Friday Favorites ~ Winter Look January 13, 2023

For Friday Favorites this week, I am sharing a little bit of life lately from January and some winter decor.

I am holding my newest great niece for the first time.  She is now 5 weeks old.  That hair!

This picture was taken right before New Years at the town square in Collierville.  It is so pretty at Christmas!

This is a puzzle Brook started while she was home on Christmas break.  It was a hard one to finish so it was a good feeling to finish it.  

Here is a look at the winter decor I mentioned that I like to keep throughout January.  

I added a snowman candle to my side table.

A wintry print, ski pillow and mantle lights add to wintry decor.

I also added this snowy garland to my dining room table.

Maybe we will have a little more snow this season.  I enjoy some daylight in the evening, but am not quite ready for spring or summer weather yet.  

I am trying to get back on track with a little healtheir eating, but struggling in the snack department! I am also trying to go through a stack of recipes to do some meal planning.  That is half the battle for me!  I did try this healthy salad Amy recommended.  I added grilled chicken and had this for dinner and again lunch one day this week.  It was very good!

Wishing you all a good, long weekend!

 

Let's Look & 11 Years!

 Good morning!  Today is the first day of 2023's Let's Look.  Today is about scheduling/organizing.

I will be honest, at this stage of life, I don't have a busy family schedule since I am in the empty nesting phase of life.  Since we all go a few different directions, it can be a challenge to schedule a trip, but we have still made that happen whether it is done in advance or last minute.  Any scheduling or organizing is done by my phone calendar and communication!

In other news, today is my 11 year blog anniversary!

There have been some ebb and flow over the years, but I have always enjoyed this outlet.  I was originally prompted to write my first post about my health and the faithfulness of God.  Since then, this space has been an online diary for me.  I have blogged on life with family, including many trips, homeschooling, holidays, recipes and home misc.  

I am thankful for what this community is today and the encouragement and inspiration from readers. 

I continue to blog on similar topics, but enjoy the link ups these days too! 

Here I am last summer:

And 11 years ago!  This was one of the earliest pictures I found of myself on my blog.  I was standing with my rolling cart that I took to a homeschool conference.

And here are my girls 11 years ago...

And here they are as of December.

I hope, Lord willing, I can continue blogging, with a goal of 2-3 times a week, linking up with others, and also sharing about travel and life.  

Thank you for reading today and each week!

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!

 

Currently ~ January 2023

Here we are at the first Currently of 2023. I'm joining with Jennifer and lots of you to share this month.  

Loving

I am loving starting a new year and that I am going to be able to visit with my best friend later this week!

Organizing

Oh, I am trying to organize so many things.  Somehow, the papers have stacked up and I need to file and shred a lot.  I am hoping I can do more of this once it is a quiet house again. 

I do have the majority of my Christmas decor put away, which is a good feeling.

Resolving

I am resolving to listen more, blog more, read more and exercise more in 2023. I haven't chosen a word of the year in the past, but it is something I have thought about though.  This year, I feel strongly of the word "Listen" is for me.  I want to listen more....listen to my husband, my kids, my friends and family, and the Lord.

Eating

It will be strange next week to only be cooking for two again.  I have enjoyed having a few extra mouths to feed!  I pin so many recipes and need to circle back around and try a lot of those.  I want to try a lot of recipes you all have shared and eat healthier.

Anticipating

I am anticipating some changes in 2023, some which can be hard, but I hope in the long run will be better.  I am hoping for a lot of good changes too.

I'm keeping it short today and will be back next week with more posts. Thanks for reading!

 

Christmas & Presents 2022

 We are a few days into the new year already, but  I am doing a quick recap on our Christmas holiday.  We had a litle bit of snow fall the day before and the day after, so it was fun to see a little bit of white stuff on the ground for Christmas.

Christmas Eve, we went to my parents house for lunch.  My sister and her kids and grandkids were there too.  We ate and opened presents together. The highlight for me was this cutie saying over and over, " I got a camera for Christmas". 

We came home and opened presents from one another. This is what the girls got me:

socks, bread mix, hot chocolate bomb, scented locally made soap

We went to a Christmas Eve service then came home to have chips, dip, and quesadillas.  We watched the new Glass Onion movie on Netflix.  

Santa's last stop was probably our house, since he didn't come until around 8am Christmas Day :).

You know your kids are growing up when they ask for a vaccum cleaner for Christmas, ha!

A newer tradition the past few years has been to wrap the doorway as the girls come to get their gifts.  They didn't get too much this year, but I kept reminding them of our trip to NYC.

I made my Christmas punch and scrambled some eggs to have a quick snack that morning.

We went to my parents house for a late brunch.  We were with some of my first cousins and their kids.  We always enjoy catching up with our " Christmas cousins" as we often call them!

I'm the youngest of the 1st cousins on my mom's side.  There is 17 years between me and the oldest one.  

We then spent the afternoon at home and I cooked pesto chicken for dinner , along with these cheese stuffed rolls.

That night, we watched our traditional Christmas Day movie, The Nativity Story.  Afterwards, we watched the Grizzlies play basketball on tv.

That wraps up our Christmas.  It was great to have the girls home and to have food planned in advance. 

Okay....onward with 2023!!

Prime Purchases ~ January 2023

Happy 2023!!

 Today I am linking up with Tanya for the first Prime Purchases of 2023.  I am highlighing purchases from December that I received as gifts, some I gave to others and a few things for myself.

Christmas Gifts I received:

lipstick

This is a lipstick set recommended by Jennifer.  I am working my way through the colors I think I will use the most, but am glad to have some new colors.

Devotion Book

I am looking forward to using this devotion book. I follow 2 out of 3 of the authors on Instagram and always find encouragment from them.  This book highlights one chapter a week, with a highlighted verse.  I think I will like soaking in one chapter a week without feeling rushed through multiple chapters.  I want to glean and listen by reading.  

Luggage Tags

I got new luggage for my birthday and am glad to have these new luggage tags to attach to my luggage.

Tumbler

I have been wanting a good tumbler, but didn't want to pay top dollar.  This is an affordable cup that is working out great so far!

Heatless Hair Curling Rod

I am trying this out to see if this works on my hair for an easy way to curl it!

Christmas gifts I gave & misc:

Rechargeable Hand Warmer

I gave this hand warmer to my mom as a gift.  It has a USB cord to charge and then you have a hand warmer to use at home or on the go these cold months.  It will be good to keep in your pocket these cold days!

Telescoping Magnet/Flashlight

I gave this gadget to my dad.  I think I heard about this on the Big Boo Podcast maybe?  It sounded neat, so I bought it for my dad.

Magnetic Van Screen

This was my gift to my husband.  He has a van that is used for work, but also he is working on it being a camping van too.  We have camped in it several times and this screen will come in handy.  Obviously, this is probably just for van owners, but it was a fun purchase!

Ear Muffs

I bought these ear muffs for my daughter to use while we were in NYC.  She didn't want to wear a hat as to not mess up her hair, so these worked well.  They are extra thick, but still look cute for winter.

Facial Powder. 

I feel like my grandmother had this powder and I have heard more about it lately, so I ordered some to try.

Keyboard/Car Cleaner Gel

I ordered this for me to use to clean my car.  It can also be used on keyboards as well.  I am hoping it will get little crumbs cleand up in my car!

Scented Stuffed Animal

This may seem strange, but I ordered this for me. It is a scented stuffed bear you can heat in the microwave.  Sometimes, you just need a warm hug. 

This concludes my Amazon shopping and I'm hoping to have a lighter spending month in January.  

Thanks for reading and have a great Monday!