Friday's Fave Five #902

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five. Sorry I did not get around to your posts from last week.  Circumstances just prevented me spending any length of time on the computer but I hope to get caught up with you all this week.  Thanks for joining in another week of looking for our blessings.

~helicopter ride ~ Hubby and I got to take a 15 minute helicopter ride as part of a fund raiser for a local home that provides a home and support services for pregnant women and new moms facing difficult circumstances.  So much fun.  Amazing how different things look from a helelicopter's height.  Great cause and great views of farmland, the river valley and the coulees.  Bucket list item is now crossed off.  So worth it.

~ Elton John Tribute show ~  my sister and I took in this show together. It was a fun evening of live music playing primarily Elton's 70's  hits we all know and love.  They all worked hard to put on a great show.

~ beautiful sunsets this week ~  all week long the sunsets have been putting on quite a show.  I managed to take a decent pic of a couple of them.  Both of these are straight out of the camera and unedited. The first was on my way home from an appointment,  The pinks were stunning and I just had to pull off the main road as soon as I could to take the picture before it disappred.  The second was on our way home from an appointment in Calgary.  Farmland in the foreground with the sun setting behind the moutains,  Southern Alberta is gorgeous and God certainly is an artist!

~safe travels ~ I'm so very thankful once again for a safe trip on the highways.  It was sooo busy the day we had to go to Calgary, the roads filled with both passenger cars and semi trucks.  Thankful everyone seemed to be driving courteously and conditions were clear and not windy.

~ warm weather with no wind ~ we wee able to partake of both walks and bike rides on the weekend.  It's been perfect fall weather so far, not too hot and not too cold.

What have been your favorte blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #901

Welcome back to another week of developing grateful hearts. Like a muscle, the more we exercise looking for our daily blessings and being grateful for them, the more we notice to be thankful for.  Thank you for joining me each week growing our gratefulness muscle!

~ family there when you need them ~ so thankful this week for my sister and husband being there for us when we needed them even though it was super inconvenient and disrupting for them,  

It's such a blessing knowing we can count on each other when the unexpected happens

~ peppermint oil concoction ~ my sister in law gifted me with this peppermint oil mixture that she makes up herself.  Apparently it goes deeper into the muscle,  Whatever it is its been really helping with some major cramps in my forearm.  Thankful she shared some of her mixure with me,'

~ women's basketball playoffs ~  from grade 5 throughout grade 11 my oldest daughter was heavily involved in basketball.  I loved to watch her play and was able to make most games.  I really miss those times. When she visited in August we watched some wnba games together and it was so fun talking basketball with her again,  Because of her I thought I'd catch some of the FIBA women's basketball and some of the playoffs,  Been thoroughly enjoying the games I've watched,  Thankful that even though we don't pay for a sports channel I can eventually catch the games online.

~  comfortable bedding ~  so thankful that each night I get to crawl into bedding that is cozy and comfy.  It;s not lost on me what a great privelage that really is.

~ police services ~ this week I want to give thanks for the men and womwn who serve on our city's police force.  There was a high risk incidence in our neighborhood this week and it really struck me that these officers did not know if they were going to go home to their families that night.  I am so grateful they are out there protecting us and that they were able to resolve the incident with noone, including the one causing the incident, getting hurt during a high risk operation.

What were your favorite blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #900

Hi everyone!  Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  I will be joining in later this morning but I've left Mr. Linky here for you to link up your posts!  I'll catch up in a bit.

Well a bit turned into a whole lot later. Whew. But I made it! It's been a week but I'm thankful FFF keeps me anchored and makes me slow down and purposefully look for God's blessings.  

~ flowers still shooting out blooms ~ end of Sepember and most of my flowers are still doing great.  In fact, lupins in my area should be done blooming by mid-July, but this little guy in a show of defiance to the time of year, shot up two more blooms just last week.  I'm loving the colorful fall.

~ down time ~ it was so busy this week I'm thankful for every small moment of down time I was blessed with.  Whether it was moments to read, pray, play a game or even just sit and have hot coffee I was grateful for all.

~ lots of outside time ~ with the beautiful days we've been able to get outside several times a day with the dayhome kids.  It's good for all our mental and physical health.

