The last Friday of the decade....

Hey hey hey y'all!!! It is crazy to me that this is the last Friday of not just the year but the decade!! In just a few short days we are entering into a whole new decade!! As Linnea would say what in the world!!??  I always love the tons of reflecting that goes on at the end of a year.  Lots of time for introspection.  I also cannot believe I have done a whole year of Friday favorites.... as I was thinking back on some of my favorites this year I thought I would use this last Friday of 2019 to highlight those.  Now be sure there are far more than three favorite things from this whole year but these have left their mark in some way or another.  So without further ado here are this weeks Friday faves representing 2019 a little later in the day than usual 😉

🌟 My 40th Birthday Surprise ~ oh my land!! January 2019 really should be the headline.  My 40th birthday month was one for the books!! Soo soo many surprises!  A party, a visit from my sister who lives in Cali!, a getaway with my dear dear adoptive mama friend to the mountains, kind words from many and a book of sweet notes from friends like you that I will treasure as long as I am here on earth.  I recently told DP I just want to turn 40 all over again!! This really has been such a sweet sweet year.

🌟 Away Luggage ~ I actually got this luggage for my 40th bday in the carry on size and for Christmas I got the checked bag size.  I have actually done a good bit of traveling this year and it looks like I will be doing the same in 2020 so I felt like this really was a true favorite of mine.  It really is the best luggage I've had like ever.  If you travel more than once or twice a year you should totally look into what I call the bestest suitcase ever.   You can check out all the goodness of this luggage here at away.com 

🌟Palmers ~ this local to me restaurant has been my go to all year long!! I am not sure if I have ever featured it on a Friday faves but if I have not - that is totally my bad!! Their website states this "We are a group of people who are passionate about creating good food and good vibes.  When you walk through our doors, we want you to feel like you belong here.  Come to relax, to laugh, and enjoy the people you are with."  This is SPOT ON!! I love this little local quaint spot!!! I go here with my man, with my friends, we've taken our kids.  I just love it and it really is my go to place to eat out.  BONUS they are closed on Sundays which is a rare find these days.  Oh and also now that I have moved it is super close to my house!! So if you find yourself in my neck of the woods and have never eaten here then you must give it a try!  You can see their menu here and I like all of it!

Well friends that's all for Friday Favorites of 2019!! I hope you all have enjoyed time with one another during this holiday season.  I can't believe its almost over!  May the end of your 2019 be fabulous and your 2020 be grandiose!!  Happy New Year peeps!

❤️
~ LA

Friday Faves from the city that never sleeps ~ NYC

Happy Friday friends!!! 

EEEK - its the Friday before Christmas!!! What in the world??!! Have you finished all your Christmas shopping?  I have a few things left to pick up.  This has been quite the week including a house closing and a super quick 36 hour trip to the big apple.  SO in honor of my visit to my favorite city on the planet todays Friday faves are all NYC related. It's like so super hard to narrow down my favorites from the city that never sleeps but here are a few ... 

🎄🍎 The Tina Turner Broadway musical ~ hands down in my top three musicals I’ve ever seen and thats saying something!! This musical is obviously based on the life of Tina Turner and the adversities she overcame to become the star that she was and is today.  Did y'all know she is 80 years old now and she has suffered a stroke and cancer.  Y'all if you look her up she does NOT look 80 years old.  I told DP the girl who portrays Tina needs to win a Tony  - y'all her voice was simply amazing.  I would see this again and again - the music was fantastic.  It was just really really good.  We may or may not have some video of the encore .. It just opened up in November so it was super exciting to see what will be come the "original" broadway cast.  As Tina sings - it was "simply the best" 

🎄🍎 The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree ~ I mean is there any other … y'all that tree just gives me ALL THE FEELS.  DP says my face smiles so wide like grinning from ear to ear.  This years tree was one of the most beautiful ones I have seen over there at 30 Rock.  I am not the biggest fan of colored lights but on this tree its just simply magical.  I have no words.  You just must go see it yourself!! 

🎄🍎 EATERIES ~ I’ve got your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks covered. Some of these places include Ess-a-Bagel, Clinton Street Bakery, Los Tacos, Patzeria, Butter, and of course Molly’s cupcakes.  We LOVE to eat in the city!! From Bagels to Tacos, Pizza and cupcakes it's all good!!  These are just a few of my fave go to places and some new ones we tried for the first time.  I will elaborate a bit on each.  

