Celebrating Chet Lee!

Yesterday was the birthday of my very dear friend, Chet Lee Wilson!!

Here's a very 2020 posed candid of him trying to blow out the candles with a mask on. LOL

I posted this fun collage on FB of the 12 birthdays (technically, this was posted before this year's party, but the minion pinata next to Tate was part of the decor, so it totally counts).  It all started with line dancing fun at the Caravan on the very day he was first legally allowed in the club, to Red Rock dinner followed by cookiecake and the shakeweight gift at my place, then the progressive dinner party where Sarah's ankle was broken (accidentally switched those pics), the surprise murder mystery party, his 25th where he made a toast to each of his friends, fun pool party at Gary's, the infamous but hilarious Juwanna Mann night, fun at Miss Scarlett's Tea Room, the Mercantile reveal day, riding the rapids on his 30th birthday, McAlisters + Lion King premier last year, all the way to this year's pool party fun!!  (Clearly, I need to go back and write a Memory Monday about his 21st and 23rd parties at some point. lol)

So the FB event said 11:30 to 3:00, but I didn't get home till around 10 pm.  Such a fun day with friends by the pool (this is the only pic I have that shows the pool that day as they were hanging the banner and balloon garlands Karli made!! =)

Chet Lee by the grill... my cheeseburger was fantastic!

There were burgers, hot dogs, chips, baked beans, watermelon, and Lindsey Mockey's famous potato salad! lol  #firsttimerecipe #betterthanexpected

Not to mention the two awesome cakes from Ludger's... white cake with strawberry cream filling, and chocolate cake with peanut butter cream filling + chocolate frosting and caramel drizzle, Chet's very own "Snickers cake" creation... both were winners!!

Sadly, I failed to get a group pic, but it was really great to see Jeffrey Edward again - it had been a while!  Teresa, Michael and Baylee, Don and Kantrell, were also there but not pictured.

This one is basically the same pic as the top one, but I love Melissa's laughter in the background! =)

Chet and his nephew, Mr. Lincoln Wilde!

After over four hours of swimming (and laughing at Chet's imagined inability to float + being super impressed with Tate's ISR swim lesson results), we decided to venture to Los Cabos for a birthday dinner.  Here's my cheesy goodness enchiladas... and Chet's birthday salad! lol 

Selfie of our dinner group!  It wasn't until our waiter was going around dividing up the checks and said, "Okay, so it's 2-2-1-2" that it occurred to me that I was the only single person there.  And even then, my first thought was of Jaceman's birth date! lol  Super thankful for how comfortable I feel with these friends and all the fun we've had together throughout the past 12+ years!!!

Finally, a fun video of the birthday song! lol

It's been a lovely weekend filled with relaxing and blogging, cooking, good conversations, lots of pool time, and celebrating one of my favorite people alive!!

Hope you've had a great weekend, as well! ❤

Sarah Elizabeth's Birthday!

July 12th is the birthday of one of my favorite people on the planet,

my ENFP soulmate friend, Miss Sarah Elizabeth!!

Here's a happy through-the-years collage I put on Facebook: The first night we hung out at the Scavenger Hunt of 2008, cooking lessons, Splash Mountain fun at Disney, our free gift Celine tickets in Vegas, leaving for the Big Cedar trip, swimming at her old apartments on this day last year, them closing on their new home, my birthday dinner at Los Cabos, and celebrating her birthday last Saturday!  ...I went in chronological order and didn't realize until later that the four diamond-point pics are just me and Sarah, and the center and corners are all us with Chet and friends. lol  I'm sure I'm the only one who cares, but it makes me very happy when things randomly work out like that!

Anywho, on Saturday (her birthday eve), we all met for lunch at The Brook!  I failed to get a group pic there, but this = us taking a pic but hiding the brownie cupcakes from Tate. lol

This = Tate showing Steve his new "hang glider," something that he's become a big fan of lately!

