Friday's Fave Five #670

Hi everyone!  So sorry my post is not up.  Fell asleep and post did not go up.  Go ahead and link your FFF post and I'll be back later with my own!

Oh what a week.  I'll be the first to admit it's been a struggle.  I've been dragging myself through the work days, totally exhausted by supper with not much motivation to do anything but make it through another day.  This running on constant interrupted and/or lack of sleep and pain meds and being in constant pain is wearing physically and emotionally.   But though it's been a rough one there is still good blessings that have been in my week.  These have lifted my spirits and encouraged or simply brought a smile and some joy.  The practice of intentionally looking for blessings each day has made it so that when the rough weeks come, and they will come because it's life, I can lift up my eyes and see the good, the joyful, the uplifting, the touch of God.  If you haven't already please join us in our community of looking for and sharing the blessings in our everyday lives each week.

~ lunch out with good friends ~ this is always a treat.  Good food, good laughter, good conversation and encouragement is always uplifting to the soul.  I look forward to each time we can be with these particular friends.  I feel energized and lifted up.

~ shoe inserts ~ yes, I have shoe inserts on my list this week.  They have been my saving grace this week to help make it through the work day.  Years ago I invested in some really good inserts fitted by a guy who knows what he's doing.  My sciatica flareup has given me such a sore foot this week and these inserts have really, really helped in easing the pain in my foot.  I'm thankful I had them.

~ sunshine ~  we have had such dreary, cloudy and windy days here.  Though it has been extremely warm for this time of year, the trade off is the chinook winds that bring the warmth.  Which means it also brings a chinook arch which is a certain cloud cover and wind warnings.  But the other day, it was mild and sunny so I made sure to get outside with the kids so they could run off that pent up energy.  It was wonderful to be outside feeling the sun.

~ popcorn ~ hubby makes the best homemade popped corn ever and he made a big batch of it over the weekend.   Served in these cute individual bowls my friend gave me and it's even better.  I love it with just extra salt, or Dill Pickle Seasoning or  Saltwater Chili Lime from Silk Road Spice Merchant or Tajin. It's seriously so good, we really ought to have a popcorn truck or something.  

~ simple meals ~ I'm thankful this week for simple meals thrown together that don't take much effort or time.  I'm glad I have a file under recipes especially for these kinds of recipes.  I'm also thankful for meals that can be bought at Costco or the grocery store such as the fresh, whole cooked chickens or meals that can just be thrown in the oven.  They've really helped this week.

What are you grateful for this week?  What has uplifted or made your day better?  What has got you thru?

Friday's Fave Five #669

Welcome to the first FFF of February.  The days of January seem to have slipped by so fast, gone in the blink of an eye.  It's so good to take these pauses in our week and note the blessings God sends our way or else they'd just slip right by.  Please join in with us if you haven't already!  This last week has been a tough one for me.  I had a sciatica flare up hit me full force on the weekend leaving me with 24/7 pain, moving very slowly and functioning on not much sleep.  I'm glad I have this place that takes me out of a negative spiral and causes me to intentionally look for good things.  Which are there, I just need to move aside the hard stuff in order to notice.  

~ Vietnamese take out ~ Friday evening hubby got us Vietnamese noodle dishes for take out.  We haven't had it a long time and I enjoyed every single bite.  Thankful we are able to grab takeout especially when I am not up to cooking

~ helpful hubby ~ Dave has been so helpful this whole week while I've had this flare up.  He's picked up a bunch of chores without me asking and has been full of grace when my pain and lack of sleep has caused me to be short tempered with him.  I am so thankful for him.  

~ far infrared heating pad ~ my husband got me one of these years ago as a gift and it has been worth every single dollar he paid for it.  It is so much better than a regular heating pad and I have put it to good use this week.  I don't fully understand how it all works but here is a article that explains it pretty easy layman's terms.  It says in the article that it must be prescribed by a doctor but we never did that.  We just ordered it.  And I'm sure glad we did.  So between icing and this heat pad it has brought some relief.

~ Pear juice ~ found this in the food section of a drugstore in town, if you're in Canada it's London Drugs.  I love pears and I don't normally drink any kind of juice but it sounded delicious.  And it is.  It's a nice treat once in a while. Can't wait to try their other flavors now.

