Tag Archives: Friday’s Fave Five

FFF ~ November Already…

Here we are in November and our thoughts more than usual turn to thankfulness. On Fridays we join Susanne with Friday’s Fave Five recalling our favorite things from the week.

1. Lana, Laura, Katie and I had a crafting party of sorts last Saturday. Although our production was real slow and we yielded only 6 little Matryoshka dolls we enjoyed loads of laughter. The making tears fall kind of laughter.

2. Our Pastor finished up the series on Spiritual Warfare on Sunday. One of the great things we were reminded of is that the battle has been won and we respond from a position of victory. We also were shown a great photo of the Shield of Faith and how shields were used in battle forming a solid wall of protection. This was accomplished with others beside you and behind you. We need each other.

3. I’m so thankful for my new faucet and my husband who installed it.

4. I really had a fun night opening the door for our Trick or Treaters! We had a lot and my daughter’s face makeup only scared away one little girl. I had to run after her to give her a candy!

5. I mowed the lawn one day this week and because of all the leaves it was a longer than usual workout. I was beat and when Dear came home from work he knew he was taking me out for dinner. Dear, Katie and I shared some great appetizers and we split a Kobe burger 3 ways. A good meal with no clean up is priceless after a hard workout!

I’ve noticed some bloggers who are posting a thankful post every day in November. It’s been great to read them. We have so much to be thankful for…

I’m looking forward to a weekend with nothing scheduled except for church on Sunday morning. Woohoo! How’s your weekend shaping up?

FFF ~ Fullness

Time to link with Susanne at Living to tell the Story for our favorites from this past week.

The theme for my week was filled to the brim, full, fullness…

Fullness:

1. The state of being filled to capacity 2. The state of having eaten enough or more than enough and feeling full.

1. Friday last we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with our Canadian neighbors. My sister and her husband joined us for a Honey baked spiral ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, asparagus casserole and rolls. We were full and satisified.

2. Saturday we had a lazy time vegging out in our robes most of the day.  Definition of vegging: to spend time idly or passively. Synonyms: chill, dally, dawdle, hang about, lounge, kick back… And what made this mood successful were all the leftovers from our Canadian Thanksgiving the night before.

3. A new series at church called “This is War”. Our pastor began a series on Spiritual warfare and the first sermon was so encouraging and practical.

4. On Monday Dear, Katie and I had a menu food tasting for the wedding next March. We got to eat so many delicious choices. It was a fun task to narrow down our choices keeping in mind our guests which include some lactose and gluten intolerant individuals.

5. Hearing from Josh and Laura from Hawaii where they are celebrating their tenth anniversary. It’s great to hear that our very hard working kids are getting some much needed fun and relaxation in a tropical setting!

Hope all is well in your part of the world. I’m headed to Sacramento on Sunday to attend my friend Kathy B.’s memorial service. If you think of it I’d appreciate your prayers for her husband Bill and her sister Jeanie as they walk through this separation on earth.

FFF ~ Goodbye September!

Gratitude is a very good thing. Every Friday we join Susanne at Living to Tell the Story in sharing 5 good things from our past week. Wow can you believe we are already saying goodbye to September?!

A good friend died this past Sunday. Why would I share that in my 5 good things? I’m so thankful to God that I got to know Kathy and that I learned so much from her struggles and her attitude. She knew she was going home and would be with her Savior. Her husband wrote a beautiful tribute to her on Kathy’s blog that you can read here.

As you can see from the photo above we have had some beautiful sunny days this week after some cloudy rainy days. It was nice to get out and enjoy the weather with my camera.

God worked out timing for me to be able to be part of a lot of important events in October including Kathy’s memorial service in Sacramento.

Completed projects around the house.

We decided instead of just me and Katie going to North Carolina to get her settled in base housing before Andrew returns from Afghanistan that Dear would travel with us, too. It will be great to have a man along with us while we get some basics set up for Andrew’s return.

October is as full as a pumpkin for me. How’s your October shaping up? Hope to come around soon and see what you are up to.

FFF~ Hello Fall!

Not only is it Friday again but we are officially in our Fall Season. There are some things that do not change with the seasons and one of those things is the need to show our gratitude or to think on the good things in our lives. Thank you to Susanne for hosting Friday’s Fave Five!

