Hey! Hey! It's Friday!! Plans Change!!

Hello friends. As most of you know, I was supposed to be at a goat farm, in a Tiny Home, sipping on coffee by a creek along with hiking and attending a ladies' conference. BUT.....

I am now sitting in an Airbnb apartment with my husband in a whole different state. Actually, I am back in Louisiana for a funeral. Our Assistant Pastor's Wife father passed away. She is also my mentor and friend. We felt we needed to support her during this tough time. So, I had to forgo the conference. I could not get a refund for the Tiny Home sadly BUT they were so gracious and offered me to come next week. Not exactly what I wanted because it is in the middle of the week and it supposed to be pretty cold. 

Nonetheless, I will make the best of it and use it as my solo prayer retreat which I had planned for in June but I will just go ahead and do it next week. The Tiny Home is paid for already.

Without further ado... I thought I would share how I ended my week. I got all of my To-do's marked off this week but one, which I will do over the weekend once I get back. It is just an overnighter trip. 

On Wednesday I water all my inside plants! I love the way water looks on leaves!! It is the small things in life that make me smile. :) 

I also love to use old vintage plates for the base of plants to catch water and to make it a little prettier. Well to me it is. 

Do you like indoor plants?? What is your favorite??

I am taking my second ministry course for this year. I just finished one and this one is about to wrap up. They are two-hour live classes, and a small group break out discussion. Today was on the importance of Sabbath. It was so good. I have really enjoyed my cohorts and live teachings. 

My DO ONE THING MONTLY GOAL for the physical category was to attend an aquacise class once a week in March. I started last week. I enjoy it. I am the youngest in the class, but I love it. They all love on me and help me learn things. I AM TELLING YOU these classes are NO JOKE!!! It is easier on my joints, but it is a WORKOUT!!!

Thanks for your visit! I hope you have a great weekend ahead!!

With Love,

Chrissy T

A Little Late but.... Hodgepodge Wednesday on a Thursday

 

Hello! I am a little late, but I already had posts planned so I am joining in today!!!

                     Please check out our host and others at From This Side of the Pond here. 

 1. Are you a naturally trusting person? Is trust built on logic or 'gut instinct'? Does everyone deserve a second chance? Elaborate. 

This is a tough question. I am naturally trusting. I love people deep!!! I am very loyal. I try to do be open an authentic and often realize others are not, and do not love as deep as I do nor are loyal. As someone in ministry (Pastor's Wife here) I have been let down and hurt many times. So, I am more guarded and truly can say nobody and nothing surprises what a person may do. In the last 4 years I have been deeply wounded from people I considered lifelong friends, so I have learned a lot. 

NOW... I say this above BUT..... I do a have this little GUT intuition and it will instantly let me know if a situation isn't truthful or if something is off. Since I am so naturally trusting if I feel that gut first thing I instantly know that I need to take caution. 

I do and will give second chances most of the time, and even third. I am also a very forgiving person, but I will have healthy boundaries and be cautious. 

2. 'Beware the Ides of March'...March 15th on the ancient Roman calendar, these words were made famous by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar.  Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 B.C. Have you read any Shakespeare? If so, do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to Rome? 

I do not like Shakespeare. Yes, I have read and studied several works of his. I have never been to Rome. I would go visit Rome, but it is not at the top of my bucket list.

3. Do you like a Caesar salad? If given the choice between a garden/house salad or Caesar which do you order? Anchovies or no? What's your favorite salad dressing? 

 I will eat Caesar Salad if I am offered it and there is not another option and DEFINTLY that is a NEGATIVE on the anchovies. 😬 

I would take a GARDEN SALAD ANY DAY, PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Ranch and I do like Creamy Italian. 

4. Where do you typically work (or blog if that's easier) at home? Do you have a dedicated home office space? Are you happy with that space? 

