That Post Where I Give Away Some Fun Stuff

February 28, 2013 by · 38 Comments

Hi, friends!

In honor of my sweet friend, Holley, and the fact that her new book is officially releasing tomorrow, I’m doing a giveaway.

P.S. I’m a total gift-giver, and I haven’t done nearly enough giveaways in this space, so this is perfect!

So, first up, I’m so excited about her new book, You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream: Opening the Door to All God Has For You. I got an advance copy of it because I’m part of the Dream Team, and I’ve been happily burying my nose in it during the past two weeks. I’m not quite finished yet, so the review will come later, but let me just say…

Friends, you want to read this book.

Holley writes with Truth and beauty, and I finish every chapter knowing I need to stop and process and reflect…but I also fight the urge to keep reading because it honestly feels like she’s sitting down to have coffee with me every time I open the pages.

So, I’m giving one of you a copy of her new book.

:)

Oh, and because I really love you all, I’m throwing in a couple extras, too…

Some chocolate. My very favorite chocolate.

And a $10 Starbucks gift card.

A good book + chocolate + coffee = some perfect time spent, in my opinion. :)

To enter…

1. Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about your God-Sized dream if you’ve got one. If not, feel free to tell me about the weather, your favorite kind of chocolate, or you can give me your opinion on whether or not you think I should add a few streaks of dark blue to my hair. (‘Cause I’m totally thinking about it. ;))

2. Share this post on Facebook. (And come back and leave me another comment.)

3. And I’ve gotta be honest here…I don’t use Twitter like I should. But if you tweet this link, hop back over and leave me another comment, and I’ll give you another entry. (And you can follow me @barefootmel if you don’t already. ;))

Contest ends Saturday night/Sunday morning at midnight, CST. (I never know what day that actually is…hope that’s specific enough! :)) And U.S. residents only…sorry. Someday I’ll do an international giveaway!

I’ll announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck! And what are you waiting for? Enter!

And thanks for stopping by, friends! :)

Sig

Filed Under: coffee, friends, giveaway, God-Sized Dreams, reading

Monday Talk

February 25, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Hi friends…happy Monday!

The day of the week that I used to not love, but gotta be honest…it’s growing on me. But that could also be because coffee tends to make any day look a little better.

😉

I am incredibly blessed.

For so many reasons, but in the past few days, it has been almost overwhelming (but the good kind of that) to see how God is speaking Truth into my life.

Amazing concept that if I will be still and listen, I might actually hear! 😉

It humbles and amazes me that He knows this heart…the one that can beat with a hundred different emotions at once, and He can still decipher those and know exactly what I need.

…hurt=peace

...confusion=assurance

…doubt=Truth

…loneliness=enough

…emptiness=encouragement

Just a few of the ways He has met me since Thursday. You know, that day when I truly vowed to find bloggy-balance. (Hee hee…do you think they would coin that term and give me credit?!) 😉

And for those of you who read that post, I thought you might be interested to know that God brought up that verse Saturday AND Sunday, in separate contexts from different people.

He speaks. Loudly…and it’s amazing what happens when we turn off the noise. 

So on Friday’s I participate in Lisa-Jo‘s Five-Minute Friday. It’s become sort of a tradition for me in ending my week, one that I truly love. It’s also given me the chance to connect with some beautiful, amazing friends out there who heart-write, just like I do. :)

Last week, as I mentioned in my post, her topic scared the begeebies out of me. I may or may not have mentioned wanting to run away from the computer?! 😉

And then, this past Friday’s word did the same thing to me.

I wrestled with those topics on the days I wrote of them and the days following.

And then I realized that half of that was the fact that He’s stretching me…growing me. He tends to do that, I guess, when we grow tired of complacency and desire to, instead, be what He’s called us to be.

Thanks to my (mostly) non-TV Lent, too, I’ve been doing a lot more reading.

I’ve just started Angie Smith’s book, Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole. Angie speaks such truth in a way that anyone can relate to…and I am (intentionally) slowly soaking in each sentence. I have been somewhat guarded with the topic of this book, but within the first few sentences, I knew that God had brought a group of women (and the study they are doing on this particular book) into my life for a reason. Will you pray I will find the courage to connect with them this week? :)

My Bible study at church is also starting a new book. I’m looking forward to going through it in-real-life with some of the sweetest friends ever and praying that God will show me Truth…and with this particular topic, I’m expecting some of that Truth to be tough. I’m praying He’ll keep my heart open.

