SEPTEMBER 2022!

 QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"Legacies grow from one small seed planted in faith... Have faith, friends. Keep growing good things. Take steps of faith for what matters most. Know that your small steps add up over time — even with many missteps along the way. My dad’s life displayed this truth to me so clearly. The little things done in love over time were the big things in the end."

~Lara Casey, Cultivating What Matters: A New Season

SEPTEMBER MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• Fun with friends at the Wilsons' Labor Day pool party!
• Tate showing me an awesome tree bridge in their neighborhood
• The OSU game with Triston (and seeing Anthony Hill!)
• Celebrating Gus & Marilyn's 50th anniversary at The Ranch
• Touring my house with the ladies of the family
• State Fair fun with the Whitakers and Locks
• More State Fair fun with Dad and the niece and nephews
• Attending a CHA varsity volleyball game for the first time in years, then back for another one two days later!
• My first Zoom class and my first role play teletherapy counseling homework -- (taking turns counseling and then being the counselee for 20 minutes each) -- super intimidating, but undoubtedly good for me!  As Donald Miller says, "Healthy things grow, and healthy people do the same."  Must keep improving at thinking on my feet and being confident and poised!!
• LIFE-GIVING:  Audiobooks with rich and captivating stories (whether true or fictional)!  Steven Furtick's Torn but Trusting podcast on a day when I was dealing with disappointment.  Future hopes and dreams!  Pressing through fear/nerves and doing well on my first role play counseling session!  Being the promised first recipient/purchaser of Kyndal Faith's very first book!! ❤
• LIFE-DRAINING:  Self-doubt.  Waiting.  Allowing the sulky/sullen mood and disengagement of others to affect me.

HAPPY LISTS

I Listened To:

• 1 Thessalonians - Revelation

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

• Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

• The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki

• The usual favorite podcasts + worship music

I Watched:  

• Spider-Man: No Way Home (3 more times in theaters)

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (so. freaking. good.)

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (saw both in theaters)

• Man of the House (1995 Jonathan Taylor Thomas version) on Disney+

• Big Bang Theory on HBO Max

I'm Celebrating:  

• No mortgage payment this month!
• The arrival of fall (and cooler weather and football and so many fun events around the corner).
• Being committed to my goals!!
• Switching loan officers and now working with Debbie Robinson again - yay!

Me repping the autumn colors!

Happy Friday, framily! ;-)  I hope your September was lovely and peaceful.  I'm doing a fair amount of intense physical reading lately between class textbooks and transcript proofreading, so I'm LOVING lighter/comforting/rich and vibrant story audiobooks right now, which means it's about time to revisit the HP audiobooks in the remainder of 2022... yes, please!  This has been my last full month of living with my parents, possibly for the rest of my life, and it's been a really good one all around.  It's not perfect, as nothing anywhere on earth is, but I feel very aware that this season is a gift in so many ways!  And I am full of fun hopes and ideas and things to look forward to in October... and I hope you are, as well! ❤

"May the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body, we are called to live in peace.  And always be thankful!"

(Colossians 3:15)

Varsity Volleyball

Thanks to Mom's encouragement, Rachael and I both showed up last night for our first CHA Varsity Volleyball game in years! ❤  It was fun getting to sit and chat with Mom and Rach, noting several children of alumni who were in school with me and Rachael.

Here's the Jaceman casually chatting with the older boys... a confident quality that will serve him well in the future, but may need to be toned down for a minute for the sake of his high school brothers. lol

Volleyball was such a large part of my high school years!  (*Watching* volleyball games, to be clear! lol)  So being there brought back lots of fun memories.  The CHA girls are really good this year, and they were playing a team that was a fairly even match.  I love watching close games where the players on both sides are excellent and fiercely competitive -- they have to win 3 out of 5, and CHA won it in game 4 - yay!  I love the whole team spirit and camaraderie of sports, seeing them come together and cheer each other on!!

I love that the high school boys are super into it this year, coming to support them and being very vocal in their creative chants and cheers!  Mom said they've been at every game, always the loudest in the crowd, and I love that - that was not the case back in my CHA days, but it always should be!  They were funny and fun and supportive, and it made me happy to see that!

Hopefully this wall will be full and starting on layer 3 by the time Kyndal Faith is playing for their varsity team! =)

It makes me happy that two of the starting six are sisters, and their cousin is also a starter!

This year's team is pretty good, but for me, there will never be a team that compares to CHA's 1999 girls, so shoutout to that starting six:  Julie Amber Methvin, Carla Copeland, Ashley Roberts, Elizabeth Dugan, Marahl Blough, and Christina Barlow!!  So fantastic!  Mom and I pulled together the first ever "Senior Night" to honor them, and we were in charge of the decor and planning for that the next three years as well.  I would love to see a video of one of their games now. =)  It's why I became the team manager the next three years (to join the team for every practice, game, pep talk, and Tri-State Tournament).  No regrets... fun times!!  I honestly love and appreciate the whole vibe of team sports (minus some of the overzealous parents), but it was definitely for the best that I was on the sidelines.  Even watching last night, I was thinking it would be such a total nightmare for me to be a blocker whose job is to move toward the ball with my hands up high and my face completely unprotected rather than ducking and covering when a girl a couple feet away spikes it as hard as she can.  NOOOO, THANK YOU.  Pretty sure I would fail in that role every time. lol  But kudos to those who do it well - I am super impressed with you!