 ~ weekends ~  I am so glad it is the weekend.  It's going to be one of lots of rest for me, with some short walks stretching and possibly some good naps to make up for lost sleep this week.

What are you grateful for this week?  What blessings have you taken note of in your everyday?

Friday's Fave Five #664

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the last Friday's Fave Five of 2021.  How was your Christmas?  Our was super quiet.  We basically didn't leave the house.  Twenty minutes before we were to leave to have Christmas Eve dinner with my Mom at her supportive living home I got a call that we were direct contacts with someone who tested positive for Covid.  It put a screeching halt on having dinner with my Mom.  Though we didn't have to isolate because Hubby and I and in fact my whole family is double vaccinated, the supportive living home rules won't let me in now for 14 days even with a negative test.  To say we were beyond disappointed is an understatement.  This was now the 2nd year in a row I wasn't allowed to see my Mom during the holidays.  But we called twice a day and tried to make the most of it.  Praise God my sister was still able to have her family there to have dinner with Mom.  In spite of the setback there were many blessings throughout the week.  Here are five of them in no particular order.

~ no covid in the house ~ in spite of having direct contact with a friend who came down with covid, neither Hubby or I have had any symptoms whatsoever and when we tested on day 6 since the exposure our test came back negative, Praise God. 

~ face time type technology ~ snapchat live video came into play as a huge blessing on Christmas Eve as we were still able to connect with my Mom and she could see her grandkids from my side of the family in that way even if not in person.  

~ quieter Christmas ~ this actually turned out to be a blessing.  Because of the exposure we just stayed home, even though not required.  We weren't running around getting exhausted from all the visiting and obligations as in past.  We cooked a nice turkey dinner for 5 of us so there was no time crunch like when we have a house full of guests.  We ate lots including at least 3 rounds of charcuterie, talked, did puzzles, read books and watched movies.  It was too bitter cold to even go outside which was the only thing we really did miss.

~ perfect gift ~ the kids, referring to our adult children, pooled together and gifted Hubby and I with a beautiful custom made end grain cutting board.  We were shocked and surprised and love it!  It's something I've always wanted but would not spend that kind of money on for myself.  

~ family puzzle ~ Our son gifted us with a puzzle made from a pic taken at the top of Bear's Hump when most of us were in Waterton this summer (unfortunately our youngest daughter was not able to be there that day and he didn't have a high resolution pic of all of us together).  After the table was cleared from Christmas Day dinner we broke it out on the table and throughout the days at some point or another we all worked on it to completion.  It was fun.  I've never had puzzles out before but I think I will do this more often.  It brought some real togetherness working on it in different groups.  When we finished though we realized it was missing a piece.  Sigh.  Probably stuck in the photo labs cutting machine and someone is now wondering where on earth the extra piece they are looking at goes.  LOL.  

Bonus:  ~ safe travels ~  as always we are thankful for safe travels when our family comes home.  We were especially so this week as the weather became awful. Our Saskatchewan kids had to navigate a frozen rain turning to into snow storm for a part of their trip and the other two from Calgary had to travel in bitter cold to get here.  They all had to go home in bitter cold and I'm thankful all arrived safe and sound back in their respective homes with no incidents.  

What have been your favorite Christmas blessings this week?

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and all God's blessings in 2022.  Thanks for another wonderful year of finding our blessings week by week.  You have all kept me motivated on our journey of thankfulness.

Friday's Fave Five #663

Welcome to a frigid, frosty Friday's Fave Five.   It is bitter cold here in Southern Alberta, we are shivering at -18*C with the wind chill making it feel like -30*C (0*F, -8*F).    Brrrr.  Now that being said I want to say that my heart and prayers are with all those who went through the devastating tornadoes in the U.S.  At times like this I sometimes feel that posting an FFF post at these times seems insensitive to the extreme hardship others are going through at the moment.  I never want it to come across as that.  Even while trying to pause and find God in my own everyday, please know my heart is broken for those that have lost so much at this time.  I lift you up in prayer and may you feel God's love for you through the help and support of the people around you.  With these thoughts in my mind, I humbly thank God for the good blessings in my life this week.