And I’ve been reading through Holley Gerth’s book, You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream: Opening the Door to All God Has for You.

Friends, just WOW…the good kind. So Holley has the gift of writing to begin with, but Truth and beauty just ooze from her grace-filled words. It’s a book that is hard to put down because I just can’t wait for what she’s going to say next, but once again, I am intentionally soaking in the words and praying God will use them in the journey to be more like His Son.

Oh, and guess what?!

Her book officially releases on Friday, and I’m giving away a copy. :)

So, a hint for y’all…stop back by here on Wednesday or Thursday to enter for a chance to win the book and some other fun stuff. Chocolate may or may not be included. And by may-or-may-not, I mean most definitely. Just in case you weren’t sure. 😉

Hope you all had a fantastic Monday. :)

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, church, coffee, encouragement, friends, God-Sized Dreams, just life, random, what I'm learning, where I am

Coffee Thoughts

October 21, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Tonight…yeah.

A bunch of scattered thoughts.

Coffee, definitely.

And sleep, early. Hopefully. :)

Yes, I am completely aware of what an insane oxymoron those last two lines were. 😉

I was realizing that over the last two weeks, most of my posts have been somewhat shallow. I hope that those of you who read here often know that’s really not me. It’s not, I promise…and I’ll always tell you that one of the things I really can’t stand is superficial.

It’s just that sometimes it’s so hard to be deep when life feels so upside-down.

I can’t go into it tonight. Maybe I’ll share part of it later…I’m just processing a lot and waiting on God for answers. Not easy, especially when the emotional, dramatic tendencies tend to so easily take over my thoughts and days, making things often seem bigger than they are.

I beat myself up for feeling things I do and for not having answers.

That’s basically the drawn-out description of the word, Wait. (You know, that thing I do so well.) 😉

It seems like more often than not, my plans tend to not turn out just as I’ve pictured them. Really, I think we could all say that. I’m human…something I especially rock at. 😉

It’s so hard for me to give things completely to God. I want to, but in my prideful, less-than-thinking-of-others moments, I get it in my head that I can somehow do a better job.

All of those really scattered pieces to say…I’m thankful. For a God who takes me…in all of my wandering and flailing and fighting…and loves me unconditionally. What an encouragement to my heart to know that He can take something of the mess I am and make it beautiful.

And, honestly, after the last year or so, I’m expecting something pretty amazing. I love that He can do that.

More importantly, that He will.

So now that I’ve been a little less shallow… :)

Life is…life.

With a two year-old, it seems that it’s always an adventure. We are in the thick of No way! and Go away! and I find myself wondering what happened to my parenting and my daughter. Our days are filled with so many wonderful moments and memories I’ll hold forever, yet one solitary incident leading to a temper tantrum which then leads to a time-out can ruin a good part of a day.

I know she’s two. (It’s what everyone tells me.) 😉

I know she won’t always fight me when I force her to take off her princess jammies. (You know, the ones she’s worn for a consecutive twelve days.) 😉

I know we’ll both grow through these mother/daughter battles and emerge with a stronger bond.

Because I know she’s two. And I’ll blink and she’ll be sixteen.

I’ve tried to focus on the joys that make up a day. I can honestly say that each night when I sing to her and pray with her, I fall in love just a little more. The frustrations of things melt away, and my heart feels so full I think it’s going to burst.

She truly is such a big part of my JOY. :)

She also starts gymnastics this week, which we are BOTH excited about. I think she’ll love it. And hopefully she’ll quit doing somersaults off the end of the couch. 😉

I’ve been good with running this past week, and though it’s sometimes-tough to drag myself out of bed so early, I’m always glad I did it. My goal this week is 20 miles. (Gosh no, not all at once!) I’m slowly upping my distance, though, and it feels good.

Now I just need to quit making dessert.

I made this today. It’s one of my favorites, and it was so amazing. (I sent some to our dear friends across the street because I knew I’d eat it all if we kept it.)

My other downfall is this. (Which I cannot seem to find on the internet. But go look in the freezer section of your grocery store…I promise it’s there.) Thank you SO much, Cool Whip, for taking two of my very favorite things and throwing them together into one container of gooey, yummy-ness. (Hope you could sense the dripping sarcasm there…)

Cool Whip frosting…no cake required. (I can so see myself doing a commercial for them, can’t you? ;))

Well, I should head toward bed. Early morning tomorrow, and I definitely need to be up to run off all of that frosting…

Hope you all had a great weekend. 😉

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, encouragement, family, just life, Maelie, running, what I'm learning, where I am

Random on a Sick Day

October 10, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

We are home sick.

