5 Friday Favorites: December 16, 2022

  

 

 It's time for my Friday link up with  A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.

Good morning. It's time for the last Friday Favorites of 2022. I don't think I'll get back to this space until after Christmas and the New Year. The big boys arrive home this weekend and we've got a little ski trip planned and some holiday fun to be had. 

I will preview this Friday Favorites by giving you a quick recap of the very best thing that happened this week. So number 6. Or number 1A. Or number ***!!! I feel like it deserves its own blog post all to itself because it made such an impact on me that I'm not sure I've fully processed it. Here's the gist though: a sweet mama who is great with child goes into labor at my house during a Bible Study Christmas brunch. Said sweet mama has had a heckuva difficult pregnancy. The Bible Study gals have been praying our little brains and hearts out for this mama and baby for eight months. Said sweet mama lies down on my couch and says she'll be fine. Bible Study gals aren't so sure this is a false alarm, so they finish their quiches right quick and HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT IT are at the ready to welcome a new baby into the world in my family room. Don't think we wouldn't have done it. You get ten women in a room with a woman we love having contractions three minutes apart and you bet your boots we all thought we were perfectly capable of birthing that baby together with a few beach towels and some big prayers. Spoiler alert: Mama made it to the hospital and gave birth to the most beautiful little boy you've ever seen with an actual medical professional attending her.

So before we get to my silly list, let's be clear that the best thing about the whole week was this. As some very wise person said (and I didn't take the time to find out who): "A baby is God's opinion that life should go on." 

Amen and amen. 

Here are some more favorites:

1. Nora Goes Off Script

Is this book going to win any literature awards? No, it is not. But it was exactly the type of book I needed to be reading this week. The holiday rush, lots of sadness in the news, and the need to empty my brain each night made this novel a great way to end each day. 

2. Loft Long Sleeve Crew Tee

I think it's kind of weird how difficult it can be to find a really good tee that fits well, is flattering, and is comfortable. (Also, I realize after re-reading that sentence that "difficult" is perhaps a relative term. In the scheme of all the difficulties life hands us, perhaps the quest for a good tee is not even worth mentioning. But if you showed up here, you know what to expect, am I right?)  Anyway, I bought this long sleeve tee awhile ago and I love it so much that I went online yesterday to get a couple of other colors and I found out it's on sale for 50% off.

3. Cha Cha Real Smooth

Joe texted me a couple of days ago and told me I would love this movie and let's just say the boy knows his mama. The characters, the dialogue, the relationships, the whole darn thing - I adored it. This is a gem of a movie in every way. Two big thumbs up. It's on Apple.

4. Feed These People Cookbook

I've loved pretty much everything that Jen Hatmaker has written in regard to parenting a bunch of people and since our kids are about the same age, I can usually relate to her words. I'm not a great cook and I've never found cooking to be relaxing as many people do, so I wasn't sure her cookbook would be for me. I bought it anyway and I really like it. Her humor is interspersed with some really good recipes. To be honest, I've only tried two, but they were amazing. Whether you like to cook or not, this is a fun book with beautiful pictures and some sweet stories. 

5. I Didn't Do a Christmas Card & The World Keeps Spinning

My family of five was together all summer. The whole entire summer we lived in the same house and we did not get a single photo of the five of us at one time except for one selfie in a pool where 5 out of 5 of us look like we've had too many poolside beverages even though only 2-3 out of 5 of us really had. 

Right before Thanksgiving dinner, I got the guys outside and said we couldn't eat a bite until we had my sister-in-law snap the above photo of us. Checked the box, or so I thought. But then Shutterfly didn't like the "resolution" - whatever the heck that means - and our faces were all blurry. We looked like robots. So for about 15 minutes I stressed out and tried to fix it and scrolled into the depths of my phone for another option and cursed myself for not making them take one lousy photo and then what happened was the craziest thing. I said to myself, "Hey, Self. This is not that big of a deal. The people will still celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world if you don't send out a Christmas card. That friend from 5th grade who barely remembers who you are will not panic and search the depths of her mailbox for your dumb face. She'll be fine. The sun will rise the next day. You'll drink a diet Coke. You'll walk the dog and then you'll LIVE YOUR FLIPPIN' LIFE. " 

And that's pretty much it. Thanks for hanging in there for such a compelling story. 

Merry Christmas, Readers. I wish you the most peaceful week - one in which you open your hands and let go of the things you need to let go of so that you can hold tight to the things that matter most. God bless you and yours and thanks so much for stopping by - see you in 2023.

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