What's Up Wednesday ~ October 2019

October, where did you go?  As much as there were some good moments, there were some others I am glad to leave behind.  Pressing forward to the rest of 2019!

What We're Eating This Week.......

Monday - Cauliflower pizza

Tuesday - Slow cooker BBQ chicken with salad and chips

Wednesday - church

Thursday - dinner with friends for Halloween

Friday - out

What I'm Reminiscing About...........

How did this little toddler go from 4 to 15 overnight? 

What I'm Loving...........

I love these cooler temperatures, Hallmark Christmas movies and upcoming time with family.

What We've Been Up To............

We have been celebrating birthdays this month! First, Brook turned 15 and you can read more about that here.

We also celebrated our sweet Campbell who turned 3 years old.

He loved his pajamas we got him! 

Little sister got a gift too and had fun at the party.

Love these kids so much!

What I'm Dreading..........

The heat has finally left us, so at this point, my only dread is working full time during the holidays.  With that being said, I am thankful for my job and that I can work from home a few days a week.

What I'm Working On............

At work, I am staying busy booking a lot of international trips.  Most of them seem to be to Central America, Africa and Asia. At home, I am just balancing the normal home life with working full time.  I am always looking at random things for my own personal travel though.

What I'm Excited About..........

I am excited about our two upcoming trips in the month of November.  I haven't had a vacation (past a 2 night stay) in over a year, so the fact that I am going away for 5 nights, is exciting to me.

What I'm Watching/Reading...........

I have been reading my fall magazines and of course, I am watching all the new Hallmark movies :).

What I'm Listening To...........

I have started listening to the podcast, Office Ladies. This is hosted by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey, otherwise known as Pam and Angela from The Office.  They go through each episode and tell behind the scenes stories.  They are only a few episodes in, but now that has me starting over watching The Office again!

What I'm Wearing..........

I am just so happy it is boot weather again!!  With the cooler temperatures, I have transitioned to fall/winter clothes.  My favorite part about that is wearing boots.  My all time favorites are these Ugg boots: 

What I'm Doing This Weekend............

First, we plan on renewing our membership to our local gym.  That is goal number one and then the next goal is to go.  I am hoping to visit with a friend Saturday and then church on Sunday.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month.......

November is my favorite month of the year.  It is a month where people focus on being thankful.  The month also welcomes the Christmas holidays ~ decorating, music and shopping. November has cool temperatures and colors of fall.  This November, we have 2 quick trips planned that I am looking forward to so much.  And did I mention, November is my birthday month!!

What Else Is New...........

We have been doing some fall baking ~ Pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies lately.  My favorite recipe for pumpkin bread is here.  I adjust it and use a sugar substitute and Almond flour.

Last week, we decided to rent a throw-back movie and watched Back To The Future.  I loved this movie and it starred Michael J. Fox, who I was a big fan of at the time because I loved his TV show, Family Ties.  The movie also showcased songs by Huey Lewis and the News, my favorite.  The cool thing about watching it was the date they went back in time was October 26th and that is when we watched the movie!

Keep being kind, ask someone how they are doing, give to someone having a hard time and leaning in to Jesus.  Thanks for reading and  y'all have a lovely Wednesday!

Tuesday Talk ~ Brook's 15th Birthday

Tuesday Talk this week is about our new 15 year old.  My youngest daughter turned 15 on Friday.

It was fun because she was out of school on fall break.  I worked that morning and celebrated with her in the afternoon.  Here are some photos from our day....with a little flashback.

This is 11 years ago...at her 4th birthday and one of my favorite pictures of us.

My girl loves her some brownies, and back on that 4th birthday, we had what we call "circle brownies".  Basically, I baked brownies in a muffin tin and its been a thing ever since.  And she loves these classic One Direction plates that has her now favorite singer, Harry Styles on it. We had these the Monday before when her big sister was home from college.

A tradition I often do is hang streamers from my girls bedroom door on their birthdays.

Another tradition, one started by my mom when I was younger, is breakfast in bed on your birthday.  I am thankful I am able to work from home so I could deliver this then go back downstairs to work.

I gave her a letter using song titles from One Direction and Harry Styles.  She really liked it and it was fun to use creativity in a way she would like. 

After I finished a morning of work and she enjoyed her morning of relaxing, we started our afternoon with lunch at Chick-Fil-A.

We went to Madewell and went straight for the clearance rack.  The sign said "Sale...It's Your Lucky Day!"

Then we headed to Sephora and then Kendra Scott for birthday goodies.

After an afternoon of shopping, we came home, picked up a friend and went out for dinner.

We ate at The Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious.  As usual when I have eaten there, everything looks amazing on the menu.

We came home and had pound cake.  This is Brook's request every year and we have a dear friend who makes this for her every year.  

Happy Birthday my Brook!  She is a such a joy and brings so much laughter and keeps me balanced.  I have loved watching her grow up.  

Prime Purchases ~ September

We made it!  And I think only 2 more days of hot weather.  We can do this Southern friends!!

This picture above is one of my favorites.  I actually have a print of this in my home that I purchased while in NYC.  It is a picture from the "mall" in Central Park.

Today, I am sharing a few Prime Purchases from September. 

