Friday, June 23, 2017

Friday's Fave Five #435



Welcome to the first FFF of summer 2017.  Did I just write that?  Wow the first 6 months of this year have just flown by!  All the more reason to pause and remember the blessings of the week lest they pass right on by unnoticed.  Please join in.  For first timers the guidelines link is in the sidebar.

1.  Celebrations.  This year our anniversary and Father's day coincided so we went out for a lovely steak dinner on Friday night to celebrate our anniversary saving Sunday to do Father's day.  I can't believe it's already been 34 years but I talked about that last week already.  :)  Sunday we celebrated the Dads with my side of the family going to another restaurant of my dad's choice.  My out of town kids gave their Dad a nice phone call and then later Hubby and I just relaxed together and took a nice walk to Starbucks.  It was a wonderful day all around and I'm very thankful both for hubby as a husband and father and for the other Dads in the family.  

2.  Hot sprinkler day weather.  It's been hot enough for most of the week to turn on the sprinkler and let the kids have some water fun.  Our favorite day was when I just sprayed them with the hose as they ran around screaming and hiding and laughing.  So much fun.

3.  Coconut Curry Chicken.  Over the last year or so I've really developed a liking for Indian food.  Friends of our introduced it to us via local restaurants and the odd taste of something here and there.   I find it wonderfully fragrant and spicily delicious.  Costco has carried this brand of butter chicken cooking sauce for awhile.  I've been using it awhile  because I love the flavors of butter chicken and I thought it would be nice to make a quick meal adding cooked chicken and rice and veggies.  When I went to pick it up last shopping trip I noticed they now had a coconut curry sauce.  So I grabbed that one too (though they don't as of this date have it on their website yet).  Oh my goodness, it was delicious and didn't taste like a jarred item at all.  It was spicy, though it only rated the heat at 3/5, but a really good spicy.  Every one really loved it so it's going to definitely be a go to on the meal plans when I need something quick.   It's nice to have something other than spaghetti sauces to make a quick meal on those busy work days when I don't have time to cook something that takes a long time.  

4.  Study wrap up and resources.  I combined this fave because they kind of go together.  First, Tuesday was my small group's last official study night before summer break.  The last few months we have been studying the book of Jonah using the Right Now Media study resources.  It has been such a great study.  Who knew that there was so much to learn from the book of Jonah?  Not me before this study.  The insight from the lessons was so good and the discussion the questions initiated so rich.  I love that my group participates so well.   And I'm thankful for this resource that adds so much to our studies.  We've now done two of them and I'm looking forward to starting yet another in the fall.  

5.  Clutter clear out.   Hubby and I tackled one of our dresser drawers.  It has been a drawer that has driven me crazy for years and we finally got to it.  And just determined to do a quick sort, make quick decisions on stay or go.  Hubby said looking at it was overwhelming and that's why it's been ignored for so long but once we got rolling it was actually easy and we got rid of a good 1/3 of the stuff clogging it up.   I let go of another 3 pairs of shoes that I finally realized I don't really wear because I either don't like them or they aren't comfortable.  If you know me and shoes you'll know that is a big deal especially in light of all the ones I let go a few months ago too.  Why is decluttering so hard to get too yet feels so good when it's done?

What were your favorite blessings from the last week?






11 comments:

Willow said...

Yay for you for doing that decluttering of the dreaded dresser drawer! And hurray on the release of the shoes, too.

I have a great love of anything coconut curry based--probably from all those years spent in Indonesia. Aren't they absolutely delectable? Want a recipe for coconut flavored yellow rice? :)

If I were a kid, I'd want to be in your daycare and play outside in the water!

Gattina said...

Father's day was earlier here, but it's not celebrated very much (poor fathers) ! We had such a heatwave officially still in spring up to 36° outsidde Brussels ! It was just unbearable. A good excuse to just do nothing !

Susan said...

Our church used Right Now Media some years back and I LOVED it. How fun to learn new things from Jonah. This year our Pastor did a series on that book and it was fun to see the event from a different angle.

Happy anniversary. Sounds like y'all celebrated that and Father's Day in grand style.

Hurray on decluttering. It was on my to-do list for this week, but I never got around to it.

Have a great week, Susanne.

Barbara H. said...

Happy anniversary! Glad you had nice celebrations for that and Father's Day.

Running through sprinklers is one of my favorite childhood memories!

All my family loves Indian food. I'm not big on that kind of spiciness, but I'm getting to where I can tolerate it.

The Bible study sounds great. Tackling those dreaded cluttered areas does feel good - sometimes just getting started is the biggest part, but once begun that propels us to finish it. I have some shoes I probably should get rid of. It feels good to get rid of things, but I usually wrestle with either sentimentality or "I paid good money for this!" But those items aren't doing anyone any good sitting there unused, so I should toss out more often than I do.

Jerralea said...

I love RightNow media! I recently did Francis Chan's study on the book of James with RightNow. I need to check out the Jonah study.

I've never tasted curry. Guess I'm missing out!

I love decluttering! How come it is so hard to start the process?

Deb J. in Utah said...

Happy anniversary! I totally agree with you about clearing out clutter. We are doing some of that right now! Feels good. As I pack to move, I wonder why I kept so much stuff! Enjoy the coming weekend.

Ann said...

Congratulations on your anniversary!! We will celebrate 32 next week. Congratulations on your de-cluttering, from someone who HATES to do that! And glad you enjoyed your Indian food so much. I'm not on board with that yet. :-)

nikkipolani said...

Oooh, those curry sauces sound terrific! I've tried some jarred products and they just haven't been worth repeating. But will see if our local Costco has the sauces you've loved.

I think what I dread about the decluttering is the decision making. But once you've done a few and get some practice, it becomes easier. Since I've come back to my previous employer, I discovered they'd pretty much left my old office untouched. I ended up tossing just about every piece of paper there.

Congrats on finding a great resource for your group! I love those rich discussions.

Happy summer to you, Susanne!

Elizabeth said...

What a lovely blog, Susanne.

This is a great meme too.

Thanks for sharing, and Happy Anniversary.

Time flies WAY TOO FAST.

I agree about the blessings...I always count them.

ENJOY your weekend, and thank you for stopping by my blog.

Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog

Elizabeth said...

I failed to mention my blessings.

This is an ongoing blessing for me...my son keeps in touch and visits on a regular basis. He always thinks of his parents. We are very blessed and thankful.

ellen b said...

Another good week with a special celebration. Yippee for clutter clearing. We have miles to go before we sleep. :)