Sarah's fav ice cream + Ludger's brownie cupcakes (topped with a peanut butter cup, cookie, + chocolate and peanut butter frosting)!  Yum!

I think this one is Lucy, but I'm rarely certain about that.

This = Tater-tot and "BunBun."  It means a lot and really delights my soul to have friends who allow me to be a part of their lives and families and get to know their adorable kids! #thankful

Whilst waiting on their lawn crew to finish mowing, the Wilsons and Fultons worked on blowing up balloons (technically for a balloon garland Karli was making for the baby shower the Wilsons were hosting that night for the Shoemakers, but they were super fun for a bday pic, too).

See! =)  #AppleWatchSelfie

After lunch and dessert and random balloon fun, we all swam for a couple hours, which is always a treat!  I'm deeply thankful for these friendships!! ❤

"It's Only a Matter of Time"

"May the Lord lead you into a greater understanding of God's love
and the endurance that is given by Christ... 

May the Lord Himself, who is our source of peace,

give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with you all." ❤
~2 Thessalonians 3:5,16

Hey friends!  It's been a while... because slightly over a week without posting truly qualifies as a while in my book. lol  *To be clear, I have actually written a rather lengthy post this week, with the intention that it will publish sometime after my death.  (No, you did not read that wrong.)  I will keep pushing the date out and making small edits as time moves forward.  I do fully realize that will likely be decades from now when I no longer have a blog, but no one ever really knows.  This whole pandemic season has me thinking about how much is outside of our control and what matters most in the end, as you can tell in my last post.  When it comes to "getting my affairs in order," I don't have an official will yet, but I've filled out and emailed my Advance Medical Directive to family, and now I have written a final letter of sorts to everyone that I love, just in case death comes sooner than expected, which it so often does.  I will absolutely choose life over death as long as it's within my power, but I'm spiritually prepared for it and do not fear death at all.  It's unorthodox, but I actually feel much better and more at peace having written that post now!  Spoiler alert: It ends with the verses above. =)

Back to lighter things, I'm currently eating leftover strawberry cake and listening to Joe Fox's niece serenading the fam on You've Got Mail, to be followed shortly by "the violin sings with joyful ring" song. lol  It's still definitely a go-to background noise favorite.

Before I get to all the birthday fun, here are a few other pics to catch up on:  Cody Rigsby finally led a Britney Spears ride on Wednesday (she's his favorite singer), so that was super fun!  Her Stronger song was empowering and uplifting on a day that I needed a mood boost.  Also, please note my "Legends of Fun" pink water bottle. lol  I'm going all out with my Pelothon team!

This = him going off about the greatness of the Crazy (Stop Remix) music video and imitating the part where Britney was a waitress. lol  Rach and I LOVED that one too back in the days of MTV's Making the Video.  I remember us doing parts of that dance whilst walking around our 9121 neighborhood! =)

He also called Britney a "sexy Martian goddess" in the Oops I Did it Again video. lolol  Cody's energy and sense of humor are fantastic, as evidenced by the 22,000+ people joining this live ride with me!  #BooCrew for the win!!

On Friday, Tiffany and I had lunch at Rib Crib then got this happy masked-up pic when we re-entered the courthouse!  ...Our lunch was more eventful than usual as we saw a man getting arrested in their parking lot (same guy I had seen behaving very strangely at Quik Trip earlier that day).  Fascinating times!

Lest you think I haven't done anything impressive lately, I made homemade potato salad for the first time this Friday!! lol  (Chet requested that for his party, and I decided it'd be fun to try making it myself - it was time consuming, but I will say it went better than my strawberry cake extravaganza. lol)  It was kind of a combo of my Uncle Gene's and the Pioneer Woman's recipes, so I figured it'd be pretty good ...despite my having no real reference point for taste comparison (tried it for the first time ever yesterday - far better than I expected for something where half the ingredients list made me cringe).  I laughed when Chet and Karli thought I'd bought it at Reasors then poured it all into a bowl, which is totally something I would do! lol  It seemed to go over well at the party, so yay for a successful new cooking endeavor!

