February Overload

Hey, friends!  It's been such a busy month so far, and we're not even halfway through it.  Lots of fun events and birthdays, along with some hard moments.  Last week was unusually busy at work, and I was working on an important creative project at night... and my whole body was feeling the tension as I was very worried for my friend whose brother had gone missing (he was found on the 11th, but was basically presumed dead before that, and it was all very emotionally intense - being in limbo is one of the worst feelings, especially as good news feels more and more unlikely, so I'm very grateful for this outcome for her and her family!)  

Anyway, I'm gonna try and catch up a bit on blogging tonight, so here goes...

I went to Tate's 4th birthday party yesterday, a fun time with good friends and the cutest fire truck cake!! ❤

Karli made this balloon-filled "4" -- impressive!

I'm never sure about age-appropriate toys with kids, but I got him this random squashy stuffed animal, and I'm happy to report that it was a hit!

That night, I took T-man driving and we had a good talk... then we grabbed Olive Garden to-go and joined the fam for dinner at Mom and Dad's!  That included watching Jace do several rows of Mountain Dew shots...

And watching Kyndal try to shock Rach by blasting her music really loud when she put the headphones on! lol

Friday was Rachael's 36th birthday!  I posted this epic fashion-forward sister pic of us from yesteryear... lol

The 11th was also the 1st birthday of Miss Waverly Jean - so much cuteness! ❤

The 12th was the birthday of Eddie Kaufholz (from Annie and Eddie Keep Talking).  I wrote him a long email detailing how much I admire and appreciate him, and how much I've enjoyed that podcast and hope they might bring it back someday.  Fingers crossed that he actually reads it at some point, but I'm glad I wrote it either way! ❤

Two "birthday gifts" from me to me = this awesomesauce Peloton quote board (all Robin Arzon quotes) which is now hanging in my kitchen... and this $10 iPhone cover that makes me happy! ❤

Adding to the list of February birthdays is Wesson and Nash, who turned 5 on the 6th... I made this happy collage for Kristin for their birthday! ❤

And Tuesday will be their oldest brother Anthony's 10th birthday, so I made this canvas for Kristin in honor of that milestone... trying to include lots of details that would be meaningful for her family.  I really enjoyed working on this one, and it was a good reminder of our firm and secure hope through Christ!

I gave it to her today after our lunch at Oliveto... and without planning it out, this was exactly one year to the day after giving Lindsay a similar family portrait sketch the day they brought Wavy J home from the hospital!  (Today = two days after her birth and two days before Anthony's).

In much lighter and more random news, Dad got breakfast biscuits for us today, and they were in the shape of a heart... yay, Valentinesy cuteness! lol  I want all my food to be heart-shaped, please.

The Miss K is learning cursive this year and wrote our names for me to prove her new skills. ❤

It was a fun night with the fam + the Parrishes + Bill & Jill + Rick and Michelle + an exciting Halftime show with a surprise appearance from 50 Cent (I still laugh at the memory of reading his autobiography thanks to a deal I made with Rach many years ago)!  

This week also included some baking... Pioneer Woman's banana bread (I added chocolate chips and might skip that part next time).  This was also my first time baking anything in a bundt pan! =)  And the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake using Heath instead of pecans - yum!!

I went through all my file folders and organized things during our snow days last weekend... I went through every card I've saved, and by the time I was done, I had teared up several times, this being one of them (from Grandad on Christmas Eve 2015).  The "yuk yuk" instead of "haha" or "lol" made me laugh, and his kind words and reminiscing about babysitting made me cry, and him giving Babah the credit for their super generous gift = a classic Grandad move! ❤

Another thing that made me full-on cry = this cheesy commercial, the first one they played in Craig's 30 Second Theology sermon today.  He paused it in between the destruction and restoration scene to talk about how painful it is when we face the unexpected loss of something we really valued and worked hard to save... but how God is a God of restoration and He knows how to rebuild things (or people or dreams) that have been crushed.  Between that and everyone around her pitching in to help her make something new and the year-long timeline before this fragile thing she worked to build and tried so hard to save was irreparably shattered, it was all such a freaking perfect metaphor for my friendships.  And in the end, we can always build something new... and it's the connections with the people who were beside her through every season that mattered, not the imagined connection with something that was incapable of giving much back. It spoke a lot of things to my heart in a very brief time, one of those "a picture is worth a thousand words" moments.  Then I felt emotional through the rest of the sermon, but such is life sometimes. ❤

Aaaand that's all I've got for this happy Sunday!  Good night!!

Hero on a Mission

 Buy this book.  (Or the audiobook read by the author, if you enjoy those like I do!)

