What's Up Wednesday ~ January Edition

 We've made through this first month of 2019!  January is usually a dreary, weather month for most of the USA, but I try not to bring that dreary mindset into other areas of life.  Instead, it is a good month to focus on fresh starts in so many areas of life and cleaning post holidays, which leads to organization!  So here we are with this month's edition of What's Up Wednesday....

What we're eating this week....

Saturday - potato soup and grilled chicken 

Sunday - spaghetti

Monday - We had dinner with friends we haven't seen in several months.

Tuesday - I am had dinner with a former co-worker.

Wednesday - church

Thursday - roast, carrots, potatoes in the slow cooker

Friday - pizza

What I'm reminiscing about.....

As vacation planning begins for the summer, it has me thinking about this time last year planning our family vacation to Montana.

What I'm loving...........

I am still loving our Shark vacuum, whom we have named "Meg".  It is so nice to let her just vacuum the house!

What we've been up to.........

This month has included on the not so fun side...a sewer back up,and a water leak.  It has also included lots of lunch dates for me at work and enjoying new touches around our home.

What I'm dreading........

I don't have a day off work until March when I am taking a vacation day.  I like my job, but having a day off is always better!

What I'm working on.........

I am trying to get into new habits of exercising 3-4 days a week.  This is my focus, but I am so tired at night and usually with a to-do list of other things after work.  I need to add this one to that list!

What I'm excited about..........

I am excited about a short trip I have in March!  I am going to a little town in Oklahoma...can anyone guess where?  Let me know if you've been there!

What I'm watching..........

I am hooked on watching Live with Kelly and Ryan, but usually just the first 15 minutes every day. I also watch Blackish with the family, and then This is Us with my oldest, Bachelor with my husband, and I am watching the train wreck of Married at First Sight.  Of course, all these shows are recorded and I watch them at random times.  I am looking forward to When Calls the Heart that premiers again next month on Hallmark channel!

What I'm listening to............

Y'all know I love my Greg Laurie podcasts.  They have just played some of his top 10 this month, and they have been so good.  The one where he talks about grief and losing his son is an emotional one.

What I'm wearing..........

Now that I have been at my job for 2 months, I am wearing jeans and a nice top at least 2 days a week, which is nice. When I am not in jeans, I am wearing leggings and a long shirt usually.   

What I'm doing this weekend..........

I have no plans, and those are often the best!

What I'm looking forward to next month.........

I look forward to pulling out Valentine decorations, a date with my husband, and celebrating our oldest daughter.

What else is new..........

My oldest daughter turns 18 next week! And I was in my 30's when I had her...not sure how this can be since I often think of myself still in my early 30's :).

Happy Wednesday friends!

2 Year Home Anniversary!

Good Monday morning to you! It was a good, low key weekend for us.  This is a busy week, so I am thankful for the slow weekend.  Yesterday marked 2 years since we moved into our home.  We are so thankful for it and still really like it here.  I am thankful for the people I share this home with and the memories we are making.  

Our kitchen...

Our den... 

For more pictures, here are posts from our 1 year home anniversary:

1 year house anniversary ~ Part 1

1 year house anniversary ~ Part 2

1 year house anniversary ~ Part 3 

Our kind realtor, who is a friend of ours, sent us this thoughtful card! 

I am so thankful for how God has provided for us in the big and little ways for our home.

Friday Favorites ~ January 25, 2019

Happy Friday!  We've made it to the weekend.  As another week comes to a close, here are a few favorites with even fewer pictures.  I am keeping it super simple this week!

ONE

This week I shared about some recent new touches to our home.

Click here to read about them!

TWO

This week, I had two lunch dates.  Monday, my husband had lunch with me at work. He had the day off due to the holiday, but I was working.  He was able to come see where I work for the first time.  Wednesday, a good friend texted and we met for lunch.  Thursday night, I had a dinner date with two of my former co-workers.  I so enjoyed being with them and am thankful to keep in touch.  Having this time with friends this week was a favorite.  In these moments though, we just enjoyed it and I didn't pull out my phone to take pictures!

THREE

Last Saturday, I saw these two greats of mine.  I love how they are finally warming up to me and beginning to recognize me even though I don't see them as often as I would like to! I am smitten with them!

FOUR

I am declaring heat and a slow weekend ahead a favorite of mine!

It is a cold weekend and I am thankful to have heat in our home during these cold days and nights.  I am looking forward to a weekend with no big plans. I am hoping to continue a painting job and get some cleaning done around the house.

Stay warm and have a good weekend!

A Few New Home Touches

Today, I am highlighting a few new things we have in our home so far this new year.  

ONE

We finally have a new coffee table, which I shared in a favorites earlier this month.  We have used a storage bench for the past 2 years, so it is nice to finally have a piece of furniture in our den.

We moved the bench to a bedroom and it has been the perfect place for it. 

TWO

I have been wanting a sign for this wall for a while now and finally found one I like from Hobby Lobby.  It is a great addition to this room!

I also got this photo from Hobby Lobby for our entry way.

THREE

I received this bread box for Christmas from my husband and it is a pretty addition to our kitchen counter.  My daughter gave me this Glacier candle last fall for my birthday and I have been burning it this month.  It is fun to have a high quality candle!

FOUR

Avery installed some new cabinets around our tv and removed a window.  This is the before picture:

Knocking out the window... 

Covering the window and starting with cabinet  installation...

Lower cabinet installed...

Lower and upper cabinets installed...