In sad news, whilst boiling the eggs and potatoes for the potato salad, I lost track of time.  And when I glanced at the clock at 12:01, I knew I had broken my 82-day Peloton streak.  The highest badge they give out there is for a 60-day streak, so I'm all set, but I was hoping to make it to 100 and it's just obnoxious to come up 18 days short.  But guess what!?  Day 1 starts over today! =)

At the beginning of this whole quarantine mess, I was really enjoying the neighborhood walks.  All the pool time yesterday was good for my soul, despite being all kinds of sunburned now.  So although I'm not in a bad mood, I want to start taking the below advice on 10-minute outdoor walks!  It's crazy hot, so I'm unlikely to go much longer than that. lol

Fun fact that no on else is likely to care much about: According to an article I read recently, I have the same Enneagram personality (Type 9 with a 1-wing) as Eliza Hamilton.  Whether or not that is actually true, the idea makes sense to me.  From her first big song titled "Helpless" (about falling hard and fast for someone with drive and charisma) to "That Would Be Enough" (trying to connect and help him recognize that a peaceful, family-centered life could be more important than money and power and building a name for himself) to "Burn" (intense, destructive anger at being betrayed) to her final song, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" (about finding strength after loss, creating a meaningful legacy, and looking forward to seeing loved ones in heaven)... I find most of her lyrics, emotional energy, and personal growth relatable.  So I'm good with that comparison.  Thank God that we eventually grow out of the Helpless mindset!  I also tend to be nostalgic and gratefully optimistic ("Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!"), likely to put the needs of others above my own, and I'm equally drawn to the high energy, never satisfied, non-stop driven nature of 8s.  In tough seasons, I have recklessly discarded old memories and bottled up certain emotions, very "The world has no right to my heart!"  Then eventually, I've worked through things and found forgiveness, "a grace too powerful to name."  And "I put myself back in the narrative," preserving the connections and writing down the stories that matter most to me! ❤ 

Anyway, yay Hamilton!  You're missing out if you haven't given it a chance yet!

I hope you're having a lovely weekend, friends!  
Posts about two of my favorite summer birthdays coming soon. =)

Hope and Comfort in Grief

"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."  ~I Corinthians 13:12

I've been thinking and writing this week about death, grief, legacy, and the firm and secure hope of heaven!  You know, just lighthearted stuff. ;-)  Honestly, it clarifies and prioritizes so many things when you let your heart go there and dwell on this for a bit.  ...I find the promises in the above verse especially comforting the more I've considered them.  I believe that when any believer dies, their heart becomes aligned with God and they receive full clarity and peace about all of their relationships.

Please know that your heart matters to God, the wounds you have experienced matter, and your pain and grief is valid.  Even with the unwavering hope of seeing them again in heaven, grieving the loss of a loved one is typically a lifelong process for those left behind.  And it's quite painful enough all on its own.  People who are grieving sometimes struggle with an added layer of guilt over their last words or over certain actions or things they feel were left unsaid.  And while I strongly advocate for letting the people around you know you love them and doing whatever you can to live in peace with everyone here, I also believe there is so much grace and comfort available for those who already missed out on that.  Death ends an earthly life, not a relationship...  It's my belief that if you love someone who is in heaven, they are alive and well today, and their mind is healed and their heart is aligned with God's heart now.  This means they understand your perspective and your regrets and exactly what went wrong, and they completely forgive you, love you, and want only God's best for you.  Truly!