When I am blogging, I am usually sitting on a corner spot on the couch, at my dining room table or my bed. I do not have an office.  I will do any computer work in my dining room area. Blogging is a form of relaxation for me. I love to be comfortable and enjoy reading other blogs and being creative in writing mine. When it comes to bookkeeping, bills or church work I am at the dining room table. I love my dining room.  Today I had to work!!! 👇

5. Snow drops, daffodils, lenten roses, crocus, hyacinth, or early tulips... what's your favorite early Spring flower?

 I love Tulips, but I also love daffodils. Daffodils remind me of the childhood excitement our daughter we get when she saw them blooming. She always wanted to pull over and take a picture as a budding photographer. 

My mom and I went to a beautiful Tulip garden in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 2024. It was so beautiful. So many different types and colors. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 I am thankful for this precious life I have. It hasn't been easy, peachy nor always wonderful, but when I look around, I am so beyond incredibly blessed. I am thankful for the Lord saving me, blessing me and helping me along the dark paths I have navigated. 

 I had a great time answering these! Please go check out the others from the link above!

With Love,

Chrissy T

Spend the Day with Me ~ Tackling the To Do List

 Hello everyone. I thought it would be fun to take you along to hold myself accountable. I have a lot on my to do list and I want to stick to it. What a better way to do so but to take my friends along. So here we go. 

First things first are my Bible and journal time. I roll out the blinds, make a cup of coffee and get in the Word. After I read, study and journal I head to pray. Usually, I will step outside a minute to pray and get fresh air. I love to hear the birds singing first thing, it is the Lord's beautiful symphony. 

Next, I got dressed and had breakfast. I wanted to share my top I got from thrifting at Goodwill this past weekend for $4! It is so nice and good transition piece for spring. 

I paired it with a comfy knee length black skirt. After this I made me some breakfast. I am on a cheese toast kick sooo that is what it was today!

I usually at this point will check my blog comments and then read few from my blog reading list. I do have a rule that my Bible and Prayer time needs to be done before I check my blog or read others. 

I did my morning chores such as get laundry going and I also did my Weekly Blessing today. Before that I got my diffuser going!!! Oh.. this smells like a beach and spa in one. :) 

LAUNDRY TIME!! 

I stripped our bed after I folded this load and washed everything. My comforter is huge and a pain. It cannot be dry cleaned and really too big for appliances, but I did wash it and then had to put it on my dining room table to dry! HA! You do what you have to do!!!

All the laundry is done mainly! House is fresh and blessed. Now, it is errand time!

Yep, really my least favorite thing to do is errands but they must be done. Today I needed to make some returns to the UPS, drop off some mail at the post office, pick up some groceries for the week, return some books to the library and drop off my husband's suits to the cleaners. 

After all that I grabbed some lunch and headed home. IT IS RELAX time. I will use this time to rest for a bit, read some blogs, and read a book. Sometimes, like today because I got up at 4:50 a.m. I will nap!

Oh, look it is my friend, Pamela's Blog I am reading now. :) I love making my visits throughout the day to my blog reading list. She is such a sweet encourager!!! I do love visiting her. 

 Time to light my candles for the evening, turn on my little candles and get dinner going. Tonight is Red Beans and Rice and cornbread.

Oh.... yes! I set the evening with some calming jazz or uplifting music while I cook. I love this little video and it so happy and spring like. 

 After I made dinner, we clean up the kitchen and we do a little bit of end of the day things. I needed to water my plants and my husband walked the dog. We got ourselves ready for bed after that. I always go outside before bed to pray and look at the sky. Usually! Tonight was no different and the stars were beautiful. Our Bradford Pear is just so pretty! Even at night. 

I got a lot done off my list that I needed to do. I love when I have a good productive day. I am ending this day writing this post to share tomorrow and about to read a bit. Then it is time for SLEEP I HOPE!!! I am not a good sleeper. I sure try!!

Thanks for joining me today!!! 

