I'm covering the office while Judge is out this afternoon. In case you'd like the full play by play, I had yesterday and this morning off, which was delightful! I did my exit interview with Debra and completed all the paperwork for my files at Restore yesterday... then I signed up to mentor Abby, a CHA Senior, on her thesis project... then I saw It Ends With Us and had a short but fun walk with Kristin (bc of stupid lightning) last night! I still have my final 2-3 page paper to write, but there's loads of time for that after work! lol
So here are some random photos, just because I feel like blogging right now...
I really love this classroom door (from a FB friend's photos)...
I always enjoy seeing first day of school pics... yay!
Speaking of, here's some cuteness from this very day 6 years ago... Kyndal Faith's first official day as a CHA student, and Rachael's first day on the CHA job! (8-15-2018)
Mom went through some of Grandad and Babah's old stuff, which included some cards from us that they had saved... it made me happy to see these again! ❤
Definitely thought about Grandad on his birthday July 27th!
Speaking of birthdays, here are some through-the-years pics from Kyndal's bday... starting with her actual day of birth... her presh newborn baby fingers making the peace sign made me happy.
I've always loved this pic, and I also love the memory of her saying "It's me as Santa Claus." lolol
Preshfaces... this was the first time she requested a family spaghetti dinner for her birthday!
This pic of Jace enjoying the smell of the cake lid makes me happy! lol
Her party at Urban Air (I think)!
Dinner at Pelicans... she's the very cutest!
Facetime call from my house in Tulsa on the morning of her 7th birthday... still not sure exactly what she was doing here, but she was in such a happy, playful mood, and I loved it!!
Rach's hair getting caught on her glasses on her 8th birthday! lol
The Pinkitzel unicorn cake that almost didn't make it for her 10th birthday! (It was crazy heavy, and it got knocked around as another driver caused a major serve to avoid a car accident on our drive home that day).
Their house ready for her 10th bday slumber party!
And now I'll conclude this with some entertaining memes!!
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful and thankful."
~Colossians 4:2
Today, I am thankful for:
1. Yesterday being my final day of Internship!! I have successfully terminated or transitioned all of my clients to new therapists... and I am so happy to be done with my internship hours and moving forward now! (*Pic = Angel, Jeremy, Jacey, Hannah, and me).
2. Being credited for helping compile this Parent Guide (yay for anything that goes on the resume - lol)!
3. Misty (new intern, left) telling me I was the best therapist she had observed and that she's learned a lot from me - so encouraging!! Top right is my office reservation for my final morning session (which was decidedly chaotic and humbling, as expected, but it made it feel that much sweeter to be done)... and bottom right is me and Hannah, my closest intern friend who specializes in working with kids, and I've learned a lot from her!!
4. Cute puppies - Angel brought her 3 new Shih-Tzu puppies to hang out with us on our last day of internship. lol
5. For 11 years of great memories with Miss Kyndal Faith, who celebrated her birthday yesterday!!
6. It was also the first day of school at CHA - Junior year for T-man, 6th grade for Jace, and 5th for Kyndal! Mamaw and Grandpa brought them Chick-fil-A breakfast and came to take pictures on their first day! =)
7. The Miss K requesting a spaghetti dinner with the fam at Mamaw and Grandpa's house!
8. Family pic last night!
9. Mom's creativity with the cookie-dough "cake," and Jace improvising on the makeshift candle! lolol
10. Love her! It's been a busy couple weeks, and I failed to get a gift on time, but I ordered her some cute cowgirl boots on Amazon, so yay for that!
11. Her gifts included some new jeans, a Lilly Pulitzer jacket, diamond art stuff, and random snacks! She loves her birthday like Chet does... that top middle pic = her playfully saying, "Okay, it's present time - all eyes on me! It's my time to shine!!" lol
12. Mel Freaking Robbins, who continues to inspire me and bring me joy! This week started her Morning Routine Bootcamp in the Launch course (encouraging better morning habits). This is the ramp-up, and Project Sprint #3 will start just after Labor Day!! Let's go, let's grow!!
13. Meeting Annie F. Downs and getting these photos during my Nashville trip last weekend - definitely a 2024 highlight for me! ❤
14. Seeing Eddie and Annie keep talking live and in person with loads of other fans who adore them like I do!! What they created in 2020 will forever live on in my heart, a testament to the power of friendship, which is pretty high on my list of priorities!