~ front porch planter ~ I wasn't going to make one up this year.  But every time I went out front I missed having it.  So on the weekend we popped into a garden centre and picked up the greenery.  Now I'm happy I did.  

~ crockpot meals ~ This last week I've dug out the crockpot a few times.  Crockpot in my mind is satisfying comfort foods that warm me from the inside out.

~ Christmas scented candles ~ I love pulling out this season's scents.  They always make me feel cozy.

~ feather duvet ~ when the weather outside is frightful and frigid nothing is more comforting than crawling underneath my feather duvet.  It's so comfortable and warm without being really heavy. 

~ Christmas social at Mom's ~ Wednesday evening the supportive living place that is my Mom's home had a Christmas social for the residents.  It was modified and scaled back due to covid but Mom was allowed 2 guests so my sis and I went.  It was simple but it was nice to do something Christmas-y with Mom and we had a nice time.  

Well this week is going to be super busy.  I've very behind on everything to do with Christmas prep.  I still have a ton of cleaning to do, presents to buy and work is busy this week also.  There will not be an FFF next week as my family is coming and I'm spending every minute I can with them so plan on being off the computer and being in the moment with them.  I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas filled with love and joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!  

 

Friday's Fave Five #662

Can the second week of December already be over?  My goodness the time is flying right by me.  I seem to be stuck in park as is evidenced by the lack of Christmas presents anywhere in the house.  I need to give myself a pinch to wake up and get it together or I might just find myself amongst the harried Christmas Eve shoppers I always used to laugh at.  But tonight I'm putting a pause on that and taking the time just to look for my blessings from the past week.  With everything going on right now in my life I really, really need to purposefully do this in order to keep my perspective focused on God and His goodness.  Won't you join in?

~ shoveled walk and driveway ~  Last Sunday we received some snowfall.  Not a huge dump but it had been snowing a good portion of the day.  As it turned out, I was having computer issues and Hubby was busy trying to figure it out and I was trying to get the tree decorated with no motivation to give me some "oomph" to it.  I was trying to push the thought of having to go out later and shovel to the back of my mind when I heard shoveling that seemed like it was on our driveway or at least close to the house but sometimes sound in my driveway area is deceiving and I dismissed it as our neighbor on his driveway.  But when we looked out it was our neighbor indeed, or rather his teenage son, but he was shoveling not his, but our driveway and front walk.  What a sweet guy!  We were so thankful for his generosity in doing that for us.

~ speaking of the tree ~  Here it is:  Christmas tree 2021.  I love sitting in the room with just the tree lights on.  Something so satisfying and relaxing about it.  And I love looking at other people's trees and seeing their personalities coming through in the way they decorate it.

~ coffee body scrub ~  I had bought some Lalicious Sugar Coffee Scrub at a salon on a after Christmas sale last year and never opened it thinking I would put it away for a gift.  But as time went on I was hesitant in case it had a shelf life and something went bad in it.  I finally cracked it open for my self and it is wonderful stuff.  Smells delicious and works great.  A little pampering is uplifting for the mind, body and spirit.

~ snack deal ~ one of my dayhome families needed some extra care this month for their child in preschool.  She was only coming here for about 7 weeks anyway and I had already contracted for the amount with them so we struck a deal that had mom bring a couple snacks a week for the remaining weeks of December instead of adding to her payment which she already made.  It has been wonderful.  That is 2 snacks I don't have to meal plan or prep for.  I'm feeling very spoiled.  

~ stuff sold ~  There was a bunch of stuff cluttering the garage that I kept forgetting to put on the FB marketplace to try and sell.  I finally got around to it and within an hour of listing it had 6 people interested and sold it and got it out of the garage by that afternoon.  The fastest sale I've ever been a part of.  Now if I could just get a bunch of crystal sold that nobody seems to want anymore so I could get it out of my basement it would be wonderful!

What has been your favorite blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #661

The first Friday of December already!  I am so not ready for that.  But here it is whether I want it to be or not.  So the best way to kick off this busy season is with gratefulness for the good things God brings our way.  Join in with us as we pause and look for those blessings big and small that come into our everyday lives.