With Love,

Chrissy T

Blooms & a Banana Sandwich

Hello everyone! It was slow start, Monday. I had great intentions but woke up not feeling well. I think my weekend wore me out after fighting a two-week cold. I still have some lingering of it to be honest. So, I read, rested, and did laundry! But tomorrow THINGS MUST MOVE FORWARD. Lord, willing. 

While enjoying my weird sandwich (banana) which is one of my favorite lunches I looked out of my window to notice how beautiful our Bradford Pear Tree is blooming. 

Our view over our front door. It is so lovely! I wish the pictures could do it justice. I grabbed my camera and headed out....

Some do not like the Bradford Pear Tree, but I love them. 

Here is a snapshot of my Banana Sandwich. Our boys think it is gross, but my daughter and hubby love them as I do. 

A little small amount of mayo, fresh bread and a banana. YUMMO!!!

DO YOU HAVE A WEIRD food you like??? Something others may find strange?

I saw this cute little image and quote on Pinterest and thought I would share. It gave me a giggle and smile. :) We all need a giggle and a smile!! 

I hope you have a lovely Tuesday! Share below in the comments of a strange food you enjoy!!!

With Love,

Chrissy T

This Week~ Things MUST BE DONE

Well, hello!! Since my SWAMP Alligator ADVENTURE this past weekend, check that post here if you missed it... and also being sick most of the week last week..... there are some NEEDS that MUST be tackled.

I have ONE more trip (Church Ladies Conference) THIS coming weekend in Alabama that I am traveling SOLO to. I am quite looking forward to it. I decided to stay in a Tiny Home on a goat farm and a beautiful creek close to Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve. The trip will be mixed with Tiny Home down time, relaxing, hiking and then lots of church time with ladies. So, a nice mix for my extroverted and introverted self. 

BUT to be honest, I am kind of ready to stay home and level out a bit. FUNNY to say that because from October to Mid-January it was pretty slow in my world. Maybe still speedy for some or too slow for others. It is funny how what is slow to some may still be fast for others and what is fast to others may be slow to them.  On the other side of things... if I want to hike this is the time to do that for me due to our extreme heat we have in our area after May until maybe Mid-September it is too hot unless I get up at 4 am. That is a NEGATIVE, usually. :) LOL!

We are all created wonderful and unique!!! I love individuality! The Lord... Maker of ALL, perfectly created each of us to be a SHINING LIGHT into this world. 

Anyhooooo....

This week (Monday-Wednesday) I need to be very intentional to get some tasks done. I am motivated now as I type but do to my insomnia who knows.

I am trying to REMIND myself of my ONE THING Post to encourage me and not to get overwhelmed about so many other things looming over my head. 

I would like to share what I want or plan to do each day Monday-Wednesday to hold myself accountable BUT I think I would be better off just sharing a small list of things that are a MUST that I have to do before I leave Thursday. Because each of my days I can wake up feeling physically different due to health. 

Things I MUST DO~

Weekly Blessing- I call this resetting and fluffing our home by vacuuming, swiping the bathrooms, and putting everything in order ✔️ Done

Laundry- Do all the laundry

Check our Checking account 

Do February Bookkeeping Tasks and send to HEAD BOOKEEPER- Scan all Feb receipts, giving statements of church members, and bank statements and enter all giving for March in system 

Straighten my closet ✔️

Clean car- wash, vacuum, and wipe down (I do this every single Friday BUT since I am leaving beforehand, I need to do it)

Get oil changed in car

Plan Church Music for Sunday- Pray about songs, practice songs, and send out music to singers before Thursday)

Grocery Shop and Supply Shop at Costco ✔️ Done

Organize the church Sunday School & Children Ministry Spring supplies and craft supplies that came in from Amazon

All that above is a MUST. 👆👆👆

If I time allows and I can....

I would like to clean two cabinets and one drawer in my kitchen

But overall.... I want the Lord to lead me and guide my path. I want to do what He leads me to do. 

