HI! LET'S CATCH UP!

Hello friends, it's been a while since we've chatted!  I've had a semi-unintended break from the blog for the past few months.  No real reason other than time is just flying by and I've been occupied by other things! I've missed you, though, so let's jump back on board! I thought I'd take today to just share an update of what's been happening the past few months.  Some of you have been here for most of the 15 years that I've been blogging and have been so sweet to be interested in keeping up with our family.  This post is a doozy- longer than I intended but enjoy if you're interested! 😊

The last post I shared was our Easter table all set and ready to host our family for Easter weekend.  Then, the day before Good Friday, this happened! 

That's part of our garage behind the Dining Room wall, and the hot water heater is in a closet behind the blue butterfly. Come to find out a hose had been leaking for who knows how long, and over time it seeped across the concrete slab and worked it's way out to a pretty good radius.  The coat closet back down the hall that you can't see, the wood flooring in the hall, and the corner sections of the dining room and living room were soaked.  I had been moving furniture and accessories around and had some pillows on the floor under the butterfly print, and when I picked them up I noticed that they were wet.  Took a minute to figure out how that happened but then we discovered wet carpet... and finally figured out where it was coming from.  Ugh.  Thankfully our plumber was able to help quickly and we got the leak stopped. We cleared things out where needed, pulled back carpet and left fans running for days to dry things out.  Needless to say, we had to pivot and my middle sister did a fantastic job hosting Easter at her house. When everything had dried out we put it all back together (it was a good opportunity to jump start the cleaning out I'd been needing to do!).  We thought we came through with no real damage, but after about a week noticed that the wood in the hall between the two walls had buckled some. So, we have about 10 feet that we'll need to replace/repair but that's a project for another day- taking out the carpet in those two rooms and replacing it with wood is on the to-do list anyway so we'll just tackle all of that at once. It could have been much worse! 

Despite that mess, we had a nice Easter weekend with the kids home.  They are doing well!  Caleb and Kenzi both recently took exams to earn their national nursing certifications, so she now has her CPN (Certified Pediatric Nurse) and he his CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse) credentials added to the string of letters after their names. 😁 So proud of them as they continue to work hard and love life in Northwest Arkansas- they recently passed the year mark of living there! More on Emily below...

Emily's Dress and Shoes  || Kenzi's Dress- navy sold out but white on clearance for $12!

Emily trained for and ran her first 1/2 Marathon, the Oklahoma City Memorial Run to Remember.  She did great and was happy to finish in her goal time.  What a special run as people come from all over to participate and honor those we lost in the 1995 Murrah Building Bombing.  

We took advantage of a few free days before a super busy upcoming month and went to our favorite rest and recharge getaway at the end of April/beginning of May.  It was the off-off season and was SO quiet, many of the shops and restaurants were closed for a break before the summer season ramped up.  We didn't mind, though!  We've stayed lots of different places in and around town in the past years, but since it was so quiet we took advantage of it and stayed at the Copper King Lodge in town in one of their riverfront units.  We enjoyed it! Some days the deer were about the only souls we saw- ha! 

My go-to sunglasses lately, they fit great under a hat! 

It was sunny but brisk and windy most of the week, I wore my coat outside pretty much the whole time.  But, on our last night there it actually snowed!  It was beautiful but I'm glad it was sunny most of the time we were there. 

For the past two months or so I've been working off and on as time and weather allows reworking our big front flower bed and two in the back yard.  I've dug up and moved things around or planted new in about 90% of the spaces, so it's been a workout!  Slow progress but I'm wrapping it all up and am so far pleased with how it's turned out.  Gardening is such trial and error for me, though.  We'll see how everything does! 

Em celebrated a birthday in early May.  We went to Stillwater to take her to lunch and spend some of the day with her.  23- goodness it goes fast! 

Super comfy walking shoes here or here || Cuffed Jeans or Similar here that I also have and love these on clearance! 

Then a little later that week we went back to Stillwater to celebrate her graduation with her MBA! 

A group of girls got together to have a grad party in their rent house back yard.  They did all the planning and the decorations.  The menu was Mexican food and everything turned out so cute!  Our job was carting as many tables and chairs as we could round up... recognize the tablecloths? I'm telling you these things come in so handy for most any occasion and have more than paid for themselves with the number of times we've used them! I have a few rectangle ones and a bunch of round ones.  They are polyester so pretty indestructible- easy to wash and no ironing needed. 

60x120" gingham tablecloth- $13 right now with coupon!  ||  Round gingham tablecloth ||  Fiesta Party Flags

Mother's Day immediately followed our whirlwind graduation days and the kids weren't in town, so we had our Moms over and enjoyed lunch together. 

My Mom's dress- she has several colors and loves it!

The kids were in town the next weekend, so we got to spend some time together and celebrate then. 

Emily's T-shirt- we both have several colors and love this style. ||  My Dress- size up if you want it looser closer to what is shown on model, mine is a L || Fun new necklace! 

I've done a few small projects here and there.  Tightening up the joints on this tabletop- I'll show it finished another time. 

A pastor friend officiated his daughter's wedding but needed another minister to do the welcome and start the ceremony as he walked her down the aisle, so Ray was honored to be asked to do that! The venue was GORGEOUS and it was such a sweet ceremony!