~ fall scents ~ falling leaves, apples, cinnamon, crockpot meals bubbling all day.  The warm scents of coziness.

~ Date night with Hubby ~ Usually we do takeout on a Friday night, but this week we decided a night out at a restaurant was in order.  What a blessing to get out and enjoy a good meal together and wind down from the busy week.

Thanks for joinng in once again this week.

Friday's Fave Five #899

It's Friday, time to look back over our week.  Time to intentionally look for every good thing that has been a part of lives this week.  I was looking for something in my blog this week and came across this paragraph  I wrote years ago  and it really connected with me again so I thought I'd repost it today.  "Looking for blessings in the good times sets up habits in our lives that help us through the harder times.  Let's face it, when the walls are crashing down (as they will at some point), when we are in the mundane trenches of raising kids, working jobs, overwhelming to-do lists and the stress of changes life throws our way, if we haven't developed habits of looking for what is actually good, what God has sent to bless us, at the joy that comes from simple things that make us smile, what makes us think that all of a sudden in the hard times we will be able to come up with the fortitude to all of a sudden do it?  Now that was one long sentence but one big life principle.  So on that note let's get grateful for our blessings from the last week!"  

Thanks for joining in with me and sharing five of your blessings from last week that you are thanking God for!

~ beautiful day to walk ~ last Saturday was a stunning late summer day so we took advantage of it and went to our favorite area for walks, the river bottom.  The weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold and not a spec of wind, unusual in these parts. While there were other people down there enjoying the day the paths were fairly empty.  We're soaking in every last bit summer wants to give us.

~ flower show ~  the lady slippers in my bicycle planter are really putting on a show this year,  They've never done this well for me and Im loving it,  

~ OCC (Operation Christmas Child) National Kick Off ~ This week was the  national kick off for Operation Christmas Child and it's Connect volunteers from across Canada met on Zoom for  encouragement, inspiration and prayer. It's exciting to get to see others who head up the different areas from each province.  It's "Go time" for us and our teams.

~ not losing my tooth ~ a couple weeks ago I broke a tooth that was mostly all filling.  The dentist temprarily added filling and we waited a week for the tooth to calm down. On my re-check this week, the root seemed to be doing good so no root canal, Praise God.  I just have to get a crown.  So thankful I don't have to go thru yet another root canal.

~ a good night's sleep ~ after a few night's of broken sleep it was heaven to get a night of solid

Zzzzzz's.

What were your favorite blessings this week that you are thankful for?

 

Friday's Fave Five #898

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  Thanks for joining in with me again to look for the blessings that God brings into our ordinary days, making sure we are grateful for them.  Some days it's easy and other days its harder but one thing I know is that the more we develop hearts of gratitude the more we see things to be grateful for.  I'm grateful to have you join in with me every Friday.

~birthday celebration~ last weekend we celebrated my brother-in-law as he turned 65.  We've known him many a year, since we were all in our 20's.  We gathered over a delicious dinner of Chinese food and ice cream cake to mark his milestone birthday.  Thanful for all the years we've known him.

~play date~ I had a play date with a little friend who used to attend my dayhome.  We built a special relationship and we still get together occasionally.  She's 10 now and I'm thankful she still likes to spend some time with me.  So this long weekend we played a round of black light mini golf and went for ice cream.  It was fun catching up with her and all she is doing.

~new garage doors~  we have lived in our house for 33 years and we've been toying with the idea of new garage doors for years.  They'd become very noisy, in bitter cold they would stick and I'd have to get out of the car and strong arm the door up, after every winter paint would peel off in chunks and one year one of the springs broke.  But you know how life is, other things just always seemed to come along that took priority.  But this summer when the lining and insulation broke away from the door and fell on top of the car as we were backing out, scaring the living daylights out of us, we said enough was enough, it was time.  This week was installation and now we have nice, quiet, safe doors that don't require painting every year.

~the smell after a rainstorm~  it was rainy here during the week end and I made sure to open windows at some points just to let in that wonderful, fresh smell.  

~fall routines~ while I love the easy going days of summer, I do love getting back to fall routines.  The dayhome kids seem to do better with routines and I love the rhythm it brings to the days and evenings.  

