Photo Friday!

Lots of deep thoughts tonight, but I'll save that post for another day.  For now, here's a pic Rach texted me today of Kyndal Faith, proudly wearing a cape Mamaw bought for her! ❤ #SuperMiss

I asked her recently what kind of party she wanted for her 5th birthday this summer, and she said, "Wonder Woman!  Or SuperGirl!!"  That made me really happy - I was expecting a Disney Princess of some sort, but I love that she's choosing women who are symbols of courage, strength, and beauty, rather than only beauty!  I know life won't always be a bed of roses, but I want her to always feel strong and confident in her ability to do hard things! ❤

...Mom also just texted me these pics during our daily call to chat about our day and say goodnight.

So much cuteness!!

So I hope you'll sleep soundly and feel safe and secure knowing that Spiderman, Batgirl, Superman, and Batman are out fighting for justice!! lol  Happy Friday, gang!

Thankful Thursday! (83)

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."
~Colossians 4:2

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  Precious Grandad being okay!!  (He went to the hospital last night for what they thought was a stroke, but he improved rapidly and got to go home later that night - praise the Lord!)  I'm feeling very thankful for having grandparents who have been a part of my life all this time, and thankful they have the joy of knowing their great-grandkids! ❤

2.  The kind stranger who left this note on my windshield... (and the fact that the nail hadn't actually punctured my tire, so there was no damage and no charge). =)

3.  Fun game nights with the Fosters and their Woodlake Connect Group!  (These were my Apples to Apples cards on Monday). lol 

4.  Chocolate cake with buttercream icing and strawberries. =)  #noregrets (I halved the recipe then just lobbed the icing on there instead of making it all pretty. lol)  Next time I have people over, I'll make it for real. Ohmygoodness, it's a winner! #yum

5.  For God's protection... at all times, really, but particularly yesterday morning... I met Judge on the side of the road. He had hit a piece of steel that flipped and pierced his gas tank, so his car was leaking gas... and there was lots of lightning to accompany the pouring rainstorm.  Needless to say, I parked a bit further out while we waited for the tow truck, and I prayed that the lightning would avoid us and no one would flick out a cigarette anywhere near us... whilst picturing the crazy explosion it might create!!  Obviously, all was well, so hooray for that! =)

6.  Having the world's cutest preshface niece! lol  ...Mom bought her a hole punch because it delights her soul to punch holes in colorful paper right now. She dropped it and a bunch of "confetti" poured out. She ran right over and grabbed the broom... swept it all up like an expert... then promptly tipped the dust pan over while trying to carry it to the trash can. lolol  I insisted on helping her the second time around. =)

7.  For my "personal commandments" - when I take a minute to stop and read through them, it's always a good, encouraging reminder of how I want to live!! ❤

That's all for now.  Happy Thursday!

Mother's Day 2018

Jace and Kyndal Faith don't fully grasp the concept of Mother's Day yet, so they both excitedly wished me a Happy Mother's Day while they were saying that to Rach, Mom, and Charlene at lunch!  I'll take it! ❤  They were looking extra cute in their sunglasses and pink-themed clothes today!

Me, holding my phone: "Hey, Kyndal..."

Her: Immediately poses it up! lol

I mentioned that the books I ordered came in. It was fun to see their reactions!  "Look, it's me!"  "Here I am doin' sumpin' funny!" lol  Jace had me read his book to him, and I loved it! =)

Charlene read Kyndal's to her, and Jace went over to help them out on the page where you find the hidden items in the picture! =)

We went downtown to Zio's for lunch today!  Here's a couple Parrish fam pics. =)

Anyway, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my wonderful, loving, and caring Mom!! ❤  I'm so very thankful for her, and I'm excited that I finally started my "Parent Project" idea this weekend (more on that later)!

For many years growing up, our family went to Applewoods to celebrate Mom's birthday and Mother's Day every year!  It was her favorite restaurant, and very possibly mine, too.  Aww, memories of the balloon guy creeping Rachael out, of the baskets of endless apple fritters and rolls being passed out, the salad with parmesan dressing (not something that usually excites me, but it was awesome there), the delicious cheese soup, and the Hawaiian chicken!  All fantastic. Mom and I had many a mother-daughter lunch there just the two of us, and it makes me feel sad that this place closed down. =(  Bring back Applewoods!!  (And bring back Flipagram while you're at it! lol)

A more serious final note:  This year, I'm feeling very aware of the pain Mother's Day brings for some women.  I messaged several friends just to encourage them and let them know they were being thought of and prayed for today... friends whose mothers have died, those who have struggled with infertility and/or the unfulfilled longing to be a mother, those who have gone through the horrible pain of miscarriage, and those who have had to bury a child.  It's a fantastic thing to honor the great Moms who have done so much and meant so much to us!  It's also good to be sensitive toward those who are hurting and take a quick minute out of your day to send a text or note of encouragement their way!! ❤

Last One

Here's the final Flipagram for Rach's Mother's Day... I knew I wanted to use this Nicole Nordeman song when I heard it a few months back. =)  And it got the crying emojis reaction I was going for. lol  (I'm so thankful I made it early and saved it before the sad, sad, without-warning end of Flipagram where they deleted 90% of my videos.)  

