Last week was
soooo productive, and then we ended it at the annual benefit ball that we
attend every year, so it was also a fun one!
Let’s get to the recap!
Monday, January
22
Monday morning,
it was freeeezing yet again, so I bundled up, and headed out to get the kids to
school. On the way home, I stopped by
Walmart and then Publix to grab our groceries for the next couple of weeks, and
then I headed back home to get it all put away.
After that, I
got dinner in the slow cooker (Ranch Chicken Pasta), and then I headed to my
office with my fuzzy PJ pants, my slippers, a thick sweater, a blanket, my hot
tea, and an orange cranberry scone from Trader Joe’s. Heaven.
The rest of the
morning was spent working on blog posts, and then B and I had lunch together
since he was working from home.
After lunch, I
headed back to my office to update some album artwork in iTunes, and while I
did that, I watched Friends. I
also finished cleaning out my desk and started working on cleaning out my craft
table in my office.
I picked up the
kids at 3, and we were able to head straight home since we had zero
extracurricular activities. That does
make Mondays so much easier!
I immediately
got started putting dishes away, along with the lingering groceries, and the
kids got snacks and started on homework.
While they finished up homework, I headed to my office with another cup
of hot tea to do my Bible study for the day.
The temp
actually got up above 50 degrees on Monday, so the kids played outside for the
rest of the afternoon after they finished homework. And even though it wasn’t quite warm enough
for my liking, I got changed into workout clothes and went for a run. It was breezy and partly cloudy, so it was a
chilly one, but at least I got it done.
By the time I
got home, dinner was nearly ready in the slow cooker, so all I had to do was
boil some noodles, steam some broccoli, and heat the bread, and we sat down to
dinner.
After dinner,
we got the kitchen cleaned up, and I got showered while the kids worked on
various projects they were doing for fun – origami for Jacob and another Barbie
clothing creation for Olivia.
After that,
they got showered, and I finished up cleaning out my craft table. I also got some other random small tasks done
that weren’t on my list for the day.
Once the kids
were ready for bed, we started another episode of Percy Jackson and the
Olympians, and then after they were in the bed, B and I started the new
season of The Bachelor.
Tuesday, January
23
Tuesday morning,
I got the kids off to school, I met one of my friends to pick up a painting for
another friend, and then I headed home to work on the blog all morning. Mid-morning, I had an appointment with my
therapist, and then I dropped off a couple of bags of donations from all of the
stuff we’ve cleaned out.
After that, I
headed back home to eat a quick lunch and wrap up various other tasks – more
album artwork updating, cleaning out my office closet, working on an Amazon
wish list for the Daddy Daughter dance I’m planning for the school, and a few
other random things.
After school,
the kids and I came home, and they did their homework while I finished up in my
office for the day. Jacob and I dropped
Olivia at dance at 5, and then we arrived home just as B was pulling in. I had just enough time to freshen up, and
then I headed out the door for my girls’ dinner.
We all met at a
new-ish local restaurant that Brian and the kids and I have eaten at a couple
of times, and the food was delicious. We
all hung out for a couple of hours, and then it was back home for the evening.
When I got
home, B was still out with the kids.
Olivia’s dance night ends late on Tuesday, so he’d taken them to
Culver’s to eat dinner afterward. While
they were gone, I got started on my mixed cardio workout, and I finished up
shortly after they got home.
It was late
when they got home, so both kids got showered and into bed, and then B and I
watched the rest of The Bachelor that we’d started Monday night.
Wednesday, January 24
Wednesday, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed straight home
to work all day – mostly on blog stuff, but also a few other things like the
Daddy/Daughter dance, cleaning out my email inboxes, updating more album
artwork in iTunes, and sorting the big pile of stuff that I’d cleaned out of my
office. I had some items that I wanted
to donate, some I wanted to sell, some recycling, and some trash.
After school, Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance, and then he and I
headed home. While he worked on
homework, I got lots of items listed for sale on a local Facebook page, and
then I got some ironing done. I rarely
have to iron, but every time I do have to, I feel like I’m about 84 years
old. Haha. I feel like nobody really irons anymore.
Brian went to a concert in Atlanta with a friend on Wednesday night, so
he wasn’t able to pick up Olivia from dance like usual, so Jacob and I grabbed
her when she got out, and then we headed home for a quick dinner – I just
heated some Publix meatballs and mac n cheese, and then we had some leftover
steamed broccoli and pineapple with it.
After dinner, Olivia finished homework, and then while the kids got
showered and ready for bed, I got in a strength workout.
Once all of that was done, the kids and I all sat down at the kitchen
table to play a few rounds of Sussed, and then I got them in the bed.