As in, Mae is sick, I am home. Poor, sleepless, both of us. But mostly her. She’s just miserable. :(

But rather than go on and on about that, here is the random of life from the past week or two.

Oh, come on…you know you love the way my brain jumps from subject to subject with almost no warning. 😉

This is Mae’s current favorite.

I have to admit that it is, by far, my favorite Veggie Tale so far. There are a few that rank up there, but I love the message. And who cares if it’s Christmas-themed? She can watch it all year for all I care…and I’ll be right by her side, glued to it every time. :) If you stream Netflix, it’s available. Just fyi…it’s so good.

As my husband put it, I turned into a crocheting machine. Six hats so far. I’m planning to put a few on my Etsy store to see if they sell. And I reasoned that I needed to “practice” making a few before I sell them. They’re cute…like, super. And a few of you will probably be getting a free hat with a flower because I don’t need six. 😉 (If you have any color preferences, you should get in your request now while I’m still in practice mode. ;))

This was my first try. I’m keeping it for two reasons. There are a few mistakes. 😉 And, I like it.

This one is for sale. (I think.) Any takers? 😉

Mae asked for a hat. She even picked out the colors…I think it turned out really cute. :)

And, even though she’s not feeling very well, she looks adorable in it!

My mom recently took up pottery. She’s dabbled in a few artistic arenas in her life, so it wasn’t a total shock. (But, dude, she has a potter’s wheel in the basement. And is getting a kiln…) So when I was in Iowa last week, I got to see a few of her pieces. Out of all of them, I fell in love with this one…which I stole borrowed forever to use as a coffee mug, but it could probably be a few different things. Even though she insisted it didn’t look very good, I like the uniqueness of it. (And by the way, yes, I am wearing fingerless gloves in this photo. In the house. I am COLD. And WHO thought that fingerless gloves had any purpose at all? Someone made a lot of money off of the fact that people’s fingers are going to freeze. But they are cute, aren’t they? ;))

I got to see these two amazing girls last week. Ok, so I know we’re women, but when you grow up with two people, it’s just hard to call each other women. Even though we are. :) I think there is a photo of the three of us together somewhere, but I don’t have it…so you get these two pics instead. I’m so blessed and thankful to have them in my life…we’re the kind of friends who pick up exactly where we left off before. The kind that can dress alike and go out in public, even though we’re in our 30’s. The kind that, for our night out, go to Walmart and walk around and come back to the house to eat candy corn and peanuts and gab about life until 2 a.m..and it’s the best night ever. Love them.

My girl is funny. Here she is, trying to throw leaves into my coffee. And, true to form, me being overly dramatic to stop them from landing in the mug. I smile, though. :)

Supposing that’s probably about enough random for the day…though there might be more tomorrow. Hoping Mae is on the mend. Would appreciate prayer. :)

Love you all. Thanks for stopping by…even if it’s just for the random. G’nite! :)

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, family, friends, just life, Maelie, random, where I am

Aaaaahhhhh…

October 5, 2012 by · 2 Comments

So, we’ll see how long this virtual coffee date (without the coffee) lasts tonight.

For now, it just feels good to sit down.

But, Happy Friday, friends!

I saw the BEST quote on facebook the other day. Something to the effect of…

Yay! It’s Friday! Oh, wait…I’m a mom.

So stinkin’ true. Most of the time I really don’t mind that, for the most part, my days get all mashed together and the general routine of them is the same, but about a week ago…

Well, this is tough to admit. Really.

My eyes filled up with tears, and I looked at my husband when he got home from work, and I told him I wanted to walk away from my life for the night.

Just a few hours.

I couldn’t believe how completely glorious it sounded to take a book to a coffee shop, order a steaming latte, crawl into a comfy chair (and probably cover up with a blanket…yes, IN the coffee shop ;)) and disappear into another world for a couple hours.

I didn’t do it…but it was a wonderful dream. One that I plan to make a reality soon. Blanket and all. 😉

But I did get somewhat of a break earlier in the week.

Mae had some awesome grandma time in Iowa, and I?

I had two days with my best friends. You know, those girls who know every single detail about me. It was wonderful and bittersweet and memorable and sad all rolled into a short 30ish hours. One of them is going through a valley so dark that I can’t even begin to imagine.

Yet, she shines.

She inspires.

She’s one of those people who reminds me, on days when I feel that there is no hope, that there is.

HOPE.

