Thrifty Thursday: My Fun Finds!

 

The last few weeks, I’ve devoted my Thursday posts to revisiting some of our early birthday trips. It’s been fun to meander down memory lane, look at some of the fun places we’ve been and relive some of the funny stories that found us along the way.

                Today, though, I cannot wait to show you some of my recent thrifty finds!

                Our church had a fundraiser rummage sale last weekend, and I had fun shopping. (And I felt I was thoughtful about my purchases.)

                Favorite Find: Would you believe my favorite find was also the FIRST thing I encountered? I recently started learning about rebounding, and since I’d never heard of it, I’m guessing maybe some of you haven’t either. Rebounders are mini-trampolines and there are entire exercise routines built around these low-impact rebounders. I had a rebounder on my wish list, but it was a bit of an investment piece, so I hadn’t purchased it yet.

                IMAGINE, if you will, my sheer delight when I walked into the sale room and…there sat a rebounder! With a handlebar and resistance bands. What???

                It came home with me immediately. I’ve been watching YouTube videos and learning to incorporate this into my days! I’ll tell you more about it when I feel a bit more experienced. But this was the absolute find of the day.

                From my thrifting Bingo card: This stock pot.

Ryan and I used to own an enormous stock pot that took a ton of space in our cabinets. We rarely used it, so in one of our moving sales along the way, we sold it. We never missed it until recently, when we started making big batches of soup for company or church events. We have to make them in shifts because we don’t have a big enough pot.

                We’ve been watching for a stock pot at thrift stores but we hadn’t had any luck. This one isn’t stainless steel, which is our ultimate goal, but it is a nice (new, actually) pot that will work just fine. Win!

                Unexpected treasure: This little set of cheese knives. 

                (The set only included four, but I had been gifted the extra one last Christmas and it matched the set!) Since Ryan and I do more entertaining than we used to, these will be put to good use!

                Impulse buy: This small crossbody purse. 

                I have a giant Mary Poppins bag that I carry everywhere and love. I will continue to carry it! But sometimes if we’re doing somewhere that requires being out and about all day, I really don’t want to lug around a giant bag. This will give me a spot for my phone, wallet, lipstick, etc. and won’t take up much space!

                Thoughtful purchase: This little set of spice jars that I didn’t pick up immediately. 

                I loved them but wasn’t sure they were a good choice. I circled the room a few times and finally decided to take them.

                We have spice jars we bought from IKEA back when we lived in Kokomo. I really like them, but in our current home, we have to keep them in a drawer, rather than displaying them on wall shelves. (We don’t have enough wall space for that.) We could really use that drawer space for other things, and some of the jars are starting to show some wear and tear.

                This set sits in a holder that fits perfectly on the tiny bit of counter beside our stove. I do think I will order some labels from Etsy to cover the permanent labels on the jar, since we don’t use all the exact spices in this set and we use others they don’t reflect.

                I was so pleased with these treasures. What a great start to garage sale season 2026!

Wednesday in the Word: He Knows

 

The last few weeks…months, really…of our lives have been quite full. In my family, we’ve had lots of twists and turns, decisions, work to do. In both our jobs, we’ve had changes, adjustments, work to do. In our home we’ve had organizing, changing, work to do.

                We know all this fullness isn’t unique to us. Many of you are experiencing your own versions of the same things.

                One of the things that has been hard for me in it all has been the inability to sit and read, study, and write like I’d love to have the time to do. That’s one reason I enjoy these Wednesday posts. They give me an extra reason to sit with studying a little longer. And nearly every week, the words are perfect for my heart. This week is no exception.

                I’m still crawling through Psalm 37, and the words I studied this week were from verses 18-19: The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.

                The first three words were the balm for my heart this week.

                The Lord knows.

                He knows all things. He knows how hard we’ve worked. He knows how tired we can get. He knows our limitations. I’m so thankful for all of that. The knowledge of it brings me comfort.

                It’s also comforting to remember that regardless of what happens on this earth, regardless of how complicated and convoluted things might get, we have a heritage that remains forever and far surpasses anything we can imagine here.

                And God is taking care of us. He always has and always will. I may not see how. I may not understand. But He does and will, and I can count on that.

                He knows and He takes care, now and always.

Tuesday Tales: Ryan's Birthday Celebration

 

                Last week was Ryan’s birthday, and while it felt a bit unconventional, it was fun to spoil him and celebrate his life.

                His Dad and stepmom wanted to treat us to dinner, so the night before his birthday, we met them halfway at Cracker Barrel. (They brought Grandma, too!)

Want to hear something amusing about our dinner? This Cracker Barrel is where we meet them for every meal we have with them. It’s in Gas City, right there in the same county where I lived for 16 years. And I never see anyone I know when we meet up to eat. How is that possible? What are the chances that I literally never see anyone I know? This thought crossed my mind as we sat down to dinner, and wouldn’t you know, during this visit, I saw three families I knew. And one of them was a former date. Whoopsie. (He’s very nice and we exchanged pleasantries.)

After we left, we made a wrong turn and decided, impulsively, to swing by Ivanhoes! Unfortunately it couldn’t be a strawberry shortcake night for me since I’d eaten dinner, but we did get ice cream! (Thank goodness they have mini shakes.) And did you even go to Ivanhoes if you don’t get a picture with Garfield?

Ryan woke up on his birthday with my cold. Oops. That wasn’t the gift I intended to give.

He had taken the day off work and the only thing he wanted out of life for that day was to organize the garage. It sounded like a terrible birthday celebration to me, but it’s what he really really wanted, so I told him to go for it. I promised to keep birthday fun coming his way throughout the day, and I did!

