Travel Memory Tuesday!

Lol I was gonna title it Memory Monday, then I remembered it's Tuesday today. Anywho, thanks to seeing it on my "On This Day" the last couple days, here are several pics from our October 2015 Florida trip!!

(Recap & Quotes on my old blog HERE.)

I don't have time to write about it all again, but it was fun times with friends, food, and a memorable fireworks show! lol

Finally, here's an epic Flipagram of that trip:

Quotables!

Me:  "Wow, what a stupid commercial!"
Mom, with all the disdain:  "Liberals!!"
Me:  ....*blink blink* ...
"It was a commercial for cereal." lol

"Hey! I now know 3 celebrities - the property bros and Lindsey Mockey!!!"
~Text from Chet Lee after my radio interview lol

Jaceman: "Linds, I made you this gift giraffe. It's yellow with orange and brown spots!"
Me: "Oh, wow, I love it! I'll take it home and put it right on my fridge."
J: "Yeah, then you can show it to your mom if you have one!!" 
-- *turn to Mom sitting right next to me in the car* --
"Look what Jace made for me!!" 
Lol he doesn't have all the family connections down yet.

"That went very well!" -Carter Lee whispering to me after T-man got in trouble for being mean to him - lol  The sibling rivalry is intense these days!

Carter:  "Look at this pic of my face painted!"
Me:  "Yeah, I know... I actually have that same calendar hanging up at my house!"
Carter, totally sincere:  "Do you get sad sometimes... that we're not there?"
Me:  *awkward pause* "Well, I have a whole picture wall with you guys on it, so it's like you're there with me!"

Jace has not been wanting to go to his Karate class lately...
Jaceman:  "When I grow up, I'm gonna be a Karate teacher!!"
Dad:  "Reeeally?? Well, you'll have to go to class to learn more about it, then."
Jace:  "No, I already know it!" lol

K-Faith explaining the rules to me:  "You wanna play tic-tac-toe?  We just draw X's and dots, and then I win!!"

T-man and Kyndal playing a game where she names things that go together:
T: Salt
K:  Pepper!
T:  Mom
K:  Dad!
T:  Up
K:  Down!
T: Ketchup
K: Jace!!

Mom knows me well, so she recorded a show where they interviewed Simon Cowell... so great! lol
Harvey Levin:  "So I went to your office, and I see this 10-foot picture of you hanging on the wall..."
Simon:  "Oh, I knew you were gonna say that. Well, every time I look at that picture, I feel good. (laughing at himself). But really, there's no point in trying to pretend to be humble all the time!!"
Harvey:  "Is it that you look at yourself and you feel, 'Wow, look at all I've achieved?' or is it you just think you're so hot?"
Simon, no hesitation:  "Both!"
Hahahhaa, this is why I love him!!

That and the fact that he has two little yorkie dogs named Squiddly and Diddly who joined him for part of the interview!  Get outta town - how great is that!? lol He's just fantastic and hilarious and playfully arrogant in a way that will always be endearing to me. 

That's all I've got for today. Happy Sunday!!

Fair Food & Fun Friends

Last night, rather than the usual Friday night dinner plan, we went to the Tulsa Fair for a super healthy dinner of cheese curds and chocolate fried pie! =)

I love going to the fair once a year, but once is enough! lol  There is so much delightful randomness there... meandering through several buildings to see the variety of things for sale, the mass chaos petting zoo and baby pigs and freshly hatched presh chicklets - lol, dipping my arms in the hot tubs to wash the grease off my hands, seeing Kelly Marie's prize-winning pie and many other baked goods, catching a super-random jump roping show, admiring the butter sculpture of a couple on the tilt-a-whirl (how does one even think to develop that talent?), and of course, eating our favorite fair foods!  For me, that's cheese curds, pineapple whip, and now the minneapple chocolate fried pie!  Angie loves the cotton candy, corn dogs, and cheese on a stick. And Tiffany went for the candied bacon and dippin' dots. We all got what we wanted and had fun hanging out!!

Then we headed back to my place to watch the new Will & Grace episodes! =)  (Sidenote: So crazy to me that when that show was last on the air, I was living in Midwest City and still best friends with Josh Michael. The entire cast does not look like they have aged much since 2006, which is crazy and impressive. I love that they just blew off the sad finale episode as one of Karen's crazy dreams, and I love that they've brought back a lot of the signature things about the characters without it feeling too Fuller-House-level cheesy!! When Karen came in singing her little, "Ba-bada, Bee-bada!" it made me so happy! lol)

On our way back, we heard a Christmas song and Angie mentioned that there was a Stevie Wonder Christmas song she loved. "YESSSS, me too!" I said... then found this lovely song by him and Andra Day on my phone and played it for us. I drove the long way into my neighborhood so we could hear it all, and it was fantastic. I love to connect over music, especially music that simultaneously reminds me of happy Christmas memories and pulls up hopeful thoughts of heaven!  ...I made 3 Flipagrams with this song last year because it's so fantastic to me. Here is one of them. Enjoy!