15. Four of my former classmates who are now CHA Moms - seeing this pic made me happy! (Sarah, Lyndsay, Jessica, and Kathleen).
16. And last but not least, the CCU Timeline assignment - this final week of the summer semester is intense and chaotic, particularly after a week of COVID and a long-weekend trip... but this video helped me slow down and reflect a little, and tangibly reminded me of all I have to be grateful for right now!!
*Bonus: Grateful for laughter and friendship... still loving this friendship and most everything I'm seeing from this press tour - so much fun!!
Three days and one more paper to conquer, then a delightful and well-earned break week before my final semester!
Happy Thursday, friends and fam! I love you and believe in you, and God is WITH you and FOR you today!!
I have vague memories of visiting the Grand Ole Opry on one of our family road trips many years back, but it was a quick stop as we drove right on through Tennessee. So I'm counting this weekend as my first official Nashville experience! ❤
It's the current hometown of one of my favorite authors and podcasters, Miss Annie F. Downs! She grew up in Georgia then moved to Nashville in her early 20s, so Nashville is to her what Tulsa is to me. As a fellow Christian single woman in my 40s, I am incredibly grateful for Annie's example of living a rich, purposeful, and joyful life that inspires hope and courage rather than pity!! After years of listening to her podcasts and audiobooks, she feels like a real-life friend and mentor, so I'm thankful to have a picture with her! ❤
Mandy and I were seated at a table with Molly (in the headband) and her mom, Becky. Ladybird Taco is a place I've heard about on That Sounds Fun and The Big Boo Podcast for a while now, so I was happy to finally get to try it out! (And the taco bar dinner made me think of my Tulsa going-away party!)
A pic with Mandy and Annie!
This was a dinner for 65 (max capacity for that restaurant), and she came around to every table to talk to each person, sign their books, and take photos... really nice!!
This was my introduction to Annie, the book I read at the hospital while Mom was having back surgery in 2016. Annie said she was "honored to have been there with me," and that the book looked very well-loved. lol ❤
I re-read my 2016 highlights on the flight to Nashville: "I didn't walk away from the pain or give up on life. I walked all the way through it, holding the hands of many trusted friends and my counselor, and here I am on the other side. My counselor was right; my capacity to see beauty has increased in a much bigger measure than the pain I felt. My ability to feel the depths of something good was strengthened by my choice to feel the depths of pain." ❤
After the brisket taco dinner with Annie, we saw a private early screening of White Bird, an excellent movie about a Jewish girl who was taken in and protected by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village -- a great story that highlights the power of intentional kindness.
Day 2 started off with a tour of the Grand Ole Opry!
We also saw the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium, and Garth's Friends in Low Places bar - love him!!
A T-Swift exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame - yes, please. lol
We had a quick lunch at Martin's BBQ then went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the night... we stayed at The Westin Nashville, which was really nice!
My dinner meal at NashHouse, before and after I ate. lol I felt bad sending so much back, but it is what it is. The hashbrown casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, fresh fruit, and a biscuit with peach jam - yum!
The 10-Year Anniversary show at the Ryman was everything I wanted it to be... a short and powerful message from Annie, an acapella song by Lady A and intro music by CAIN, a celebration/tribute video with clips from John Eldredge and Beth Moore and Christine Caine, and most importantly, lots of fun banter and random conversations between Annie and Eddie, who got more stage time than any other guest, exactly as it should be - I adore him and their friendship!!! This pic = Eddie Kaufholz, Annie F. Downs, Amy Grant (a surprise guest), Jamie and Knox (another podcast pair that I haven't really listened to much). FUN!
After the show, Mandy and I walked through the 5th and Broadway area - an adorable little shopping center and food hall that reminded me of the Linq Promenade in Vegas. I would spend lots more time there if I make it back to Nashville someday! Jeni's Ice Creams is another place I'd heard a lot about and was happy to try... they had a special where you get a mini-scoop of 3 different flavors, which was perfect! (Gooey butter cake, double dough, and Texas sheet cake).
