Here in the DEEP SOUTH ~ Flowers, Sasquatch, Woods, a Swamp, Connecting

 Hello dear friends. I know so many of you all are dealing with snow. I think it is beautiful. But here in my area we are hearing lawn mowers, flowers are blooming (too early probably) and windows are up!!

I went on my February Winter Hike, which did not by any means feel wintery! It was wonderful though. Oh, how I needed this hike!!!!! The woods, the lake, the wind, and enjoying snacks alongside the lake and chatting with a friend I haven't seen in over 8 months. It was such a blessing. Thank you, Jesus, for that time yesterday!!!

You will see a little image of a sasquatch throughout the pictures. Unbeknownst to us they had little sasquatch images hidden all over the trail. We enjoyed finding them!!! It was such a fun little time!!!

Here we goooo.. We traveled to Legion State Park and Cypress Swamp in Mississippi. Weather was 70 degree with clouds. 

                                                         My hiking friend, Amanda with me!!

So, my hiking stick always makes a debut! I have 20 plus more medallions to add to it but....

ALSO.... LOOK CLOSE....DO YOU SEE OUR FRIEND?? THE SASQUATCH!!!!

I love moss! The trails were covered in it on several parts. One part the trail was solid with it. 

I thought this leaf that was decaying was so neat!!!! How cool!!!!

Here is our friend again!!! We literally cracked up every time we came across one! It was so joyful!

Time for a needed break! This was a very "hilly" trail. Since, neither of us have done a trail like this since the winter hit, we needed little more break to catch our breath, LOL! But we always have a snack midway through our hikes. We sit, drink plenty of water and have a little snack. Yes, a lot of hikers eat what we call "trash" to keep us going and quick snacks, so I am enjoying gummy bears and pretzels. We also soak in the nature, listen for birds and look for wildlife. 

As we were driving back home (it is about a 2-hour trip one way) we stopped by a place we visit yearly off the Natchez Trace Scenic Drive. It is a boardwalk with a little side trail. Usually, we see a lot of alligators and herons. We have been known to accidently walk upon a few the last time we came. But we didn't this time thankfully!!!

What a difference between the two places. Such unique ecosystems. I love the majestic eeriness of the swamps. I would not however want to hike or stay out in one at night. :)  Nope... I am totally good. 

But I wish you could see the true size of these cypress trees. THEY ARE MASSIVE. My pictures cannot do them justice. 

In the end we had a lovely time. I am glad we were able to go and connect. It has been such a long time since we had hiked together. or even seen each other in person. The last time we hiked and seen each other in person was 8 months ago. So, it was a nice time. 

My last picture I will share.... THIS ONE MADE US GIGGLE!!!! IT WAS BARELY HANGING ON!! LIFE CAN BE LIKE THAT SOMETIMES! HAHA!!!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day! Thanks for coming along with me on my blog sharing. 

With Love, 

Chrissy T

The NEXT FIVE Things About Me....

 Hello dear friends. This is a continuation of Tuesday's Post (Ten Things About Me) it was getting long so I decided to break it up. Go check that post out if you haven't!!

SIX- I love the night sky! I usually go out every evening and look up at the sky soak it in. Even if it cold. I may do it for 10 seconds, but I just love it. 

I captured this image last year on my solo prayer get away I took in a little treehouse. It was a lovely time. The sky was so beautiful.

SEVEN- I love to Bible Journal and note take. I study it daily and it is the foundation of my life. 

EIGHT- I have LONG HAIR. LIKE down to the back of the middle of my thighs. I rarely wear it down because it gets in the way. I do not have a picture of it all but this is at least one of me where it is actually down in the front. This is my girly, Hannah. For a long time, she had hair that long too. Hers is mid back now. 

NINE- We have three kiddos. Ethan who will be 26 years old in April. Hannah who is 21 years old and Kyle who will be 19 years old in June. They are my heartbeat. I homeschooled them all. They all have pretty good jobs. They all have super fun personalities and love to still hang with their parents. We are pretty close as a family unit. The siblings were always very close growing up. They are still close and they meet up on occasion for dinner on their own. 

TEN- I love to Kayak!! BUT....I only like to Kayak in lakes or calm waters. I do not like rivers with fast currents or anything crazy. I like a relaxing kayak trip on a lake. AND not on a windy day!

And YES....I do go by myself a lot. :) I love it. I take a snack and just kayak and relax. It is a wonderful refreshing time for me. I do try to make sure to only kayak where it is alligator free. We have a lot in my area, but I try hard to be cautious. 

Well....this was fun!!! I feel like I haven't really properly introduced myself when I started blogging again. I have a lot of newer readers and some older ones that may not realize some of these things because I really do not share things like this in general. 

With all this being shared.... GO CAPTURE THE DAY!

With Love,

Chrissy T

Ten Things About Me ~ Okay.....FIVE!

Hello friends! I am skipping my normal Tuesday Tea Post today. I thought I would share TEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME!! Just in case you don't know...

ONE- I love all things cozy and pretty, but I also love to rough it and get dirty in the woods or outside!! Picture a classy, dressed lady and hiking boots. Yep....that would some me up! LOL! 

Me on a Friday!

Me two days later!

TWO- I have been married 27 years. We married at 18 years old. We are only 5 months apart exactly. He is the oldest. His name is Derrick. Yes, he has a name. I don't know if I have ever shared it much. We are opposite in a lot of ways but also similar. We met at a red light or a stop light. LOL! Long story! One day I may share. He is quieter. I am definitely the loud one. He is more methodical and thinks slow and makes calm slow very slow decisions. I react hard and fast. :) He is sometimes too slow and that causes hiccups and I act too fast causing hiccups. We are quite a pair. Ha! But we BOTH love to laugh!

