Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

Well, hello there, February. It’s good to see you! January simultaneously flew and dragged on forever, so I’m interested to see how this month goes in comparison. As you start this new and short month, I have a few little treasures for you to explore. Hope you find a nugget that is worth the pause in scrolling!

Ryan and I are working so hard to learn how to say no. We are both people pleasers, and we both genuinely desire to do anything we can to help others. As a result, we often find ourselves overbooked and exhausted – and guilted into things we never really wanted (or felt led) to do in the first place. While saying no is an actual skill we need to continue to hone, I appreciated Chrystal Evans Hurst’s explanation about why saying no is helpful and how the Lord can use our no answers to bring an even better yes. (BONUS: On a similar note, this piece by Kathi Lipp talks about the importance of being present and, as she says, “moving at the speed of love,” which can only happen effectively if we’re able to say no sometimes. So much to learn…)

You might remember that last year, I participated in several of Darlene Schacht’s Bible studies on the Time Warp Wife. I am so excited to see she has a new study coming out this month – on the topic of joy! You can read the details at that link. You can purchase a book through Amazon or download the chapters from her website if you sign up for her newsletter. I’ve never participated in the Facebook community when I’ve done her studies, but I sure have enjoyed digging in on my own. If you’re looking for a study to do over the next few weeks, here’s an option for you! I’ll be doing it, for sure!

Last year at this time, we were knee-deep in packing my parents to move to Swiss Village. (I think we are collectively thankful it is this year over last year! A blogger named Rhoda crafted this post to share the process of doing the same thing for her parents. I nodded my head all the way through it, because it was all so familiar! Why I didn’t think to write about the process as she did is beyond me, but she did a great job. Even if this does not apply to your life right now, you might tuck this post away for future reference, because she gives great advice for working through the process of downsizing/moving parents and then selling and cleaning out what is left! (BONUS: If there’s any kind of move in your future, tuck away this post written by Megan. TONS of good advice in here on the practical supplies you’ll need to move.)

Is life feeling heavy right now? I have learned in many of my conversations this month that the average person seems to be carrying a significant amount of heart-weight, and that heaviness can feel crippling after a while. Laura Kelly Fanucci wrote these beautiful words about slowing down and looking up…and if we’re honest, how often do any of us do either of those things? Maybe they would be worth a try this week? (BONUS: The Psalm she references is one I learned through a song I heard often when we lived in Kokomo. The choir at the church we attended there sang it regularly, and it’s a powerful, anthem-y song, which is always my favorite. You might have heard it before, but it’s worth a listen again.)

I’m on the hunt for a location for our annual birthday getaway. My sister tagged me in a Facebook post about a coffee shop in Columbus, Ohio, and that led me to discover the robust Columbus Coffee Trail. No way could we visit all (roughly 30) locations in a long-weekend getaway, but can you even imagine the joy of picking out a few to try?? My trip-planning wheels are turning. (BONUS: One day I hope to go to Prince Edward Island for a birthday trip, and when I do, please take me here, Ryan! This is nowhere near our normal dining budget, but doesn’t it look like the grandest adventure??)

I adore a good before and after home tour. If you’ve been reading here throughout all our moves and renovations, you know how much I love to take before/during/after photos and have a side-by-side comparison. Well, this post by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is a few years old now, but I just found it this week, and I absolutely loved this long, proper, picture-laden post of before and after pictures of their home. They put so much personality, character, and good lighting into a house that was kind of plain on the inside. I really loved some of her choices – especially the air stone they put on the outside of their house on a concrete retaining wall. That was the same material Ryan and I used in our Kokomo house to make an accent wall inside. We always loved that wall! (BONUS: And if you’re doing some home updates, check out Kari Anne’s tutorial on all the ways you can hang a wreath! Metal doors, tall doors, screen doors, siding…she’s got you covered. I didn’t even know some of these things existed.)

·         Last year, right around this time, Ryan pulled out all the paint cans and went around the house touching up places that had gotten dinged in the year since we moved in. Last week he did it again, so I guess that officially makes it a tradition. Life happens, and we all end up with spots where furniture hits against the wall, marring the paint, or we move something that hung in one spot to place it in another, leaving behind an empty nail hole. It’s a great idea to designate a weekend every year to go around touching up the things that need a little extra paint love.

·         Cleaning up paper piles is never a fun project, but it is often a necessary one. Ryan just went through the mail stacks, the tax stacks, the shredding stacks, the to-be-filed stacks, and probably six or seven other kinds of stacks I don’t even know about, and now the place looks so much better. This is a really good time to tackle a project like this. It’s cold outside, tax season looms – set aside time to work through the paper piles!