My dress is several years old from Target- sorry!

We have a dear friend from college whose family owns a generational farm.  They recently celebrated their last harvest as they are retiring from farming and leasing the land out to continue to be worked in the future by someone else.  We've had such fun at many gatherings at the farm over the years and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a celebration dinner they hosted to kick off the last harvest for their family to bring in.  They will continue to own the land, however, and they have a beautiful wedding and event venue you should check out if you're in the market for a location east of OKC! 

We gathered at our house for Memorial Day and to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  One of our friends showed up totally twinning with Ray- haha!! And my youngest sister and Emily are clones- sometimes when I see photos of each of them when they were kids I have to stop and think who is who.  

We skipped the usual cookout menu and went for Indian Tacos instead!  As always, they were delish!  I have a really old post with the recipe if you want to try them sometime. A bit of work but if you have good helpers totally worth it, and be sure to make extra bread to eat with honey for dessert! 

Cute 100% Cotton Flag Sailboat Sweater- I preferred sizing up

We hit a major milestone and now, after 6 years of practice as both kids have been back and forth from college, we are officially empty nesters!  Emily moved to Dallas for her new job.  Well, new at being full time at least!  Some of you might remember me sharing that last summer she interned for a company there, Guidestone Financial Services.  They provide retirement and insurance for churches, ministry, and faith based organizations.  One arm of the company is Mission Dignity, a ministry to provide assistance to retired pastors, their widows, and ministry workers who are in need.  She worked with that team primarily doing donor relations.  They kept her on through the school year to work part time remotely for them to cover a few people with extended leaves. Several months ago a different position opened up on the team, Data Base Coordinator.  They informally offered her the job, to be full time after graduation, and she was excited to transition to a different role (and not have to look for another job!).  She loved living in Dallas last summer and really enjoyed working with her team, so we're grateful that the Lord provided this opportunity with such a great company! 

We got her all moved in to a new place (she has a roommate that she knew from the MBA program at school), and she is already taking advantage of the pool and other amenities at her complex, enjoying the trails nearby, visiting with friends that live in the area, attending Rangers games and checking out the World Cup activities in Dallas, going to young adult worship nights and visiting different churches. Not to mention settling in to her job. She's a busy girl! 

We traveled to our nephew's wedding in Northwest Arkansas- we love any excuse to head that way since Caleb and Kenzi live there now! It was a beautiful evening and she was a gorgeous bride, we're so happy to have her as part of the family! 

I was so excited how the timing worked out, my favorite darling little shop in Fayetteville had just reopened in their new location the week before. We got to stop by for a visit the morning of the wedding and the new little pink dollhouse is just as cute as can be! If you're ever in the area, Presley Paige has such fun merchandise, and if nothing else you'll be inspired by the decor and displays in every nook and cranny! 

We stayed an extra day after the wedding and enjoyed poking around Fayetteville and Bentonville.  It was Walmart Associates week so there were thousands of employees in town for their convention activities in Bentonville.  Our fave Spark ice cream shop was closed to the public because of their activities- boo!- but we got to stop by TCBY instead.  Also a treat because we love it and haven't had one for years in OKC. 

A sweet friend celebrated a big birthday and her family threw a party for her in their dreamy back yard. The food, decorations, and especially the company were all perfection- aren't those lights strung up for the party so fabulous???

Last weekend we celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Putnam City Baptist Church. From birth until I married a minister and we moved away, this was my home church- my Mom has been a member there since she was 14 and Dad later followed after they were married. I have countless core memories in the halls of the old building location (the church relocated over 25 years ago), all centered around the precious people who attended and served there, many I’ve known my whole life! 

(Old church directory photos before my youngest sister joined us!)

I heard the Lord speaking to my heart as a child and was saved, baptized, and our pastor Rod Masteller married Ray and me here (32 years ago tomorrow as a matter of fact!). 

Nursery, playground with mimosa tree flowers we couldn’t resist picking, VBS, handbells and children’s choir, Sunday School camp outs and hayrides, GAs, Acteens, Falls Creek, the most epic youth group ever with Bill Hulse and Jason Gilbow at the helm, my first job working in the youth office during high school...

Jason and Bill (next to me) were my Youth Pastors.  I worked with them in the youth office after school through High School. After ministering in other places in between, Bill is now back as the Pastor of the church.  

...discipleship, banquets, musicals, weddings, funerals, Lord’s Suppers, business meetings, precious friends who were near when we lost my Dad, Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings… a life well lived within these walls. Grateful to be a part of such a rich heritage and excited to see what the Lord continues to do with this great church in the years to come! 

OK, I'm wrapping it up with exciting news- our Fourth of July porch is featured in the summer issue of Pioneer Woman magazine!  There are some lovely festive features, so thrilled to be included and of course the boys are the stars of the show! 

Loving this fun skirt!  Super lightweight and flowy, pockets, and would pack beautifully. It's long! TTS but size up if you need more room in the waistband. (It's called Navy on the listing but definitely more royal.)  Same skirt in more colors here. || Other outfit items linked here 

I do have a church/job update also that I need to share with you all, this post is way too long already so I'll do that next week! 💚 Thank you for being here whenever a new post pops up!  You are much appreciated!  

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