Hello Monday ~ June 30, 2025

Happy Monday and y'all, it is the last day of June!  Where did June go???  I honestly can't say I am sad to see 2025 moving along fast.  Here is a re-cap of the weekend.

I drove home Friday and when I arrived, Brook had bought me these beautiful flowers.  I love how she is so thoughtful.  

I unpacked, rested, took a shower and went to a restaurant with a friend and we listened to some local music while also watching a cornhole competition on the tv.  It was quite the entertainment and a fun night.  I was tired when I got home for sure.

I slept in Saturday and stayed at home all day until I went to the wedding of my co-worker.  The reception was at the botanical gardens and was beautiful.

I enjoyed 2 glasses of champagne and had a few sips of white wine. The food was enjoyable too.

They had a mashed potato bar served in these martini glasses.

Me with my co-workers

They gave us these light up headbands mid-way through the reception.

And with the bride!

I went early to church Sunday to help set up for a friend and then left early to meet some friends for brunch downtown.

Two of these friends I had not seen in probably 30 years. 

You can see some of the Memphis Bridge in the background of this picture!

Sunday afternoon, Brook and I went to get some frozen yogurt.  We came back home and watched more of the DCC season 2.  It was so good to have some more time at home catching up on a few things.

I am back to work today and regular work and errands this week, outside of the upcoming holiday.

I hope you have a great Monday and thanks for reading!

 

Friday Favorites ~ June 27, 2025

Happy Friday!  I hope your week has been good.  I have been busy and on the road a lot. 

Here is the recap.....

I left home Sunday and spent the night at my niece's with these 4 cuties.  We lined up our Warmies.

I just had the youngest on Monday when the older ones went to cousin camp.  We met my parents and Brook for dinner at Chili's.  Y'all, I had not been to a Chili's in so long, but the food and service was so good.  I had a steak, which I also had not had in a while and it was excellent.

Tuesday, I drove to Chattanooga and met up with my daughter.  We went to a conference that our church denomination had and saw dear friends.  These friends in the picture below are some we served with while living in Bogota', Colombia.

These 2 ladies work for the organization we worked with and I loved seeing them again.

After the evening service, my daughter and I went to a local brewery for a gathering of the youth leaders in that area. 

We left there and went to another brewery that had been reserved for a group of people who work with college ministry.  I was beginning to fade after 2 nights sleeping with a 3 year old and a day of driving.  At 11pm, I rallied and ate dinner #2 with a hamburger slider and piece of pepperoni pizza.  This pineapple vodka seltzer was pretty good too.  We left this place after midnight and went back and crashed at my daughter's place.

The next morning, I was able to take my daughter to breakfast for some one on one time.  It was brief since she had a meeting, but I always love being with her.  She had the paleo breakfast and mine was keto.  I did eat her avocado though!

I said goodbye to her and met up with my other 2 friends again and we posed at the Australia booth with some props. 

I left Chattanooga tired, but with a very full heart.

I drove to a suburb of Lexington, Kentucky and stopped at Buc-ees I had not been to before.  Yes, it looked the same as the others, but I had to stop.  I bought a fountain drink and an energy drink, which I usually just drink on road trips.

As I was approaching my destination, I went on back roads and all the scenery was so pretty. Kentucky really is a beautiful state.

I met up with my dear friend and her family.  I met them when I lived in Bogota.  They still live there, but are stateside for a few weeks this summer.  They were doing a college visit for one of their daughters so I was more than willing to drive to come see them.  I see my friend every 2 years but hadn't seen her husband and kids in 9 years.

We went to Tazikis for dinner and then the next day went to a local coffee/lunch place and I had this excellent cobb salad.

While they went on their tour, I spent some downtime in my hotel room and it was wonderful.  We all went to dinner together and then found frozen yogurt afterwards, which was delicious.

This was a life giving week for me seeing my daughter and so many friends from my time in South America.  It was a lot of driving time alone for me, but I enjoyed that as well as I had lots of podcasts to catch up with during my driving time.  

I look forward to catching up at home this weekend with a few other fun plans.  

I hope yours is good and thanks for reading!

I leave you with this sight from Lexington....a Little Ceaser's pizza and a Waffle House connected in the same building.  God Bless the USA!

 

Monthly Musings ~ June 2025

 It is time for June's monthly edition of Monthly Musings talking about Summer Vacations.

1.  Share your summer trips for 2025.

I had a quick visit this week to see my oldest daughter in Chattanooga and a trip to Kentucky to see a friend of mine I met while living in South America.  She is in Kentucky this week for a visit and I drove to see her.  More on this trip coming soon!

My other trip will be a quick beach trip with Jenn!  We are excited to get away for a few days!

2. How do you manage the post vacation laundry?

It is pretty easy for me now.  I just empty my packing cube into the hamper and wash sometime soon.  When the girls were living at home, I would wash the next day or so and it was somewhat like a normal laundry day.

3.  Most memorable summer vacation?

This has my head spinning in a good way because I have so many great vacation memories.  As a child, most of them included camping trips in our camper.  Once married, we traveled a lot and took our kids a lot of places as well.  We had a camper for a few years when the girls were little which made traveling fun and easier.  Since I worked as a travel agent on and off over the past 35 years, I use to receive some good benefits.  

Any trip to NYC is memorable & probably the most memorable summer trip there was the first one with both my girls. 

4.  Do you cook or eat out on vacation?

I cook if I am at a place that has a full kitchen.  Otherwise, I eat out most of the time.  Regardless, I always bring snacks!  If I am on a road trip, I will bring a bigger supply of snacks.