Do you have any specific things you really MUST DO this week? I would love to read in the comments. :) 

With Love,

Chrissy T

Scripture and a Snapshot~ Wise Words

 

"Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook." ~Proverbs 18:4 (NLT)

Linking up at A Fresh Cup of Coffee for Scripture and a Snapshot Sunday. Thank you, Kym, for hosting.

Check out others here. 

Happy Sunday, 

Chrissy T

Swamp Tour Fun~ Alligators, Birds, a Sweet Racoon & More

Hello friends. Here in the DEEP SOUTH where I live Alligators are always close by! So...

A friend and I took a little overnight trip last night (FRUGAL ONE at that) and enjoyed eating, crafting and relaxing in the hotel. Then today we got up to EXPLORE THE LOUISIANA SWAMP LAND!

I don't live in Louisiana, but we are close by. We started yesterday (Friday) our travels. We enjoyed some wonderful Italian for dinner, and we were blessed with a meal!! A FREE Meal makes it even better. 

It was one of the best pasta dishes I have had at a restaurant. It was Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Tortellini. 

After our meal we went to check into our hotel to discover that they upgraded us to a LARGE SUITE for FREE! Seriously! We were actually already blessed with a very reasonable hotel rate due my husband having some points that we could apply for a very cheap night at a lovely hotel. 

After we got all settled in the room, we pulled out our craft we brought. As some of you know, I love rubber ducks, well so does she. I am also a Diamond Art crafter, so she found us these cute ducks to BEDAZZLE. 

My friend may have had an accident and hundreds of her little jewels went everywhere. LOL! We truly laughed!!!

My friend had this green color (above) and I had yellow. But I loved her color more. :) 

Aren't they just the cutest???? We had a lot of fun! It did take quite a while. We were able to catch up and have some good heart to heart conversations and crafting. 

Yes, you get to see me in my glasses and my bedtime hairdo as well as my exhausted self. I am still trying to fully recover from my sinus and ear infections. This trip one night trip was planned way in advanced sooo I had to go with it. 

After this we got ready and went to bed; we had to be up bright and early for our Swamp Tour. It was supposed to rain once we got there, BUT ONCE AGAIN the LORD BLESSED and THERE WAS NO RAIN and PERFECT WEATHER for the tour today! 

We were waiting to board our swamp boat and head into the bayou, marshland, swamp and part of a river. 

 

Right off the bat... as soon as we were getting on the boat we seen a gator. They were very active!!! We saw 20 plus on this trip. 

These are swamp houses and people live on these. YES... LIVE on them!!! 

Let me add.... if these pictures look like these gators were very close it is because they were. We were very very very close to the gators. I did not zoom in on these shots. These gators were very close to our boat. I truly could have reached out and touched some of them. 

In this picture below.... Can you see what I see??? It is not an alligator!!

We wrapped up our tour and headed to a Thrift Store. We got a few little deals. We then ended our day of exploration at Cafe De Monde which is home to the homemade famous Beignets and they were delicious.

I am now home all safe and sound!! I am cozy and catching up on blog reading. 

For those that may be curious..... Yes, I do travel and hike some with my husband BUT as a full time Bi-Vocational Pastor (that means he works a full time job outside of his pastorate on top of being full time pastor) it is hard for him to get a way and he really doesn't like to travel truly because he did it for years with work. He also does hike a little, but it is not as much as his thing as it is mine. We both have very different hobbies and interest and we support each other in them. :) 

So, TODAY he arranged a fun day without sons to skeet shoot. 

The GUYS doing THERE THING. Here are our two sons with my hubby!

Well, I know this was a long post and believe me I have so many videos and photos. Maybe one day I will share a little more. Thanks for stopping by and lasting thins long if you have....

With Love,

Chrissy T

As this gator (swamp puppy as the Cajuns call them) 

SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR..... After while Crocodile!