1. Last Saturday our son picked me up for the Seattle Sounders Soccer game against D.C. United. Not only did we win big but we managed to get our hands on a couple free Sounders lunch boxes. They were handing these out to all the kids that came to the game. At half-time when they had boxes left over they let us oldies have one, too, until they ran out.

2. On Sunday after a great church service we went to a Welcome to the Family meeting for new members at church. We are so grateful to finally settle into a home church that is a good fit for us and so close to home. This church is the closest to us in 40+ years of church going…

3. Although Dear and Katie passed along a sick bug to me my bug was very mild and I was feeling well after just a couple days.

4. Katie and I went shopping for wedding jewelery and came up with some great pieces to go with her dress and the price was right.

5. I was grateful for the fresh herbs on my deck that added wonderful flavor to dishes this week. It’s great to just go out and snip the herbs rather than go to the store and pay too much for them.

Hope you are all having a great transition to Fall. I still have to get out and about and see if I can find some great fall color.

FFF ~ Welcome Fall Schedules!

It’s that time of the week when it’s good to look back and consider the good things that have happened. Friday’s Fave Five is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  Click on over to join in this worthwhile exercise.

I enjoy this time of year… the end of summer and the beginning of Fall. I like the new order that Fall brings to my life.

1. Church was all a buzz on Sunday with the launching of all the Fall programs.

2. Women’s Bible Study started on Tuesday morning and I’m excited about the study on the Parables. I’m new to this group/church but I was put in a group with a friend from my past. We were bleacher/sideline buddies because our boys played soccer together in high school. It was great to see her and to catch up a little on Josh and David’s lives. The guys are in their 30’s now…

3. We have our wedding planner assigned for Katie’s wedding and we are looking forward to meeting with her about the details and having a food tasting with the chefs.

4. Woohoo I cleaned out my pantry! The benefit of that is that there were a few items that I really needed to use up before they were way too old for human consumption so I’ve been creative in the kitchen this week. We’ve had home cooked meals way too many nights in a row. Thankfully we are going out tonight.

5. I finished reading the Penderwicks book series by Jeanne Birdsall that I really enjoyed and am now reading a series by Gail R. Fraser about the little town of Lumby.

Before I sign off head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook on Friday for the recipe to put this pasta salad together.

Hope you all had a good week. I hope to get around and see what has been happening in your neck of the woods…

FFF ~ My Dear…

It’s time to consider the past week and record 5 things that were your favorites. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story keeps us on track for this worthwhile event every week.

Friday is Dear’s birthday so FFF is all about Dear!

I pulled out some real oldies but goodies from my photo archives to share. This is Dear with our sons and with our daughter.

1. Dear is a faithful hard working man and that leaves me secure and content.

This mosaic is from our trip to Great Britain in 2006.

2. Dear is a handy man. He takes on most of the projects around the house and efficiently manages them.

3. Dear can cook and isn’t afraid of the kitchen.

4. Dear is a follower of Jesus.

5. Dear is smart and witty and wise…all things that attracted me to him. I thought he was rich, too. Oh well the smart, witty and wise gets us through a lot of tough spots!

Happy Birthday Dear!

I thank God that He brought us together and has kept us together for these past 37 years! You are the only one for me…

I’m making a special birthday dinner for tonight so it might not be until tomorrow when I can visit everyone’s favorites. Have a great weekend everyone. We’ll be flying our flag at half staff on Sunday the 11th.

FFF ~ Summer Roadtrip

It’s time to think back over the week and pick out some favorites to share. I’m thankful for Susanne at Living to Tell the Story…for who she is as a fellow blogger and for hosting this worthwhile meme each week.

Tuesday morning Dear and I took off for the Oregon Coast for a night and then swung inland and northward for a night at Bonneville Hot Springs. Here are a few highlights of our time. More to come next week…

Our first stop was Astoria, Oregon. Did any of you ever watch Goonies? Well Goonies was filmed here in this coastal city. We had breakfast here and then we found the Goonies House. The Flavel house museum looked interesting but one thing about traveling with Dear is that you start real early and usually get to your first destination before anything opens. We headed south along the coast after our heart attack on a plate breakfast.

We decided to stop at Tillamook Cheese in Tillamook, Oregon. It was interesting to see the cheese assembly line. Besides cheese samples and a cafeteria you could buy scoops of their delicious ice cream.

Our first night we stayed at the Salishan Spa just below Lincoln City, Oregon. It was in a lovely setting and had a golf course on the grounds. We enjoyed a quiet night here with a nice view of the water from our room.

