Hello Monday with an Introduction

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I am linking up with Not Just a Mom and Hello Monday.  

Today's topic for Not Just a Mom is introductions, so I will start there.

 

My name is Marilyn and I am approaching my 11 year blog anniversary.  I am married and have two college daughters, so I am in the empty nest phase of life.  I am also a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt and one of my favorite roles in the past 6 years, a great aunt.  I have 8 greats & they all live within 45 minutes from me.  I try to see them once or twice a month, but some months, the time gets away from me.  

I grew up in a loving home and am thankful to have a legacy of grandparents and parents who loved/love Jesus.  I grew up in the church and really grew in my faith in Jesus Christ while I was in college.  I majored in Aviation Management ( not sure if I have ever mentioned that here or not) and my first job out of college was with Delta Air Lines.  I grew up with a love of travel and would plan out family vacations and remember asking for maps for Christmas.  Delta closed their office here, so I began working for a travel agency working in corporate travel.  

Here are a few random facts about me:

First concert - Elvis Presley

I loved listening to music and loved going to concerts in the 70's and 80's especially.  I was a fan of the Osmonds and then in the 80's, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates and Huey Lewis, among many others.  I was able to meet Donny & Marie Osmond once and have met Huey twice.  

Broadway plays - I grew up going to plays in my city, including touring productions, local productions and high school productions.  I still enjoy this & Broadway music.  I was in a few plays when I was in high school.  Just last month, I went to see The Music Man in New York City with Hugh Jackman, which was incredible!

Career - tour guide at Graceland

Delta Air Lines

Corporate Travel Agent

A few days here and there of substitute teaching

Currently working part-time for a local non-profit organization

I lived in my hometown for 27 years then moved to a suburb of Charlotte, NC for 5 years.  We moved to Memphis, then moved to Bogota, Colombia in South America for 3 years as missionaries.  We have been back in the states for 6 years this month.  

I love spending time with my daughters, time with friends, & my family/greats. I enjoy cooking, eating good food, Hallmark, organizing,  working puzzles, listening to music & podcasts, blogging, working in my yard (when the weather isn't too hot or cold), traveling, especially cruises and New York City.  

  I blog here about my family, purchases, travel and other random things.  That gives a little insight to who I am.  I appreciate you reading this blog! Now on to a weekend wrap-up....

I took a few days off last week since I took my first quick trip of 2023.  We went to Charlotte, NC and within an hour of our arrival, we went to watch the Memphis Grizzlies play the Charlotte Hornets.  Our family has become NBA fans and it was fun to watch our team in a different city.  The Grizzlies won!!

On our drive to Charlotte, we stopped at the newest Buc-ees in Tennessee.

Ja Morant

Jaren Jackson, Jr.

We had great seats for the game. Some of my in-law family came as well.

It was a lot of fun spending time with some of my nieces and nephew there that we haven't seen in a while.

While I was there, I was able to have lunch with one of my best friends (no picture), which was great.  Both my girls had cars there and left from there to drive back to their universities.  It was a little easier to say so long from a neutral place and we will all see each other again in just 4 weeks, so that helped too.  My husband and I flew one way back home and had a beautiful view of the sky.

Sunday morning, we joined a church plant we have been visiting the past few years, so it was good to finally commit to a place.  We went out to eat for Mexican food afterwards and spent the afternoon catching up on things after being out of town a few days & I made this go-to quick dinner:  turkey sausage with BBQ seasoning, sugar free BBQ sauce, cheese and crackers

I feel like this is our first normal week in the past 2 months with no holidays, back to empty nesting and back to a regular work week.  Prayers appreciated for our family!

Now to do some menu planning and get on track!

 

Valentine's Day/Hello Monday/Not Just a Mom ~ February 14, 2022

 Happy Valentine's Day!  Here is a sweet throwback to 14 years ago when my girls were little....

And a few throwbacks to my husband and I......

Our wedding on a trail at Glacier National Park, Montana

10 year Vow Renewal at Graceland

In the city of love

Now on to a short weekend recap with Hello Monday linkup....

I worked Friday and Saturday due to an event we had at work.