Once they were in bed, Maui and I hung out downstairs for a while and
watched a couple of episodes of Friends, and then I headed to bed
slightly earlier than usual. I was
thankful I did, because we all ended up getting the worst night of sleep ever.
Brian ended up getting home from the concert a little before 1, so that
woke me up, and then sometime shortly after he got into bed, his car alarm
started going off. We park both of our
vehicles in the garage every single night, but that night, he parked in the
driveway so the garage door wouldn’t wake me, and the one night ever that he
parked in the driveway, the alarm went off.
Sigh.
He and I checked the cameras all around the house, and saw that we hadn’t
gotten any alerts, so we both got up and looked all around the outside of the
house from the windows, and we didn’t see anything suspicious at all. He ended up deactivating the alarm because
there was obviously nothing going on out there, and we still to this day have
no clue why it went off.
After that, I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I lay there forever, and then
just when I had finally slipped back into dreamland, it started POURING, and
Olivia came running into our room saying that it sounded like hail and she was
scared. Usually, we’ll either get her
back into bed or just let her get into bed with us, but it was so hot Wednesday
night, so she ended up pulling up her sleeping bag next to my side of the bed
and sleeping there for the rest of the night.
After that, it took me forever to fall back asleep again, and by the time
I did, my alarm started going off. So
yeah, it wasn’t the best night of sleep.
Haha.
Thursday, January 25
Thursday morning, Brian headed straight outside to check on his vehicle,
and there wasn’t a single thing wrong with it, and there was also no sign of
tampering. No clue why the alarm went
off, but we’re thinking it was a fluke.
If someone had been out there, our cameras would have caught it. It was just so strange.
The drive to school Thursday couldn’t have been worse if it tried. It’s dark this time of year when we leave the
house, so we were driving in the pitch black.
Just as soon as we pulled on the highway, it started POURING down
rain. And I mean, the hardest rain you
can imagine. I couldn’t see a thing, so
I slowed to a crawl. The speed limit on
that highway is 70 mph, so naturally, there were plenty of crazies whizzing
past us, but most people hung back and were going as slow as I was or even
slower. About halfway there, we saw a
sea of brake lights, and sure enough, there was a horrible wreck, as there
always is on that highway when it rains.
It happens every.single.time on the same stretch of highway… I just
don’t understand why the city doesn’t lower the speed limit right there.
The wreck looked awful… a truck was completely upside down and just
obliterated. Unfortunately, we had to
drive right by it, and I hated that the kids had to see it. We said a prayer for everyone involved as we
drove by, and we ended up making it to school on time even though we were stuck
in traffic for quite some time.
There was another wreck on the northbound side of the highway just down
the way from the other wreck, so I knew not to take the highway home, and I
just took the backroads instead. The
rain let up for a few minutes, and then it POURED all the way home after
that. I haven’t ever been so thankful to
pull in my garage and get out of the car.
Whew. A ton of my anxiety stems
from driving, so driving in the pitch black in the pouring rain is one of my
ultimate triggers.
The rest of the day was dreary, so I stayed in all day working on the
blog and various other tasks. By the
time I picked the kids up from school, the sun was trying to peek out from the
clouds, and it was 75 glorious degrees, so I opened the sunroof, and I blasted
the new Justin Timberlake song all the way to school. It is just SO GOOD.
After school, the kids and I went to music lessons, and Olivia told me
that she is considering doing the voice recital again this spring. I was SHOOK.
Last year, she was brave enough to do it, and she totally nailed it, and
then she promptly burst into tears when she got back to her seat with us. She had been so nervous and had held it all
in for so long that she was just traumatized.
She swore she’d never do it again, but she was recently inspired after
reading that Taylor Swift used to be nervous getting on stage when she was
younger. My girl is obsessed with
Tay, and apparently, she would do anything for her... even getting up on stage
and singing a solo again. Haha.
At piano lessons, Jacob worked some more on Fur Elise. He has nearly perfected that entire song from
start to finish, and it is LONG. There
are parts of it that I didn’t even know existed. The song is wildly famous and recognizable,
and I couldn’t believe that there is one part that I’d never heard at all. That boy and his piano skills just amaze me,
though. He is truly a natural.
After music, we headed home, and the kids worked on homework for a
bit. Then they headed outside because
the weather was glorious! I spent the
whole afternoon trying on dresses for the ball we attended on Saturday, and
when I tried on “the one” it was love at first sight. I usually waffle between a couple (or even a
few) different ones, but this year, there was a clear-cut winner. I cannot get over the fur on the hem… it’s
giving Romy and Michelle vibes. I’ve
wanted a fur hem ever since I saw that movie when I was a teenager. Haha.