In every circumstance, no matter what. Will you pray for her? I know she’d be so thankful.

We had some good time together, complete with the misadventure of my van briefly going kaput, and as always, our time together was way too short.

But I always leave thankful for the time we do have. :)

Mae and I made the trek back yesterday, and she really was a very good traveler. The poor girl doesn’t like to be restrained, but she managed well despite being strapped into the evil confines of her carseat…she played with her toys, dolls, books, sang, talked, ate. It was good mommy/daughter bonding time, and I’m so thankful for her. What a sweetie pie. :)

It’s a busy weekend. Our church has a big day of serving in the community tomorrow. After six hours of my own personal concert (aka: the drive home) 😉 and two music rehearsals (last night and tonight), I somehow need to find my voice for tomorrow morning and Sunday morning. Hopin’ it’s there. :)

People from our church will be doing all kinds of things for people in the community…fixing up houses, cleaning yards, collecting food, making blankets and hats, putting together care packages for soldiers and shoe boxes of Christmas gifts for kids in need.

It’s so incredible to see the body of Christ at work in such a tangible way…really looking forward to tomorrow! :)

And even though there’s probably a lot more that I could go on (and on and on) about, I should probably end this for the night. My morning starts early, and life is just easier with a full eight hours. Ya know? :)

Hope you’ve all had a good week…have a happy weekend! Love you all.

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, being mommy, blessings, church, coffee, friends, just life, Maelie, travel, where I am

MoNDaY mOrnINg CofFeE LoVE

October 1, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Clearly, from the title, I need a good dose of the stuff.

It’s 7:45 a.m., the girlie is still asleep, we’re almost packed for our trip, and YES.

I’m drinking coffee. :)

Mae and I are headed out to Iowa in a couple hours. (I’ll tell you more about that at the end.)

In the meantime, I am SO incredibly, super-excited that I finished packing for both of us by 9:30 last night. That, like, never happens. Of course, there are still the last-minute things, but I’m impressed with my organization/lack of procrastination. And that I’m sitting down to blog before we go! (That usually never happens before a trip, either!)

Though I did make myself get up early so I’d have time for it.

Oh, the commitment I have to this space. 😉

Ok, I’ll stop. Obviously, I should be chugging more coffee if that’s where my brain is right now. OY…

And as much as I want to go on and on this morning, I need to keep it short. Ish. I told myself we’d leave at 9, but that won’t happen. Does anyone else out there do that? I SAID 9, so we’d be out of here by 9:30. That should happen. I hope. :) Really not relishing the thought of hitting the afternoon rush in Des Moines, and I think if we leave by 9:30 and don’t make too many stops, we’ll be good. Rush hour + Mel = don’t mix.

We had a good weekend. It was Pumpkin Days at Immanuel, and of course, we took our girl. She’s been fighting a cold for a few days, so she was definitely not as crazy as she usually is, but she completely hearts bouncy houses, and she had a great time with that. She even joined some of her older friends in the “big kids” bouncy house with the slide. Tobin and I were amazed that she could climb up to the slide in there. Sigh…my girl is growing up way TOO fast! We’re glad she had such a good time, though.

In just a few, Maelie and I will be heading to Iowa for a few days. The purpose of part of the trip is so she can have grandma/grandpa time. :) We’ll spend the night there, and tomorrow morning I’ll leave her in Creston and head back to Des Moines for a couple days to see my two best friends. Hence, the other purpose…to help one of them pack to move back to Creston. She and her six sweet kiddos will be moving in just a few weeks. I’m sad for them…they’ve had such a hard year. Though the details don’t belong on the blog, please keep them in your prayers. :)

It will be fun to have a change of pace from my normal, though I’m sure I will miss my girl like crazy! I’m looking forward to reconnecting with them and just being the three stooges that we used to be. We really are a riot when we get together. :)

Along with that, I’ll be taking a hiatus from the blog for a few days. Even if I can carve out the time to write, I’m not going to. I know it will all be here when I get back on Thursday night! 😉

So, in the meantime, prayers are appreciated since, as most of you know, I completely love driving long distances by myself. (Well, with a toddler.) Please pray for safety and good mommy/daughter bonding time. We have lots of fun music, snacks, toys…hopefully it will be a good six/seven hours. :)

So, happy Monday and happy week, friends! Back soon. :)

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, friends, Indonesia, just life, Maelie, prayer

Rainy Night Thoughts

September 13, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I love a rainy night. :)

Especially the kind when hubby forgets to close our bedroom windows and the temperature is just perfect for making a cup of hot cocoa and climbing into bed under a fleece blanket to update the blog.