5.  Are you an overpacker, underpacker or just right packer?

For the most part, I think I am just right.  Sometimes, I do take an extra outfit I don't wear, but I would rather have it than not.  That being said, if I know I am going somewhere I can easily purchase something, I don't worry too much if I have forgotten something.

6.  Beach, lake or mountain?

I enjoy all 3! I think of the beach and lake more for the summer months and the mountains in the fall.

7.  Road trip of fly?

If it is under 8 hours, I will drive.  If it is much longer, I will probably fly.  If I had someone with me and we had stops along the way, I could take a longer road trip. I enjoy both!

8.  Favorite vacation activites?

I like to relax and sleep in, but I also like to be on the go!  I like a plan, but I do also like a flexible schedule.  Depending on the location, I enjoy a national park trail, whitewater rafting, an art museum, a broadway play, a wax museum, different restaurants, looking at local houses, an amusement park, a baseball game or other museums. 

9.  Best packing tips?

My best packing tip is one that probably so many of you do....packing cubes!  I have had mine for years and originally bought them through a website that sells travel gear before Amazon or others had a version of them. I use them for hair items, different types of clothes, different days of clothes and then re-use them as dirty laundry bags midway through a trip.

10.  Favorite road trip songs?

I like a mix of songs - it can be anything from worship, 80's, current music, country or broadway.  I also listen to podcasts and a book if I am traveling alone.

Have a great day!

Hodgepodge ~ June 25, 2025

 Happy Hodgepodge Day!

1. What does adventure mean to you? 

Sometimes adventure is just day to day life when things go differently than anticipated.  Other times, adventure is doing something new for the first time.  Probably the greatest adventure I have had was living in another country that didn't speak English. If you are a new reader, I lived in Bogota', Colombia for 3 years.

2.  What are your thoughts on tipping? What businesses or service providers do you regularly tip? Do you resent being asked if you'd like to add a tip? What about when a suggested amount is presented? 

I tip when I have a waitress and I am seated.  I don't tip when I am standing up to order.  I am okay when a suggested amount is calculated to help me on the math, but I like giving the percentage I feel is fair.

3. I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream...do we? Is ice cream a favorite treat at your house? What's your favorite flavor? Regular, soft serve, gelato, sherbet, or some sort of non-dairy version of ice cream...what's your pleasure? 

If you have been a reader of my blog, you probably know that my favorite treat is frozen yogurt.  I usually start with a mix of sugar free chocolate/vanilla as my base and add in low fat caramel and/or cookies and cream yogurt on top.  I rarely get toppings on my frozen yogurt.

4. What's your 'back in my day, we____________________ ' story or saying? 

Played outside every day; talked on the phone with a corded phone until the development of the cordless phone and then had "call waiting"; had no streaming services and had to hurry back before the commercial ended or wait for the rerun of the show to come back on during the summer; anticipated the TV guide with the new fall schedule; pushed play and record to tape a show from tv or from the radio...we even had a 8 track player with our stereo/record player.  I could go on and on with more childhood things, but these are the things that first came to mind!

5. Somehow this is our last Hodgepodge in the month of June. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in July. Wow. Sum up your June using three adjectives. 

Fun - My youngest daughter is home for the summer and I was able to see my oldest daughter too!

Surprising - I met a new friend :)

Hot - Summer has arrived in the South!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I spent the night at my niece's house Sunday night since she was leaving town early Monday morning.  I was up by 6am watching tv and eating with this crew.  Big brother was still sleeping.  How fun to wake up with these faces!  Hat's off to moms of young ones doing this every day!

Have a great Wednesday friends!

Hello Monday ~ June 23, 2025

Happy Monday!  Somehow, last week got away from me and I didn't make it to blogging but twice.  This week has a different schedule for me, but I still hope to back to my regular 3 or 4 posts this week.

Now I will recap last week and the weekend!

Last Monday, I was able to meet Jenn for lunch at our favorite place.  It was funny, we just assumed where we would be meeting! It was delicious and always a fun time!

I made 2 loaves of sourdough last week and 2 loaves yesterday! I am giving away some, but usually make 2 loaves every week and a half or so.

I went back to dance class last Thursday night.  It was a free rhumba class and it was super fun to be back dancing.

Friday, I went to John Mark's and met up with Jenn and her mom and sisters for a few minutes.  The table is decorating goals!

Friday, I was headed out to meet a friend for dinner and sent this picture to Jenn on my way. I am wearing my new dress I bought while in Texas.  

Saturday morning, I met Jenn and her sister at her neighbor's pool.  It was nice to jump in a pool and swim a little bit on such a hot day.

I came back home and this look of my backyard awaited me.  It was full of branches all over the ground and in desperate need of being weed eaten.  For the next 3 hours, I hauled branches to the street and slowly used my weed eater and finished about 75% of the yard.  It is a little too big for me to finish in one afternoon.  

I got a little scared when I saw what I thought was a rock start moving.  Then, I realized it was this turtle!

I went inside and brought out a few bacon bits to feed him and proceeded to name him Rocky.  I had a pet turtle when I was a kid and his name was also Rocky.

I took a late afternoon shower and got in bed at 8pm Saturday night.  I was quite tired!

Sunday morning, I went to church and Target then met Jenn for lunch.

I watched an episode of the new America's Sweethearts about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Sunday afternoon with Brook.  We enjoyed watching the show last year so are back to watch this years season.

This meme sums up my sleeping lately!

Have a great day friends and thanks for reading!