~ Good advise ~ I have a wonderful friend who's calm in the midst of unexpected change always really amazes me.  As I face changes in my own life, I just knew I needed her calm and faith to speak into it.  So we had a good conversation over a nice cup of tea.  She gave me some great advice for "next steps", which I couldn't even see through the haze of uncertainty.  And now at least I can stop being a deer in headlights, frozen to the spot and start making some steps to find information that can help me make a decision.  I'm so thankful for good friends willing to share their gifting and wisdom.

~ fall packable coat ~ I had a puffy coat that I finally gave away last year because the sleeves had always been too short for my long arms.  This fall I came upon on a great fall weight down foldable, packable jacket for a great price and nabbed it.  This coat has paid for itself already this year.  It's light weight yet can be warm without being stifling, it folds into a little tiny bag that I can throw in a backpack if going to the mountains or hiking, the wind doesn't go through it which is important around these parts.  Love it.

~ a little extra Christmas cash ~ one of my families asked if I could take an older sibling just for this month and because I did have an open space I said yes.  Came at the perfect time allowing for a little extra money in the Christmas season.  

~ vanilla chai tea ~ I found some tea I had forgotten I had at the back of my tea cupboard and it was a nice treat to have some delicious chai tea this week.  I really miss the specialty shop I used to buy this from.  They had some awesome teas there that you couldn't get anywhere else.

~ shopping local ~ this year I'm trying to Christmas shop a little more locally and it has been fun finding out what is in my city.  There are so many more local shops than I knew when I just started looking for them.  They have some unique ideas and I'm slowly finding something for everyone on my list.

What have been your favorite blessings this past week?

Friday's Fave Five #660

Well that happened.  It is after 2 o'clock here and it just now dawned on me that it is Friday.  How did that get by me?  Whew, what a week. It has been hard and exhausting and one day has melted into the next with me on survival mode.   But it's never to late to take note of the blessings from the week and to be grateful, right?  

~ Birthday celebrations ~ Sunday was Hubby's birthday so our son came down from the big city (about a 2 hour drive) on Friday afternoon just to take his Dad and me for a birthday dinner.  What a blessing that was, that he would take his time off and come see us just for that.  His sister was unable to come with him but she sent a lovely card and itunes gift card and phoned him on Sunday.  Our oldest daughter also phoned and chatted with him for quite a long time which I know he loved.  Then for lunch on Sunday, Hubby had asked if we could go to a fave brunch with our good friends, so that is what we did.  It was great fun!  The chef blessed Hubby by giving him his lunch on the house (he is a client of Hubby's) and our friends sneakily paid the rest of the bill.  

~ beautiful days ~ it has been a super stressful week in the dayhome this week.  But we're being blessed with incredibly nice weather for this time of year so I have been able to get the kids outside everyday!  Even though on the day we had to wear snowsuits to stay warm and it took me half an hour to get them all out the door, being outside was a life saver each and every single day.  So thankful for the weather we've been having though I hope we don't pay for it in February!

~ helpful spouse ~ I know I've said it before but I'm so thankful for the helpfulness of my hubby.  He noticed I was having a rough week and he goes out of his way to give a hand when he sees something he can do.  He knows one of my prominent love languages is acts of service and I'm so grateful for it.

~ at home movie date ~ We haven't done one in a while but on the weekend we had an at home movie date.  We watched Red Notice on Netflix, an action comedy that we found amusing though we did wish Ryan Reynold's character didn't rely on swearing so much to be funny.

~ moments of quiet and peace ~ grabbing these whenever I can where ever I can and am so thankful for them right now.  

What are your favorite blessings from this last week?

Friday's Fave Five #659

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  Please join with us a we intentionally pause and look back at the week and the blessings to be found in our everyday.  This has been a rough week all around.  My mental space has been occupied by things that were and are stressful so I need to intentionally hit the stop button on that and allow good things and thankfulness for those blessings to overtake.  If I don't my mind works overtimes hashing and rehashing everything until I get to be one worked up ball of stress.  Nobody needs that!  So taking this moment just to breathe and look for God in the everyday.

~ I woke up each and every single day ~  by the grace of God, yes I did.  Each morning I was given another opportunity to spring out of bed and hit that darn alarm, shuffle to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth and face a brand new day.  A fresh new day with a new start and full of potential.  Thank you, Lord for each new day!

