Monthly Musings ~ September 2021

 Good morning. Today I am linking up for the Monthly Musings.  The topic this month is fall fashion.

1.  Favorite Fall fashion pieces?

Cardigans!!  I pair it over jeans, sweaters, dress pants, dresses....you name it.  

2.  Favorite colors to wear in the fall?

I gravitate to navy blue or rust as my go-to fall colors.

3.  Boots or Booties?

Boots!  Every year I talk about my favorite boots.  This is a pair I bought from Ugg about 6 years ago.

4.  Scarf person?

Yes!  I have a few favorites I purchased while living in South America.

5.  Favorite handbag?

I don't change handbags, but I did purchase a new one last month from TJ Maxx.  They have a good selection within my budget.

6.  Trend I am most interested in?

Hmm....I keep to my own style, but I do admire people who can pull off wearing leather pants, but just don't think it is my style, nor for my age :).

7.  Long cardigan or boyfriend cardigan?

I like both, but long cardigan is my vote.  

8.  Are you a plaid person?

Yes again.  I have a few plaid shirts in my winter rotation.  

9.  Vest or puffer coat?

Okay, so I am neutral to both of these.  I have a few vests, but I tend not to wear them much.  For me, I would prefer an entire jacket.  For a puffer coat, it has to be really cold for me to wear that, but it did come in handy this past February when we had our extreme cold weather and snowstorm.

10.  Do you change up your make-up for fall?

Not so much on this one.  I just stick with my regular routine.

Always fun to do this and wish you all a great day and weekend!  I'll be back next week...

What's Up Wednesday ~ September 2021

 Good Wednesday morning!  I am linking up this morning for the monthly series of  What's Up Wednesday.  This is always a fun look back at the month.  

What we're eating this week...........

Monday - chicken alfredo, salad

Tuesday - slow cooker cream cheese chicken, rice and broccoli

Wednesday - church

Thursday - eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, fruit

Friday - sandwiches

Saturday - out with friends

What I'm reminiscing about...........

This month has been a hard month in a lot of ways for me, yet I have also had two of the best highlights from this year happen this month as well.  So it was fun to look back at "What we've been up to" this month.

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

I am loving that is finally fall!  Here are some of my fall decorations.

This is my shopping from the first day of fall! Now to bake all things pumpkin!

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

September has been a busy month with several small trips.  It started with a family rafting trip.

A visit to the local fair to see our daughter's art work that won a ribbon!

We took our first college visit.

We celebrated my husband's birthday.

And we reunited for the day with dear friends.

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

No comment :)

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

Ongoing, I am working on stuff from both of my part time jobs.  I am also working on some car issues my daughter has had with insurance companies.  So basically adulting!  

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

I am excited about some upcoming travel.  I have weekend trips planned for October and look forward to those opportunities.  

What I'm watching/reading...................

I am watching some of the new season of The Voice, Survivor, & Ted Lasso.  I also watch Pioneer Woman and Hallmark movies on Saturdays.  A weekly favorite is Chesapeake Shores on Hallmark.  I am a fan of this series.

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

Some of my weekly podcasts currently consist of The Big Boo Podcast, Office Ladies, Something to Celebrate, The Bestie Breakdown, Typology, The Open Door Sisterhood, Dont Mom Alone and 2 new ones to me....The Naked Marriage and Making Space with Hoda Kotb.  Hoda interviewed pastor Michael Todd on her first episode and it was very good.  Believe it or not, I have actually eliminated a few from my weekly rotation.  This is why I don't read as much....I am always listening to podcasts it seems!

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

We are not in full on summer heat, yet not in full fall weather mode just yet.  So I am still wearing some summer dresses, and jeans and lightweight shirts.  Probably long sleeve, lightweight shirts are my favorite shirts to wear because I can always add a cardigan, which is my favorite transitional piece.  

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

I am going to see Harry Styles in concert!  Looking forward to a fun night out with my girls!

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

I am taking a trip with my youngest daughter to visit several colleges.  It will be a lot of travel in a short amount of time, but looking forward to walking through this decision process with her and praying for some good conversations along the way.   Also, we celebrate her birthday next month!

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

We have slowly been working on our front porch.  We just got some new concrete poured last week.  

Here are some before, during and after pictures.  Eventually, we will add some rails and some more decor.

We had a wooden walkway from our driveway to our front door.  This is the day the walkway was disassembled.

Once that was gone, this was the view from my front door....a huge drop off!

And just dirt from our driveway.

Then we had a concrete walkway poured which is one level and so much safer than the previous walkway.

Then this was the second phase of the view from my front door.

As of this week, that part of concrete was poured, so now we have 3 small steps to get to our front door, all at different places.

Thanks for reading the blog and hope you all are encouraged throughout this day.  Let's cheer each other on!

Weekend Wrap-Up Friend Reunion ~ September 27, 2021

 Good morning!  Reporting in this Monday morning with a re-cap of the weekend.  