• Ess-a-bagel ~ I go to this bagel shop every single time I am in NYC.  Its located between 51st and 3rd ave.  I get the same thing every time.  I told DP I need in the city so I can try some of the other deliciousness this place offers.  I always get the same thing a Bagel Sandwich - thats a whole wheat bagel with apple cinnamon cream cheese toasted.  There is just simply not anything else like it.  
• Clinton Street Bakery ~ this is another place we like to eat breakfast at.  Its located kind of on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and I always get the same thing from here too - the Blueberry Pancakes.  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of these - but I ate almost every single bite - poor David didn't stand a chance of getting some.  I told him he should have ordered them LOL 
• Los Tacos No. 1  ~ there are a few locations in the city but this time we ate at the one in Chelsea Market.  It never disappoints.  Probably some of the best street tacos I will ever eat in the US.  I like the Carne Asada (steak) and Pollo Asado (chicken) the best! 
• Patzeria ~ this pizza ... oh just thinking about it makes my mouth water... best sliced pizza ever.  The pepperoni and margherita were simply yummy.  This was such a fun place-no tables only a counter that was long enough for six people to stand at so DP and I actually ate outside on a bench outside of our hotel bc we were heading straight to a show.  It was just a super fun experience! 
• Butter ~ we have our friends Van and Christ to thank for this recommendation.  It was our first visit to this yumilicious place. This restaurant is owned by celebrity chef Alex Guarnachelli.  Y'all there was so much goodness.  There was some risotto special with truffle goodness.  It was soo good.  We also got this smoked pork chop and barbeque boneless beef short ribs with rosemary sea salt potatoes.  DP keeps saying that was the most flavorful meat he has ever tasted. It was soo good.  I mean even the bread was delicious.  Y'all it was just out of this world.  
• Molly's Cupcakes ~ y'all know I LOVE a good cupcake and these are out of this world.  A winner of cupcake wars these are seriously some of the BEST cupcakes I have ever eaten.  Located on Bleeker Street near West Village you might never know about this place if you a) don't look up good cupcakes or b) I didn't tell you about it.  This place is worth the cab ride if you are staying in the heart of Manhattan.  My absolute favorite is the Cream Brulee.  I sooo wished they shipped because I would seriously consider shipping some home.  This time I just brought a few home.  They may or may not be gone now.  Delicious - you'll just have to trust me or try them out yourself.  

Well y'all I could talk about this magical city for hours but this just a Friday Faves so I will stop for now ... LOL

Truly thankful for the time spent with that sweet man of man!! 

Friends ~ I wish you the Merriest Christmas as we celebrate the BEST NEWS in all of time ~ the birth of our long awaited KING.  

Much Love, 

❤️LA 

Happy Friday!!

Happy Friday friends!!!  Its Friday the 13th... ooooh 😂😂 just kidding.  In all seriousness we only have two Fridays left in this decade and one Friday before Christmas!!  Do you ever wonder what this decade will be called later on in the history books - I mean I'm not exactly hearing roaring teens LOL.  I digress its time to share my Friday faves with you for this week!

🌟 Orange Theory Fitness ~ so y'all I did a thing and tried an OTF class.  Orange Theory is like a mix of Cardio and Crossfit put together.  You wear a heart rate monitor and work to get these things called splat points and aim for a certain calorie burn.  This kind of workout is great for me because I am sort of competitive ... ok ok a lot competitive.  I think thats why these kind of workouts speak to me.  It's hard core and I have run out of gas a few times I have been there.  This compliments my spinning on the Peleton and running so for now its a great fit.  Thanks so much to my dear gal pals Colie and Ashy 😂 😂 for roping me into this. IF you are looking for something to change up your workout routine give it a try.  Your first class is free and there is no contract you have to commit to.

🌟 Candlefish Co. ~ so if you are looking for a fun experience for you and your friends or even a fun date night/day you have to try this out!  Candlefish is as you would expect a candle and gift shop with a library of over 100 fragrances AND they have candle making classes.  I did a class last Saturday with a group of my gal pals and we LOVED it.  It doesn't hurt that its located at Ponce City Market which is also another favorite of mine.  Seriously this was such a fun thing to do - we could bring drinks and snacks.  I really learned so much.  So check them out - even if you don't do a class they have great gifts!

🌟 Pampered Chef Deluxe Cooking Blender ~ y'all I have used this blender EVERY. DAY!! I even cooked soup in it last night.  I make my smoothie in it everyday and when I add my spinach you cannot taste it at all - it blends it up so nicely.  I had a NINJA and it just does not compare.  BUT you want to know the BEST thing about this blender - it cleans itself!! YEP you read that right - it has its own cleaning feature.  SOOO SUPER NICE.  Now I will admit the price tag on this is a whole lot to swallow which is why I had a PC party several months ago so I could earn this bad boy.  Bottom line if you are in the market for a new does it all blender - this is for you!  My friend Colie can help you figure out how to earn if you want.  Just let me know and I can put you in touch with her.