Someday at Christmas...



"When we have found what life's really worth, there'll be peace on earth!" = my favorite line. Of that or any song ever. It's so true, and it won't be completely fulfilled until Jesus returns, but the more we value life and prioritize loving people now, the better the world will be!  ...That got deep for a fair post, but such is life.  

In other news, happy birthday to Jeffrey today! We met at the Caravan back in the day, but this was our first time hanging out -- February 13, 2010 -- my Valentine's Party at Johnny Carino's then back to my place for dessert. It was the night he signed my signature wall, and he has since referred to that party as the "Lonely Hearts Club" which makes me laugh! Also, there are a lot of people in this picture that I haven't seen or talked to in years, but it makes me happy that me, Chettles, Sarah Elizabeth, and JEM are all together in the middle there. =)  

That's all for today - time to enjoy the 3-day weekend! #yayforColumbus

Photo Friday!

Today was our first book club meeting, so I had to get a group pic!! ❤  We met at Einstein Bros. Bagels (or "Einstein bras" as my navigation said). lol  It's the five of us - Elizabeth, Monica, Lindsay, Kelly, and me - so it feels very comfortable and we got into some good, deep conversations - the kind I'm willing to get up at 6am for. ;-)  There were only three discussion questions, but we easily spent over and hour on them. We're only one chapter in, but the book is really good so far!  (Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty)

And now, some lovely photo Friday pics of my niece and nephews, because we all know I can't get enough of them! lol

The Miss K with her dance class group (she's in the sparkly black at the far right, posing it up with her hands together). Apparently, no redhead or brunette little girls are into dance. lol What in the world!? #blondesforthewin

Kyndal Faith went to the CHA cheer clinic and got to go out with a big group of girls to cheer at halftime of last week's football game. Preciousness. I remember LOVING those cheer clinics in elementary school - learning the fight song and a couple chants was big stuff!! At CHA, being a cheerleader was *THE THING* all of us wanted in those days. Their cheer squad is legit and wins national competitions and such... at least it did 15 years ago. I guess I'll have to learn what things are like there now - a lot has changed for the better. One example would be every Friday they get to dress up for some kind of theme day. Last week was "Fiesta Day," which I feel is not a thing most people could do much with, but Rach's creative talent to the rescue!! lol Those pics of the boys make me happy!

Oh, the Jaceman! #hotmess I can't even... his arm around this girl and her dreamy look. lol  Just stop. Reminds me of when his teacher introduced him to one of the girls and his immediate follow-up comment was "You wanna hold hands?" and she did. What is happening in Pre-K these days? lol

He's in a class with 5 other boys and 13 girls. I'm hoping that ratio evens out a bit over time, but I'm guessing he won't mind it either way.

I'm glad he's got his guy buddies - him and his best bud Ryer are the only two without party hats on!

I've posted some of the Miss K's first day pics already, but I couldn't resist making this collage - all her smiles are freaking adorable!!  We decided Rach should have another one just like her so I can adopt her. lol

As promised, here's my happy gray chair (put together by my brother-in-law whilst I was at my boot camp workout - thanks, Joshua!!). It's smaller and fancier looking than the black one, but it's also a recliner, which is it's most important feature! lol

Can't remember if I've posted this on the blog already, but here's an encouraging verse to end on. ❤  

Happy Friday!!

Friendships Don't Just Happen

"If we're not careful, we risk devaluing what friendship can be in our attempt to protect ourselves from what we don't want it to be... It doesn't matter what our previous experiences have been as much as it matters what we're willing to create now. What we're willing to invest. What we're willing to do."

"There are numerous studies that link a circle of supportive friends to lower stress levels, greater happiness, prevention of diseases, faster recovery rates from surgery and accidents, and greater chances of reaching life goals. Who among us doesn't want those benefits?"

"To love people requires that we keep growing personally."

"The truth is that friendships change... Knowing that most friendships aren't forever invites us to forgive ourselves for those relationships that didn't live up to the fairy tale... We must give ourselves as much grace as we can, separating our ideas about our likability from whether or not our friendships prove to be permanent. The two are not the same."