~ My family, safe and sound ~ this week as my community reflects on a local young man who has now been missing for 2 years this week, I am so grateful I know where my family is.  I cannot imagine the pain and stress of the last two years on this family, some members whom I happen to know, of not having any more clues today as to what happened to their loved one than they did 2 years ago.  My heart weeps for them and I pray they have answers and can be reunited and I breathe a prayer of thankfulness that though we live in different cities I know where my grown children are.  

~ my sister's different way of thinking ~ my only sister and I are very different.  We think totally different.  Though we love each other we react totally differently to various things.  Though at times in life I have found this frustrating, as I grow older I have become thankful for this.  When things happen with my aging parents, I am so appreciative for the way she thinks.  She remembers medical stuff like no tomorrow and those things that totally don't even enter my brain to ask the doctor she brings to the conversation so easily.  It happened again this week with something to do with my mom.  I'm so thankful she has a brain that absorbs all the medical stuff and asks ALL the questions because if it was totally left to me, I just always be taking things at face value.

~ my neighbor to rant to, discuss and have support with ~ my next door neighbor also has a private dayhome.  She has become an invaluable "over the fence" support. We talk about all things pertaining to our dayhomes and share and bounce ideas off of each other.  This blessing has especially come into focus this week as our federal and provincial gov't has announced a new childcare deal that has great ramifications to both of our dayhomes and all private dayhomes in the province.  The news came in like a bomb going off, with only generalized timeline and no steps for private dayhomes to take and it has been a stressful two days since the announcement was made.  As we have met "over the fence" we are both thankful to have each other's support as we face at best a huge change in our child care businesses and at worst having to shut down and look for another job.  She's been doing this for, I think, around 12 - 15 years and I've been doing it for 31.  

~ a fresh color and cut ~  never underestimate the power of a fresh cut and color to lift one's mood.  And a stylist who give you a head massage when she washes your hair?  Priceless!

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

Friday's Fave Five #658

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  A place to pause and reflect on the goodness of God in our everyday and then to be thankful and grateful.  Won't you join us?

I love this quote that I read somewhere and tucked away.   It is so relevant to me with everything going on both personally and in society as a whole.  And it reflects the purpose of Friday's Fave Five.  To search out the small joys we might miss simply because we are so focused on the big thing.

“Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness.”

― Pearl S. Buck

Let us be the kind of people who don't pass by the small joys of life that God give us in our pursuit of big happiness.   Sure there will be big happiness events in our lives and they are fun and obvious and we are so grateful for those but it is the small joys in our everyday living that add up where we can see God hand in our days and how He provides and cares for us.  If you are new to this, guidelines are linked in the sidebar to read, then just join on in.

 ~ day trip ~  Sunday we took a spontaneous day trip to Calgary to visit with my son and daughter.  Our son just bought his first home this fall and we were excited to see it in person.  Then we did a little shopping at our favorite farmer's market where we bought him a cute planter for his entry table as a house warming gift. We then met up with our youngest daughter who also lives there and had supper before we drove home.  It was a relaxing enjoyable day.

~ tea date ~  Tuesday I had a tea date with a dear friend who will be moving away soon.  We had some good deep conversation, encouraging words for each other and lots of laughter that evening.  I treasure this lady who became a part of my ladies bible study many years ago.  She has such a quiet trust in God's leading that is inspiring and her courage in the face of having to do some hard things in the last few years have been a great example for me.  I treasure her wisdom and friendship and I will really miss her when her and hubby move in a couple of months.

~ willing friend ~ I'm very thankful to another friend who is a true blessing in my life.  Mom had another ER visit on Friday.  Because my sis had taken so much time off of work already a couple weeks before when Mom got ill,  she was unable to go in.  My friend rearranged her whole afternoon at the drop of a hat to sub for me with the dayhome so I could go in.  I don't take her willingness lightly at all.  It is a real blessing.