I got up and drove to the Shaka Shack to get birthday Americanos, ran through the Dollar General for Mucinex (nothing says Happy Birthday like a fresh bottle of cold meds!) and then picked up his favorite breakfast pizza on my way home.

He got busy working, and Lexi and I even joined him for a while to help with organization and cleaning. She was living her best life helping him!

While he continued to work, I came in and set up a little birthday corner for his gift-opening festivities. Lexi wanted to help with that, too.

He mentioned being frustrated with his office Keurig (our old one from our camping days) because it doesn’t have a water reservoir, and he doesn’t have a convenient water source to fill it every time he wants to use it. Since he’s moving to a different office, this felt like the perfect time to upgrade his coffee station!

It rained – a pretty, gentle rain – in the afternoon, so he had to finish his chores in the rain.

I left dinner choices up to him, and he didn’t feel like getting ready so late in the day, so we ran into Decatur to Soul Pig, a BBQ place we like but don’t get to eat at too often. We got a meal to go and it ended up giving each of us two meals!

He said it had been the perfect day. I was so happy he was so happy! (And the garage really does look nice.)

Saturday morning I had to get up early and drive to Ohio for a funeral visitation for church. Ryan stayed home and continued the birthday celebration by washing cars. He also installed our bedroom air conditioner, and he finished up in time for us to go for a quick ride around the lake.

We had small group that night and kept the birthday celebration going – steaks and asparagus!

The celebration was low key. The decorations were minimal. The candles never made an appearance. But he loved his time of rest, organization, and time alone with Lexi and me, so the birthday proved to be a success!

Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

Happy Monday, friends! Our long weekend (Ryan had Friday off, so I took most of it off too!) flew entirely too quickly. So sad! We had a lot of fun meals this week, thanks to Ryan’s birthday! Here are our thoughts on what we ate this week:

Monday: Butternut Skillet Lasagna

What We Changed: I didn’t have any rosemary, so I skipped that, and I used frozen, cubed sweet potatoes rather than cutting one. (I hate cutting squash!) While this didn’t taste like lasagna, it was good!

Tuesday: Air Fried Chicken and Roasted Asparagus

What We Did: We ran out of meal planned meals. That’s what we did! So I had some chicken tenders (skinless) in the freezer that I tossed in the air fryer, and I made my trusty roasted asparagus recipe. It was a really tasty meal and didn’t take long to make!

Wednesday: Air Fried Chicken and Roasted Asparagus

What We Loved: Leftovers for the win! Is there any other way on a busy church night?

Thursday: Dinner at Cracker Barrel

What We Had: We met Ryan’s family for dinner at Cracker Barrel. I always get their grilled chicken with broccoli and green beans. The meal come with two pieces of chicken, so it makes two meals for me. Ryan got a burger and fries!

Friday: Carryout from Soul Pig

What We Had: Ryan wanted to spend the day working in the garage, so neither one of us ever got ready that day. (What a birthday, right?) We ended up going to a BBQ place in Decatur that we really like but hardly ever get to eat at, and we split a carryout meal! We chose a three meat, two side platter and got four meals from it!

Saturday: Small Group – Steak, Asparagus, and Texas Sheet Cake

What We Loved: We had small group Saturday night, and we contributed a Texas Sheet Cake! We also had steaks (local beef) and garden-grown asparagus. SO GOOD!!!!

Sunday: Heavily Modified Pan Bagnat (Use Chicken) and Mushroom Spinach Scrambled Eggs

What We Did: I don’t even know what “Pan Bagnat” means, but the recipe called for tuna, which I hate. So I used shredded chicken instead. We ate these on our homemade sandwich bread, and I skipped the capers, anchovies, and onions. It basically tasted like dressed up chicken salad, and it was good!

I’ve made the scrambled egg dish many times before, and it was an easy Sunday night dish, so I made it again. I like the mushrooms, spinach, and onions in the eggs!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments from the Week

 

This week had a lot of celebration in it…and I loved that. It also had a hint of warm weather, and that was also a highlight. Here are a few other memories from the week we just had:

Last Sunday afternoon, I attended a little party to celebrate the local school’s Sunshine Society. They have a program similar to secret sisters, where a high school student chooses a woman in the community that she looks up to and sends her gifts throughout the school year. The woman knows she’s been chosen, but not who chose her, and also sends gifts. (It’s hard to pick out gifts when you don’t know who is receiving them!) The party revealed the Sunshine Girl, and gave a chance for a final gift exchange. It was so much fun to see who had chosen me and celebrate with her!

I worked from home on Monday and intended to wash linens while I worked. But this sweet girl looked SO CUTE in our bed that it was awfully hard to kick her out and do the laundry! (She eventually moved and all laundry was done.)

We took Lexi to visit my parents this week! I am unsure who was more excited: Dad or Lexi! They had the best time reuniting. Mom isn’t a huge dog lover, so she wasn’t as overjoyed, but I like to think she secretly enjoyed the visit.

I ordered a medicine ball tea at my weekly coffee shop meeting this week. (In addition to the coffee, of course. I am SO OVER ALL THE COLDS this year. (I’ve passed mine right along to Ryan…an unintentional birthday gift.)

Ryan’s dad, stepmom, and grandma met us for a birthday celebration at Cracker Barrel! We had a gorgeous night to make the trip and had fun shopping in the gift shop after it was over. (I found some new readers that Ryan really liked.) It was a fun start to his birthday celebration.

Friday was Ryan’s actual birthday, and I’ll fill you in on all the celebratory fun this week. But here is a sneak peek of our gift party on Friday afternoon! I was so excited Ryan took the day off and we were able to spend the whole thing together!

The celebrations carried right on through yesterday, when we had dinner with friends, complete with steak and cake!