Well friends - that's all I got for this edition of Friday favorites.  Its cold and rainy where I am so if you're local to me I hope you are nice and warm and cosy overdosey ~ I am ... nestled right by my fire with some good ole Bing Crosby Christmas music playing the background.  AND if you're not local I still hope you are warm and cozy too!!! Y'all have a most terrific Friday and Merry Christmas!!

🎄❤️,
~LA

The Friday Faves lowdown

Hey hey hey friends! Y'all this has been a slap crazy busy week BUT...... it's FriYAY!!! You know what that means!  It's time for Friday favorites!! So without further ado ...

😍 Confessions of a Fit Foodie ~ y'all I don't really know how I stumbled across this blogsite but I have used it everyday this week!! I have not made one recipe of hers that I did not like.  I used her weekly meal plan and LOVED it.  I did a few substitutions on lunches but her dinner recipes were out of this world and they were all made in my quick cooker aka instant pot.  So if you are looking for some recipes or an already written out meal plan plus grocery list - BAM! Can I also add how I loved having the grocery list for Kroger click list :-) Here's the link to her site

😍 Vegetable Dicer ~ so friends I don't actually have a technical name for this kitchen gadget all I know is that I LOVE it.  My friend Saundra gave it to me when she was teaching me how to make homemade pico.  Ummmm this device is a game changer to dicing onions, tomatoes, squash, potatoes... all the things.  It has two different cube sizes.  It is just the best.  I am usually a hardcore pampered chef girl but this thing well its a keeper.  You can find it here.

😍 Peleton ~ I feel like the poor old Peleton has been getting some bad press due to a recent holiday commercial  (ha there is actually a commercial on right now LOL) which I think is absolutely ridiculous but that's another post for another time.  My sweet hubby gifted me this indoor spin bike and its truly one of my favorite things. Peleton is like taking a spin class right in your own home!! Maybe that is not your jam then just ride along to some scenery.  I love the class options - I just took one today with Christmas music.  It was totally my jam!! So if you are ever in the market for a spin bike I highly recommend this one!

Well friends that's all I've got for this Friday.  This month is blowing by!! EEK!! Y'all have a great weekend and GO Dawgs!!!

~  ❤️LeighAnn

Friday Faves!!

And just like that friends we are in our last Friday of November!! What in the world!  I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and if you are a Black Friday shopper I hope all your shopping dreams came true! 

Here are this weeks Friday Faves :-) 

🌟Kroger Click list ~ oh my land!! Why have I not used this before??!!!  Y’all on Sunday night I put all the things in my Kroger Cart and picked a time for Monday morning to pick them all up.  I left my house at 8 am and was back home by 8:27 am AND I got gas.  This sweet little deal was absolutely AMAZING.  I would say I might never go back in the grocery store again but I know that is a farce LOL.  BUT when my big and tiny humans are on break I will for sure be utilizing this lovely feature Kroger offers.  BONUS points its free during the holidays!!  Winner winner chicken dinner!! If you haven’t given this a try - do it while its free!! 

🌟Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson ~ friends I have several Advent books and I really do love them all BUT this one is my for realz favorite ever.  I think thats because its one of those books though while its completely relevant for Advent its not exclusively a Christmas book.  This book unfolds the Christmas story in a way that resonates as deeply in June as it does in December.  Its always on my book shelf and I have decided to pick it up and read it (again) along with my SRT Advent.  BONUS ~ there’s a CD with some fantastic music that goes along with it.  Whether you buy this book now in time for Advent or you buy it in March just get it.  We need the gospel ALL the time.  

🌟ELF ~ y’all does any other movie actually exist? I think not! This is probably just my favorite movie of all time. I think I can quote it pretty well.  And truth be told I have already watched it a few times this season.  I feel pretty confident most of you have seen this movie BUT if you have not I’ll keep calm and insist you come over so I can properly indoctrinate you in the code of Elf 😉

This is the last week for our Friday Faves Friend Feature and I of course saved my bestest friend for last … my sweet hubby ~ DP : my prince charming. Here’s what he had to say 

“How about that Dyson thing..” yep that’s exactly what he said ..”I LOVE that thing - it picks up great quick messes.”  So I’ll elaborate for this man of few words over a favorite thing.  First of all its actually called a Shark Wandvac He picked up this little hand held vac from Target and it really does wonders especially when you have messy boys!! We’ve had several friends ask about it - so it really is worth your investment.  Its like the dustbuster of the future.  You can I’m sure find one at your local Target.  And I can testify that he truly does love this little wandvac! 