Okay, that's all for today.  Hope you have a lovely night ahead!

Holding Pattern

Hey, friends, and happy Tuesday!  (Or" felony Tuesday" if I were still in Sapulpa). =)

This year has included a lot of transition for me.  And within that, a lot of waiting, which is harder on some days than others.

Waiting for my house to be complete... (coming soon now)

Waiting for motherhood... (hard and complex)

Waiting to finish school... (hard process + hard wait)

I'm excited and looking forward to each of those things, but there is a process to them, and in each case, some difficult things that lie between where I am now and getting to where I want to be.  And that's okay.

Annie F. Downs posted this quote recently, relating it to a grief situation in her life.  And I remember Laura writing this in a card to me during round one of grieving a lost friendship:  "The only way out is through."

It applies in getting through the heaviest grief to a point where you can move forward (not feeling pressured to "move on" from grief but moving forward in a healthy way with it).  And it applies in any season of waiting.  We don't get to skip the difficult or boring or challenging seasons.  In fact, we grow best when we walk with God through them!

So for anyone who feels like they are in a holding pattern... or anyone in the middle of a complicated waiting season, or facing complicated grief, remember that God is present right there with you... today, in the waiting.  And because God's presence is there, there is beauty and goodness to be found in every season.  Trust Jesus and His timing.  Hold on to Him.  And move forward as He leads.

Grace and peace!  One step at a time.  The only way out is through.

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all."

~2 Corinthians 13:14

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma!

Part 2! =)

Dad and I took the kids to the State Fair on Sunday for its last day in OKC!  *Triston also joined us, but he walked through the buildings and did his own thing whilst Jace and Kyndal rode some rides and I cheered for them and took photos and Dad bought us fun fair food! lol

Mini Miss K - it makes me happy that her feet don't touch the ground yet!

These swings were always one of my favorite rides at Frontier City - just peaceful and breezy and mellow!  ...Jace got off of this and talked about how scary it was, which I definitely was not expecting! lol

They enjoyed the kiddie roller coaster, or "the caterpillar ride" as Jace called it!

Blue Raspberry for Jaceman, and a Dr. Pepper icee for K-Faith!

Kyndal was about an inch-and-a-half too short to ride the Ferris Wheel (kinda lame that they have a height requirement on this when it's slow and enclosed, but whatever).  Jace was very ready to sit down after so much walking, so he rode this by himself, just drinking his Icee and looking out at the fair and waving down at us... and he said it was his favorite thing he did! lol  He was full of surprises to me this trip.

Having the time of his life! lol

Miss K did the Carousel by herself whilst Jace was finishing up on the Ferris Wheel - a precious choice for a presh-face kid!

I talked them into doing the "Berry-Go-Round" aka the strawberry-shaped Tilt-a-Whirl!  They had fun spinning all around!  Jace's Icee-blue teeth and lips are making me laugh here!

This was Kyndal's favorite ride, one they both did twice, and I'll admit it looked super fun!  They're laying down the entire time as the ride goes around in circles - kind of hang-gliding- then it speeds up and tilts diagonally so that they're flying up and down over and over.

Fun!

I had fun watching and taking pictures and holding their ride cards for the workers to scan. =)  I will say the fair is raking it in... my gosh, it was $15 for adults to enter and $8 for children, then they have wrist bands you can buy to ride the rides... and for unlimited rides, it was $100 per child for one day (or more if you wanted a season pass kind of thing).  YIKES.  Dad got them a card for $30 worth of rides (30 credits and each ride is 3-5 credits).  But tons of the kids in line had those wristbands, which kinda surprised me!

Eventually, we made our way to the happy petting zoo, which Jace LOVED, as I assumed he would! 

Miss K also had fun in there!  It's mass chaos with all the little animals just roaming around with all the kids, but fun for photos!

He was psyched about a deer being in there!

He said this goat was giving him the side eye. lol  A baby goat tried to chew the leg of his shorts a few minutes later.  lol  Baby goats are the freaking cutest!!

This = a baby kangaroo in a bag.  The kids were super excited to see him, but all I could think of was Dumbo being separated from his mom, and how this little guy knows this bag-pouch is not his mom and is probably sad and scared. =(  Fingers crossed that they are reunited now - at least that's what I'm telling myself!

Jace's one food request was chicken-on-a-stick, and it apparently did not disappoint!!  He also got this jug of Root Beer, his favorite soft drink, so he was a pretty happy camper!