By the time I was done trying on dresses, more yucky weather had rolled
in, so the kids came inside, and we got dinner on the table. We just had leftovers from Monday – ranch
chicken pasta, steamed green beans, and garlic cheesy bread.
After dinner, B and I cleaned up the kitchen, and then I took down all of
our Christmas cards. :o( I looooveeee our Christmas card wall, so I
always leave it up way after I take down the rest of Christmas, and it’s always
such a sad day to take them down. I sure
do enjoy seeing all of those smiling faces every day and I’m going to miss them
until next year.
Once that was done, I did a stair stepper workout, and then got ready for
bed. We ended the night with an episode
of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and then after the kids went to bed,
B and I watched another episode of The Stranger.
Friday, January 26
Friday morning, I swung by the school office after I dropped the kids,
and then I ran a couple of errands – UPS to do an Amazon return and Target to
grab a couple of things, and then I headed back home to work for the rest of
the day.
The kids and I went home after school, and once they’d tidied up, they
played video games for a bit. Well,
Jacob did, anyway. Olivia has been into
making her own videos lately, so she’s been recording herself with her
laptop. She doesn’t post them anywhere
(obviously), but she loves recording them and watching them back.
While they did that, I turned on my favorite Phil Wickham acoustic album
and I did my Bible study for the day, and then I tackled so.many.tiny.things.
that have been piling up and weren’t even on my to-do list for the day. I got so much stuff done, and it felt great
to have all of those insignificant tasks off my plate.
Brian picked up dinner from our favorite barbecue place, and then after
dinner, Olivia and I narrowed her Daddy Daughter dresses down to two, and we
ordered them to try. While the kids got
showered and ready for bed, I did another Bible study and read for a bit in my
office, and then we all piled on the couch to watch another episode of Percy
Jackson and the Olympians. It is so
boring to me (I have always hated Greek mythology), but the kids are absolutely
loving it.
After the kids went to bed, B and I finished The Stranger (and
loved it), and then we started Safe, which is another miniseries by
Harlan Coben. Haha. We are loving all of those.
Saturday, January 27
Saturday morning, I made homemade waffles for breakfast per usual, and
then we watched another episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians while
I painted my nails for the ball Saturday night.
The rest of the morning was spent getting some stuff done in my office,
working out (mixed cardio), doing laundry, cleaning my wedding rings, tackling
some house chores, and trying on dresses one final time just to be 100% sure.
The kids played outside in between bouts of rain – it was so yucky on
Saturday – and then they did their laundry and got packed for Nana and
Poppie’s.
We all had lunch together, and then I retreated to my office to get a few
things done. It rained nonstop the entire
afternoon, and while that made for a very cozy day, it was not ideal for the benefit
ball that we attended Saturday night.
Thankfully, by the time B dropped the kids off at his mom’s and got back
home to pick me up, the rain had stopped, but the humidity was sitting at a
million percent, so my hair looks rough in all of the pictures despite
my efforts to make it fancy for the evening.
It was also a challenge to get a good outfit picture because it was so
dark outside, and therefore, it was really dark in our bedroom.
We got to the venue right at 6 for the cocktail hour, we popped over to
the step-and-repeat to take some red carpet pictures, and then we grabbed
drinks from the bar before meeting up with some friends to chat.
This year, they had casino tables – blackjack, poker, and craps – for people
to play during cocktail hour. B and I played
blackjack for a bit, and then I left him at the table with the other guys so I could
go hang out with my girlfriends. My
Momma and Daddy attended the ball, too, and we got professional pictures taken
at the step-and-repeat, but we didn’t get any with my phone, so I don’t have
any to post for today, but I’ll share the other pictures when they’re
available. My parents looked so
fantastic!
Meanwhile, we were getting sweet texts from my MIL that the kids were decorating Valentine's Day cookies. She had rolled out some dough for them because she knows how much they love doing that, and they were so excited. Peep those Taylor Swift cookies that Olivia made. Haha. I'm telling y'all, she is obsessed.
The dinner started a little after 7, and there was a short program that
followed. The dinner was catered by the
most popular chef in town, so the food was delicious, as always. All of the table settings are planned in advance,
so we’d asked to sit with friends per usual, so that was fun. Our school’s resource officer and his
girlfriend were also at our table, and we love him, so we were happy to have
him there with us, too.