Well friends I cannot seriously believe that we are ushering in the last month of not just the year but the decade ~ can we say CRAY CRAY!! December is upon us and I hope you take some time to reflect upon this most precious time of year and the GIFT that it is.   

~ ❤️ LeighAnn 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

🦃 HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🦃

Friends!! Its my most favorite day of the year ever ~ and it goes by so quick ~ ya blink and its over!! I am so incredibly grateful for these people God gave me to do life with - thanks Aunt Melanie for this quick Thanksgiving day pic! This morning we held true to our annual traditions of sausage balls and breakfast casserole while we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a favorite of mine!! Went through the AJC our local paper to check out all the Black Friday deals.  Had framily stop in for a few and I chatted with my family far away by phone. Then we hosted family who lives nearby for dinner this evening.  What a sweet first Thanksgiving in this new home of ours.  Truly so much to be thankful for ... here's my list of 10 for today

🧡 1. The gift of Jesus and the salvation He's extended to me. 

🧡 2. cool weather 

🧡 3. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 😉

🧡 4. my slippers 

🧡 5. comfy pjs 

🧡 6. my dog
🧡 7. snuggles with my littles
🧡 8. double ovens
🧡 9. memories
🧡 10. the gift of time

On that note ~ please take a minute to watch this short clip from Chick-fil-A about the gift of time.

It is my sincere hope that you and yours had a fabulous Thanksgiving Day!! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!

~LeighAnn 

Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!! Its been a busy day putting up some Christmas decor, prepping in the kitchen and watching a few Christmas movies.  Here are the things I am thankful for today ...


🧡 1. cozy blankets
🧡 2. modern medicine
🧡 3. rain
🧡 4. work
🧡 5. christmas movies
🧡 6. memories
🧡 7. catching up with my sister
🧡 8. the dishwasher
🧡 9. my moms recipes
🧡 10. my apron that my sweet friend Carrie made for me

Happy Thanksgiving eve y'all!
~LeighAnn

Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving is actually a word and here is how it it defined in Websters Dictionary 👇🏼

"Friendsgiving is a mashup of the word “friend” and “thanksgiving” that refers to a large meal among friends eaten during the Thanksgiving season. The level of formality is dependent on the participants, but the word first appeared around 2007 as an informal replacement for the holiday typically spent with family."

For the past few years I have heard about groups of friends hosting a thanksgiving feasts with one another and celebrating my most favorite holiday together.  I think this idea is absolutely precious and I have longed to be able to have my own "friendsgiving" with the people I call my framily.  And for those of you who don't know what framily is those are the friends who become family..  you know the super duper close kind ~ the ones you do life with.

Tonight was FRIENDSGIVING!!! Whoop Whoop 🙌🏼🙌🏼!! My heart is so full of joy and I have much to be thankful for today.  So here's todays ten things I am thankful for....

🧡 1. Friendsgiving
🧡 2. Framily
🧡 3. My house
🧡 4. Holiday decor
🧡 5. vaccum cleaners
🧡 6. taste buds
🧡 7. my workout room
🧡 8. the ability to text
🧡 9. coffee
🧡 10. the ability to feel joy

Y'all I am just not kidding when I say my heart is just overwhelmed.  It is Gods sweet kindness to bing alongside people we get to do life with and I just love the ones HE sent my way.  Happy Friendsgiving y'all! 

An attitude of gratitude...

It's Thanksgiving Week 🦃 🍽 🍁!!! Also known as one of my most favorite weeks of the entire year!! So I thought I would hop on here and each night this week (Lord willing) list out 10 things I am thankful for each day culminating on Thanksgiving Day (did I use that word right?).

While this should be super easy its kind of daunting to me - mainly because I don't want to list the same 10 things everyday.  I have several friends who have followed Ann Voskamps idea of listing out 1000 gifts and I just am in awe of this! Number one what a great idea ... number two - 1000 different things while I know more gifts than this exist in my life -to be able to write them all out without duplicates is inspiring to me.

So while my personality doesn't want to tackle writing out 1000 things right now ( I know my check the box self) I do want to be mindful of just how much - big or small - I have to be grateful for.  So with out further ado here's my 10 things for today ...