As close to perfection as it’s going to get for now. :)

All that’s missing is a fireplace, but I’m guessing that won’t be happening anytime soon around here. Though my neighbor has one…maybe I’ll crash her living room on the next rainy, I-need-to-blog-and-feel-cozy night. :)

I do have to tell you that I love my new, red fleece blanket, though. You know that 5k I ran last weekend? The goodie bag rocked. A cute t-shirt (5k t’s are rarely cute) AND a blanket. The kind that screams, You know you want to go to take a nap just so you can cover yourself up with me. Yep, that kind of blanket.

Be jealous. 😉

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve just written…you know, had a virtual coffee date with you all like I used to. Except tonight we’re havin’ hot cocoa. And it’s good despite the fact that I had to dig through the cupboard to find a packet of it, and I’m sure it’s been there for at least a year, but I think it might be closer to two. Hey, isn’t that what preservatives are for???

So, since we’re catching up, I guess I’ll just talk about…we’ll just see where it goes.

I finished Kisses From Katie yesterday.

I can honestly tell you that, besides the Bible, it’s not only the best book I’ve ever read; it’s also the most life-changing. Read it…testimonies of God’s abounding grace just leap off the pages. I saw pieces of myself in her, but mostly I saw the Father’s heart…which I think was the point.

You won’t be disappointed. I promise.

And as a complete side note…I feel like I understand myself and where I’ve been a little more after reading this piece of her story, too. Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people why we spent time overseas…it was cool too see her put into words some of the reasons. I could relate. :)

Ok, just read it. (And I’ll move on to something else.)

My sweet girl is all but done napping. It’s a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. Her non-nappingness (Golly, I looooooooove my word creations sometimes!) gives us more flexibility with our days, and that’s definitely a bonus. But it also makes the days long. It also means potentially super-crabby evenings, but also almost guarantees that she will crash the second her head hits her special pillow.

Yes, she has a special pillow. And tonight, she has special jammies, which I had to pull out and cut the tags off and get her really excited about because the worn-almost-every-night princess jammies are a) dirty; and b) too non-covering for a night like tonight. Thankfully she bought my made-up excitement about jammies covered with snowmen and reindeer that I bought for 70% off last January. :))

Someday she will read this and be embarrassed…thankfully that day is not today. 😉

I love her. And I suppose the fact that she got excited about Christmas jammies in September is comparable to me and my new blanket. (Which is still super comfy, since I know you’re all wondering!) 😉

It’s been kind of an up and down few weeks, but I’ve been thankful for what He’s doing despite the roller coaster moments. I’ve tried to be intentional about counting my blessings…it’s amazing to look around and see all the good that surrounds a day despite circumstances and emotions.

I almost skipped my run this morning, but I’m so glad I didn’t.

The weather was perfect, and I made a new running playlist a few days ago, and I was excited to hear more of it. I basically went through every song in my iTunes, picked my very favorites, and shuffled them.

Toward the middle of mile two, this one came on. I hadn’t heard it for months…and I didn’t even remember adding it to to the playlist. But sometimes God just surprises me…and this was a blessing. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to it. :)

And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?

And You answer, “My child, I love you. And as long as you’re seeking My face, you’ll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace.”

Powerful words from my Father…Wow.

Love you all…thanks for stopping by. :)

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, coffee, encouragement, family, just life, Maelie, music, reading, what I'm learning, where I am

Monday Smiles

September 10, 2012 by · 2 Comments

So, for a Monday, today wasn’t half-bad.

There were some smiles…

A beautiful, perfect day. 70’s. Sunny. Can the weather just stay exactly like this forever? We can all dream. :)

Spreading sunshine. Maelie and I went to visit a sweet friend at work and took her coffee and a gift ’cause it’s her birthday, and I love celebrating a birthday…even if it’s not mine! We even got Mae to sing parts of “Happy Birthday”. T’was sweet. :)

Outside playing. My cool girl is such the climber. She can now scale the side of her clubhouse. It still makes me nervous, but I can smile, too. She’s just growing up so much! I love taking walks up and down the street with her…we have the best conversations and even sing together. So fun.

Encouragement. Sometimes it comes in the simplest forms…like a chat with a friend or a smile from a stranger…both happened today.

Hope. There’s something I’d like to see happen…and it looks like it might.