I can't possibly do this justice, but I need to go ahead and write it anyway.  Donald Miller is currently right up there in the running with John Eldredge for my favorite author.  Both of them have written multiple books that have spoken to my heart at the perfect time (thanks, God) and changed my life and offered new perspective.  I'm probably more theologically aligned with Eldredge, but I really love Donald Miller's work and find his life inspiring, and this new book is my favorite of his thus far!

It's worth the money for the first chapter alone...

He starts by saying that every story has a Victim, a Villain, a Hero, and a Guide.

• The VICTIM gets stuck wallowing in their own pain.  They feel sorry for themselves, and you mostly feel sorry for them.  They are there to make the hero look good and make the villain look bad, but their role is small and they fail to transform or find meaning in their pain.
• The VILLAIN tries to make others small.  They are bitter about their painful experiences, and they try to make themselves feel more powerful by belittling, controlling, or hurting others.
• The HERO accepts hard realities, finds meaning and purpose in their suffering, desires something specific for their life, and has the courage to transform and create something meaningful!
• The GUIDE uses their wisdom from past experiences to help others rise up, speaking life and encouragement over their dreams and goals, and offering practical guidance and meaningful advice as they move through their story! 

Metaphors work so well for me, and my heart got this immediately.  He calls this book an antidote to victim mentality. ❤

As complex human beings, we all have it inside us to play all four of those roles.  T-Swift is a good example of how we can be all four, or you can look back at your life and see that clearly, just like I can.  This book is saying that we need to pay attention to it when "Victim Energy" or "Villain Energy" surfaces... knowing that it will pull us (and the people around us) down rather than adding meaning and value to our lives!!  

*We all face hard things over the course of life (to varying degrees, but we all have pain), and the difference is purely in how we react after our painful circumstances.

Don says we each have great potential to live a story that is meaningful to us, and we shouldn't sit around waiting for God or fate to direct our path.  God has given us creative agency and specific gifts and talents, and He wants us to have the courage to invest them and build something, like in the parable of the talents.  We should take action and pursue things that sound interesting and meaningful to us - really thinking it over and choosing something that will bring us joy, honor God, and be beneficial to others!  

You might have a unique vision to build something new, or you can join a story that matters to you.  I loved it when he said that a lot of people are not visionary personalities with a specific, grand dream... but you can find just as much meaning and purpose and community in joining and supporting someone else's vision and meaningful story, so long as it's something and/or someone that really matters to you!  I've found that to be true in the past, and it's clarifying as I start to seek more meaning now.

He also said that the story you live and create in your relationships is more beautiful and important than any story focused on money and career, so don't undervalue it -- loved that too.  He encourages the reader to focus on finding narrative traction (building a life story that is going somewhere) and doing things you find interesting/meaningful rather than focusing on self-actualization and fulfilling your potential - again, I loved that, and it takes the pressure off!  It can go a million different ways, but find something that interests you and be engaged in the story you're telling with your work or your relationships or your health!

He also talked about how victim energy is a perfectly good and appropriate coping tool following any tragedy or rejection or painful situation - we don't need to feign happiness all the time or pretend that loss is not deeply hard on our hearts... but we should be careful not to let ourselves get stuck there, struggling to find meaning and hope.  Because the Victim does not transform or find a redemptive perspective where they can see the value in what they went through; the Hero does.  The Villain and the Hero both want to feel more powerful, but one does it by hating themselves and making others smaller, and one does it by transforming themselves and living a meaningful story.

And that's just the summary of chapter one.  lol

He goes on to offer some great insight from years of experience about how to build a meaningful story, how to set priorities and live that out day by day.  He emphasizes that when any major story or goal we've been moving toward comes to an end, we need to be sure to find another story and a new goal.  Dream a new dream.  Until we die, we should always have at least one (and up to three) meaningful goals that we are actively pursuing, big or small, alone or joining with others!!  We get one life here, and we get to choose whether we play the victim, the villain, the hero, or the guide.  Only two of those roles will add meaning and value to our lives and others.  I LOVE THAT! ❤

(*If this interests you, for the next five days, you could learn more about it by watching the free livestream HERE.)

...I've been a fan of Donald's writing since the days of Blue Like Jazz, a book I read with Angie, Bobbi, and Hannah in a 2008 book club! =)

Since that time, he authored A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Storyline, Scary Close, and now Hero on a Mission.  His life has transformed in so many ways over the past decade, and it's been fantastic and inspiring to follow along with that as I read the above books.  He set big goals, lost weight, founded a company, got married, built a retreat center, had a child, wrote several books, etc.  He is not done - he has several wonderful goals in mind for the days and years ahead!  He talks about how his early writing was often more victim mentality thinking, and I can see that.  Nowadays, he is using his time and energy to help true victims (people who genuinely need someone to rescue them from abuse, violence, or slavery) rather than wallowing in ongoing self-pity over his own past, and I love that more than I can say.  He has become the Hero who moves with courage, and he is the insightful Guide in many ways, as well.  He really has transformed, and that's a huge part of what makes these books ring true for me!