💛 1. Literacy (I take for granted the ability to read) 

💛 2. Kroger Click List (more on this in Friday Faves) 

💛 3. Birch Trees 

💛 4. Room Spray (I do have majority boys over here)

💛 5. Search engines (I just learned how to do emojis on my laptop -mind blown)

💛 6. Hot water 

💛 7. Towels 

💛 8. Speech Therapists (this profession is truly a gift!)

💛 9. Microwaves 

💛 10. Sleep 

I am thankful for these gifts God has given me and how each one has played a part in my day today.
Happy Monday friends!

~ LeighAnn

Friday Faves 11-22-2019

Y’all!!!!  My favorite holiday of the year is right around the corner!! Can y’all believe Thanksgiving is next week!! I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.  I hope time slows down a bit so I can enjoy it! 

Here are this weeks Friday faves ❤️

💐Flowers ~ I confess I **used to** (key word there) not really be a huge fan of flower getting because they just die but the older I get the more I seem to l love it.  And I have always loved putting them together and giving them.  This week I got two sets of flowers - WHAT A TREAT!! They were both beautiful and so thoughtful.  I love how God uses dear people in our lives to bring us joy.  

❤️Y’all ~ I may or may not overuse this word - but it is really a favorite and yesterday I found it on a sweatshirt!! Thank you Circa Antiques and Coffee Shop for selling me a delightfully cozy sweatshirt with one of my favorite words.  Friends this pullover is so comfy I could sleep in it - and I might.  I have now worn it two days in a row LOL.  I promise to wash it sometime soon.  

🎄Jamie Ivey’s Holiday Gift Guide ~ friends I look forward to this gift giving guide every year! Not only is Jamie one of my most favorite podcasters she is very intentional in seeking out companies that give back in some way to feature on her gift guide.  It came out today and I can’t wait to read/watch/listen through it for some fabulous ideas for Christmas gifts this year.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Here’s a link to see it all https://jamieivey.com/giftguide2019

❤️This weeks Friday Faves Friend feature comes from my friend June Black.  Here is what she had to say 👇🏼

🎙Okay, so this is a little silly, but these little Hello Kitty friends are my Friday Favorite! A very dear friend of mine brought these to Pearl recently. Her daughter is a big deal middle schooler now and doesn’t need them anymore! 😂 Anyway, Pearl is loving them, and I love watching her play with them. She makes the big ones snuggle the little ones, and calls them mamas and babies. She sings little songs to them. It just warms my heart. And it makes me happy that they were well-loved even before they made it to our house. ❤️❤️❤️ So glad to be back in this beautiful community where we can share our lives along with our toys. 😂

That’s all I got for this Friday friends!  Y’all have a great weekend and a Happy Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍽🍁.  I’ll be living it up with my peeps enjoying the day, watching the parade, and eating all the things.  Truly I have so much to be thankful for ❤️

Tis the Season friends,

~LeighAnn 

Friday Favorites 11~15~19

Happy rainy day Friday friends!! We are halfway through November and I cannot believe it!! This is my favorite month and I need it to slow down!! EEK!!  Here are this weeks Friday faves! 

🔥Garage ~ y’all it had been a super hot minute since I have had a garage to park my car in.  With the crazy cold weather we have had this week plus all the rain - this sweet garage has been very much appreciated.  

🔥Fresh Market ~ if you have not been to this little store - its a gem - mainly because it reminds me of NYC. I can go in this  market and buy absolutely nothing and still leave satisfied.  However they have the best pimento cheese ever - so usually thats what brings me in there.  It just has that city feel and really when I am there my mind goes straight to NYC and well NYC is a definite favorite of mine.  So if you haven’t been to this little market - go check it out - it has ALL the things plus ALL the feels! 

🔥Wood burning fire place ~ I confess at my last house I had a gas log fire place and turning it on was easy peasy.  Plus no clean up etc etc.  Well at the new casa we don’t have gas and it turns out I LOVE it.  We had our first fire in the fireplace this week and it was so warm and cozy feeling.  Just the best really, and perfect for the weather we have been having here lately.  I am looking forward to another cozy overdosey (thats for you my popcast friend listeners) evening in front of the fireplace with my peeps tonight! 

💕This weeks Friday faves friend feature is from my dear dear friend Nicole Gilreath.

Here’s what she had to say ~

I’ve never been more tempted to start decorating for Christmas early ( I usually wait until the day after Thanksgiving) but diffusing these oils are helping me make it through 🤣! The Holly and Pine one makes it smell 💯 like I have a real Christmas tree up 🙌🙌🙌🙌🌲🎄

Well peeps thats all I’ve got for this edition of Friday favorites!! Y’all stay warm and dry and Happy weekending!! 