A friend grieving the loss of her mother told me about another grief epiphany a while back:  "She lived exactly as long as she was supposed to."  It had an impact, and I remember that moment well.  I believe she was right that we can take great comfort in the truth that God is sovereign and He appoints and times things with precision, so your loved ones will (or did) live exactly as long as they are supposed to here.  "Every day of my life was recorded in Your book and ordained for me before a single day had passed." -Ps. 139:15  That means they were present for every life event God intended them to be present in person for, and they will likely be among the "great cloud of witnesses" there with you in spirit on future events.  God knows our needs and He promises to meet them.  His grace will continually be uniquely sufficient for our current situation, and He will always provide the people and resources we need to make it through painful seasons.  Often, it's not what we would've wanted or chosen, but God is not indifferent to our pain.  He cares about our hearts, and He never abandons us to fend for ourselves.  I would emphasize again that I believe there is full clarity and peace for those with Christ in heaven, so even if a loved one passes away without ever knowing or understanding your heart correctly, or if they didn't ever get to know you or see you clearly or love you as well as they should have, that also changes when they enter heaven.  So if there's anything you feel you should have said or you wish they knew and understood, consider it heard and valued... and consider yourself deeply known and loved by God and by all your loved ones in heaven!

Because you are.
Broken people and broken connections and painful misunderstandings are healed and repaired there.  Forever.  There is total freedom from all that hinders us on earth, and only the love of Christ will come between us.
Grand reunions await!

Those things really help me, so I wanted to share them here.
Wishing you so much grace and peace, friends! ❤

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands...  For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.  While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us.  Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  And God has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come...

Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.  God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too...

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Look, new things have come.  God has done it all!  He sent Christ to make peace between Himself and us, and He has given us the work of making peace between Himself and others.  What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world.  And He has given us the work of sharing His message about peace.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.   For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ!" 

~2 Corinthians 5

Photo Friday!

Happy Friday to you, friends!!

I've had a splitting headache most of the day, which is rare for me and no fun at all... but I felt better immediately when I saw the BooCrew label in my mail this afternoon! lol  I ordered this fun new headband with pink, which is Cody's team color for the new Pelothon challenge thing starting next week... YAY!  #LegendsofFun #BooCrew #LindseyClaire7

"On Wednesdays, we wear pink!"  ~Karen Smith, Mean Girls

Here's a lil' throwback to July 9, 2015... fun times on Free Tea Day at McAlister's!!

We got a head start celebrating Sarah Elizabeth's birth-week on Wednesday!  Hideaway's chicken parmesan pasta was awesome, and it always makes me happy when I can comfortably hang out with couples without feeling like a third-wheel.  Full disclosure, both wine glasses are Sarah's, but it delights my soul to take "cheers"-ing pics, so we made that happen! lol

A July 4th Facetime call from the mini Miss K... always a treat, even when it's close to midnight and she's calling to tell me about neighborhood fireworks drama!

Well, thirteen years and seven months later... I finally put some pictures up in my office this week. lol  And I love it - not really sure why I didn't do this sooner!!  (*Walgreens is having a 60% off sale on their wood panels... it's a great deal if you happen to need any photos!)

I started playing my audiobook after finishing a Peloton ride, and I was surprised when it switched over and played from the TV.

Sirius-ly, how much do I love this book!? lol  That entire conversation in the "Shrieking Shack" is completely riveting and brilliantly written - this is probably my fifth time through this book, and I still stayed up past 1:00 am listening and teared up multiple times toward the end. The entire relationship between Sirius and Lupin and Harry is so completely fantastic and meaningful - I totally feel the joy and the letdown with him on the idea of living with his godfather, then realizing it won't be possible! And don't even get me started on Harry thinking he sees James, then realizing it was actually him who saved them with his first patronus charm, and Dumbledore talking about the stag and how his father lives on inside him.  I cannot even handle it, J.K. Rowling!  So good!!

That's all for now.  More thoughtful post coming soon...

Make Yourself Strong, Never Small

^^ If I had to pick a mantra today, this would be it. ^^

For the sake of clarity, that does NOT mean false bravado or powering up or avoiding vulnerability!  It means I want to keep growing personally, which includes pursuing health and getting stronger in body, soul, and spirit!  At the same time, in every way possible, I want to stop making myself smaller in looks, in posture, in personality, in speech, or by downplaying my core spiritual beliefs if the motive is simply to conform or keep the peace.