Anyway, yaaaay for Donald Miller (and Betsy and Emmaline).  Yay for his story and his books and his mission, and yay for feeling inspired to live a more meaningful story with my own life!!

As Peloton's Tunde Oyenin would say,
"It's a great day to go out and create great change!"

TEN!

BIRTH

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

Happy 10th birthday to my nephew, Jace Michael Parrish today!! ❤

(*Click on any number birth - nine above to link to that year's birthday post... yay for the blog record!)

This = four of my favorite pics of him this year. lol

 

He's an entertaining one for sure, and pretty happy to be the center of attention! lol

(This = him at our Pelicans dinner celebrating his eye therapy success!)

"May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth

And see the light surrounding you

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong

May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift

May your heart always be joyful

And may your song always be sung

May you stay forever young!"

~Forever Young, Bob Dylan

(Parenthood theme song)

Happy Birthday also to Tate Haywood and to Nikki Anderson!

Happy 2-02-2022, and Happy Groundhog Day!

And happy snow day to those who are off work or school! =)

...We have some crazy winter weather predicted that hasn't quite hit us just yet, but they closed most of the schools ahead of time.  Rach brought a cookiecake for Jace and his class yesterday, so I'm glad they got to celebrate, and hopefully he's having a lovely day so far today!  Anyway, Laura and I are about to head home early, and I'm pretty happy about that.  Stay safe and cozy, my friends! ❤

Phoning It In (#19)

Happy... Freaking... February!! ❤❤  

This post = throwing in all the random photos that have piled up lately! =)  Starting with this adorable Baby Yoda meme! lol

Andolini's pizza + "the Detroit" cheesy bread for Tiffany's birthday!

Jaceman using dish soap to make the pipe bubble up... he was such a fan of this part of his Spirit Week costume! lol

Babah's wall that we fixed up for her.  Her room is looking good now, and she got a new electric wheelchair, and she's been making a lot of progress with walking lately... all very happy news!

Just a #BooCrew post that made me laugh! 

Something a friend posted that I saved bc it's very true! lol

A blurry old-school pic that Babah took of me, Rach, and Emily during a family trip to Daytona Beach!

My best Wordle score so far!  And kind of a funny word combo. =)

Just waiting and waiting at the broken crosswalk with three of my favorite people! lol

Sent this one to Cody, who is *not a fan* of Jamie Lynn. lol

The Mini Miss K coming out to greet me (it was Cowboy/Cowgirl Day for Spirit Week).

Donald Miller liked my comment - YAAAAY!! ❤

Kyndal Faith all ready for her first big concert tonight, seeing JoJo Siwa with her Dad!  I hope she has a fantastic time!!

It makes it less cool that you have to start with "Hey Siri," but I've still used it multiple times when I need the flashlight! lolol

This is so me with movies or The Crown or just reading something kinda shocking. lol  Trust, but verify!

Hadn't thought about it much before seeing this, but it is odd that this hasn't occurred to them by now.

I don't mind adulthood, but this one made me laugh! =)

So Peloton introduced an Eminem Artist Series collection of classes, and I've been on an Eminem kick ever since the Super Bowl ad anyway... it's crazy to me how well I remember the lyrics to so many of his songs from those days (mostly The Eminem Show and Encore albums).  And while it's not the most wholesome content, I do stand by what I told Laura over a decade ago when she was shocked to discover that I liked him.... musical genius!  And he's honest in a way that pulls you in when you look past the deliberately controversial stuff.

Hilarious moment from this morning:  On the advice of other #BooCrew riders, I did my first ride with a German Peloton instructor, Cliff Dwenger.  It was all Eminem songs, and there were English subtitles for everything he was saying in German.  He talked a bit about the relationship between Eminem and Dr. Dre, and I was enjoying reading that and trying to piece together certain German words... then I nearly spit out my water when he busted right into "I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady! All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating..." in perfect, aggressive English!  Wasn't expecting that.  He sang along to multiple songs through the rest of the ride, and I did too. lol  Lose Yourself, Just Lose It, Without Me, Toy Soldiers, Sing for the Moment, etc.  Do I still know every word?  Yes.  It's great music for cardio, and it brings back lots of memories from yesteryear!  It's all making me wish my car had a CD player to pull out some of my old burned CDs, but oh well.  

So here's a classic throwback to Encore, my song of the week.  

"Shaaady. Aftermath. G-g-g-g-G-Unit!"

And that's all I've got for you on this Felony Tuesday!  See you tomorrow!