"Think carefully about how you're experiencing these relationships now - today - rather than thinking about how much you love these women or how long you've known them... Life shifts. Our needs shift. Our friendships shift."

"Who among us wants to look at life and see the hills as steeper than they are?  Who among us wants to increase our stress and decrease our ability to cope with it? ...The healthier I want to be, the more I need to connect. We need friends."

"Even more important than someone else choosing me is my ability to choose myself, believing in my worth and value... Some of us don't need to make new friends as much as we need to create peace where we've been. We are being called to forgive ourselves and others so that we can live more fully in the present by removing the fear and shame from our past."

"Our desire to expand the Committed Circle does not suggest a lack about any of our current friends, only that we love them enough to not ever expect everything from them. For our health and theirs we are willing to welcome a few more in."

"We aren't always the best judges of what will serve our lives most effectively... Easy isn't the goal. Having strong, healthy, meaningful friendships is - even if that means there are awkward and difficult moments along the way."

"Our closest friends and family are like puzzle pieces, each interlocked with our own piece, such that they know one side of us very well... There are sides of us that can be stimulated by people who don't have a set picture of us being a certain way... [Contact friends] can see us in ways we want to be seen, or ways we don't even yet see in ourselves, which allows us to expand who we are."

"If this is a gift you can give, then give it freely and generously. The world needs way more people willing to give energy to initiating relationships."

"It's impossible to prioritize friendship and not sacrifice something else."

"While we might think that substantial conversations would take more energy or cause more stress, I actually think that most of us feel more drained after a night of small talk at a party than after interacting over an involved subject... While most of us fidget a bit before sharing, we actually really do want to be heard, known, and validated. We do appreciate having the opportunity to talk about ourselves. We yearn for friendship as a place to share about ourselves - not just the weather, a recap of a recent movie, or a funny story about our kids."

"We bring positivity to the relationship when we choose to empathize with each other... What cheers us up when we're depressed isn't someone telling us to be happy and look on the bright side, but rather someone accepting us right where we are."

"We want to laugh, not just offer our shoulders for tears. We want to create memories, not just exchange updates. We want to have fun, not just be needed by one more person. We want joy. That is why we seek out friends. We can't forget this truth. To ignore it means that we risk only showing up in our friendships when we need them."

#convicting!!

"Few annoyances get better with time... Choose the awkwardness of a conversation over the risk of losing each other."

"Our goal is peace and happiness and our only way there is through forgiveness. There is no greater skill to possess, no more meaningful choice to be made, no further place to grow our maturity than in the moment where we are provoked to forgive."

"Live in the present. Let go of the temptation to keep retelling yourself the story of what happened that's bothering you, further pushing your stake of anger into the ground. The painful act was done in the past; all we have in the present is how we want to respond and who we want to be."

"How I treat others is the litmus test for whether my counseling-meditation-church-attendance-book-reading-workshop-going-yoga-stretching-journaling-reflecting efforts are doing the necessary work. How I keep my own light in their presence. How I practice compassion in situations I don't understand..."

"So if we can resist the temptation of believing someone is toxic (which is far different from acknowledging that we can be hurt by their behavior), then we can acknowledge that all of us have the capacity at times to express unhealthy behaviors, just as we can also all show compassion and thoughtfulness."

"I notice that when I'm grateful and have a sense of my own well-being, I show up in relationships with more light. It has something to do with self-esteem, but also with simply holding a peace about my own life that invites me to not feel threatened by theirs... [Our friendships] end too often because we don't know how to feel excitement and joy for someone else's choices and stages while also staying in a place of contentment and joy for our own."

"It's our responsibility to build a circle of friends around us, not any one friend's obligation to be everything we need."

"Praying for her reminds me that it's not just my life that feels overwhelming and big. She has her stuff, too. And I want to stay compassionate towards her, loving her well through her daily battles."

-(All quotes are by Shasta Nelson in Friendships Don't Just Happen)

Falling into the New

Tiffany Joanne started her new job at the Creek County Courthouse yesterday! Get excited!! =) We went to Lori's Tea Room for a fun lunch and free cake balls!

This = my new computer with Windows 10, which is apparently incompatible with everything I need for court reporting, so now I'm probably making this my home computer rather than work!  

...Total Eclipse (my CAT software that I use for work) wanted to back-charge me for the 8 years I haven't used their support in order to upgrade my software. Meaning it would be over $2,000 to have software that's compatible with Windows 10. Very absurd. No, thanks!! After spending the very frustrating past week working crazy hard and even buying a program to help me get everything transferred over, I'm finally convinced that it's a lost cause and I should just stick with my old computer at work. Thankfully, it looks like the old computer will work for my CR exam after all, so hooray for that!!

