. There is SO much on this app and it has been great, even for the price that you pay for it. It has been great to just stay in a present mode of thought for 10-15 minuets a day through this app.

 

I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!

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