And yesterday, we flew back home! Mandy's flight left 2.5 hours before mine, so I got to hang out in the Nashville airport for a while... shopping around, people watching, and making the slideshow I'm posting below - for Love Actually reasons, I just love the atmosphere of airports and could have easily spent more time there. And I'm happy about my new Nashville t-shirt - yay!
This was the verse Annie read, talking about God temporarily sending His people to a new city (with plans to eventually restore them), encouraging them to grow and increase and hold on to hope, and especially to pray for the peace, welfare, and prosperity of their new city (because their own peace, welfare, and prosperity was tied to it). It felt like a timely and important message for me, so I wanted to document that here too:
"This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles...“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive...For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you” - this is the Lord’s declaration - “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you” - this is the Lord’s declaration - “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you” - this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.”
~Jeremiah 29:4-14
Without further ado, here's my Nashville trip slideshow! ❤
Happy Tuesday, friends!! Wish me luck as I FINISH STRONG in my final week at Restore, Oak Haven, and summer classes!!
For real, though! After seeing several short clips, I finally found the full version of Ryan and Hugh interviewing each other. I could not love this more!! Their friendship and love and respect are so genuine, as is their talent and sense of humor and general attractiveness!
The algorithm is currently showing me lots and lots of Ryan and Hugh and Shawn and Blake Lively, and I'm so here for it all!! Excited for her new movie too, and loving that Ryan and Hugh showed up to help promote it at the premier and press interviews!
Shawn (their director and friend) praising Ryan's creativity - I've read a lot about him being an improv genius and that makes sense to me. I want more of his random, hilarious, ongoing narration! Love him and Blake and everything I've ever seen them say about each other and their kids... love that their kids names are all mentioned in T-Swift songs on Folklore... love that their kids get to sing and dance to Eras with freaking Taylor Swift and to Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman himself in their living room - so great!! ❤
I'm thinking Blake and Taylor need a girlfriend who's less in the spotlight like Ryan and Hugh have in Shawn, so I volunteer as tribute!! lol Gah, how much do I wanna hang out with this group right now!?? I'll have to settle for seeing them at the movies. But it makes my heart very happy to see friendships that are real and people who are connected and wholeheartedly rooting for each other to live fully, whenever and wherever I find them!! ❤
Wholesome male friendships are always uplifting and great to see!
BESTIES. lol They are mildly ridiculous and embracing all the cheesiness, and I love it!! Okay, I'm really done for now. *Making a mental note to go see Deadpool & Wolverine again. lol
"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I will help you."
~Isaiah 41:13
Today, I am thankful for...
1. The God-given ability (and command) to redirect and reprogram my thoughts in alignment with Scripture!!
2. Hitting the 50-pound milestone yesterday (two months after my surgery)!! Aside from Covid, I'm feeling pretty good lately... my blood pressure, BMI, and clothing size are all gradually lowering, and I am grateful for the health improvements and positive momentum that come along with weight loss! ❤
3. All I'm learning through my journaling homework and one-on-one sessions with Emily (my counselor/coach)!
4. For the gift of writing 200 "Thankful Thursday" posts spanning 14 years of my life from August 2010 to this August. It started HERE with me and Chet at Old School Bagel in our Build Your Best You bracelets from Fitness Together. =) Can't say the same for the entire 2010 post, but I'm genuinely grateful that friendship stood the test of time!
And I hope their fam is having fun at the beach this week! ❤
6. Jace Michael passing his yellow belt karate test last night - YAY! (I wasn't there due to Covid, but he FaceTimed me afterward with the classic fakeout move. lol) His joy and pride in these pictures makes me happy!
7. Some extra rest, vitamins, and movie time this week... all perfectly timed between last week (my Colorado Res 3 trip, Dad's b-day, and Sarah's OKC visit) and the coming week (my Nashville trip + final week @ Restore + Kyndal's b-day)! I'm grateful to see God's hand in the details on stuff like that. ❤
*Bonus: A fairly random thing that's brought me lots of joy in my mini-quarantine has been the friendship between Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy (Director of Deadpool & Wolverine). So many fun videos and interviews, and they all seem to genuinely enjoy each other... I'm confident the thread of real friendship behind it all helped to make this a #1 movie, and I love that - makes me wanna see it again!
Happy first day back to school for the Whitaker boys today!! Whether this is the 1st or the 200th Thankful Thursday post you've read, thank you for being here, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead! ❤