Anyway, here's my happy fall decor! =)

Friends at Friday night dinner - I was glad Audrey was able to join us!  (I got Chet a fruit cup from Chick-Fil-A so he wouldn't be forlorn as we ate our sheet cake and ice cream. lol)

I made broccoli and rice, which went pretty well - yay! And I got Chick-Fil-A nuggets and Texas Roadhouse rolls. lol #winning  Then we had Pioneer woman sheetcake for dessert. =)  We talked about how our goals and desires have shifted over the course of our adult lives, which was interesting and good to think about. 

This = new fall shirt and sweater Mom bought for me... Cuteness!  She's become quite the QVC shopper!  I'm so glad fall is here - sweaters and boots and scarves and coats - huzzah!

This is my happy new purse I ordered from the Coach Outlet store!

And this = my new chair. I'll post a pic of it all put together soon. (We ordered this in July and were told it would be in stock in August, then in August, they updated it to September, and it has finally arrived now in October!!)

Last Wednesday was the birthday of Penny Moss! I took this pic after Lifegroup last week - so much cuteness!!  Excited for LG and watching This Is Us with the girls tonight!

Lots of trying new things lately, including Stitch Fix... I think I'm a fan!  I'm not a fan of shopping - never have been.  You put in your style preferences online, then they send you 4-5 new things (clothes, shoes, jewelry) in every box. I set mine to come every other month, and the first one had several cute things in it that I kept, so YAY! You mail back what you don't want and go online to give them feedback so the next box can be even better and more personalized!

I've been going to Jon & Kristin's small group also. They meet at Bixby Starbucks and play board games and then have a time of prayer at the end. It's been fun! =)

On that note, I want to say I'm thankful for the way God has been answering my prayers over the last three months.  I was struggling with loneliness and just feeling intimidated by the idea of reaching out and forming new friendships, but really wanting to add new friends and to strengthen old friendships that felt like they were slipping away.  I prayed about it and I read a book on that subject (full post coming soon). I started the Friday Night Dinners thing, and I reached out to start having a weekly lunch with Jenni and Mary, two of our other court reporters. (I initiated that twice, then they texted me the third week, which made me happy!)  In the span of only the past two months, in addition to initiating the Friday dinners and court reporter lunches, God has given me several other opportunities to build and strengthen friendships!  Kristin invited me to try their small group, which has been fun and definitely a good way to meet new people. Tara Lynn started a women's prayer group where we draw names and pray for one specific person through the week, knowing that another woman is praying for us all week. Michelle invited me to the Fit Body Boot Camp 6-week challenge thing. Kelly's lifegroup has started meeting again and feels closer and deeper than before. Elizabeth C. is starting a book club this month where we meet for breakfast on Fridays, so that should be fun times. I've gotten to text and talk to Rach a lot more lately - about real life stuff and about funny quotes from shows we both like, which always makes me happy! And Elizabeth W. has become one of my favorite friends to hang out with when I go to OKC! =)

Transitions are hard -- adding new friends can be awkward sometimes and seeing old friendships change can be scary -- I've felt insecure and exhausted sometimes and have had to push myself to branch out a little and to trust God's timing and guidance. Better boundaries are good in some cases, and in others, I have to trust that my friends love me even as their lives are shifting and we are all in different seasons. But God has been working and has already placed several awesome new friendships and opportunities in my path, and I'm very thankful for that! ❤

Thankful Monday! =)

Well, it's been a great Monday, so I decided to commemorate it with a thankfulness post. =)

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  Mom and Dad coming all the way to Jenks to see me for lunch today, (bringing with them my new computer and some new clothes and boots and jewelry Mom bought for me)!! ❤
2.  Mom also brought these magnets she had made for me - I love it!! 

3. An upcoming case that I was dreading is likely to waive jury trial - huzzah!

4. I'm on week 3 of my Fit Body Boot Camp challenge, and the workouts have been really good and kinda fun!  (The weigh-ins and measurements, not so much. It just messes with my head in a way that's not good, but my coach agreed to let me do that half as often.)
5.  I finished my #30daysofhope posts on Facebook today. I'm thankful for how God used that in my own life and hopefully in others!

6. A fun brunch this Saturday with these friends... we talked about what God has been teaching us lately, and as usual, I loved hearing what everyone had to say! =)

7. I had a relaxing night (after the boot camp workout) watching Fuller House and You've Got Mail, where I remembered how much I for reals love this song and decided I had to download it!  

Hooray for a random Flipagram of 2017 moments:
DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE BY VIGO VIDEO. =(