ONE

Autumn pillow covers

I mentioned these last week and I really like these affordable, pretty pillow covers.  I basically just got 4 pillows for under $20!! I had some old pillows that I covered, so this was cute and affordable. Here are 2 out of the 4.  There are also many other styles online.

TWO

Blue light blocking glasses

I bought these for my college girl who is spending more time these days behind a computer.  Random fact, most college books are online these days!  She had to buy very few actual books, but you buy access codes instead.  Anyway, that was news to me :).  Back to the glasses, they have really helped her and are great for people who don't necessarily have vision trouble, but do have eye strain from staring at a computer all day.

THREE

Mesh athletic shoes

I drank the kool-aid and bought this pair of walking shoes.  They are very comfortable  and I read about these from Sheaffer's blog.  Read here on her blog to read more about these.

To sum up this Tuesday, like the famous quote all around social media these days, yes, I too am glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

What's Up Wednesday ~ September 2019 Edition

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

Monday - grilled chicken, veggies, sourdough bread

Tuesday - late lunch for Brook and I so hot dogs for Avery :)

Wednesday - church

Thursday - tacos

Friday- out!

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

Our college girl came home Labor Day weekend.  It was so good to see her again and we went to a football game.

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

Y'all, I am loving watching the A Very Brady Renovation show on HGTV.  I loved this show as a child and my girls loved watching it too.  I even said last week I am so glad I am alive to watch this happen!  Two years ago when we went to Los Angeles, we drove by the house and took a photo, which was before they put the house up for sale.  

And, you may know I am a fan of Pioneer Woman, especially after visiting her ranch in March. So this picture of two of my favorite things really made me smile. She will be cooking in the Brady kitchen on this weeks episode of Pioneer Woman!!

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

It's been a busy month with little things, but one of the fun things was spending time with my greats on a Saturday morning. We shopped and went to Chick-Fil-A.

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

I am totally dreading more heat.  Come on fall weather!!!

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

I am planning a few fall quick weekend trips and thinking about travel next year.

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

Seeing our college girl (pictured here with her sweet roommate) this weekend! I am also looking forward to a day off work and eating out that comes with the weekend away :). 

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

Like I mentioned earlier, I am loving the Brady Renovation show and am also excited for the new season of the Voice with Gwen Stefani.  And I'm hoping the Yankees do well in post season baseball!

What I'm reading is our new devotion book, New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp.  The cool thing about this is that all 4 of us got this before Isabella went to college.  We facetime every other week (the goal was once a week, but every other week is how it is working out for us) to talk as a family about what we have read since we are all reading the same devotion book.

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

Currently, a Huey Lewis playlist on Spotify!  I am a huge Huey fan and am grateful to have met him twice :).

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

I am a jeans and a short sleeve shirt girl, often found with a cardigan for cooler temperatures inside.  But I am hoping this time next month I can respond with boots and long sleeve shirts!!!

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

We are taking a road trip to go see our college girl!

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

Have I mentioned cooler temperatures yet??  I know everyone south of Minnesota is in agreement! 

I mean, next month is October which begins the true holiday season trilogy.  In October, we celebrate my youngest daughters birthday and I still love watching the excitement leading up to the birthday.

Pumpkins, pumpkin food, cooler weather, birthdays...I mean so many little things that make life happier  :).

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

Typically in the last few years, I put out fall decorations on September 1st.  Due to the heat in September, I just couldn't bring myself to put out fall decorations that early.  Now that the official start of fall is here, I have decorated the house.  I keep these decorations out for almost 2 months until Christmas, so I am thankful I didn't put them out any earlier than I did this year.  Here are a few pictures, or okay, my home fall tour.:

Like the rest of the south, I am waiting on fall temperatures before I put out any mums. I did get this new wreath for our door.

Dining room table

We still have a Happy Birthday banner up in honor of Avery's birthday last week.  We have family birthdays the next 2 months, so we just may keep it up until mid-November. I did get some new pillow covers and covered up some old pillows.  I really like these pumpkins.

Here you can see another pillow cover that came in the same set. 

Happy Fall! We finally made it! Go enjoy your day!

Thanks for recapping the month with me and have a great day!

Prime Purchases ~ August2019

Hi.  Today I am linking up with Prime Purchases.  Some of my purchases this past month were some not so glamorous, but necessary things for a college dorm.  Below are some other items to share that I have enjoyed using.

Makeup Remover Reusable Microfiber Cloths

These makeup remover cloths are so soft and are great to use in the evening.  The package I received had 6 cloths, so I shared some with my girls.

Hask Dry Shampoo

I use dry shampoo sometimes a little more than I should :), so I am happy to have found a quality dry shampoo that doesn't break the bank.  This is also sold at Target and WalMart.  

Revlon Hair Dryer and Volumnizer

After all the rave reviews on this dryer online, I ordered one during Prime Day and it has been a great one step to dry and smooth my hair at the same time.

Hint Sunscreen

This sunscreen actually worked and smelled good this summer for my girls.  They liked using it and their friends wanted to use it too. There are no parabens or chemicals in this spray, so that is a bonus!

Tom and Sheri's Iron in a Bottle

I ordered my first bottle of this last year and it has come in so handy, especially for a quick spray down of cotton fabrics (a lot of t-shirts).  I finally re-stocked on this when it was on sale last week.  I love having the travel bottle and sent some back with my college girl.  A little goes a long a way, so it will last a while.

Happy Tuesday!