❤️LA 

a little of this and a little of that ....

#writeforthirty  - well I made it a whole 7 days in a row and then came the weekend!! Somehow I knew this might have been a challenge where I bit off more than I could chew.  But to be honest it led me to pick up this blog writing gig again so I am going to call that a win.  I don't even know if people even read blogs anymore and I confess I could easily get caught up on the numbers - you know the stats - who liked this post, are there any comments, how many people read it? This is a danger that I want to be very aware of because I do not wish to seek validation in blog writing or social media posting - its a trap that I don't want to be caught it.  So I am going to rewrite this challenge.  I do want to blog for 30 days but not consecutively and if it takes longer or shorter than 30 minutes than so be it.  If I don't even accomplish this all in the rest of 2019 - its OK!! I had to remind myself why I started this blog in the first place and here's the deal.  I started because I want to remember those things with my kids that I wasn't putting in the baby book,  I wanted a place to come back and reminisce over where we had been and where we are going, I wanted to write down recipes I knew I loved and would forget. I wanted to write about things that were HARD and how God was growing me in those.  I wanted to write about fun crafts or ideas I had.  Friends - I just wanted to write all the things LOL. A journal so to speak...  Sooooo... whether you read or not,  I will write - because in writing and reading back - I am always reminded of Gods faithfulness in all the things - and remembering HIS faithfulness causes me to give HIM glory and that is never a bad thing and always does the heart good.  

Now for todays post I want to share a recipe.  I don't know about you but one of the things I LOVE to do for my family is fix them a meal.  Now this is rather humorous in that I am not the BEST of cooks.  God gave me a husband who was in the food industry on purpose friends.  BUT regardless of my talent in the kitchen - there is something so super sweet about feeding my people and sitting around the dinner table all together.  I mean it just makes my heart happy.  

One of the things I do struggle with is finding meals that are super healthy that we all like.  I have plenty of recipes in my arsenal that are along the lines of the comfort food realm.  But lets face it these recipes are not exactly figure friendly and at the ripe of old age of 40 where metabolism just ceased to exist well this is something to consider.  So that't the act I am trying to balance these days because I really love it when they all love something I have whipped up - I mean what mom doesn't enjoy this feat!  Tonights meal is both comfort and fit for the most part.  I am going to call it EZ One Pot Slow Cooker Beef Roast :-)  My favorite part was that I did this all in ONE pot! And I got my chuck roast on sale this week at Kroger. Win Win! So here's what I did ... its not rocket science :-) but if you are anything like me - you will be appreciative that its written down somewhere LOL 

2 lbs of beef chuck roast 

1 sweet onion cut into chunks 

1 bag baby carrots 

baby red potatoes - cut up  (I used about a pound and a half - a little over 2 cups cut) 

Savory Pot Roast Crock Pot seasoning mix

1 cup water 

rosemary sprigs 

First I took a little butter in my everyday rock crock and seared my roast on the stove top.  It probably took 5-7 minutes per side.  I haven't done that before but everyone says that it really helps keep the flavoring in.  When I say everyone I mean my friends who are actually good cooks LOL.  Then I dumped the onion, red potatoes, and carrots on top of the roast.  Mixed the seasoning into a cup of water and dumped that on top of roast and veggies.  Added a few sprigs of rosemary and waa laa (is that spelled right? - but you get the drift - excitment) ...  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4.  I feel as if this will be a winner.  Regardless I will be at the table at home with all my people gathered around - my favorite people on the planet.  That is the win win.  

That's all for today folks.  I'll see ya when I see ya! 

~LA 

Friday Faves

#writeforthirty day 7 - i am going to conveniently let my Friday faves count as my writings on Fridays.  Enjoy :-)

Happy Friday night y’all!! Maybe you are cozied up on the couch watching a fun movie with your family or maybe you're freezing your face off cheering on your favorite high school football team (Go Wildcats) whatever the case maybe I hope your day was full!  Here are this weeks Friday Faves ~Late night edition!! Hey, hey, hey, hey 🎵 

🥰 Impromptu date days ~ yesterday was just one of those days for me and my DP.  We had breakfast at one of our favorite local coffee shops and then spent the day together just doing stuff.  It has been a busy season adulting, parenting you know all the things.  God was so kind to give us this much needed unexpected day together.  I love that husband of mine and there is just no one I would rather do life with.  

