Photo Friday + Memes!

Happy Friday, friends!!  Very ready for the weekend right about now!

Short on time, so I'm throwing it all in and mixing memes and real-life photos, starting with this ridiculously adorable Pomeranian Christmas card! lolol  The best girlfranz would never have been still long enough to pull this off. 

Another thing that makes me happy: T-Swift was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year... of course she was! lol

The Christmas food-themed gifts have begun at the office, and it is out of control. lol  Six kinds of fudge, two frosted sugar cookies, a holiday Chex mix, and toffee bark (so far).  No complaints from me! lol

If I were ever to buy a shirt that included cuss words, this would be it. lol  I love Roy, and I think it was so smart of them to make memorable chants for Roy and Jamie that mimic the vibrant stadium energy when you watch Ted Lasso!

Speaking of Roy Kent... I saved this meme for Rach, who is often up late scrolling stupid reels and such. lolol

The Mini Miss K was taking a cue from Chet Lee and planning her next bday party 9-10 months in advance! lol  (It makes me laugh that her Ys look like Xs.  Happx Bdax, Kxndal!)  The next pic was what she wrote when I mentioned Jeff and his family coming for my party... there's a stupid video from 21 Jump Street that's popular on TikTok now, so she and Jace both started laughing and saying "My name is Jeff" in a funny voice.  The yasss Queen addition was all her. lol

Laughed out loud on this one.  It was a pretty shocking and aggressive move!

Jaceman with Isaiah? and TJ after the basketball game

Lol

My neighbors need a better fence.  Their pretty Australian Shepherds keep getting out.  Fortunately, I'm more scared for them than scared of them, which wouldn't be the case with most big dogs running around off-leash.

Yes to this plan - Texas Roadhouse, please! lol

This made me think of Sarah working nightshift back in the day! lol

Growing here!

Aww, Hallmark Christmas. lol

Friday Flashback: The Mini Miss K and Rach on this day six years ago... cuteness!

Lol let 'em know!

Baby Asher in his cute preemie clothes  - JB said they were scrambling to find clothes small enough for him, so Amazon to the rescue! lol

❤❤

Me when they assign 100+ pages of reading plus a couple extra super-small-font articles.

A lighter school thing I enjoyed this week was this short intelligence assessment (HERE), showing which types of intelligence are strongest for you.  Not surprisingly,  Language/Linguistic Intelligence was the highest for me (the love of words - reading, writing, listening, and speaking).  Second was Existential (intrapersonal and introspective), then Musical (kind of surprising), then Social/Interpersonal.  Natural (nature) and Spatial (directional) were at the bottom of my list, which surprises nnnno one. lol  But the whole thing made me happy thinking about how uniquely God designed us and how we are all smart in different ways... reflecting the multifaceted wisdom and intelligence of God.  I also like to remind myself that intelligence is not fixed - that we can grow and develop and cultivate our intelligence in any of these areas, and what a gift that is! ❤

P.S.  If you take that one too, by all means, let me know your results - this stuff always fascinates me! =)

That's all for today.  Hope you have a phenomenal weekend ahead! =)

I Shall Not Want

Sometimes I find myself wondering about forgiveness.  Not whether God is *able* to forgive me, but whether He's *willing* to forgive repeated sin after we've been saved... I've had some internal wrestling with that topic that may not be beneficial for others, but my point here is that after praying about it, God used both of these chapters to speak hope, comfort, clarity, and connection:

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!  ...They will no longer dishonor (pollute and defile) themselves with their idols, with their detestable things, or with their rebellious acts. I will forgive them for all the times they turned away from Me and sinned (all their sinful backsliding). I will cleanse them so that they will be My people, and I will be their God."  ~Ezekiel 37:5,23 

"You then, My child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus... Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."  ~2 Timothy 2

Thank God for conviction and forgiveness, for His faithful love and loyalty to us, for purifying our sick and stubborn hearts, for all the ways He rescues us from ourselves and redeems our lives and fills them with fresh purpose and meaning.  The depravity and corruption and ever-increasing nature of sin is real, but we are not helpless against it.  I am called and cleansed, and I'm deeply thankful there is no condemnation in Christ!  We do not have to wallow in our guilt or shame, but confess and repent and do our best to move forward in freedom and grow in Christian maturity (repeating that pattern as long as it takes).  I'm hypervigilant about rejection in relationships, and sometimes being under condemnation brings feelings of shame and defeat and spiritual rejection, leading me to shut down and not even try to change.  That is not from God, and it's NOT because He has chosen to abandon or disconnect from me.  Moving forward, I'm praying God will empower me to "separate the light from the darkness" -- to focus on the Holy Spirit's conviction and His empowering voice of freedom and hope for lasting change... rather than the enemy's accusations, condemnation, and messages of apathy and hopelessness.

