Flashback Friday: Writing Your Story One Week at a Time

 

We made it to Friday, friends! And we made it to the very last day of May. Can you believe it? Goodness. This year is flying.

            Today is Flashback Friday, and I am excited to reminisce about the answers to this week’s prompt!

            What has been your favorite thing about every home where you’ve lived? This isn’t about your favorite life memories that happened at each home, but the specific things about the homes.

            When your kids look back at photos of the places you’ve called home over the years, what do you want them to know about what you loved about those places?

            Here are my answers:

            My favorite part of our Marion home was the backyard. The house itself was in the middle of town, and not a great part of town at that. Sirens were prevalent, and as some of you might remember, the house beside ours was condemned. The one behind us should have been. But the yard itself was this gorgeous little haven that I loved. It was all fenced in – privacy fence on one side, wall of tall evergreen trees at the back, house and garage forming barriers on the other two sides. There was a huge tree in the middle of the yard that provided all kinds of shade in the summer. And after we got married, we put up that pergola (that we called a pierogi) and had the most gorgeous oasis for our hammock.

            It felt like a retreat in the middle of the siren-filled city, and remains to this day the best backyard we ever had. The most private. The most comfortable.

            My favorite part of our Kokomo home was the layout of the house. It is absolutely the best floor plan we’ve ever lived in. My office was in a far corner, nice and quiet. The guest room was split from the master, giving us plenty of privacy when we had guests. We had a HUGE living room, perfect for entertaining. And then we added the sunroom. (Ironically, my least favorite part of that house? The backyard!)

            Everything about that house was just right for what we did in that season of our lives – tons of hospitality. And at the same time, it was also perfectly comfortable for just the two of us!

            My favorite part of WillowBridge was the open concept living/dining/kitchen. In that season of our lives, we needed each other maybe more than ever, and I loved it that we could be together even if we were in different rooms. Because of the nature of the job, we rarely had company, but we had each other in that big open space, and I did love that. (Also loved the enormous amount of storage in that kitchen!)

            My favorite part of our Bluffton house was all the amazing natural light. It was one of the first things I noticed the day we toured the house. All the windows in all the rooms were HUGE. It felt so light and bright always, and my plants were SO happy. Even though our current house does have a lot of large windows, those huge windows everywhere mark the thing I miss the most about that house.

            My favorite part of THIS house is the lake, obviously. The cozy, gorgeous water view out the window far surpasses anything I could ever do inside. And it’s everything about the lake view. It’s the little fire pit and the pier and the garden beside the water and the pretty flowers everywhere. All the outside spaces are small, but they’re perfect for us. I love them so much. I love the inside of this house too – and everything we’ve done to make it our own – but it’s that outside space that really gets me.

            So how about you? Favorite part of every home?

Fun Finds for May 2024

We are wrapping up the month of May, and I have a handful of fun things to share with you that I have stumbled upon throughout the month. Hope you enjoy!

            Earlier this month, when I was in a meeting for work, one of the Steering Committee members I met with told me about the website Half Baked Harvest. Have you heard of it? It’s a recipe website, and I loved sifting through her ideas and looking at her beautiful pictures! I even tried one of her cakes for a carry-in at church, and it turned out beautifully! Even if you don’t like to cook, I think you’ll have fun visiting her site.

            Instagram thought I should know about TheBookhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, and indeed, Instagram was correct. Have you heard of it? It’s a boutique hotel with over 5000 books in it. You can stay in a book-laden room, read, rest, and if you like a book you find, you can find it through their website. (Leave the books for other guests, but they can connect you to a copy of your own via the website.) You can rent a room or the whole place. How cool is this????

            Our doormat was a gift from Ryan’s mom when we moved into our Kokomo house in 2016. You can imagine how it had begun to look after that many years of guests stomping dirt from their shoes on their way into our home! In addition, our steps at this house are rounded, not rectangles, so our huge, rectangle mat hung awkwardly over the sides of our rounded steps. We happened upon this adorable little doormat at Lowe’s and bought two – one for each step. They are perfect – and the color brings extra personality to the house!

            I learned this month that our county has a salt cave. I had no idea these existed around here! Have you ever been to one before? I never have, but I find the idea incredibly intriguing. (If you’re unfamiliar…it’s not an actual cave, but a room filled with Himalayan salt on the walls and floor and sitting in there is supposed to be helpful to your immune system.

            Earlier this month, we stopped by Wendy’s and Ryan tried the new Creamsicle Frosty. He loved it. I’m a Frosty purist, so I was too chicken to try it, but he said it was so delicious. So if you’re up for trying something new, he says it’s worth it!

            When we bought our flowers this year, I purchased some snapdragons – mostly because the price was right. I had no idea what color I was getting or what they would look like when they bloomed, but I have to tell you…I really love them! They are all different colors and are so festive. I’ll be making that purchase again in future years!

            This one wasn’t my find this month, but it was a find for many people! When we had our garage sale, I had taken my little typewriter-shaped pen holder out to the garage so I would have pens and markers at the ready for last-minute pricing and notes. I cannot tell you how many people commented on that little holder! I’m pretty sure I could have sold it multiple times, but alas, I love it and it was a gift from Ryan, so….NOT FOR SALE! Not mine, anyway. He did get it on Amazon, so if you need a whimsical piece for your desk, here is the link again! (I’ve shared about it before on home tours, but I’m sharing again since it was so loved.) 