Friday night, the 3 of us went out for an early Valentine's dinner and got some cajun food.  I had crawfish etoufee and it was delicious!

Saturday afternoon, I relaxed some and then cleaned house for guests who came over for dinner.  

Sunday was church, leftovers at home and a Super Bowl party with friends from church.  

Now on to sharing "A Day in the Life", linking up with Not Just a Mom blog.

My day in the life isn't too exciting, but I thought I would share what is on the agenda for most days.

One day a week, I have a work meeting with my bookeeping job I do for my husband's business. We try to have a second one as well during the week, but at least get one meeting in each week.  On those days, I spend the rest of the day doing some online work for my non-profit job and also house work.  I will often try to schedule a lunch with a friend or see family on these days too.

Two days a week, I go into the office for my non-profit job.  I love my job, which has some consistency, but there is always something new as well.  It is a very rewarding job and also I love the flexibility of it with the schedule.  

My days go by fast with my 2 part-time jobs and a trip to the grocery store along the way.  I try to meal plan on Sundays to have an idea of what we will have for food during the week.  I do cook 4-5 nights each week.

We try to go to the gym once or twice a week in the evenings. I also am just starting a bible study once a week as well.  I try to spend the other nights at home.

I will catch up on watching a few things I record during the week....the latest Hallmark movie and I like to watch at least the opening segment of Hoda and Jenna each day.  Currently, we just started watching Maid on Netflix.  

That's more my "A Week in the Life" instead of day!

Enjoy this day and may you feel loved by those around you, but especially from your creator!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Not Just a Mom ~ Concerts

 Happy Monday and here's to a new week!  Today I am linking up with the Not Just a Mom monthly topic of concerts & with Tanya.  Oh my, this is a fun one for me!

I have always loved music and concerts too.  I went to a few as a child, then a lot more as teenager and then occasionally as an adult.  I will list what I can remember with a few pictures, which are probably not great quality considering they were taken with old fashioned cameras :).

First and foremost, my first concert was a great one to tell about....Elvis Presley!  I saw his last concert in Memphis.  This is actually one of my earliest childhood memories.  Who knew I would grow up and work at Graceland (it was my summer job while in college) and still today, listen to Elvis music quite a bit?  Here are some pictures from that night in 1976 I found online.  

I was a big Donny Osmond fan as well.  I saw him and later saw he and Marie as a teenager, then I saw their show in Las Vegas, where I was able to meet them (thanks Mom & Dad for arranging that!), and then saw them a few years ago at a local venue.  They are such good entertainers!

At my first Osmond concert :)

This is a picture of my sister and I when we met Donny & Marie backstage after their Las Vegas show.

These are pictures from when my sister and I went with our parents to see Donny & Marie at a local venue a few years ago.  I know it seems like a lot of Osmonds, but hey, I am a child of the 70's and this is what I watched every Friday night!

When I was a teenager, I began going to see my favorite artists when they would come in town.  I remember concert tickets being between $12-$15.  Oh, where are the days?

Then concert tickets increased and I didn't go as much, but did still go occasionally.

Here are some others I have seen throughout the years:

Shawn Cassidy (from the 70's)

Beach Boys

Jimmy Buffet

Hootie and the Blowfish

Rod Stewart

John Mellencamp

Steven Curtis Chapman

Rick Springfield

Eurythmics

Howard Jones

Lee Anne Rimes

Tim McGraw/Faith Hill

George Strait

Johnny Cash

Bruce Springsteen

Phil Collins

Duran Duran (I was a huge fan when I was in Jr. High, but didn't see them until after I was married.  I have seen them a few times now and would still go back to see them for the sake of nostalgia and I like their music.)

Hall & Oates

Sting

KC & the Sunshine Band (They played at a state fair.)

Ariana Grande

Kacey Musgravves (She opened for Harry Styles.)

Harry Styles (This was another fun one because it was my youngest daughter's first concert and my oldest daughter's second concert, but my first with them both.  We have tickets to see him again this fall!)

And of course, my all time favorite....Huey Lewis and the News!  I have seen them about 8 or 9 times and have met Huey twice.  Unfortunately, he has lost some hearing and doesn't tour anymore.  

This is a fun topic so I am excited to read about other's concerts.