Monday, July 14, 2025

Listening Library


1.  The Silent Patient  by Alex Michaelides -- Well written, but not really the type of book I enjoy!  It's a thriller or crime fiction book - I tried it because Alicia and Katie highly recommended it and really loved the plot twist, so I wanted to know more.  It was interesting, but I get enough crime stories in court. lol

2.  LeaderShift: 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace by John C. Maxwell - The first of his books that I've read.  Good, but a little formulaic.  I'm on a leadership kick, so it was helpful to think about the ways my thinking needs to shift to be an inspiring leader (soloist to conductor, team uniformity to team diversity, pleasing people to challenging people, etc.)!  It also added some good content for my Leadership Philosophy paper, so yay for that!

3.  Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop - (Recommended by Alicia when she heard I was interested in grief counseling).  This explains lament from a Biblical perspective - the author is a dad grieving the loss of his child, and he writes about how the book of Lamentations offers a blueprint for venting frustrations and expressing hard emotions while keeping our hearts turned toward God.  Heavy, but good and aligned with my heart for helping people move forward with grief.  

4.  The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change by Damon West and Jon Gordon - Very short and not worth the money for the audiobook, honestly - it would've been 100x better if Damon had told more of his own story rather than stopping with the short metaphor.  He was on the Jefferson Fisher podcast (video HERE)... Damon had served time in prison, and he shared the advice another man gave him just before going in: Think of prison as a pot of boiling water... and you can be like a carrot that is weakened and softened by that environment.  You can be like an egg that becomes hard inside... Or you can be like the coffee bean that gradually changes the water surrounding it.  Y'all know I love metaphors, and this one works in all of life - wherever we may find ourselves, it's important to remember we have the power to color and change our environment rather than allowing it to weaken or harden us. ❤

5.  The 5 Second Rule by my friend, Mel Robbins - Mel is the queen of audiobooks!  She reads them in such a natural, conversational way that it's much more like listening to her podcast (which I also enjoy).  She's also the queen of expounding on a simple concept and giving you loads of practical examples and stories to help it stick.  The concept here is giving yourself a 5-4-3-2-1, GO!! countdown for any task you do not want to do - pushing forward and interrupting the part of your brain that overthinks things and talks you out of it.  Sounds simple, but it's effective, and it's revolutionizing my morning routine at the moment (no more snooze button). =)

6.  Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision by Andy Stanley - So good - my favorite of the three books on this list recommended by Alicia! =)  Andy writes eloquently about vision-casting, leadership, and the inimitable value of moral authority!!  He goes through the story of Nehemiah as he led the rebuilding of the temple - "I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down."  My favorite part was definitely the section on moral authority, also known as the anointing of God on those who have a clear conscience before Him.  Andy said, "On the path to any big dream, you will be tempted to compromise.  We have to be willing to let go of our vision or dream before we would compromise our moral authority."  Embracing that concept has already cost me several hours of extra work, and paid off in higher self-respect, a deeper connection with God, and greater confidence in my creative writing and academic research abilities!!

Okay then, Happy Monday!  I love you and believe in you,
and I'm confident God will finish the good things He has begun in us and for us and through us!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Sunday, July 13, 2025

An Adventure of Endless Adjustments

Happy Sunday, friends and family!  Here's me, Katie, Ashley, and Jennifer - my women's lifegroup!  We met for 3 hours and had an impromptu group therapy session of sorts on Saturday - I'm grateful for each of them and happy to have these new connections here!! ❤


Nurse Kristie (our CHA friend who helped care for Mom a couple years back) celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary last week! =)

And Sarah Elizabeth celebrated her 37th Birthday yesterday!

Love this - "an adventure of endless adjustments" feels perfectly phrased. lol. God knows the details, so we don't have to!

Judge Brockman and Judge Tupper (at a Cleveland County lunch event I didn't know about, but probably would've skipped). lol

The Miss K made us a Google Slideshow of her Birthday Wishlist!
She is all about her birthday this year, and I'm here for it! lol

Seeing this the day they added it made me happy!

Why I'm always likely to have a blog or journal...