Garage Sale Fun

 

I told you yesterday that my sister flew out to help me prep for a sale so we could sell the remaining items my parents couldn’t keep in their downsizing.

            We had a super successful sale! Lori and I spent three full days sorting, cleaning, pricing, sorting some more, and laying everything out. And then, as I’ve done many times before, I made all kinds of nerdy little signs to hang with our groupings if items. I always feel like an organized and well-labeled sale is a better sale.

            I shared about it on Facebook, and we actually had some friends who drove from Kokomo, Marion, and Richmond to visit the sale.

            I also made this cute sign, which many people mentioned as extra creative. It took me almost two hours to put it two versions of it all together. Those little letters were not the easiest to punch out, so it took a while, but it was totally worth it.

            Our sale ran on Friday and Saturday, so on Friday, Ryan and I got up at 6 and were out there by 6:30, pulling things out of the garage and arranging them in the driveway. It took us a full hour to get it all set up. I had this cute sign to try to keep early shoppers at bay. It ultimately failed.

            But the first day was amazing. We had shoppers from 7:30 to 4 p.m. with very few breaks. My parents brought us lunch from Subway, which was a blessing!

            Lexi came out a few times to visit, but most of the time it was too busy for us to keep track of her and tend to customers.

            Saturday was a much slower day, ironically, and we ended up closing up shop a little sooner than we planned, just because we stopped having any traffic at all. Ryan used part of the day to practice his Scripture reading for Sunday - and he scooped horse poop off the road. Other duties as assigned!

            We sold almost everything, and we had a lot of fun in the process. I was so thankful Ryan took off work on Friday to help me. Never could have done it all on my own!

            Last year after our moving sale, we said no more garage sales. WRONG! So I won’t say it this year, but truly, it’s not our goal to have one every year!

Sister Shenanigans

Yesterday involved so. much. sleeping. It was grand and glorious. We have been running nonstop for weeks – months, even – and we finally tuckered out. I think I took three naps. I did about a hundred (literal) scrapbook pages. Ryan organized in the garage we haven’t been able to see the interior of for weeks. (There will be much organization yet to come, but it’s a fine start.) We took Lexi for a walk. We ate leftovers and pieces of pie that Ryan baked on Sunday. It was a perfect day.

            But before I tell you much more about that day, let me tell you about last week!

            My sister from Kansas flew in to help me prep for a garage sale. You see, when Mom and Dad downsized and moved, they sorted through things from the last 60ish years that they’d lived in the same house. About half their moving truck was full of things for a garage sale. The other half was for their apartment. So since Easter, our garage has been full of sale items, and we’ve had no time to look at any of it.

            So Lori flew out here, and we spent most of last week working on sorting/pricing/arranging for the sale.

            First up, though, we got a new picture taken of the three of us. I was the weak link in this one. Fun fact: my eyes are super sensitive to light, so when I’m outside without sunglasses on, I just look angry. Or asleep. Or angrily asleep. This was one good one before I flew into an angry sleep.

            We spent Sunday night enjoying a sunset on the patio before launching into the week of sweating.

            I wasn’t kidding about the sweating thing. Summer arrived in full force right about the time we had to get working.

            We had some fun along the way, documented some key moments, and sent pictures to our husbands with funny stories.

            Lexi was SO excited to have her Aunt Lori here and the two of them did a little bonding.

            And when the bulk of the prep work was done, we went out to eat to celebrate!

            On the last day, we did a little thrifting at some of my favorite shops, went to see Mom and Dad, and then Ryan and I took her back to Julie, who took her to the airport!

            Thanks for coming to help, Lori! I never could have gotten it all done without you! 

Speaking Snapshots: May 2024

 

Good morning, friends! Yesterday wrapped up quite the eclectic month of speaking for me, and today I want to recap the adventures. You’ve seen snippets of some of these in other stories sprinkled throughout the month of May, but for the sake of posterity, I’ll create this post as well.

            My first stop in May was back on our monthiversary, when I shared briefly at a service for the National Day of Prayer. I represented the media and shared ways that people could pray for those in the media. The service was held outside, and I was really grateful for a decent-weather evening! I was able to see old friends, pray together with Ryan, and pray specifically for some of our friends.

            About a week later, we traveled to Greencastle (you saw this one in the Day in the Life post) to speak at a women’s event at a Baptist church there. They did a really sweet little tea with sandwiches and treats, all kinds of tea, and then some fellowship time at each table. We gathered in the sanctuary for music and then I shared with them about pouring into each other’s lives.

            This was my first time to speak at any church in that part of the state. I don’t think I told you in the previous post that after the event was over, I was talking to one of the women who came, and she told me about her daughter and where she had gone to college. Rather randomly, she asked me if I knew a lady named Brenda, and I said, “Actually, yes I do! Brenda was how we ended up with our sweet Lexi Grae! It turned out that Brenda’s son and this lady’s daughter are married. What are the chances?!

            A couple of days after that, on Mother’s Day, I spoke at the little church near home – the one where I’ve been serving once a month all year. I will sure miss that congregation this summer. They are such sweet people. They were so kind to us and even gifted us a hanging basket as a temporary parting gift!

            Yesterday I began my summer speaking at our own church! I’ll be doing a ten-week series on what it means to be an ambassador for Christ. To start the adventure (which, ironically, was the first theme of the series – the adventure of being an ambassador), everyone received a wristband that says AMBASSADOR.

            I am so excited for this summer and the opportunity to share with my local-church-body brothers and sisters in Christ!