🎵 King of Kings ~ I heard this song this week for the first time and it has been on repeat for me.  These words speak to me 

“To redeem the whole creation, You did not despise the cross

For even in Your suffering, You saw to the other side

Knowing this was our salvation. Jesus for our sake You died

Praise the Father, praise the Son Praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, Majesty, Praise forever to the King of Kings”  

You can listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_3CPWXwcQ

🎙TGC podcast Eternal Outlook for Everyday Life by Gloria Furman ~ I don’t know what I can say about this podcast except that I listened to it 4 times. 3 times in one day. It just so happens that it is packed full of passages from my favorite book of the Bible.  And of course in God’s sovereignty it was timely.  I took copious notes. Here’s the link : https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/tgc-podcast/gloria-furman-eternal-outlook-everyday-life/

😊This weeks Friday Faves Friend Feature comes from my dear friend Ashley Faglie. Enjoy 👇🏼

"My Glossier cloud paint blush! 😍 It looks super natural (*not supernatural) and doesn’t have any sparkle to it (which is good bc sparkly blushes just make me look greasy). Also, hello cute oil paint tube. 😂😍"

Night Y’all! 😊

Not according to my plans..

#writeforthirty day 6

Do you ever have those days that don't go anything like you had planned for them to?

Of course you do - you're human.

Today was one of those days for me - and you know what its just fine - because some parts to the day were the best ever - better than the plans I had laid out and well some parts of it were harder - and I of course would not prefer to write hard parts in my day.

Here I am at the end of the day and you can be sure that it has not taken me 30 minutes to write this - maybe not even 10 - but what I know to be absolutely true - is that God did know about this day and not one minute of it took Him by surprise - the good and hard.  HE is sovereign in all things.

Charles Spurgeon once said "the Sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head." ~ I rest in that.

Some much needed reminders from Colossians

#writeforthirty day 5

I am a pretty big fan of podcasts and one day maybe I will do a post on some of my faves but today I want to share some thoughts from a podcast that a friend sent to me earlier this week to give a listen to before we had our book club tomorrow night.  She thought it would be a nice "dovetail to our discussion on identity/eternal perspective" which is kind of what our book is covering.  Well this podcast did not disappoint.  Y'all I listened to it 4 times.  Yes you read that right.  Once last night and three times today.  I took copious notes.  The podcast found on The Gospel Coalition is called Eternal Outlook for Everyday Life by Gloria Furman.  And it just so happens its all about my favorite book of the Bible - Colossians.

Here are my takeaways ... praying even now as I write that you might be encouraged by these truths from Colossians.

In this day and age where our culture struggles with identity and looking to find what defines us this was a SOLID reminder of just exactly who I am and why having an eternal perspective even in the everyday ordinary is so vital. 

We are not living in much different times from the people in Colossae.  The Colossians were being threatened by false teachers.  These teachers were saying being in Christ just wasn't enough - you needed some extra stuff.  You aren't reaching your full potential and the riches and full assurance and understanding in the knowledge of God's mystery unless you are buying what the false teachers are selling.  The worst part is their diluted arguments were plausible, believable.  Colossians 2 says these teachings even have an appearance of wisdom!! Can you think of any extra fluff going around the world today that you could see yourself buying into?  I'ts out there.  How can we know what is really wise and what just looks like wisdom? Furman says we must have an eternal perspective.  We have to desperately know and understand our union with Jesus - who we are in Christ so that we can have a heavenly minded perspective to see the reality of our earthly lives.  

So what's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about my life - is it that I am in Christ?
Colossians 3:3 says 

"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  

That's me!! My life is hidden with Christ in God.  Milton Vincent in The Gospel Primer says "being in Christ is the one great permanent circumstance in your life." So while I might live in different places, have different jobs, whether I have got my roots dug deep, or I am looking to plant my roots being in Christ is a permanent circumstance.  I will still be in Christ 40 trillion years from now.  

We live in a world that focuses lots on individualism and individualism makes being in Christ hard to understand.  We easily forget who we are in Christ.  We have all felt that empty ache, lonliness etc  - the problem lies in what we do with those empty feelings - I confess I often try to fill it with stuff that doesn't matter.  I don't always remember Col. 3:3 that my life is hidden in with Christ in God and who  it is this I am in hidden in... here comes my favorite part... this, this is who my life is in.  Colossians 1:15-20 says 

"HE is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by HIM all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through HIM and for HIM.  And HE is before all things, and in HIM all things hold together.  And HE is the head of the body, the church.  HE is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything HE might be preeminent.  For in HIM all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through HIM to reconcile to HIMSELF all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of HIS cross."

I just LOVE that part of Colossians! This tells me who Christ is and what He is doing keeping the cosmos together, saving me!  And the circumstances that come and go in my life are all a part of His plan to hasten the day of His coming! 