Now, we have to get a top for the cabinets, repaint the wall and would like to add a shelf across the top cabinets. It is a step towards that part of the room looking a little more put together!  And more storage is always a good thing :). 

FIVE

We got an elliptical/bike piece of equipment to hopefully motivate us to exercise at home, especially in this cold weather!

Everyone stay warm this week.  Looks like a cold week and weekend around the country!

Friday Favorites ~ January 17, 2019

Fridays are favorites of mine every week!  Welcome and thanks for stopping by today!

ONE

The blogging week has been slow for me this week, but that means every other aspect has been busy.  The week wasn't necessarily stressful, but certainly a lot of things on my mind.  I have been full on working mom this week.  I did, however, share our winter decorations that you can see here.

TWO

This next favorite is a Christmas gift I received that I am enjoying.  This is called the 52 Lists Projects.  There is a list for each week and the lists are organized by seasons, as you can see in the contents.  There are also similar books called 52 Lists for Happiness and 52 Lists for Togetherness.  I am trying to spend a little time each weekend to write in this book.  I love me a list! 

THREE

We have been trying out some new pancake mixes lately.  Last summer, I became a little obsessed with all things Huckleberry.  This pancake mix is the last of what I brought back from our trip to Montana.  I will say, this was my least impressive item because it was basically just regular pancake mix, but they did include a small jar of huckleberry jam you could put on top of the pancake.  Of course, I tried that and still have some jam leftover, which is good! 

This was a gift to us from this famous breakfast restaurant in Chattanooga.  These pancakes were delicious and we even used some of the batter to make muffins and added fruit to those.

FOUR

I finally have a permanent desk at work, which makes me feel like I have a place and connect better with co-workers.  I have been doing behind the scenes work these past 7 weeks, but finally got on the phones this week with customers.  

Random photo of my clock at work at 11:11 on 1/11....and side note, my birthday is 11/11 :). Below is a picture of part of my desk.  I will photograph the rest of it another time and share. 

FIVE

All the lunch dates!  I have had 4 lunch dates this week!  I met with the Sr. high director at our church, who is the best and leads my daughters well.  I had lunch with a mentor friend of mine, a co-worker and today with one of my younger friends.   And along with lunch dates, I had a 2 part dinner and movie date with my husband (we saw a movie one night and went to dinner the next). 

 Between learning new things at work, planning for senior year homeschool curriculum, registering for college orientation, registering for high school next year, cooking and laundry, I am tired and ready for the weekend!  Enjoy yours and stay warm..it is a crazy weather weekend across the country.

Tuesday Talk: Winter Decorations

Today I am linking up Erika for Tuesday Talk.  Today I am sharing our winter home decor.  I like to leave up a few things post Christmas and add a few things.   Even though the stores had Valentine candy out on December 26th, I like to wait until February 1st to decorate for that.

I added this winter pillow to our sofa, a snowman candle and January magazines to our coffee table, which are all about fresh starts and organization!

As mentioned last week talking about cozy spots, winter blankets stay out until spring time :). 

On our mantle, I left our snowflake displayed and weaved lights through our large frame, which I may just keep displayed year round!  I also added a few snowman decorations on the hearth.  We have a wood burning fire place and as you can see, it is well used! 

On our dining room table, I added this new decorative set to my dough bowl.  It actually has a light vanilla scent to it and this is on my winter table runner, which I also had displayed during December.

I left the greenery up on our kitchen light through this month as well and the rest of the area is basically the same as it was in December. 

I just purchased this wreath the week before Christmas, and it is another decoration we felt like could stay up post Christmas.  Hopefully all these snowmen decorations will welcome a little snow to our area at some point this winter! 

I am always happy to enjoy some decorations for more than one month and thankful to use them a little longer!

Friday Favorites ~ January 11, 2019

Yes, y'all, it is Friday!  

ONE

First and foremost, this little cute, silly great niece of mine turned 2 years old!  She is starting to recognize me and interact with me more and more and it just melts my heart.  I don't get to see her near as much as I would like, but I am going to try to do better and facetime her and her cute older brother more often.  She lives about 45 minutes away from me and I work full time, so days come and go so fast.

She and I were playing with play dough :) 

TWO

Well, this isn't a huge favorite, but it was part of our week and we made the best of it.  Last weekend, we realized we had plumbing issues.  Our sewer was backed up and we had a water leak.  Good times.  However, due to this, we spent one night at a friends house and had some extra hang out time and then we spent one night at a hotel.  I cooked dinner and we were all together in that small space, so it was a good family night.  Thankfully, with the help of a plumber for the sewer and my husband for the water, we have clean, running hot water again!

THREE

Monday, I shared some entertainment favorites (click here to read), which included this record player.  My daughters had seen albums and a record player, but never heard one being played.  They liked it, but not as much as me pulling out albums from the 70's!  I also found the original soundtrack from Mary Poppins.

THREE

My almost 18 year old made a list of 25 things she can legally do when she turns 18.  I thought it was creative and funny that she did this.  I am not ready for her to do all these things, but it didn't make me too nervous, ha ha!

FOUR

Yesterday, I shared 10 facts about me. One of those is that today is my 7 year anniversary of blogging!  You can read that first blog post here of why I began a blog.  Like most people, I like to do this as a way to remember so many things with my family and friends.  It has also been a great way to connect with people and read others blogs.  I hope this will be an encouraging place like the blogs I read are encouraging to me.

May you have a weekend of laughter, forgiveness, and relaxation!