We drove through many little Seaside towns on our way here.

For the second night of our roadtrip we stayed just across the Columbia river from Oregon at Bonneville Hot Springs Resort in Bonneville, Washington. We again had a lovely room and a great view. The mineral waters in the pool and hot tub were refreshing and relaxing. The great room at this resort is really beautiful with that floor to ceiling stone fireplace…

I’ll be posting a lot more photos next week from Cannon Beach and Multnomah falls and the amazing waves we heard and saw on our walk to the beach from Salashan spa. Those all deserved posts of their own. Hope you are enjoying the beginning of September. We are getting some real warm weather forecast for the next week or so…

FFF ~ Lazy Days of Summer

It’s time to visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and share 5 favorite things from the past week. A good time to reflect on good things in the midst of troubled times around the globe.

1. Laura, Katie and I had a great afternoon at the Sounders soccer game last Saturday. It was good to catch up on what had been going on in our lives.

2. I had to give myself a pat on the back for harvesting the apples off our tree to make some applesauce that I’ll be able to use over the next year for some of our favorite recipes.

3. I’ve also been picking, using and freezing our great harvest of blueberries. I’ve made a couple blueberry dishes in the last week including Blueberry Clafouti.

4. My daughter Katie and I finally took a walk on the river trail. We both needed the exercise and it was a great accomplishment for the week.

5. Enjoying our sweet peas, hydrangea, and lavender blooms in flower arrangements in the home. Lovely!

6. We are finally enjoying sunny dry days that make it seem more like summer here in the Pacific Northwest. This has been a nice relief.

Are you still enjoying your Summer or are you ready for Fall?

FFF ~ The Pleasures of Home…

It’s time to stop and consider the good things that we enjoyed during this past week. You can link up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to share your favorites.

It’s a wonderful privilege to be able to travel and visit with friends and family but it’s always good to return home. Katie and I were in Southern California last week and we had a whirlwind of fun gatherings. On Saturday evening we returned home and Dear was very happy to have his chatty ladies in view. So here are my favorites…

1. On our way to the airport we were able to meet up with my walking buddy from when I was living in Southern California. We met Willow from Willow’s Cottage at a shopping center just South of the airport and we enjoyed a meal together while we caught up. Doesn’t Willow look good? During the year and a half that we have been apart she’s been losing weight while I’ve been gaining weight. Just so you don’t feel too sorry for me in the last month I’ve managed to finally lose some weight. Yippee.

2. On the plane trip home an acquaintance of Katie’s from our former church was one of the flight attendants. It was fun surprise to see each other and get caught up on news. Our friend treated Katie and I with champagne when she heard Katie had gotten married.

3. Oh the joy of sleeping in your own bed again after being away.

4. I’ve been picking blueberries off my bush which is loaded since I returned, too. Since the sun has been shining bright things have sped up in their ripening process. Speaking of growing things my Sweet Peas grew and flourished from the seeds I brought home from Butchart Gardens in April. Sweet Peas make me smile.

5. Driving my own car instead of a rental is another nice thing.

What things stand out as your favorites this past week?

FFF ~ Early July Fun…

Once again it’s time to look back over the last week to pick out your favorites. I enjoy this exercise in focusing on blessings and listing them. Thank you Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting this worthwhile meme.

Here are my favorites.

1. The weather finally improved enough in the Seattle area for us to bring our patio furniture out of storage and onto the deck. Along with the furniture I spent some time decorating the deck area in red, white and blue for our upcoming 4th of July, Independence Day celebration.

2. Watching Women’s World Cup Soccer and seeing the U.S. Women’s salute to our military after scoring a goal!

3. A get together with family and friends with lots of good food and fellowship to celebrate our Nation’s birthday. By now you might know that I like party themes and for this one it was all about flags, stars and red, white and blue. We had blue drinks with white ice and red berries, cupcakes with red,white and blue sprinkles. Serving dishes and flowers followed the theme, too.

4. While we were working on the deck we had a fun little visitor, the green little frog in my mosaic.

5. Katie and I have been using our library more and we’ve gotten some books that we put a hold on. I’m looking forward to finally reading The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Having a holiday on a Monday can throw me for a loop and it did. I’ve been a little off all week. I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. How was your past week and what were your favorites?

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and photobucket stamped versions. They are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.