All these pics and video clips make me happy... and I can barely handle the cuteness of the Miss K saying, "My birthday's coming UP!!"  What a presh! ❤❤  

Weekend Update

Hey friends!  =)  It was a fun and full weekend here... starting with shopping and getting ready for the baby shower with Kelly on Friday night!

Jeffrey and Penny Moss! =)  Kelly put him in charge of making a fun playlist, and I got so cracked up when I heard the first notes of Justin Bieber's "Baby, Baby, Baby..." lolol  It works on multiple levels! =)

A fun banner Kelly found at Target!

Several baby Tate pics I printed off for the occasion.  =)

Penny has the funniest expressions! lol

Chalkboard banner

Kelly did a great job blowing up all the balloons for the gold banner and this garland we strung together!

Our pizza & cheesy bread from Papa Murphy's! =)  JEM got back from an IBM conference in Florida around 5:30 that night, and he brought us pizza for dinner then got Braum's for dessert! 

Our co-hosting picture and the table setup on Saturday! ❤  

Livi Lee's donuts with a topper sign I wrote. Kelly printed off the cute breakfast pun signs with her design program at work! =)

JEM swinging Titus and Sterling on the hammock out back.  (Their backyard looks awesome right now, and this corner with the azaleas is my favorite! ❤)

A cute onesie from Tiffany! =)

And the baby's first Baylor fan outfit from Jeff! lol

A pic of the LG ladies with Karli and Tate (note the fun balloon garland in the background)!

After the brunch, I drove to OKC!  I helped mom get the taco salad ready for our dinner, and helped a bit with making to/from tags for the backs of these frames. She's one of the only ones who has taken any pictures at their T-ball games, so she made an 8x10 collage for each boy's mom for Mother's Day!!  A lot of work, but I know they're gonna love it! ❤

Love it!! ❤

I also got this random text from Rach that made me laugh out loud (Dr. Evil quote from Austin Powers to the tune of Just the Two of Us)!  For the record, I always love TV/movie quote  or video texts, no matter how random. =)

Sunday morning (after LifeChurch and sitting at Applebees with the fam), I met Elizabeth for lunch at the new Black Bear Diner!  (Similar to Cracker Barrel, so of course I ordered a breakfast item and it was good!)  Elizabeth is one of my favorites, and it was great getting to catch up for a couple hours! =)

The drive back to Tulsa was rough times with 4 lanes moving down to 1 because of construction.  I was in this area right by Frontier City for a solid 35 minutes!! And it took me 2 and a half hours to get home.  (Huzzah for podcasts and audiobooks!!)

My Sunday night with Tiffany was kind of a comedy of errors. lol  We grabbed our movie tickets for Overboard, then went to Cheddars for dinner.  After waiting 15 minutes for a seat, we ordered immediately. My nachos came pretty quickly, but after asking twice about her (very simple) order, the waitress finally brought her some food, and what they brought was incorrect and still missing part of her order.  So she got to watch me eat dinner (I offered to share several times) and finally got her food to-go a full 50 minutes after we ordered.  So she decided to save that for today and have movie popcorn for dinner.  We got to the theater, and I couldn't find my ticket. I know right where I'd put it in my purse - it was not there. They were able to look it up, but it took longer than it should have.  In the concession line, I pulled up my AMC stubs barcode pic, and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot. "They can usually just scan this," I said.  He replied, "AMC has the stubs card. This is Cinemark." Hahahaha awesome. Finally, we got to our seats, then there was an issue with people having been assigned the same seats in the row directly behind us, which led to a heated and loud argument, all in Spanish, lasting through most of the previews.  We had already been laughing about it not being our night, and that just added to it.  So did the crying babies to the right and in front of us, neither of whom had parents considerate enough to take them outside. And the laughing lady to our left - who laughed loud and long at every minutely funny moment, complete with lots of "Awww"s and her occasionally narrating what was happening for no apparent reason. LOL  We laughed a lot, but not because the movie was hilarious.  (It was what you would expect from a modern remake of Overboard that flips the gender of every character. I still prefer the original.)

And that concludes the recap of my weekend. Happy Monday! =)

Thankful Thursday! (82)

I love love love this quote, and I'm trying to improve on that and make gratitude a way of life, in big and small things, in good and bad times!  

So today, I'm thankful for...

1.  Finding a great new salon close to home, and going blonde again for the first time in years! (I never know whether to put the "e" on blond or not??)

(I asked her to take out the red as much as possible, then this was on my Facebook today, and I had to laugh and roll my eyes!)

2. Helpful Youtube lessons (on the bun maker thing), being caught up on transcripts at work and having time to practice and get ready to take my RMR (260 wpm).  Also very thankful for the "Magnum Steno Club" which has been really helpful for practicing and building speed!!

