Five on Friday - February 17, 2017

We've made it to Friday!  Are you as excited as I am that it's the weekend?!?  Eric and I had a case of the stomach flu this week and am happy to report it only lasted a little over 24 hours.  Hope that nasty stuff doesn't hit your home!  Glad to report it passed through rather quickly!

Here's my five for this week ~

1.  This House Is Not For Sale Tour
This is a big weekend!!  A friend and I are going to Nashville on Saturday to see our buddy Jon in his This House Is Not For Sale Tour and then racing back to St. Louis to see him here on Sunday.  A double dose of Bon Jovi - does it get any better than that!?!  I think not!  We are super excited and it should be a great weekend.  If you want to pick up his latest CD, click HERE.  And hey Jon, if you want to give us a lift back to St. Louis we'll ride your bus and leave the car in Nashville!

2.  InSinkErator Hot Water Dispenser
Eric and I are seriously considering adding this appliance to our kitchen.  I've fallen in love with hot tea and taking a cup with me in the car on my way to work.  What I don't love is waiting for the water to get hot on my way out the door. (I might have a patience problem.)  We have this hot water dispenser at work and it is soooooo handy!  You literally just push the button and have instant hot water!  No more waiting around for the kettle to boil.  Think you might want one too?  Check it out HERE.

3.  St. Patrick's Day Pillow
St. Patrick's Day is coming and I'm going to add this adorable pillow to my decorations.  It's on sale right now at Kohl's for only $8.99!  It should last for years so it's definitely worth the price!  Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, I'm going to make every effort to get my decorations out VERY SOON.  I totally neglected Valentine's Day and hate that I missed putting my decorations out inside the house.  I'm determined not to let that happen for St. Patrick's Day!

4.  Where We Fall
I finished reading this book a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.  It has some very interesting twists!  Here's the recap from Amazon: "By all accounts, Abby Holden has it all. She’s the mother of a beautiful teenager and the wife of a beloved high school football coach. And all it took to achieve her charmed life was her greatest act of betrayal.

Coach Ryan can coax his team to victory, but he can’t seem to make his wife, Abby, happy. Her struggles with depression have marred their marriage and taken a toll on their daughter, Juliana. Although this isn’t the life he’s dreamed of, he’s determined to heal the rifts in his family.

Chasing waterfalls and documenting their beauty has led photographer Lauren Sheppard all around the world. Now it has brought her back home to the mountains of North Carolina—back to the scene of her devastating heartbreak.

For the first time in seventeen years, a trio of once-inseparable friends find themselves confronting past loves, hurts, and the rapid rush of a current that still pulls them together…"

It's free if you have Kindle Unlimited!

5.  Being a Mom....



Have a wonderful weekend!  We are supposed to have great weather in St. Louis.  Yesterday it actually got up near 70 degrees, which is so nice for the middle of February!  See you back next week.  I'll be back to fill you in on our adventures in Nashville!

Linking up with:

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday

Why Girls Are Weird

This post contained affiliate links.  I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase.  Thanks!

Friday Favorites - February 17, 2017

We've made it to Friday!  YAY!!  Glad you stopped by to check out Friday Favorites.  I'm featuring Mini Sloppy Joe Bites today from The Country Chic Cottage.  They sound fantastic and I can't wait to make them for my next party.  Enjoy!

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and Savvy - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively Homemade - Twitter | G+ | Pin

Maisy at Becoming Alice - FB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage Presents - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things - Pin

Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week's favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week's favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week's linky party!

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - February 16, 2017

Hey there!  Glad you popped in to Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  I have something fun to share with you today - my niece's first birthday party!  It was last weekend and I'm still thinking about it.  I had every intention of doing a weekend post and sharing it with you then, but life happened and here it is Thursday and I'm just getting around to putting my thoughts in writing.

So little Nevaeh turned one and had the cutest princess party ever!  Our family is full of boys, so when this little girl came along it was a whole new world for us!

I have really gotten into using my Silhouette Cameo for enhancements on wrapped gifts.  I fancied up Nevaeh's gift like this ~

My contribution to the decorations was the banner.  The colors her mom choose were so fun to work with and looked great together.  With only having a son, I hadn't had the opportunity to work with pink, gold and lace before!  :)

Here's some other highlights from the party ~

Look at those crown sandwiches!

She was adorable with her smash cake!  Oh, let's face it - she was just flat out adorable all day!

We all got goody bags to take home with chocolate covered popcorn and rice krispie treats in an adorable bag.  Ours didn't make it quite all the way home.  We scarfed it down in the car on the way.  Man, I love birthday parties!  

It was a great day spent with family!  Kids grow up so darn fast and I feel so blessed to live as close as we do to my niece and nephews to see them on these special occasions.  

So what are you thinking out loud about today?  Would love to hear from you.  Link up and share your thoughts.

