Category : Thrive

So much has been going on around here. I have been making a list of all the things I want to share with y’all.

1. First, people in Tennessee are so nice, I mean they go above and beyond nice. Our neighbors invited us to a potluck right off the bat, another neighbor brought us homemade cookies, and another neighbor and I have weekly coffee dates. It feels so nice to already be making connections since we are so far away from our Oklahoma people.
2. The fences in Tennessee are so gorgeous. Full of history, made with beautiful materials, and so picturesque. Stone, picket, civil war style to name a few.
3. Do you have a budding little typist? My friend, Heather, shared an awesome website that teaches the keys to the computer keyboard.  It’s free, too.
4. I’ve been listening to the audiobook Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I recommend it. I also was able to watch her movie in the theater, Made for More. In her book, she talks about how important it is to not break promises to yourself. So many times we keep our promises to others but don’t follow through on the things we’ve promised ourselves. (more…)

In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.

We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.

Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.

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Friday is my chance to share bits, pieces, and insights with you that have encouraged, inspired, or simply just made me smile. I hope you find these things interesting and helpful. 

For a new snack try Trader Joe’s Chili and Lime Seasoning Blend sprinkled on sliced granny smith apples. The label says you can sprinkle it on mango, pineapple, and jicama. When we lived in L.A. we would always see the fruit vendors selling their mouth-watering fruit and this treat takes me back there.

Since I was thinking about fresh fruit carts, I remembered a good weekend movie recommendation. East Side Sushi is about a girl from L.A. whose dad owned a fruit stand. Very inspiring!

One of my goals this year is to always have some type of flower, plant, or weed on display in our bathroom. Currently, I have flowerless lavender stems from our backyard. That tiny little vase full of nature makes me smile every time.

Key to our marriage (only took us 10 years to figure this out): Franci needs a weekly date and Brent feels loved when his clothes are ironed. How simple is that? Too bad I hate ironing and Brent doesn’t like making reservations. Marriage takes hard work doing things you don’t like to do, but it also brings so much happiness.

I enjoyed this podcast recently. If you like inspiring stories that involve both fashion and husband and wife partnerships, then you should check it out.

As we go into the weekend, I’ll leave you with this quote which I have also seen labeled as a Mexican proverb.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” ― Dinos Christianopoulos