Gracious, personal sanctification really is a lifelong journey, but it helps tremendously to be confident that God is with us and for us through every step of it.  I’m echoing David’s sentiments of “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” God is answering that one.  My soul has a Shepherd in the valley, and I shall not want...

On a related note, Steven Furtick preached a Psalm 23-themed sermon called "I'm Going Through but I'm Running Over."  Toward the end of that sermon, he started acapella singing one of their Elevation Worship songs that was new to me: I Shall Not Want.  The crowd joined him, of course, and then the band joined in too, and it was all powerful.  Thanks to praying over the verses on forgiveness, I'm feeling like a cloud has lifted - like there's a renewed sense of strong connection with God, and it's improving my ability to hear from Him, and it's exciting and hopeful!  We can get very stuck in our own minds sometimes, but there is LIFE and HOPE and HEALING and FREEDOM and POWER available for us through God's Word and His presence, and it is worth pursuing with all our hearts!

For lots of reasons, I adore this song - it's over eight minutes long, but it's been speaking so much God-given joy and power back into my heart and soul lately!

When I realized the significance of the date, I was inspired to share a FB video about it yesterday, kind of a trial run for a goal I've been thinking about for 2024.  I'll post it below when I get home tonight - my work internet is a no-go for uploading that right now.  All that to say, I'm grateful for all God has done, excited about all He is doing now, and hopeful about all He will do in the future! ❤ #calledandcleansed #calmandconfident #compassionateandcompetent #Christiancounselor #alltheCs

A happy walk outside Restore on Tuesday

  

That concludes my deep thoughts for you today - thanks for listening.
Praying we will all be STRENGTHENED by the GRACE that is in Christ Jesus!

Happy Holidays

(*I would normally title it Christmas Cheer, but this post contains Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff, so I went with holidays.)

Judge is out today, so I'm eating Christmas fudge and cookies from various law firms and playing catchup here... life is rough. lol  I'm throwing in some photos I love from November and December events that I have yet to properly document! =)

We'll start with the Sapulpa Christmas Chute... Chettles called that morning to tell me he's been won over by Taylor and Travis videos and is joining the Swiftie club (or that's how I chose to hear it. lol)  Along the way, I mentioned that Mom and I were headed to Tulsa for the packet pickup and the Christmas Chute... then we made a last-minute plan for the Wilson fam to meet us for dinner and join us for the Chute - YAY!  While we were there, we also ran into the Bullard fam, then Jessica and Sophia!  This pic makes me happy! =)

It was fun to walk through it all at night for the first time, and quite impressive to see all the new places that have opened on Dewey Street since I left the courthouse last April!  We did a slow stroll through it all, grabbing hot chocolate with extra marshmallows ...and lots of cute photos!

We parked at the Creek County Courthouse - even the parking lot has changed and been updated/repainted - lots of improvements, which was nice to see!  We got a pic by the huge Christmas tree, then talked about which window was my old office... which Chet found correctly before I did! lol #nothingnewthere #nosenseofdirection

The Bullards at packet pickup earlier that morning!

Then Mom and I went shopping at Utica and found her new favorite Christmas shop, Amber Marie! =)

Okay, back to the Christmas Chute... I'm so curious how they even thought of this idea, because most of the decor is on a canopy above you... it's unique and interesting and not something I would've guessed would be so popular, but it definitely drew a crowd and seems to have brought lots of new business to Sapulpa!  And Tate and Parker had fun with it, so yay for that!

We also tried to get a good Wilson fam Christmas card pic... I'm holding Parker up in the elf shot below, which makes me happy! =)

My latest Peloton "holiday hike" at Central Park - so fun - Christmas music and cozy hoodies puts me in such a lovely mood!  I had to get this pic in spite of my lack of makeup. lol  I wanna see it all lit up, so Kristin and I need to go for a walk at night sometime soon!

And now, Friendsgiving #12!  This was the Sunday after our Saturday Christmas Chute visit.  Love this pic of me and Kate and Sarah!

Parker and Kate in their capes, a little frog that was perched on the Wilsons' front door handle... thankfully Tate alerted me before I accidentally touched it, Sarah and Kate, my random assortment of drinks from HTeaO, and an Italian cream cake Mom made for this event (Chet's favorite, and Jeff loved it too - I'm not big on pecans or coconut, but it was better than I expected)!

