Full Fall Fun Friday

I hope you all had an awesome fall FriYaY! I wonder how many times I can work “Fall” into a blog title. It was a busy one over here getting an early start on my weekend “to do” list, I took a shorter walk than planned, enjoyed Happy Hour with a few friends, Mike and I had Chinese take-out (his all time favorite) for dinner and we ended our evening watching Stillwater with Matt Damon. Really good movie! Intense, but good. On my “to do” list. Placement of this mirror. My piano belonged to my paternal grandmother and I have sweet memories of sitting on that bench beside her listening to her play. The mirror was my maternal great grandmothers and I absolutely love that I have it. I’m going to hang it over the piano and forever refer to this wall as the “Grandma Wall”. The piano man (not […]

Happy Fall Friday!

I can’t get past the theme of fall for these last several post. Chilly weekends and Chili Weekends. Am I right?? If you were a squirrel, you would get to enjoy this gorgeous view of these beautiful few weeks of fall. If you can, find a pile of leaves, get down on the ground and you too can enjoy a squirrels view. Or, just enjoy the fact that I did that for you and took this photo. Yesterday was a big errand day and would you believe I’ve already done quite a bit of Christmas shopping? The bigger the family gets, the earlier I need to start shopping! These kids of ours keep having more kids and soon I’ll be Christmas shopping in July! I don’t mind. Bring on the babies! Kickoff So far so good with the trainer and the new workout app. My workout yesterday was a 50 […]

Therapy? Yes Please.

My gift to myself yesterday? Therapy. I know it’s not for everyone. I also know it is much more common than it was years ago. In the past, therapy or counseling could often be viewed as a weakness. When in reality, therapy can help you learn about what you are feeling, why you might be feeling it, and how to cope. It’s really about taking control of your own well being, and what better gift to give yourself than that! I met Hope (my therapist real name!), several years ago. More than anything, she helps me to feel validated for feeling what I’m feeling, then give me the tools I need to work through it. It’s no secret that I’ve been struggling with how my body feels and fearing it will always feel like this and also I’m having a hard time going from 9 weekly WW Workshops to now […]

Self Care. It’s Not Selfish.

I’ve been getting a monthly massage for several months now. At first I felt a little guilty about it. Why? Why do we often refer to things we enjoy as a “guilty pleasure”? Why do we feel guilty about doing something good for our bodies? A massage, a pedicure, a facial or maybe a long bath with the door locked (stay out family!) is a great way to take some time for yourself. Often I’ve found myself feeling guilty or selfish about doing some of those things. I’m working on letting go of unnecessary guilt. My gift to myself yesterday? A nice long massage. Saw this beauty on my drive home. Activity Day 2 with the trainer was a 3 mile walk with a series of stretches for warm up and a cool down. The 4 mile walk the previous day had my knees aching so I only did a […]

All the Fall Feels

Dear fall, Please last forever. I love you, Me These are the same happy leaves from yesterday. I’m going to keep playing with them until they no longer look happy. Yesterday was basically an awesome fall day. Pumpkin spice coffee at home, a video meeting with a personal trainer (more on that in a sec), a little early grocery shopping, a four mile chilly walk with a friend followed with a 30 minute workout at home. I cooked up some soups in the afternoon. Mike surprised me and said we could move the furniture back into the living room and we ended our day with a bowl of chili watching the Chiefs game! It was ugly, but we got a win! So many fall things all in one day! I hope you had an awesome fall day as well! Activity I love this thing now and all the info it […]

It’s My Birthday Month!

My little leaf collection from my morning walk. Mike is another year older and now it’s my birthday month. I’ve decided to celebrate by mindfully doing a little something for “me” each day this month. After many many months of feeling frustrated with my body, I’m going to celebrate it and appreciate it. I started off today with a 4 mile walk with a friend, and that’s my gift to myself today. Appreciating this body and what it can do. I did get the trim painted yesterday and hopefully Mike can get it installed soon! I will be putting furniture on the new floors tomorrow and I am ecstatic!! Yesterday…… Breakfast My Oatmeal Thingy. I know….it needs a name and I need to make a recipe card for it here on the blog. If you’ve followed for long, you know recipes on the blog are not really my thing, so […]

Coffee & Weekend Chores

Good morning! It’s Sunday and its my favorite “coffee in bed” morning. I’m kidding. Every morning is my favorite “coffee in bed” morning. When I’m behaving myself, Mike brings me coffee in bed, and THAT is the best “coffee in bed” morning. I try to behave as often as possible. Today is Mikes birthday and he’s out the door for a cool morning of golf. I didn’t get to painting the trim for the living room floors yesterday, so I’ll be in the garage working on that, doing a few chores and hope to do a little meal planning for the week. It’ll be a good “get stuff done” day. It’s Halloween! Trick or Treat for you? What will you do tonight? Trick or Treat with a few little ones? Hand out candy? Dress up and hand out candy? Turn off all the lights and hide in your house? We’ve […]

Grateful for this Space

Good morning! After two rainy mornings spent in Effie (so grateful to have her!!) it looks like it is going to be a beautiful sunny Saturday here in KC. I’m looking forward to spending some time outside today. I have a few things to do with Effie this afternoon, so I’ll be visiting her again and chatting with my pops for a bit. I’ve been assigned to buy and paint the trim that goes along the base of the floor in the living room, so I’ll spend a better part of my day in the garage or driveway soaking up some fresh air while I paint. What are your plans for this fall Saturday? Pumpkin patch? Sipping cider? An outdoor fire? A long walk? Watching some football? Curling up with a good book? However you spend your day, I hope you have a great one! Yesterday’s eats……. Breakfast Typically I […]

A Season of Change

These last few weeks have been filled with outdoor walks, beautiful fall mornings sipping coffee and our first fall fire outside on the deck. Oh!! And the beginnings of a first floor makeover! It’s a season of change here and I’m embracing it. It’s rainy on this chilly fall Friday and I’m out the door soon to visit Effie. Yesterday was rainy and chilly as well and it seemed like a good morning for coffee and writing in Effie. I decided to give Yoga a try in my tiny little space. Coziest Yoga space ever. Change in Our Living Room! We’ve talked about removing our living room carpet and putting in hardwood floors for a really really long time, and that day has come. Our worn leather couch had developed holes in two of the three cushions during 2020, and with no guest in the house, it was easy to […]

Fall Vibes and Road Trips

Happy October! Cooler temps, soups and stews, football, leaves popping with color, cozy evenings by the fire. These are a few of my favorite things and I’m ready for all of them. And Pumpkin, but you knew that. These last few weeks I’ve put some miles on my truck and had all sorts of fun with a few road trips. A few days after my trip to Branson in Effie, I spent a couple of nights away with some long time girlfriends catching up and relaxing. We did our own little wine tasting with a tray of goodies one night for dinner. I’m getting better at this charcuterie thing. Now I need to work on making one a tad bit healthier, but this was fun to put together and share with friends. Camping After a couple of nights with the girls I drove home, unloaded dirty clothes and empty food […]