What were you grateful to God for this week?

What's happenin'?

Is commenting down for all Blogger sites or am I the only one not able to have their comments get published?  But now that I think about it, if Blogger commenting is down and not publishing how on earth you all gonna answer this?  Sigh. Carry on with your day. 😕😒😄

Friday"s Fave Five #897

Happy September everyone and welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  To me the beginning of September is fall so my mindset is already all things cozy.  Thanks for joining in on another week of looking for blessings to be grateful for.

~ feeling appreciated ~  sometimes in my line of work one can feel very unappreciated.  The hours are long, the pay usually isn't what it should be for the responsibility we carry and the expectations put upon us.  The job is physically and emotionally draining at times, and a whole lot of times we are taken advantage of.  But then there are the times when a parent lets you know just how greatly they valued the time their children had with you and it makes every moment worth it.  It was one of my dayhome families last day with me this week.  They showered me with lovely flowers, gift cards and chocolates but it was the beautiful card that Mom wrote that I will treasure forever and pull out and reread at those times I feel discouraged.  I'm sad they are going, it;s always hard to say goodbye to the kids in my care, but I'm excited for their new adventures and look forward to the next family God will bring my way.  

~ weekend biking ~ The weekend turned out some lovely weather so we took advantage with a bike ride.  This new bike has been turning out to be the best decision.  Its easy on my knee and way less stressful on my wrist and arm.  So happy I didn't have to give up an activity I so enjoy doing.

~ dahlia plantar ~  I've tried growing dahlias quite a few times before but they were always just alright.  Until this year.  I picked these up on a whim and they've done amazing in this plantar on the deck.  I guess I just wasn't buying the right variety before.  It's a blessing to see them out my patio doors whenever I look that direction. 

~ weekend visit from our son ~ any visit from my adult kids will always make my favorite blessing list.  

~ quiet start to the morning ~ this week my early arrivals have haven't arrived quite so early. Not by much but it's made for a slower start to the day, rather than hitting the floor running which is very much appreciated and never taken for  granted by this not an early morning person.  

What were your favorite blessings from your week?

An Infinite Love Story ~ by Chanel Cleeton

It's 1968 and astronaut Joe Mitchell has finally reached his dream of space exploration. He is commanding the first Mission to actually fly around the moon. Most of America is excited and waiting in anticipation for the next step in Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon before the decade is done.  But not all of America is enthusiastic and thinks just maybe the money would be better spent elsewhere, his wife, Vivian, being one of them.  But she's always been supportive of his dreams and buried those thoughts deep inside once she married Joe.  She, like the other astronaut wives, has sacrificed a lot in order to present the world with the picture perfect image NASA expected of them.   When NASA loses communication with Joe's spaceship, Vivian's worst fears have confronted her head on and now the eyes of the nation and the world are upon this very private woman.  As days turn into weeks Vivian recalls her and Joe's love story and in her grief she starts to notice what she feels is Joe trying to possibly communicate with her that he is still alive.  When the investigation tries to write it off as operator error, Vivian becomes determined to clear her husband's reputation.  With every "message" she seems to be getting from Joe, Viv wonders if Joe's love of space, the unknown and time travel fiction books actually hold more truth than anyone knows or understands.  

I've always been fascinated with the moon missions and the people who made that whole era happen, so when I saw this book come out, I immediately got a hold of it.  I loved it.  It's about the challenge, the astronaut mindset, the wives who gave up so much and held down the fort while their husbands were gone for long periods but mostly it is a love story between a man and a woman, opposite in their dreams and goals, but who found an unbreakable love and connection in their chaotic world, navigating the huge demands of his military and astronaut career. In the three space programs that got man on the moon, of the married astonauts almost 52% of the marrages ended in divorce when at the time the national average was .0029%.  While the story, main chacters and mission were fictional the author did a great job of conveying the spirit of what it was like to be in the throes of the space race of the 50's and '60's.  A lot of books she used for research are books I have actually read.   At the same time, she created a beautiful love story.  Throw in just a touch of the speculative and I was totally invested through the whole book.

I rated this a 10/10