Steve joining the kids at their table for the Mexican food dinner - between that and Tate's hat, this pic makes me pretty happy! =) 

The guys (Jeff was about to leave, so he's holding Kelly's salsa). =)

The girls... love this... we'll say the pumpkin is a placeholder for my future baby! lol  But either way, I am thankful and I am blessed! ❤

Jeffrey Edward, who redirected a potentially awkward conversation at dinner and started us off on saying what we were thankful for... it got deep pretty quickly, and was a good reminder to be present and wholehearted, and to value the time we have with our family and friends - I loved hearing everyone's perspective there!

And finally, a couple pics from yesterday... the CHA Christmas program, and the 50th year the 4th graders have repeated the very same Christmas-story play!!  Dear CHA, when you invite the 4th grade class to stay on stage so everyone can come take photos, please turn off the very blue stage-lights from the nativity scene! lol  My pic with Jace Michael turned out a bit better! =)

Jace and friends, Kyndal and the senior playing "Auntie," K visiting the Nativity scene, K with Rach and Mom!  She did well with her part and seemed to enjoy it, so yay for that!

And that concludes my holiday-themed photo-filled post - I'm officially caught up and ready for the plethora of December events to come! ;-)  Happy Tuesday!

❤

A Mockey Little Christmas #6

Happy Monday, friends and fam!  

Saturday was my 6th annual "Mockey Little Christmas Party."

I'm sure it's redundant at this point, but I just don't care... I'm so thankful for these friendships!  It means a lot to have friends willing to make the four hour round-trip drive with young kids to come see me and the fam!  And it means a lot to me to be a part of their lives and their kids' lives... and for them to meet my niece and nephews and speak into their lives and know lots of the details of our family story, and vice versa.  So even though the official gratitude month is over, I must say I feel very grateful for all of that today! ❤

There wasn't quite enough room to seat everyone for a meal in my house, so Mom and I set up tables and space heaters in my garage! =)  And Mom put in some extra effort to decorate the garage and make it feel more festive!

I mentioned to Mom that Karli had used tablecloths we could color on for Friendsgiving, and she promptly found the Christmasy version and ordered it on Amazon... fun!

T-man picked up Chick-fil-A for us (chicken minis + fruit and more nuggets), I made ham and cheese sliders and got donut holes, and Mom made the PW sheetcake... a fun assortment of brunchy foods, and waaaay too much fruit!

We took all sorts of fun family photos by the tree and by the photo backdrop in my garage. =) Ellie abandoned Jeff to go back inside and color after the group pic, and Kelly was home with a sick Henry Edward, so Jeff posed for a pic on his own. lol

I remembered helping color the cardboard playhouse Rach bought Kyndal a few years back and thought it might be fun for the kids... and it was!  Only $24, and provided lots of joy and entertainment for them - yay!!

Christmas tree pics -- JEM and Ellie + The Wilson Fam!

Understandably, Triston and Carter left a bit early.  But Jace Michael and Kyndal Faith had fun playing with Ellie Faye, Tate Haywood, and Parker Elizabeth... and it made me happy seeing them all having fun together!

Rach watched the kids and took some cute pics and videos of them running hundreds of circles around the little path through my bedroom... whilst me, Mom, Jeff, Chet, and Karli all got to chat a bit in the living room.  Here we have Jeff looking at a scrapbook and finding a pic of himself looking at another scrapbook! lol #meta  I love that he always appreciates those, and it brings up fun memories and conversations! 

Jace and Parker had an adorable little friendship!

She's a fun mix of sweet and sassy and stubborn, much like the Mini Miss K! =)

"Mockey and the boys" ...and the Moose! lol  I really love this one!

Tate is super creative, and he made me this awesome Grinch Christmas/Thank You card... very well folded, also! lol  I adore it! ❤ 

This has been a December tradition since Tate was a baby in 2018... some combination of the Wilson and Moss families have made it every year, and this year, Mom and the Parrishes joined us! =)

Our 2023 group pic... not the best angle, but yay for friends and family and fun photo props! lol

Shoutout to Mom for helping me set up and tear down and decide how much food to order/make, to Rach for watching the kids for a bit, and to J&K for keeping the littles laughing and entertained!  I get frazzled and feel inadequate about hosting well sometimes , particularly with mixing crowds (then try to calm myself down by doing as little as possible), but I had an epiphany about all of that this year, and I'm thankful to be observing and learning and growing there.  Once I got clear on what I wanted and spoke up for it, it was very worth the simple efforts to make my house a bit more kid-friendly and welcoming and fun!  So cheers to planning ahead, to valuing connection, and to remembering we all relax and have more fun when the people around us are enjoying themselves... in spite of my initial anxiety, I feel like that went really well in all directions this time, so yay for that!! ❤

❤