Weekend Wrap-Up ~ College Tour, Part 1

 Good Monday morning to you! I am thankful this morning for fall break and good weather.

Here is a re-cap on our weekend..........

It started with some homemade pizzas Friday night my husband cooked for us at home in our little pizza oven.  Then my youngest and I headed out for a college tour road trip. Saturday morning started with breakfast at Buc-ees and snacks for the day!

Yes, there are 2 of us, but we brought all 3 Buc-ees cups to refill :)

When my Texas friend introduced me to this in early 2020, little did he know I would become such a fan.

Our first college tour stop was SCAD Atlanta campus.

This is in their film stage studio with the green screen in the background.

The floor pictured here is made out of recycled seatbelts and those are classrooms to the right.

After the tour, my oldest drove down to meet us there, so we go to see her a second weekend in a row in a different city!  We did a little shopping and lunch the next day before we parted ways again.

We then traveled on to Athens, GA, home of University of Georgia.  We stopped at a local ice cream shop and I was surprised and happy to find huckleberry ice cream!  This is my favorite flavor that I had in Montana.  The store told me they get this shipped to them.

We were able to walk into the Georgia Bulldog stadium for a few pictures.  It is huge!  It was fun to be there, especially considering what a great football season they are having this year.

This screen alone seemed so big, but for everyone in the stadium to see it, it is the right size.

I love, love, love a college bookstore.  It makes me want to buy all the swag and join the school spirit. 

This is such a pretty campus. 

More to come later this week with part 2 of our college tour adventures...and possibly a few more stops at Buc-ees :).

Here we are rolling into the second week of October.  Time is going fast!  Enjoy!

Linking up with Heather

Currently ~ October 2021

 Happy Wednesday!  I am linking up with Anne today for the monthly Currently series. Today we are looking at what we are borrowing, buying, planning, prepping and reading.

Borrowing

I am currently borrowing all the wisdom and ideas I can get.  In my own wisdom now in my 50's, the one thing I have learned is that I always have so much more to learn.  I am borrowing wisdom from the scripture, music, friends and podcasts.  I am also borrowing ideas from blogs & instagram on topics of family, decor and recipes.

Buying

I am currently buying birthday gifts!  My youngest daughter has a birthday this month!  I have bought a few random Christmas gifts, but I will do most of that next month with all the sales.

Planning

I am currently reviewing my plans for a college visit trip.  I am planning out some stops and restaurnts along the way.  Basically, I am mapping out all the Buc-ees on our route :).

Prepping

I am prepping meals for my husband while I am out of town along with prepping my house to be clean and picked up with all my stacks of things to be organized.

Reading

I am finishing up my book on Ruth and also Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at the Table by Francis Chan.  I am a slow reader, so maybe I will take more time to read on my trip.

Hope this mid-week post finds you doing well and something to smile about!

Weekend Wrap-Up / Harry Styles ~ October 4, 2021

 Thank you October for coming again.  It is so good to have you back.  

I am linking up today with Heather with a re-cap of the weekend.

As I mentioned last week, I had high hopes for a fun Friday night, and it was every bit of it.  My youngest daughter and I drove to Nashville Friday afternoon while my oldest met us there from her university.  We met at our hotel, grabbed a quick dinner from Panera, which was next door & convenient, then headed to see Harry Styles in concert!

There was such a sigh of relief when we all got inside the arena.  We bought these tickets almost 2 years ago, and we just were a little nervous that something was going to get cancelled again.  Thankfully, we all made it inside and it all felt real.  Everyone had to show their vaccination card or a negative Covid test to enter. My daughters are big Harry Styles fans, and I admit, I am a fan too.  We saw him 3 1/2 years ago on his first tour.  

I grew up going to concerts, so it has always been something I enjoy doing.  My first concert was Elvis!  It is fun to do this with my girls and so fun to see the smiles on their faces.  We took so many videos, but here are some of our regular pictures.  

View of the stage before Harry

My sweet girls...they grow up fast!

Guess who just came out on stage?  

And this picture below was borrowed from a Harry account on Instagram.

At one point, I thought we were going to live the rest of our lives in Nashville traffic.  We spent an hour and 15 minutes to go one block after the concert.  I wish I were exageratting.  This was definitely Bogota', Colombia type traffic.  We lived in that for 3 years, but it had been a while since we have expreinced just sitting in traffic like that with no movement.  We got back to the hotel well after midnight and momma was tired.

Saturday morning, we slept in then did some shopping, ate lunch, then parted ways again.  

This was definitley the biggest event I have attended in 2 years, and I was so thankful.  In this hard world, it is so nice to have a fun highlight like Friday was for me.

Wishing you all a happy Monday and week ahead!

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.