Tman wanted a caramel apple and the Miss K got cotton candy (mostly because we couldn't find the Dippin Dots stand again).  Dad got popcorn (meh), and we also got 2 cinnamon rolls, 2 corn dogs, and cheese-on-a-stick to bring home for Mom and Rachael, and one more cheese-on-a-stick for me, so we spent quite a bit on food, as well!  But it was fun times, and the kids were happy and very grateful (without being prompted to say thanks), so yay for that!!

My other weekend activities included seeing my two favorite Harry Potter movies in theaters (Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, Part 2).  I love that they bring them back to theaters every few years - the last round was when Jenna and I were roommates back in October of 2016!  And in case anyone was curious, my HP number (of books ranked in order of my preference) is 571-3462.  The audiobooks are superior to the movies in most ways, but the final 20 minutes or so of Order of the Phoenix movie is almost chilling to me in its perfect metaphorical quality - I really adore it!!

And speaking of things I really adore, here's Kyndal Faith putting on a Friday night fashion show for us, being happy and silly and trying on some new clothes Mamaw bought for her! lol ❤

Finally, I was pretty excited to learn that this 1995 gem has made its way to Disney+.  Yes, please!  I pretty much have it memorized, and it's one of those childhood favorites where I feel happy nostalgia the whole time it's on! =)  #gesundheit lol 

That's all for this post, but may not be all for today.

May God arise; may His enemies be scattered!

Family Fun & Fair Food

I never knew I was such a fan of alliteration before I had a blog.  Memory Monday, Movie Monday, Top Ten Tuesday, Words of Wisdom Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Photo Friday, etc.  This marks my third post with Fair Food in the title:  2015 Fall Fun and Fair Food, and 2017 Fair Food and Fun Friends, and now a post that includes Family Fun! lol  ...I'll start with that.

We had dinner at The Ranch on Monday night to celebrate Gus and Marilyn's 50th wedding anniversary!  Marilyn brought along their wedding scrapbook, and I loved seeing this photo of the Muecke family at their wedding... Doc, Georgia, Doris, Nancy, Charlene, Gus, Bill (Havno), and Dad!

My s'mores-like Dulce de Leche dessert - (graham cracker crust, caramel ice cream, chocolate ganache, and toasted marshmallows).  Yum!  That, along with my spinach, berries, and feta salad + fried okra + au gratin potatoes + sweet potato + a bit of Dad's creamed corn and Mom's beef medallions + the appetizer bread were all excellent! =)

Gus and Marilyn, Alan and Georgia, Charlene, me (singlehandedly representing my generation), Mom and Dad, & Gene and Nancy!  Dad was buying, so I was invited to join them, and since it was The Ranch, I couldn't turn it down!  And I was thankful to be there for sure - Marilyn teared up as she talked for a few minutes about being grateful for the way they had all made her feel so welcome as part of their family, and about it being a rare gift in our world today for adult siblings to still be so close and get together regularly in their 60s and 70s, and that's very true!

*Oh, and the horse's ears in the picture behind Charlene here made me laugh!

They came by after dinner for Gus to see Dad's Mustang, then we sad our goodbyes until we see them again for Thanksgiving in a couple months!

This flyer brings me a lot of joy and gratitude... it was genuinely devastating to me when Blake was diagnosed with brain tumors in 2007, and I prayed hard that he would get his full smile back and be healed after the surgery... but God had a higher plan.  I'm so thankful to see him happily married, living close to family, and working as a doctor who is passionate about helping people feel comfortable with who they are regardless of medical conditions - such a perfect quote from him! ❤  Yay Blake, and yay God for using all things for our good and His glory!

I took a 10-minute Peloton walk inside the courthouse (up and down stairs and around different hallways) on a hot day, and this scribbly map of my journey made me laugh!

And now we come to "The Great State Fair of Oklahoma!!"  Kristin invited me to join their fam + Al, Hilary, and Amelia for a Fair trip last night, and I promptly said yes, as long as I could ride with them and not have to fight for parking there! lol

A cute and fun car ride!

We each paired up with one of the kids to make sure they were safe through the night, and Nash was my walking buddy... he was full of lively commentary on ALL THE THINGS at the fair - the food, the art, the animals, the people, etc.  And I very much enjoyed hearing his thoughts!

Truth...

This metal art installation was awesome!!  Nash was a fan of "the tangly stuff going into a little flower," as well! lol

We stopped for all the photo ops!

Three little beekeepers!

Amelia was enthralled by the chickens, and this cousins picture makes me smile!

Checking out the baby pigs!

Group pic - love this one!!  Thankful I got to join them!

Baby chicks are always a favorite for me!

It was $2 admission that day, so as you might expect, it was a mass chaos kind of crowd!!  I had some lemonade (which I poured on myself as I forgot it didn't have a lid - lol) and cheese on a stick (couldn't find the cheese curds for some reason, but this was also pretty great).  The boys had cotton candy and were pretty happy about it!  Their curiosity about everything there was entertaining!

One last photo op where Frankie joined the boys! lol

That's all I've got for you today... must be time to do some actual work and school work!!

May we always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord,

knowing our labor in the Lord is not in vain!