THREE- I LOVE to walk! I have not walked as much these past few months due to weather, but I try to get out at least once or twice a week in the winter and then daily or at least 5 times a week in the warmer weather. I walk 5K races yearly. I did 5 last summer. I aim to do one or two a year. I do not do them to win. I do them for activity, motivation to continue to walk daily, and for fun. 

This one above I completed last July and it was SCORCHING HOT. I wear a neck fan to help me stay cool as I have had a mild heat stroke in the past and two bad cases of heat exhaustion both causing me to go to the doctor and one in the hospital.  

These were my two top favorite ones out of the five in 2025. I also try to beat my time every race and aim to never be last. :)  So, far I have done that. 

FOUR- I collect National Park Passport Stamps and State Park Passport Stamps (if the state does them) It is something my mom does and she got me doing it three years ago. Now, we encouraged my daughter Hannah to do it. We love visiting parks all over and collecting a stamp. I love visiting parks!!!!!!! These are pictures from 2025! I am looking forward to this year's adventures.

FIVE- My mom and I take a yearly outdoors trip. We hit up several state parks and neat sites all throughout her home state of Arkansas. Arkansas has some of the cleanest and nicest state parks with beautiful scenery. It is known as the natural state in the US and it is THAT! 

In 2025 we hit up 4 or 5 state parks in 4 days. It was wonderful and tiresome. But I would not trade it. We camped to save money. We had a beautiful time. It is a nice tradition we started three years ago. We usually do it in the spring. These pictures are from 2025.

Wellllll.... I know I said TEN THINGS, but this is getting LONG.....so.....come back later in the week for the next FIVE THINGS about me. :) 

By the way..... do you collect anything????

With Love,

Chrissy T

Weekend Recap~ REFRESHED

Hello friends. I mentioned last Thursday I was headed to a Pastor's Wife Conference from Thursday-Saturday! It was called REFRESH! It was wonderful and much needed for my heart, mind and soul. 

On Thursday, we had dinner, a spa and relax night. They had little stations set up for to enjoy. From a Hot Tea Bar, make your own essential oil roller station, foot massager stations, free 10-minute massages, coloring area to unwind and relax and be creative, a hot paraffin hand wax station, and chocolate, blankets, couches, and fuzzy socks to curl up with a friend and connect. It was wonderful. We also had teaching and encouragement as leaders and Pastor's wives. It really was REFRESHING!

It was held at lodge and resort center in a neighboring town from me. So, I did not stay the night although many did because some traveled all over the state to attend. I chose to drive back and forth each night. I will stay at the resort next time! 

It was on a little lake, and it was so beautiful!

We received these welcome baggies full of goodies!!! AND YES....CHOCOLATE! 

The view as I was driving to the lodge and entered the premises. I loved this sunset!!!!! I stopped and captured it. 

They had this cozy porch with rockers that we could relax on before dinner was served. It was such a nice spot to watch the sun completely set. 

After dinner I was heading to the spa night in the resort building and captured the moon! It was so pretty!!!

They had three different recipes of essential oil rollers you could make. You could make two out of three. I chose Recharge and Relax scents. It was fun making them and they smelled wonderful. I really liked the Recharge recipe the best. 

Cozy socks and blankets were given to us to enjoy!!!! It was so wonderful!

Color station!!!! I of course grabbed the nature color book! It had pages of mountains, creeks, streams, and lakes!!!

This was the hand paraffin wax station. You dip your hands in this wax and let it sit and peel it off and your hands are so soft and then you got a hand massage. 

Oh yeahhhh, they gave us little eye masks and face masks to enjoy! Here I am with a pastor's wife friend of mine, and we are using the feet massagers, and I had my eye mask on!! LOL!

 

An overall view of the hand station!!! This really was a treat! I want one of these wax things for my home!!!

THE NEXT DAY.... we had an encouraging teaching and then had box lunches they had for us ready afterwards. We got to go out on the grounds and enjoy lunch at picnic tables. The view was lovely and the weather was absolutely AMAZING!

I enjoyed lunch with another friend of mine!! She is a miracle. Last month, she was sitting at a red light and a car hit her going 90 miles an hour and smashed her car. She is lucky to be alive. We had a wonderful time catching up. We don't get to see each other often because she lives two hours away. I love my friend. I am so thankful she is okay and was able to walk away from such a terrifying wreck safely. She was bruised and beaten up a little. 

Sweet little treats!!! We had table breakouts. We got to sign up for topics that interest us to help us in our ministry work and each table had a facilitator to guide us in these areas. Each table had treats!!! You got to choose three tables to choose from out of 10. I chose one of Intentional Leadership as a Pastor's Wife, Growing More in Empathy, and Mental Health Hacks. 

At the end we celebrated and had a fun moment throwing streamers!! It was so fun!!! This is another pastor's wife and friend of mine! She is such a wonderful example of a woman who loves the Lord! I admire her a lot. 

The streamers were in this little thing that you peeled paper off and then tossed it and all those beautiful colors came out! It was so neat!!!

I did come home REFRESHED and ENCOURAGED!!!! I normally do not attend these conferences. I have had different reasons in the past. It has been about 6 years since I went to one. I am so glad that I chose to BRAVE it and get out of my COMORT ZONE and attend. 

Now, my social battery is a little maxed out. LOL!! I am looking forward to some Home Alone Time! :)  But I truly enjoyed it!! There really can be a balance of social connectivity and ALONE time. We need both! :) 

Have a super Monday!

With Love, 

Chrissy T