Be transformed by God.  Don't be conformed to the world.  
Be a woman of substance and strength.  Don't play it small. 
Say no to pressured or rapid weight loss.  Say yes to exercise and healthier food choices.
Say no to remaining silent on things you care about.  Say yes to engaging in hard conversations.
Value yourself and command respect from others.

I've been growing in these things, and I want to continue to grow and improve here!  I started a book project journaling about this stuff in April, and I'm going to press into that again now.  I will likely be the only one who ever reads that particular "book," but I want to do some soul work here and sort through the ingrained mental blocks that continually trip me up and hold me back and keep me too cautious and quiet.

My Enneagram 9 personality type tends to prioritize others and "go along to get along" and keep the peace, then later feel upset and angry about being overlooked, unheard, and undervalued.  So it's really important for me to improve on speaking up for myself and others and standing up for my own strongly held beliefs, and what better time than a crazy-divisive election year to work on that!  ;-)

That's all I've got on this subject for today.  Just a preview that this truth in love, courage with kindness, strong over small combo is something I'm going to be working on in person and in writing over the next several months! ❤

Memory Monday ~ Happy 4th!

Hope you had a lovely 4th of July weekend, friends!

Here's me and the Mini Miss K ❤

Bob Rutherford (our former pastor and my parent's current neighbor) has three granddaughters who live in Texas but come to visit semi-regularly.  The Parrish kids love it when they're here!  They spent most of the night swimming and having fun with their "neighborhood besties" ...the above pic was when they came in for around 20 minutes for a pretty late dinner break! =)

Georgia, Nancy, and Charlene... Dad's three sisters who all make me laugh!  Nancy wanted a patriotic pic so she handed them all napkins to hold up. lol

Despite four different restaurants being out of ribs (Rib Crib included), we had a plethora of food and dessert options, and it was really nice getting to see some of the extended fam again for the first time in quite a while!! ❤

(Chalkboard by Rach - I remembered to put it out just in time!)

A fun Hamilton meme because it was also Hamilton release weekend!

An epic cuteness flashback to July 4, 2016... That was the night Mom fell shortly after her back surgery, which was a genuinely traumatic experience and could explain why I had zero memory of this pic when I saw it pop up in memories.  Super cute, though!  (And I'm very thankful Mom is doing well now!)

And now, a 13-year flashback to this July 4, 2007 pic of me and Sarah!  That was a blast-from-the-past surprise to see on FB.  (She had to have two separate "going away" events when she moved to Boston so that Josh and I could both celebrate her without seeing each other, so this was at our much smaller fancy girls night party.)  It's all kind of a blur now, but that entire summer and 2007 me were truly a hot mess.  I'm thankful for how I grew from it, though, and for the restored connections that help my life story and my soul feel more integrated now!

I had the day off work and got to join the Wilsons and Weatherfords for lunch at Old School Bagel on July 3rd.  Fun times hanging out with Tater-tot after his swim lessons... plus catching up with friends over tasty potato soup, bagel sandwich, and M&M cookie!

These pics are in reverse order.  I woke up around 6:30 and saw posts about Hamilton when I checked Facebook, so I decided to just stay up and watch it!  As Chet said, that's saying something since I don't even get up that early for work. lol  So fun to see it with the original cast! 

"Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!!"

Yesterday, I completed my 75th Peloton ride (...since signing up for my own account on April 28th), and today marks a 70-day streak using the app and completing a daily workout!  I'm excited to get to 100 soon!

"Mini-wave in celebration of me!" ~Chandler Bing ;-)

(The TV airplay feature gets really glitchy on live rides, so I got a tablet holder for those!)

That's all for now.  Byeeee! =)