~ Burundi Mutana coffee from Kayanza Province, East Africa~ A local coffee grinder gets only one bag of this coffee in once a year.  It's produced by small local growers on volcanic loam.  They announce when it's coming and if you want some you have to put your name on however many lbs you want.  It's expensive but I had a gift card that I had gotten for Christmas from one of my dayhome parents so I got myself a pound.  It's really different and really good.  The bag says it has notes of Baker's Chocolate, sweet orange, cherry cola snap.  That is the natural tones of it, it's not a flavored coffee.  I'm not sure about the cherry cola but I definitely taste chocolate and orange.  It's my Saturday morning choice of coffee where I can sit and slowly enjoy it (as compared to gulping it down to get myself awake to start the work day kind of coffee experience).  At least until the last bean is ground.  Yum.

~ the varmint turned one this week~  This lil' stinker turned 1 this week.  Never a dull moment with him around.  We're thankful for the gift that he was after our other beloved dog passed away in the spring.   He's kept us busy and entertained. 

What have been your favorite small joys this week?

Friday's Fave Five #657

Becoming a grateful person doesn't just happen.  It has been said that we all are either glass half full kind of people or glass half empty kind of people.  This is talking about perspective and how we approach life.  Many things, including our natural bent, our environment, how we were raised and our faith beliefs amongst a few, can influence the way in which we view the world and the attitude we have towards the life and the days we are given.  Some of us because of these influences find it easier than others to find blessings on a daily basis.  But all of us can train ourselves to find the good things in our everyday that God has blessed us with, those things that show us He cares for us.  But when we take it that step forward to not only notice those things that make us feel good about the life we are given but to develop an attitude of thankfulness and gratefulness that is when we start to see our perspectives change.  When we are thankful we realize that something is a gift and we express thanks for it.  But that can be momentary and fleeting.  I believe that when we can get to a state of consistent gratefulness that is when our lives can start to change.  Thankfulness and gratefulness are intertwined.  In my mind, being thankful is more of an immediate reaction to something received or experienced in that moment but being grateful goes deeper and involves more of a overall knowing.  Moving in the grateful is when we can see the good in the midst of the difficult, to realize that even the littlest things in our lives such as the color of a flower that we can see or that gift of a kitchen cleaned by your spouse or the very breath you have still been given to breath is giving purpose and meaning to your life.  It goes deep and it's what gets you through those times when you cannot experience a tangible gift.   Being grateful steers you to notice the things you would otherwise take for granted.  It calls you to action. Gratefulness is the thing that will cause us to start to see that half full glass as opposed to the half empty.  And it brings us full circle to be thankful.  To put voice and action to our gratefulness to God who has reached down and touched our lives.  And it is grateful and thankful lives that we are working towards every Friday at FFF. So please join us as we intentionally pause our busy lives to take note of the blessings and share 5 of them.

~ Mom home from the hospital ~ after a 6 day stay in the hospital it is a blessing to have Mom back in her home at the supportive living facility.  The smile on her face when she got to sink down into her recliner did my heart good to see.  Even though I am so thankful for the care she received at the hospital it is a hospital and there is no place like home and being around one's own familiar things and sleeping in one's own bed. 

~ coming home at night to a clean kitchen ~ With Mom in hospital and then me not feeling well on the weekend and then having to be out a couple of nights this week, it was such a blessing to come home to washed dishes and clean counters.  I'm so thankful for my hubby, that even though he has had a very busy work week with long days he did those chores so I wouldn't have to come home and still have that work to do.  

~ my instant pot and slow cooker  ~ they have been lifesavers for me on a very busy week!  I love these two appliances!  

~ lemon mint leaf candle ~ I love this scented candle.  I bought it on a whim at Bath and Body when it was on sale a while back and only bought a one wick size in case I didn' like it but it has become one I light a lot.  It is such a subtle, fresh smell that makes breathing light with no heavy candle scent to it.  I find it very relaxing and relaxing is what I needed this  week.

~ turkey noodle soup ~ when I don't feel well my go to meal is always a nice chicken or turkey noodle soup.  It goes way back to when I was a kid.  Soup has always been my comfort food with my mom making the best ever soups and even the Lipton soups when we were sick.  So Saturday I pulled out the fixings and made a big pot of it.  We've been enjoying it all week.

What are you thankful for this week?  What has been a blessing to you?