It is really tempting to see our lives defined by our earthly circumstances - the temporary things.  We need reminders from Colossians because the ins and outs of everyday life are right in front of our faces. In suffering AND in prosperity if we remind ourselves of these truths it will be much harder to be taken captive by the false teachings of the world. 

Whatever I'm feeling defined to - this life is not all there is.  God has put eternity in the hearts of men.  

There is a battle for the mind. We have to do the HARD work of remembering our life is hidden with Christ in God AND "when Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with HIM in glory" (Col 3:4) The fun part of that is we will be raised in glory with the Colossians people! 

We have to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16) and then SLOWLY over time we will live like people who's lives are hidden with Christ in God setting our minds on things above because we are new creations living out our ordinary lives with a heavenly perspective because Jesus walked right out of that grave!  

Help us Lord - to remember who we are and whose we are.  

My favorite broadway musical etc. etc .etc. :-)

#writeforthirty Day 4

I confess ~ for tonights blog post I had to look up some prompts for a little nudge.  I adapted the one I chose for tonight and while I have set my timer for 30 minutes I will be satisfied if I make it 15.  Because lets face it - I have written on this blog in over 3 years and while I want to with all my little heart to write for 30 days - 30 minutes for 30 days might have been ambitious. (Edit note - I well exceeded my 30 minutes LOL)  So we'll see how it goest yep I wrote goest ;-) tonight.  Now for the topic at hand.... turns out I liked it :-)

What is your favorite Broadway musical, how has it influenced your life and the way that you view the world? (The way I view the world part mmm I am not really digging that particular part of the question so I'm not sure I'll get to that ...)

So it should come as NO surprise that my favorite Broadway musical is Wicked.  And I guarantee it will probably be my favorite musical til my dying day.

Wicked the musical is based on the book written by Gregory Maguire.  I have not read this nor do I have any plans to ever read it just an fyi.  The musical is written by screen writer Winnie Holzman with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.  And yes I had to look some of this up.  Basically Wicked is the story before The Wizard of Oz.  The prequel if you will.  Without giving too many details for our friends who have not had the magnificent opportunity to see this dazzling show the just of the story line is how did the wicked witch of the west become who she was.  And did she and the good witch know one another? No spoiler here - they did know one another.  I will say if you haven't seen The Wizard of Oz - you really should see it before you ever see Wicked the Broadway Musical, because I don't think any of it will really make much sense if you don't.

How has it influenced my life .... hmmm well sometimes when I am sweeping up the kitchen floor I pretend the broom is my microphone or my ride LOL and I have an all out song and dance show singing some of my most absolute favorite tunes from this particular musical, but I don't really think that is what this question is really getting to.  To be honest - this show just brings me joy.  I have seen it upward of 9 plus times I think.  I know it sounds super horrible that a show titled Wicked could bring any joy into ones life.  After all we're all born wicked and without Jesus we would have NO hope and that is horrid.  The thing is I do have Jesus which means I have great HOPE.  The title of the show just happens to be not so fabulous.  Here's the deal - God gave us things on earth to enjoy and I just happen to be under the belief that this show is one of those things for me.  I could sing the songs in my sleep. The music is just fantastic.  The details that went into costuming, staging, choreographing - ALL THE THINGS  - I just really appreciate them.  I think if you asked the person that sat next to me all the times I have seen this show they would probably say I am just radiant. I'm taken right to Oz - the setting for this story.

This show has taught me about friendships and reminded me often of the old cliche "you can't judge a book by its cover."

I have soo many favorite songs from this show but I am going to close with my favorite - the one I would choose to listen to over all the others.  I will even link a video here for you to listen to the original broadway cast performers sing (plus others who have performed these roles in previous years) in a recent gathering to celebrate the shows 15th anniversary. I even had a fun party for this event :-)



















Watch it and then call a dear friend and tell him or her - "because I knew (know) you ~ I've been changed for good"

I'm limited

Just look at me - I'm limited

And just look at you

You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda

So now it's up to you

For both of us - now it's up to you...

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me

Is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring 

By a wind off the sea

Like a seed dropped by a skybird

In a distant wood 

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good 

And just to clear the air 

I ask forgiveness 

For the things I've done

You blame me for 

But then, I guess 

We know there's blame to share

And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood 

Like a ship blown from its mooring 

By a wind off the sea

Like a seed dropped by a skybird in the wood

Who can say 

If I've been changed for the better?

I do believe I have been changed for the better

And because I knew you 

Because I knew you 

Because I knew you 

I have been changed 

For good.