3.  I had joked about this, but I'm thankful that the death and funeral they'd mentioned in this final season of New Girl actually was Furguson the cat! lol  Rest in peace.

 4.  For Ashley Taylor (blog linked on the side here) and her inspiring writing about weight loss, health, and breaking strongholds with the help of Jesus! I am clinging to a very small spark of hope here and working to sort through my knotted and tangled mess of thoughts and emotions on this topic. (I'll spare you from reading that until I've made some sort of significant progress.)

 5.  For this reminder:

 6.  That my Mumablue books came in... so precious! =)

7.  For having a friend who loves movies like I do and who also feels frazzled by the ending of Avengers Infinity War. lol  I trust that there will be even bigger battles and that things will somehow be set right in the end, but it's still hard to watch the villain conquering and the heroes fighting with all they've got only to face catastrophic loss and feel defeated... #metaphorforlife 

8.  I'm thankful for Beth Moore -- for her many awesome and anointed Bible studies that have been life-changing for me and so many women, for her Scripture memory challenge, for her books and blogs, for her strong leadership and fun personality and fierce devotion to God, and for her willingness to stand up for women in the church (READ HERE).  “Many of you are in positions to foster Christlikeness in your sons and in the men under your influence. The dignity with which Christ treated women in the Gospels is fiercely beautiful and it was not conditional upon their understanding their place.”  ❤ AMEN to that!  (This is another topic I could easily write a full post on, and I may sometime.)

I'm thankful for God's goodness and strength, and that He is good and powerful and close to us even as we go through storms and losses.  I'm thankful for my Bible reading, and especially for the life story of King David, who's life is fascinating on so many levels and who is one of my very favorite people in the Bible.  I'm thankful for the ability to write, even when it feels like I'm talking to a brick wall.  I'm thankful that God is able to transform and free and heal us, even in the areas that sometimes feel hopeless or pointless. I'm thankful that He sees our deeper purpose even when we lack that vision.  I'm thankful for the inner strength He gives us to fight back when it feels like the enemy is winning.  I'm thankful that we're never truly alone.  And I'm thankful He knows what I'm talking about even if I've confused anyone who might read this. lol ❤

#cultivategratitude

Zoo Day!!

Elizabeth was nice enough to join me and let me use one of her free tickets to the Tulsa Zoo yesterday! =)  (Hi, Angie!!) That was my first time ever there, so now I can cross the letter Z off of my alphabet challenge! (Still pondering what to do for X - your ideas are welcome. lol)

Here we are in the Rainforest building!  (I brought my good camera, and people never seem to grasp how to work it, so I only had one person take a picture of us.)

It's been quite a while since I've been to any zoo, but it did bring back memories.  I took several pictures while we were there (surprise!).  I love that the red-bellied piranha fish looks like it's speckled with gold glitter... it's really pretty.  I thought several times as we walked through everything that God is so creative and fun!  I had to laugh at myself when I was surprised that the flamingos have two legs (they just tend to put one leg up and balance on one foot a lot). My animal knowledge is sub-par, so it was an educational experience. lol  

This = an African bull elephant named Sneezy (I think). One of them was named that for sure, and that made me happy!

I also had to laugh at how many of them reminded me of movie songs/quotes.  "Never smile at a crocodile!" (he's technically an alligator, but still...) "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!" "This party really died!" "We're gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed!" "Kings don't need advice from little hornbills for a start!" =)

I hope I'm not the only one who didn't know there was such a thing as African penguins who can hang out in a warmer climate.  Penguins are one of my favorite animals because of all the precious waddly cuteness, but I never knew that!

Here we are at the Penguin pool - I loved watching them waddle around, shimmy-shake to dry off, have some food, and jump in to cool off. ❤  Also, seeing this happy blue water really made me want to swim!!

This is one of my favorite pictures I got because the girl and bird looking at each other cracks me up!

The Rhino Reserve + a replica of the giant crate they used to transport the rhino to Tulsa!

Cute little sleepy chinchillas! =)  Fun fact:  Elizabeth took a class field trip to the St. Louis Zoo in elementary where they all got to spend the night at the zoo - and she remembers sleeping next to the chinchillas! =)

Random pics that make me happy:  That kangaroo rolled over right as we were walking down, which was super cute!  =)  The giant tortoise slooowly coming inside to cool off. lol  The Siamang monkey putting on an impromptu tightrope show!  And a closed exhibit, but the giant Zookeeper notepad sign made me laugh!

How sweet and precious are these giraffes!?  We learned that they only sleep 5-30 minutes per day - how crazy!  (I liked all the signs with fun facts on them!)

A few more pictures I took along the way.  The polka-dotted bog turtle was super cute, and so were the seahorses! The tarantulas and snakes and the giant velvet ant were all super cringe-worthy!  And the sea lion cove made me want to go swimming again!  That, combined with walking a lot and it being pretty warm outside! lol

So that's a recap of my zoo day! lol  It was ridiculously crowded, probably because everyone has been waiting for good weather.  But it was free and fun, so no complaints here!  Thanks again for joining me, Elizabeth! =)