Swinging and guitar-playing and puking. WAIT…did I say puking? Yep. However, in this house, we are giving thanks that Maelie threw up due to all the swinging she did (not because was sick) AND that she missed my guitar by about an inch. The sweet girlie is feeling just fine now in her happy dreamland, my jeans are in the dryer, and my guitar is packed away (and puke-free). ALL blessings. :)

Much-needed laughter. Sometimes it just feels good to laugh, and singing with Mae tonight provided some pretty great moments. Caught on video, nonetheless. I laughed so hard I cried…and it felt so good. Families need to laugh together often. (And I can almost guarantee that there’s at least one good video coming to a blog near you very soon!)

How was your Monday? I hope a happy one. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, friends, just life, Maelie

Small Moments

August 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

About a year ago I took a job at a little coffee shop about ten minutes from my house. It was a job I only worked at for four months, but during those months, I met some pretty great people.

One of those was a coworker…for some reason we worked together quite a bit, and he would spend a lot of time working on things there while he wasn’t actually on the clock. He’s a believer, passionate about missions, a phenomenal musician…which gave us plenty of good conversation topics. We also had Peru in common, and once we downed almost a whole bottle of Inca Kola between the two of us. (Helllooooo sugar. But GOOD sugar. ;))

You know how some people just shine for Jesus? He’s one of those. It was evident in everything he said, everything he did.

When I stopped working there, I saw him a few times after and once went to a concert he was performing at his church. After that, we kind of lost touch though I’d see a status update here or there on Facebook.

But somehow I missed his big news…until tonight.

He’s heading to Nashville to record. With a Grammy-winning producer.

I am truly so, so happy for him.

Sometimes I smile at the irony of small moments…how someone can be in your life for such a short period of time but leave an impact. He’s like that. And I really can’t wait to see what God is going to do through him.

It’ll be BIG.

Blessings to you, Judah…I’ll be first in line to buy your album. :)

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, coffee, friends, just life, music, remembering

Aaaaahhhhh…

August 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

It was one of those days that I didn’t intend to be a day for sanity, but it turned into one. I have my wonderful, lengthy-nap-taking (today, anyway) daughter to thank for a lot of it. 😉 And the rain, ’cause I LOVE a rainy day. Pretty sure if it was relaxing, it was part of my Sunday.

I slept ’til 8. I never do that. It’s kind of my own fault, but maybe more of the fault lies with the author of the book I started at 10 pm last night. Yeah. After one, I made myself turn off my Kindle and go to bed. (Guess what I’m doing as soon as I’m done writing tonight????) 😉

I went to 10:45. Well, we do that every Sunday. But I really love my church family and friends. So it was definitely relaxing. And we sang a few of my favorites today…always a plus for this music lovin’ girl.

I ate a burrito. I guess this was relaxing in that I can nix Taco Bell from my I-can-eat-this-after-having-my-gallbladder-out list. Bummer, kind of. At least pizza seems to be ok. THAT would be devastating. I should point out that I ate On the Border the other night and was just fine…so it’s clearly Taco Bell. Clearly. 😉

It rained. Like, not pouring-so-much-there’s-an-extra-pool-in-our-backyard kind of rain, but it was still gray and drizzly enough to be the perfect Sunday afternoon. I wore a hoodie and sat on the back porch and drank coffee while…

Maelie slept. Oh, yes she did. (Thank you, rain.) And while she slept…

I created. One of my favorite craft-y things to do, besides painting, is make jewelry. I fixed a bracelet for a friend first, and then I started playing with wire to see what I could come up with. I made a ring that turned out ok…and daisy earrings that are pretty sweet. They still need a bit of perfecting, but daisies out of wire that are worthy to wear as jewelry? I think they’re one of my favorite creations so far. :) Oh, and I worked on a painting a little, but painting on the back porch when it’s raining doesn’t really work. The air was too wet, and the paint wouldn’t dry. I’ll finish tomorrow. :)

I took dinner to our neighbors. Grandpa S (as Mae calls him) is having surgery tomorrow, so we figured they didn’t need to worry about dinner tomorrow night on top of that. Plus, it’s always nice to go over and chat with them. We are pretty blessed with our neighbors. :)

We hung out with Mae and each other. Minus the part about Tobin completely skunking me at cribbage, it was a good family night. Nothing big or exciting…just us. It was nice. :)

I sang to my girl. Still one of my favorite parts of the day. I love that she’s now starting to sing along and even match pitch. Scary, I know. But also cool. She’s out for the night…

And I’m gonna go finish my book.

:)

G’nite, friends!

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, church, coffee, family, friends, just life, Maelie, Tobin
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