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

This is How We Roll

Eat Teach Blog

Five on Friday - February 10, 2017

Happy Friday!  Who else is shocked that we are already ten days into February?!?  This week flew by and we have a weekend full of fun ahead of us.  I missed sharing my five with you last week because I was sick in bed with a cold and eye infection.  YUCK!!  So glad that's behind me and I'm on the mend.  And I'm excited to share my five with you this week~

1.  Trifecta in the Sky
It's a skywatcher's paradise tonight with three major events to look out for.  Now I'm not an astronomer so forgive me if my description is a bit basic, but here goes.  First we have the full moon, which is call a snow moon because it's in February.  Next up is the penumbral lunar eclipse.  This is scheduled to occur at 6:43 pm central time (thank goodness because I won't have to haul my butt out of bed to see it).  The penumbral lunar eclipse is more subtle than a total lunar eclipse, but we should still be able to see the moon appear slightly darker than usual.  Then last but not least we have Comet 45P.  Look to the east around 3 a.m. Saturday morning and watch for a bright blue-green "head" with a tail.  Bottom line - look up tonight.  You can see some amazing things!

2.  New Words

Did you hear that the Merriam-Webster dictionary added over 1000 words to its' dictionary?  Boy, that adds a lot of words we can now make in Scramble!  Some of the new words are ~

Throw Shade - publicly criticize or express contempt for someone."if she was really so above it all, she wouldn't have to throw shade"

Binge Watching - the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming.  (Already knew the meaning of this word!)

Supercentenarian - a person who is 100 years old or older.

Seussian - of, relating to, or suggestive of the works of Dr. Seuss.

3. National Umbrella Day

Guess what day it is?  It's National Umbrella Day!  If you know me well, you know that sharing an umbrella is something I hate to do.  You see, I'm short and many times if I share my umbrella the person I'm sharing with will hold it so high, I might as well not even be using the device!  Anybody share this issue with me?  Hope no one actually has to use one today, but Happy Umbrella Day!

4.  Daily Wisdom for Women

Every morning before I roll out of bed I read my daily devotional from Daily Wisdom for Women.  It amazes me how many times the message is just what I need to hear.  The daily reading is short, sweet and only takes a couple of minutes to complete.  It's such an inspirational way to start the day!  If you're looking for a positive way to begin your day, you can get your copy HERE.

                       

5.  Winter Driving....

Have a great weekend!  We're joining some friends for a night around the fire pit and headed to our niece's first birthday party.  Should be a fun few days!  See you back next week!

Linking up with:

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday

5 on Friday 
Why Girls Are Weird

This post contained affiliate links.  I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase.  Thanks!

Friday Favorites - February 10, 2017

Who's ready for Valentine's Day?  (My hand is not raised!) Check out some of the features today and you'll be all set in no time!  Enjoy!

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and Savvy - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively Homemade - Twitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLime - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming Alice - FB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage Presents - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things - Pin

Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week's favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week's favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week's linky party!

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - February 9, 2017

Hey, hey!  Welcome to another week of Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  I haven't touched this space since last Thursday and I've been missing it.  Last week I came down with a nasty cold and then I got a double eye infection.  Boy, put the two of those together and they kicked my butt!  Glad to say I'm on the mend and was actually able to wear my contacts today for the first time in almost a week.

Let me tell you about a couple things I've been up to ~

I've seen one more movie on the Best Picture list.  I went with a couple friends from book club to see Moonlight.  Guys, I have to say I didn't like it.  At all.  First, right at the beginning the camera did this spinning around the characters thing and it made me ill.  The first half of the movie I was sitting there hoping not to have to run to the restroom and vomit because of the vertigo I was experiencing.  Very sad, sad movie.  Not my vote for best picture.  Have you seen it?

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Last weekend we celebrated my great nephew's first birthday.  His mom, Kristian, did a great job planning and executing his fishing party.  Just look at some of the pictures ~

I made this banner for the party.  I loved the way it turned out.  I'm thinking about listing one like this on Etsy.  

Isn't he the cutest thing!?!  This weekend we're headed back down to my home town to celebrate my niece's first birthday!  We are loving all these birthday parties!

So what are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up below and let us know!

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

This is How We Roll

Bows and Clothes
Eat Teach Blog

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - February 2, 2017

In case you haven't looked at the calendar today, let me reminder you what day it is (besides it being Thinking Out Loud Thursday) - it's Groundhog Day!  You know, that day when they wake up  a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil out in Pennsylvania at 5 am Eastern time to learn if he is going to see his shadow.

Now, I'm 53 years old, which means I've been around on a few several Groundhog Days and I still can't remember when we'll have six more weeks of winter!  So, for those of you like me, let me set the record straight.

If the little fellow sees his shadow, folklore goes he will scurry back into his burrow and it's a sign of six more weeks of winter.  But if it's cloudy, that's a sign of spring encouraging the groundhog to stay above ground.  It just doesn't make sense to me that a sunny day means six more weeks of winter.  Maybe that's why I have such a hard time remembering which is which!!



By the time most of you read this post, we will already know our fate for the next six weeks.  As I type this we are hours away from the big reveal.  Here's hoping (and praying) that Punxsutawney Phil awakes to a cloudy day and does NOT see the shadow - I'm more that ready for spring!!

Now it's your turn -- what are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and let us know!

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

This is How We Roll

Bows and Clothes
Eat Teach Blog