We took off for yet another small trip Saturday morning.  A little back story if you didn't know this......We served as missionaries in Bogota', Colombia in South America for 3 years.  Prior to moving there, we spent one month in Brussels, Belgium in training with other missionary couples.  There were some trying moments, but overall, it was one of the greatest experiences of our lives.  We lived in community and traveled within Europe for a month.  It was a rare, special time.  During that month, we got to know a couple who afterwards moved to Bangkok, Thailand.  Due to the state of affairs of Covid in Thailand, they are in the states now so we met them at a halfway point in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday.  We had seen them just once since our training in Belgium in January 2014. 

Let me just say, Saturday is going down as one of the highlights of 2021.  It was truly life giving.  We laughed so much.  We shared stories of the mission field.  We shared stories of life in the past, today and the future and talked about our kids and marriages.  We just enjoyed each other.  

Here we are in January 2014 in Brussels.

The guys in Brugge, Belgium.  They are broes :).

Saturday in Birmingham....we are so thankful for this dear, couple friend.  It is rare and we only wish we saw them more often.

On our way home Sunday, I had to stop at the local Buc-ees.  Y'all know I am a fan!  And apparently, Sunday mornings are the time to go. It wasn't crowded at all!

Getting those refills with our cups I brought with me on the trip :).

Typically, I get the brisket sandwich when I go, but I wasn't sure what would be offered for breakfast.  Let me say there were so many good options.  But this brisket egg taco was amazing!  The flavor was so good.  I am going back to Buc-ess next month and already looking forward to getting this for breakfast again.  

A weekend away to see dear friends, time with my husband and a side of Buc-ees....almost a perfect weekend.  The only thing lacking was having my girls with me, but we enjoyed the time away.

Wishing you all a good day.  Praying this will be a good week ahead.

Weekend Wrap-Up / Fall Decor ~ September 20, 2021

 Good Monday morning.  Life has been tough lately and is winning over my blogging time these days.  But, today, I am sharing some highlights of the weekend.  I am thankful for some fun times sprinkled among the hard.

We headed out on Friday for a college visit to Mississippi State University.  We first rode by the field of the 2021 College World Series winning team.

My senior

Sunday night, we celebrated my husband's birthday.   He spent some time on his own with a motorcyle ride and camping then came home for dinner.

In honor of fall officially starting Wednesday, I wanted to share a little bit of my fall decor.

And this is how I cope with some hard things these days!  My autumn splurge!

Now off to a fresh start to a new day with new mercies....and cooler temperatures to celebrate this week!

Linking up with Heather today.

Weekend Wrap-Up ~ September 13, 2021 / White Water Rafting

 Good morning. This morning, I am re-capping weekend before last.  This past weekend was thankfully low-key for me.  I did attend a flag football game and went to a family member's wedding shower and spent time watching 9/11 Memorials.  It was a day of reflection and a slow weekend for the most part.  I am thankful because the next 6 weeks, the calendar is full.  So here is my re-cap of Labor Day weekend! Linking up today with Heather.

We headed out last Saturday to visit our oldest daughter.  Here I am with my girls:

 On Sunday after church, we went white water rafting.  Here is our before picture...

Here are during pictures:

Look how high our guide bounced out of the raft!  He let our oldest ride at the front of the boat over a few rapids.  She loved it! We rafted with another couple who were very nice and fun.

Aftewards, we went to an overlook to watch the sunset.

I had to laugh when the view outside our hotel window was this concrete structure.  This is the front of the hotel. I have had views of parking lots, side streets and other uneventful things, but this was a first.  

A few other pictures from our weekend you can see where I posted last week on my Thankfulness post.  

In the meantime on this Monday, I felt compelled to share some lyrics from the song, "Blessed Be Your Name".   Hope it will be encouraging as you go through your day.

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful 

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out, I'll 

Turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering 

Though there's pain in the offering 

Blessed be Your name

God you give and take away

Oh you give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your glorious name

Friday Favorites ~ September 10, 2021 / Saint & the Fair

 Good Friday morning!  I am linking up to share some favorites from the week.

ONE

The end of last week we "re-homed" our dog.  There is story behind that, but basically, we found a great organization that helped us find a new, good home for him.  The reason why I put this as a favorite is that Saturday, we were sent a video of him meeting his new family so it was good for us to see that he is okay.

This was me the night before, but I definitely cried when I actually told him bye.

Saying goodbye before school...

Saying goodbye over Facetime

TWO

Everyone once in a whle I watch an old episode of Hart of Dixie, which is definitely a favorite of mine.

THREE

We went to our local fair for 2 hours this week, which was just enough time to see our daughter's artwork entered in the fair and a few other attractions. It was a fun afternoon.

All these items are fried!  It is funn how they all look the same.

These stuffed animals were huge!

We are so thankful for her talent!

I hope you all have a good weekend and some time to reflect on the anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow.