Engaging the Real

John Eldredge has done a fantastic six-part podcast on The World, about how Christians should navigate life in a world that increasingly prefers the artificial to the real...

I've thought about that a lot, and it's so true of our world.
And our souls need more of what is real and true!

Bought some of my favorite flowers this week! =)

Obviously, going with what's artificial is typically easier and more comfortable... air-conditioned indoor spaces, text conversations, online friendships, fast food, processed foods, fake plants, relaxing with TV and movies, pretending to have it all together, etc.

Choosing to engage in what is real takes more effort, but it's also better for our physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational health...  soaking up the sun, swimming,  handwritten cards, face-to-face conversations, cooking, whole foods, real plants and fresh flowers, relaxing by reading a good book or getting a massage or taking a bath, being honest about what's hurting you, etc.

Happy blueberries and strawberries =)

Eldredge talks a lot about the importance of spending more time outside, and over the past few years, I've come to understand more of why it matters and how it affects my mood and health for the better.  (It's ironic that I'm writing this the day after Chet Lee called to tell me a horrifying story about yellowjackets... but still, I'm determined to embrace the outdoors more this summer! lol)

Tiffany and I on the Art Trail walk at Crystal Bridges

All that to say, my motto for this summer = "Engage the Real."  Part of that will be in my thoughts and emotions... I'm starting a new journal purely for expressive writing (writing the truth of what's on my heart without the myriad of filters I typically put on what I write for others to read - turning off the filters is HARD for me because some part of me is always worried about someone reading it down the road, even in diaries I wrote as a child - so this will be a book I fill and then shred or burn, as that's the only way I'll actually write freely). I've read a lot lately about the power of expressive writing to help people really let go of things that have weighed on their minds and hearts.  It's the same idea as talk therapy, but most people find it nearly impossible to genuinely throw open their deepest thoughts to a stranger who is busy forming their own opinions and possible diagnoses about you. So the idea is to put it on paper and express the unfiltered, raw, brutally honest emotions and thoughts that have felt inadmissible.  To come clean and fully process past traumatic events and painful emotions, and to find release and healing. There's also a lot of research about the positive effects that type of writing (letting go of long-held secrets or unexpressed feelings) has on lowering blood pressure, boosting immune function, reducing anxiety, and basically combating all the negative things caused by stress!  And it makes sense that God can use that - that He wants "truth in our inmost being" - and He knows how to free us from whatever causes shame.  So that's something I'm going to push myself to do over the next three months. (Handwriting instead of typing because it's more personal and cathartic that way.)

My latest book - I recommend it!

Another part of "Engage the Real" will be getting outside more often and focusing more on the things I mentioned above -- using my senses to see, touch, hear, taste, and smell the good things God has created, taking a minute to really notice and appreciate it. ❤ I'm not gonna make this very rules-oriented, but it's a fun summer goal that I'll post about here every once in a while.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I'm turning off my home TV for the next three months.  Yeah.  I'm taking a summer break from it, which I realize would be no big deal for lots of people, but it's a major comfort thing for me, so it will be challenging.  I already know I'll have less brain fog and more time for walks, swimming, books, podcasts, audiobooks, cooking, God time, family time, friend time, game nights, brainstorming, working out, writing, journaling, CR practice, trying new things, real rest, aaaand pretty much everything that's not TV. lol

Panera lunch outside with Sarah B. last week =)

So that's my summer plan for June - August of 2018, and I'm looking forward to it!!  =)  
#engagethereal

Vacation Memories!

On this day last year, I woke up in an Embassy Suites hotel room in Canada, with a crazy-awesome view overlooking Niagara Falls...

I got in the car with Mom and Dad for the long road trip from Canada into the heart of NYC!!  We arrived at our hotel that afternoon (the Times Square Marriott Marquis), then walked across the street to eat at Junior's.  That was the first of many fantastic NYC experiences on that trip, where a city that was once at the bottom of my list redeemed itself!!

Jill, Bill, Mom, and Dad in Times Square on this day last year.  =)

I have soooo many great memories from this vacation, and I'm thankful I documented them all in great detail right here on the blog!!  ❤❤ (Click for links)
NIAGARA FALLS recap
NEW YORK CITY recap
FAVORITE QUOTES, etc.
EXTRA pics

Memorial Weekend 2018!

FRIDAY & SATURDAY -- Met Kristin for dinner at Olivetto in Moore... (and took a happy selfie while waiting in the parking lot)... we talked for 3 hours and had fun catching up! =) Mom's photo blanket I got her for Mother's Day came in (it's huge - that's on a king-size bed). Dad got a pretty new car (which put Rappers Delight in my head as soon as I realized it was a Lincoln Continental). lol  And Saturday marked 11 years since the first time I saw my house - yay!!

Saturday we celebrated Babah's 82nd Birthday with our first summer swim for the year at JoBug's!!  J&K painted and glittered up some picture frames for her. =)  

I was gonna join the other adults just sitting under the umbrella and talking... but it was crazy hot, so I opted to swim, and I'm really glad I did!  I just love being in the water - it's fun and good times! =)

Just splashing around eatin' some pizza! lol #cuteness

I left around 2:00 and drove back to Tulsa to get ready for Kyle and Sarah's Engagement Party!  

They're getting married this September in Hawaii, so it was Hawaiian-themed decor and dinner (catered by Taziki's Mediterranean), and everyone wore leis. =)  We even had an awesome two-tier cake from Ludger's! The McAlister's Strawberry Lemonade was a hit, so I guess it's good they messed up and gave me more than I ordered. Also, Karli made the banners as well as individual placecards for us using her Cricut, so that was fun and cute! =) The sun was shining brightly right over Kyle and Sarah, which was a nice metaphor, but not great for eye-to-eye conversation. lol

Kyle took a selfie of our whole table! =)

The picture frame we all signed, baby Tate just hanging out, our party hosts, and Kyle playing the first voicemail Sarah left him. =)

SUNDAY AND MONDAY -- Sunday was Woodlake Church with Audrey, followed by a movie and a relaxing night at home. And Monday was a Bentonville, Arkansas trip with Tiffany... the first road trip where I drove the whole time and crossed state lines - yay me!!  

I'm thankful to say it was a really smooth, scenic drive!  We got to the Crystal Bridges Museum around 10:20, and we had fun touring through and looking at everything. The Chihuly chandelier was awesome, as his work always tends to be!  We rode in the biggest elevator we'd ever seen, and without even discussing it, both went to opposite corners and took a picture of each other. lolol  They had a lot of pretty floral art, including mosaics and a massive wall filled with paper flowers and leaves.

The architecture of the building itself was pretty cool!  We sat down for a bit to map out what was next, and we snapped a picture of our reflection in the huge gold heart hanging from the ceiling. lol  We walked the Art Trail outside - almost all uphill, and most of it was stuff I could care less about like the random metal pig sculpture. The LOVE sculpture was cool, though!  And everything out there was really scenic and pretty (minus the bugs, of course)!

This = a small portion of the art we made fun of! lol  There is always sooooo much fascinating weirdness to be found at art museums, including but not limited to:  A ginormous spider where the artist wrote a special note about how spiders remind him of his mother. ???? A random carving where everyone looks disfigured and only the butt and feet are skin colored. A wall full of wood chips painted black, in a very moving piece titled "Wood and Paint."  A second-grade-level painting titled "Self-Portrait with fish and cat." A colorful cigarette piece called "Smoker #9." A huge turquoise metal sculpture titled "Dropped Bra." lolol  Whyyyy? A very special piece called "Buttons and Glue." A huge silver blob titled "Eat Meat." Two creepily-lifelike exhibits - the man on the bench and the man with glasses. Tiffany mentioned an attorney he reminded her of, and I got really cracked up on that one!  A masterpiece called "Untitled" that was quite literally just tons of green hard candy poured onto the floor of a little hallway room. People are allowed to take and eat them, so it's a unique, ever-changing exhibit. I cannot even with the pretentious stupidity - my favorite thing is listening to people trying to sounds smart as they analyze this stuff. And finally, 3 black and white photos of a woman's hands as she's cooking titled "Mama's Biscuits." Make it stop! lol

They had some good, pretty stuff too, and either way, we had fun looking around!  After we finished the museum and art trail, we stopped for a fun lunch at Tavola Trattoria, a local Italian restaurant. I had a chicken parmesan pot pie, and Tiffany had a chicken parm sandwich and sweet potato fries. Neither of us cared for the cucumber-mint water, and I didn't like my carbonated lemonade much better. We laughed about how we always prefer peasant food to the fancy pretentiousness! lol  

After lunch, we stopped in at the Walmart Museum. The first Walmart ever was opened in Bentonville. They did $250,000 in sales the first year, and are now all over the place raking in over 482 billion!  (They had a "By the Numbers" thing going across the wall, showing when and where they expanded, and it was fascinating - the American dream for sure).  Tiffany and I added our names to the Post-It wall, then stopped for some ice cream at the Walmart Cafe! lol  Then we started off on our scenic road trip back...

Stopping by Dripping Springs State Park to see a pretty waterfall right here in Oklahoma!  We walked around quite a bit there, and it was HOT enough outside that I was really wishing I could jump in!  Then we blasted the AC and the Mamma Mia soundtrack and headed back to my house!  'Twas a fun day and I'm proud of myself for driving and not getting us lost. lol

And that's my Memorial Weekend Recap!  =)  Now here I am back at work for felony Tuesday.  Hopefully the afternoon will go by fast! lol

Photo Friday!

"Schoooooool's out -- for -- the summer!!" =)

Wednesday was the last day for the 2017-2018 school year... the Jaceman survived his first year at CHA! =) Rach made gifts for the kids' teachers that I wanted to document here!  These were for Jace's teachers, Mrs. Gentry and Mrs. Clark!  The double-sided sign with wood on one side and chalkboard on the other is really cute, and the board for Mrs. Gentry is awesome... including the back being signed by all the kids. ❤

 A few pics from the last day... J with Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Gentry, Jace and his friend Gabe, and J&K (she's been out of school for a couple weeks now)! =)

I like how happy he looks here! Also, I love all the pink in this picture... 5 kids with pink-ish shirts, one with a pink skirt, a dress with pink stripes, and a mom wearing pink pants! What in the world!? lol 

This = a Dr. Seuss themed stool for Carter's teacher, Mrs. Champion... soooo cute!!

A sign for Mrs. Miranda (Kyndal's Pre-K teacher), and a Texas Rangers themed stool for Mrs. French, T-man's 4th grade teacher!!

Throwback to their first day of school and meeting their teachers - which doesn't seem very long ago at all, but I'm sure they'd see it differently! =)

❤❤❤

Looking forward to summer fun and swimming ahead!! =)

My Votes...

I'm about ten years late to the party here, but my vote for People's next Sexiest Man Alive goes to Taylor Kitsch... aka Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights!  I've seen more recent pictures of him with shorter hair and more facial hair - and it's absurd but true that I highly prefer the Tim Riggins look, longer hair and scraggly bangs and all.  His character is a white trash alcoholic football star who makes poor financial decisions and rarely puts any effort into school or planning for the future... and yet, I'm a fan of him for the same reasons I liked Jess in Gilmore Girls. There's so much brokenness and quiet protective strength there, and the playful arrogance always gets me, too. His sense of humor and all the close-ups on his eyes don't hurt either. lol  For reals. (The show is somewhat poorly written and has about 1,000 plot holes and unfinished stories that drive me crazy, as well as multiple fatherless teenagers looking to their selfish, hot-tempered football coach for mentorship and life guidance... buuuut I still applaud them for their casting choices! lol) #timriggins #texasforever

In other TV-related news, I'm a fan of Spensha Baker and Kyla Jade on The Voice this year. #teamblake  ...Here are two of my favorite songs:

I can't help but love this song, and I love Kelly's excitement here too! lol


Click here for a trip down memory lane on this day last year. lol

That's all I've got today. =)

Phoning It In, Part 7

And now, another post where I throw in the random pictures on my phone that haven't made the blog yet. =)

This = the cutest sad dog!  I want to hug him.  And this applies to my life since I often stay up too late watching one more episode of whatever show I'm on. lol

Good truth from Lysa Terkeurst!

A note from Jaceman to Claire... my favorite part is the arrow switching the E and C in his signature! =)

A pic Laura posted recently - she still has this in her Bible from the time we put random Office Post-Its all over her house - probably 2010-ish! =)

Random pic I saved to my phone of baby Tate because he looks super cuddly and cute!! ❤

A good reminder from Bob Goff!

A precious prayer that Chris had written on the floor of their daughters' room - one of many Ashley's blog posts that made me tear up!

Yesterday marked 11 years of Facebook friendship with Kristin Foster!! Huzzah! =)

We had Jon snap a phote as we were leaving Cheesecake Factory! =)

We were there to celebrate Neil's birthday with the Connect Group! =)

I'm super thankful for this group, and happy that last night was really fun!  This = a pic where Jon was cracking up at how far back we were standing for the group pic. lol

This = us moving a little closer! =)

Today is my awesomesauce OKC friend, Elizabeth's 30th birthday!! Yaaaay!  She launched her first book on the last day of her 20's, and I'm super impressed with her for that accomplishment (HERE)!

(Here she is with super-fun pink hair! lol)

I had a random visitor on my back porch last night. lol  The glowing cat eyes and unexpected movement outside my back window freaked me right out for a minute, then I turned on my porch light and had a good baby-talk chat with her through the window! lolol  She curled up and slept in my chair here, but she was gone this morning... hopefully back to her home, wherever that is!

The presh mini Miss K had a gymnastics show last night - look how proud - I freaking love it!! ❤

This = tasty biscuit tacos Tiffany made me and Laura for dinner last weekend (we added cheese, beans, salsa, guac, and sour cream as needed). =)

I'm starting and ending with memes, apparently. Mom's cousin, David, posted this and it made me laugh out loud.  The Texas state pride has always cracked me up... I kinda love it! =)

That's all I've got for today, friends!  Hope you're having a good week so far!!

Parrish Baseball Pics

At least one of the kids is excited about picture time!! lololol ❤

I can't even with their expressions here. =)  Jace's smirk in the bottom pic cracks me up!

Mmmmmmini Miss K!!

Daaang! They're getting better at the serious "fierce" faces. My handsome nephews with their piercing green and blue eyes. #carterriggins lol

Soooo muuuuch cutenessss!!

T-man's serious face faltered for a minute. lol  That one makes me laugh!

J with the baseball bat and K with the gymnastics moves. lol  (Her knees are still scraped up from an unfortunate hoverboard accident a few weeks back!)

Again with the smirky Jace-face. lol  And the backwards baseball caps = awesomesauce!  So does the Miss ready to bat! =)

Jace Michael and Carter Lee... J's real smile is super cute, but he struggles to find it when he's posing for anything. You have to catch him in a candid laugh! =)

And one of the whole fam (minus Josh)... I love how Kyndal's looking up at Jace here.  

*To be clear, Mom took all of these pics today whilst I was in Tulsa, and I'm just posting them here because I love them! ❤