Friday's Fave Five #656

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  A place to think on and share five of your favorite blessings from the past week.  I, unfortunately, have to make my post short and sweet.  It's been a very busy week with Mom being taken to ER and admitted to hospital.  She is doing ok now but boy, it's been exhausting.  But in spite of everything that comes with a health scare there is good things in my week too.  I'm here to think about those things, to notice where God has moved and has lifted me up.  Won't you join in?

~ this post ~  I really enjoyed reading this wonderful post that said everything I try to say in FFF's but she worded it oh so much better. I also loved that she used the story of the Israelites piling stones to help them remember everything God has done.  I like to think that my FFF posts are like one remembering stone upon another reminding me of God in my life.

~ supper at a friend's ~ Having supper at a friend's home used to be a regular occurrence for us but since covid that kind of fellowship became non-existant.   But this past Saturday we received an unexpected last minute invite to a really good friend's home for dinner. What a blessing to be sitting across from them enjoying the meal they prepared and laughing and sharing.  My I've missed this! 

~ evening cup of tea ~ now that the weather is cooler those nice hot cups of tea in the evenings are tasting so good.  Some about tea and putting your feet up and relaxing all go together.

~ shawls ~ around these parts with fall comes some pretty windy days.  And with that wind comes a feeling of the house being colder.  But not enough to turn the heat on.  My son got me a shawl a couple Christmas' ago and I find it's just perfect wrapping that around my shoulders.  Warms me up enough without being too hot like a thick throw or sweater would.  

~ little tiny apples with big flavor ~ when I went to the bank I noticed some trees in the parking lot that were ripe with fruit.  I thought they were plums at first but then realized they were little apples.  The city has a whole bunch of various fruit trees around town for public picking so I picked a bag of them.  And they are so delicious.  They are bigger than a crab apple but way smaller than a regular apple, sweet and tart at the same time.  A nice treat and bonus, the dayhome kids love them, though they are pain to peel because of their size.

What were your favorite blessings from your week?

Friday's Fave Five #655

Today is Friday and time for us to pause our busy lives and be grateful.  In our busyness, our stress whether it be good or bad stress, our apathy, our drifting from day to day or our dashing through our days, it is easy to not even notice those everyday blessings God places in our lives.  Some blessings are simple and some are huge but each are worth our noticing and giving God thanks for them.  Please feel free to join in as we share five of the blessings God has sent our way this week.

~ Operation Christmas Child boxes ~  It's that most wonderful time of year where we get to pack Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts.  The kick off announcement went great, church member took most of the 75 boxes I had built and put out.  I put out another 25 for election day.  Our church is a polling station and it was municipal elections last Monday.  By 1 o'clock the office was phoning to ask if there were more.  Good thing I had asked the local logistics director, who just happens to be a parent in my childcare, for another 25 just that week.  Well at voting closing one of the ladies was texting me that all but 4 were taken!  Praise God.  So I had to go ask for another 25 to set up for church again on Sunday.  I am giddy with excitement for all the children who will receive their gifts lovingly and prayerfully packed!  I better grab my own boxes before they're gone again!

~ Cappuccino yogurt ~  Ya gotta love coffee for this one but if you do well then have I got a yogurt for you!  This is dessert worthy!  Reminds me of tiramisu.  So delicious!

~ getting back to a workout routine ~ I was doing so good and loved how healthy I felt.  I was going to the gym 3 times a week and felt strong.  The came a thing called COVID and the gym closed.  And never reopened.  I loved it because it was a ladies gym and now there is no ladies only gym in my city.  The first 3 months of COVID when I was also off work I walked almost every single day, long walks and hikes with my hubby.  But then I went back to work and the work out routine slipped totally away.  But this week I forced myself to start working out at home even though I hate working out at home.  I'm starting small again but it's a start.  And it feels good once I get it done.

~ exercise therapy long distance ~ It comes in really handy having a fitness trainer in the family.  I've been having shoulder trouble and all it took was a phone call to my oldest daughter who wrangled one of her clients into being the demo model while she talked me through some strengthening exercises over messenger.  She's also helped her dad out when he was having some arm issues too.  

~ coffee with a friend ~ It's been a long, long time since I've gone out for a coffee with a friend.  But Tuesday found me sitting across the booth from a good friend sharing laughs, family catch up and some heart to heart over a cup of tea.  It was a much needed time of refreshing.

What were your favorite blessings this week?