After the program, everyone grabbed more drinks from the bar, and all of
us girls spent the rest of the evening hanging out, chatting, and dancing. They had poker tables out for another hour,
and then after those closed, some of the boys joined us for the dancing. They had a really fun band from Atlanta that
has played at our ball in the past, so I was glad to see that they were back
for another year. They played Livin’ on
a Prayer which is my FAVORITE, so I was excited. I just love to dance, y’all.
They had the band and the dance floor outside this year, though, which
was a little odd considering it was cold (and rainy), but thankfully, the
rain had stopped by the time we got out there, so it ended up being a fun time.
Here are some of the pictures by the professional photographer...
B and I got home around midnight and then we headed straight to bed because
we were exhausted.
Sunday, January 28
Sunday morning, we slept in, and then B and I had breakfast
together. He then got ready for the day
and left to pick up the kids while I sat down with my planner and my cup of
cinnamon tea. I got the month of
February all ready in my planner, and I also prepped for the week ahead. After that, I listened to my Sunday morning
sermon and did some yoga, and then when B got home with the kids, we all sat in
Olivia’s new tent fort that she got for Christmas and we played a game of Sussed.
After our game, the kids got unpacked, and then they played for a bit
while I did my quiet time – gratitude journal, prayer journal, devotional, and
Bible study.
After that, we all had a light lunch, and then the kids headed outside to
play for a long time. It was cold and
dreary yet again, but at least it wasn’t raining! We had so much rain last week!
While the kids played, I got showered and ready for the day, and then I settled
back in to my office to get some work done for the afternoon. We were pretty lazy all day since we’d had a
late night and since it was so yucky outside again.
I ended up getting some pictures deleted from my phone, and I organized
all of my new pictures from the week. I also
worked on a couple of blog posts. And I did
all of that while I watched Taylor Swift’s boyfriend play in the championship
game. ;o)
At 5:30 we headed to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner, and we finished
watching the game over there. Olivia and
I were, of course, cheering for The Chiefs, and they won. Woo hoo!
And just for the record, I have been pulling for them for the last few
years before Taylor was ever in the picture. ;o) We
are Falcons fans, but they have been pretty terrible for a while, so we cheer
for them all season long, but then when they don’t make it to the playoffs, I become
a temporary Chiefs fan. ;o)
Momma outdid herself for dinner with beef stroganoff, some new green bean
recipe that involved bacon and onions, and my faaaavorite carrots recipe that I
need to get and share with y’all sometime.
It was all so delicious.
By the time we got home, it was time to get the kids in the bed, and then
B and I watched another episode of Safe and some of the SNL JT episode before calling it a night.
And now for a few current things…
Currently Reading
I started and am nearly finished with Disciplines for the Christian
Life by Donald S. Whitney. It’s
filled with very detailed ways to live life as a good Christian… being the
hands and feet of Jesus, keeping God at the forefront of your mind, etc. I am really enjoying it so far and I hope to
complete it by the end of the month.
I also started New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by
Paul David Tripp for 2024, so I’ll be reading it the entire year as there’s one
entry per day. This devotional is the
gift that keeps on giving day after day.
Paul David Tripp is an excellent writer, and I feel like I’m being
blessed over and over each day that I read.
I look forward to it every day.
I’m also still working my way through The Bible and The Bible Recap…
I recently finished Numbers and I’m now working my way through
Deuteronomy. I’m on day 77 as I type
this, so I’m 49 days ahead of schedule if I want to finish it by the end of the
year. Again, I’m truly enjoying this
experience, and I intend to do some version of yearly Bible studies every year
going forward.
Currently Watching
With B: This month, we started and
finished Fool Me Once and The Stranger on Netflix, and we LOVED both
of them. We also started Safe,
which is another Harlan Coben series. We
also watched the Dan Levy movie Good Grief on Netflix and we enjoyed
that, too. In addition to that, we’ll
turn on Saturday Night Live occasionally when we have nothing else to
watch, and we also started the new season of The Bachelor with Joey.
With the Kids: We finally
restarted and finished The Big Nailed it Baking Challenge and then we
started Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
We also watched the movie Turning Red since we’d never seen that,
and Brian and Jacob watched Spiderman 2 while Olivia had a friend over
for a sleepover. We also took the kids
to see Migration at the movie theater and it was cute!
Alone: I just restarted Friends
for the 8,400th time, and I’m watching that sometimes while I work. Most of the time I just listen to music,
though.
Currently Listening To
Well, Justin Timberlake just dropped a new single, and I have been all
over that for the last few days since it came out. It is so good. I love that he’s gotten back to his OG style…
I hope the rest of the album is like that!
Before that came out, I was listening to Teddy Swims on repeat. I found him in recent months and all of his
stuff is just so good. Oh, and Taylor
and Ed and DMB. Always, those three.
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
