This past week was a full week, but it was packed full of wonderful times with dear people, special memories, and many blessings!
We have a tradition at our house where the birthday child gets to go on an outing of their choice with both Dad and Mom separately. Kaitlynn went out with Jesse to Cracker Barrel last Saturday her birthday date with dad.
For her birthday date with mom, she chose to go to the mall — which I was not in the least surprised about since she is becoming quite the little fashionista. She asked specifically to go to Forever 21, Aeropostle, Bath & Body Works, and Pottery Barn.
Not sure where she got the fashionista/decorating gene from, but it clearly wasn’t me. She did, however, get some of my frugal gene because she chose fragrance that was 75% off at Bath & Body Works and a shirt that was 20% off at Forever 21. Total spent = $18 out of pocket. Memories made together = priceless.
Also, I totally cracked up at her comment when we were walking around Pottery Barn. She said, “It’s too expensive to actually buy anything here, but I love to look around the store for ideas.” That’s my girl. 
Silas is quite the little sports fanatic, so he’s been closely following the World Cup scores and games. Only, we don’t have cable, so the guys have had to get creative in finding ways to watch the games. The above was how I found them on Sunday — all cozied up watching together on the iPad — whooping and hollering their hearts out.
For Thursday’s game, they figured out a way to hook up the iPad to the TV so they could watch it on a larger screen. When there’s a will, there’s usually a way. 
Kaitlynn has been attempting to learn how to do a beachy waves look on my hair using a new curling wand I got from a sale & credit on Zulily.
This is another look Kaitlynn did on my hair this week. She’s also been practicing on my make up, learning how to do smoky eyes looks and more.
At the rate this girl is learning (thanks to YouTube and Bethany Mota), I will soon have my own live-in cosmetologist, hair stylist, and personal shopper!
This is my new dear friend and neighbor, Tam. I wish you all could meet her. She and her family have been direct gifts from God to our family as we settle in TN.
They’ve loved on us, brought us food, watched our kids, made us cookies, listened to us, made us salsa, laughed with us, prayed for us, introduced us to many of their friends, and been the hands and feet of Jesus in this big transition.
We had fun going to get manicures on Monday with a gift card I had! It’s amazing how close you can feel to someone you just met last month!
On Tuesday, I did a little No-Oven Freezer Cooking and made Energy Bites and Healthy Protein Peppermint Fudge while Jesse made pancakes. I love getting to work in the kitchen with my best friend!
And I was SO happy because the fudge was a HUGE success. More details on my freezer cooking session and the recipes I used coming tomorrow or Wednesday.
Kaitlynn is always creating beauty and art wherever she goes. On Wednesday, we made snowflakes (her idea — who says you can’t make snowflakes in June??) and then she used them as a stencil for painting watercolor pictures. It was a fun indoor project on a hot summer day.
Thursday, I flew to Dallas to speak at a conference there on Friday and Saturday. If you go on business trips regularly, you’ll want to check out my post I wrote on 4 ways I save hundreds of dollars each year on business trips.
The conference on Friday was such a blessing. I started the day rather out-of-sorts and ask some close friends to pray for me as I just felt so inadequate to be there speaking. Well, God answered their prayers and gave me so much energy for the conference, but also brought a number of unexpected blessings my way, too.
A dear mom of four adorable kids and longtime blog reader made me an organic salad and homemade salad dressing (her delicious recipe is here) and brought it to me at the conference… Because she knows I love salad so much and try to eat a salad everyday. She even wrote down all the ingredients so I’d know exactly what was in the salad and dressing! I was blown away by her thoughtfulness and kindness!!
It was so fun to get to spend time with my dear friend, Rachel, at the conference as she and her family live near Dallas. We have so many wonderful memories of time spent together in our teens… Just wish we didn’t live miles & miles apart now!
After a busy, tiring, but oh-so-blessed two days speaking in Dallas, I was thankful for a few minutes at the airport to put my feet up and read this book I’ve been loving on finding margin and breathing room in your life.
Also, notice my shoes? We had to run out and buy those at Kohl’s on Friday night because the Aerosole sandals — one of my beloved pairs of speaking shoes that I was planning to wear on Saturday — broke beyond repair on Friday. I was just grateful we were able to find a replacement Aerosole shoes that I love and that I had a Kohl’s gift card with me that covered the unexpected purchase!
You just never quite know what will happen when you’re on the road. I’m just grateful it wasn’t a run-in with the escalator this time!
We had a quiet Sunday & Monday — which was a blessing after a busy week. Lots of hanging out together as a family, cooking together, cleaning together, playing games together, watching movies together, and just being together. It was bliss!
Kathrynne had me teach her how to make Homemade Energy Bites tonight so that she could make them every week instead of me (we’ve been going through a batch per week recently!) I was so impressed with how well her batch turned out, but most of all, I loved her willing initiative and desire to save me time and effort!
I’m working myself out of job — and it’s a bittersweet thing.
And I’ll close out this long post with my favorite picture from this week:
How was YOUR week last week? I’d love to hear!
We’re heading back to Kansas for most of the week this week, so I’m keeping my goals really simple.
Last Week's Goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Finish reading Brother Andrew: Behind Enemy Lines aloud to the kids. Finish reading The Saturdays to the kids.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Work for 45 minutes on embroidering quilt square for my sister's baby quilt.
4. Play a game with the kids.
5. Have a family movie night.
Personal Goals
6. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-32.
7. Exercise 4 times.
8. Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every week night. {Still working on this one!}
9. Finish reading Breathe, I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't), Rhinestone Jesus, and The Measure of Success.
Business Goals
10. Prep for my speaking engagement in Dallas on Friday & Saturday.
This Week’s Goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Start a new read-aloud with the kids.
2. Have a movie night with Jesse.
Personal Goals
3. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-32.
4. Exercise 4 times.
5. Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every week night.
6. Finish reading Breathe, I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't), The Measure of Success, The Nesting Place, Carry On, Warrior, After the Boxes Are Unpacked, and The Traitor's Wife. {Probably way too ambitious, but I’m trying to finish up my June Reading List.}
How did you do on last week's goals? What are your goals for this week? I'd love to have you share your progress on last week's goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you've blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let's cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