Ashley Campbell opening the box of her first published book + Ruth celebrating her 70th birthday in Scotland! ❤

Jennifer brought these InnerActive therapy cards - we each chose 3 to represent a part of our story, then shared those stories with the group - which led to super interesting and deep conversations! ❤

You are capable.  You are worth it.  You are still in the game.
Keep going!! ❤

Today started with At the Movies at MWC Life.Church followed by Pelican's lunch (a classic throwback), then my first supervision session with April, then tonight was a fun movie night seeing Superman with Rach, Jaceman, and Kyndal Faith!  The 4D motion was intense - we needed seatbelts! lol

Yes, there's chocolate in my teeth, but still a cute pic! lol

Clearly, I save a lot of Jeff Moore's posts - the encouragement to keep going and press through hard things is needed in this season!

God has full power to speak things into existence, and His plan prevails - praying for deeper faith and peace as I lean into what that means for my own life!!

That's all for today.  Thanks for being here, and goodnight!  I love you and believe in you, and I hope you've had a great weekend!!
❤ ❤ ❤

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Thankful Thursday #228!

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters:
You must all be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

❤ James 1:19

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  This crew all being available on short notice for a fun early birthday dinner for Sarah Elizabeth last night!! ❤

2.  Charleston's potato soup and thickly-grated cheese and honey-butter croissants + The Big Dipper's Ultimate Cookies n' Cream ice cream... yum!  Also, catching up on life whilst the kids watched Baby Groot for a while!! =)


Kate and Parker being cute besties on our pre-dessert Brookside walk!

All the kids had fun playing with Uncle Steve!

3.  A brief pre-dinner walk at my fav Addison Creek trail + CAVA lunch and catching up with Kristin Renee for a couple hours!!  (All in all, it was a great random Wednesday off work, and today, I'm just covering the office phones and catching up on homework... and blogging! lol)

4.  Dr. Burkhart grading via video with more personalized feedback and explanations - loving that!


5.  Making this childhood fav Fruity Pebble Rice Krispie treats - quick, easy, and tasty... and gluten free, apparently! =)

6.  Rach taking a minute to email me at the new address - made me happy! =)

7.  My new "leadership routine" - I'm trying to establish a really consistent and sustainable morning habit list to get my days off to a strong start + setting my daily priorities early on, throwing in more veggies and protein, and getting to bed earlier with a brief wind-down routine that doesn't involve hours of TV!  I'm calling it a leadership routine bc that makes mundane things feel more meaningful to me, and because Dr. Burkhart is heavily emphasizing building up daily disciplines and understanding: "You are the most difficult and most important person you will ever lead and manage - start there!"

So I'll end with a meme that feels related to that. lol

Also grateful for an awesome long weekend (see the past 3 posts), and looking forward to a fun family dinner tonight!  Hope you're feeling better, Kristin Michelle!  And Happy Thursday, friends and fam ~ I love you and believe in you, and I believe in your ability to set healthy boundaries and routines and create a life you love!!
❤ ❤ ❤

Monday, July 7, 2025

A Fond Farewell Fiesta!

Last night was a Farewell Fiesta party for the Shoemaker family, who are moving back to Texas next weekend!  Here's our bright and summery group picture, which delights my soul!! ❤  (JEM was also there but had to leave a little early with Henry and Holly.)

Chet Lee grilling the fajita veggies on the Blackstone (after the tortillas and before the chicken)!

The food was awesome!

Parker Elizabeth and Zealand being cute friends (and classmates)!

Tate Haywood ready to swim!!  I was happy he conquered his fear of the poolside slide on Saturday!  Also, their flippers make me happy!

Heidi Claire enjoying the photo wall of memories!  I printed around 75 photos of the Shoemakers and our friend group over the past six years!

Wilsons and Shoemakers!  Two of my fav families!! ❤

Pinata time!!  (Harvey, Parker, and Sophia)

So much candy!!

Mark and Rachel are both counselors, so we've had lots of great conversations about that!  I'm super grateful for their friendship, support, advice, and encouragement!!

Parker Elizabeth wanted a picture with the moon. lolol  LOVE IT.

Exactly six years ago today (7-7-19), Chet invited a few friends to help his clients paint their new home.  That was my first time meeting Mark and Rachel.  They came to Friendsgiving that November, and to nearly every fun friend group event over the past six years!  I so appreciate people who show up and participate and engage in conversation, and they've been top-tier, dependable friends in that way through the past six years!!

With this move, they will be closer to their families and better able to support Rachel's mom through her cancer treatments.  So I'm sincerely happy for them, while being genuinely sad to see them go!

Much like myself, I think Tulsa will always have a place in their hearts.  Unlike myself, I don't see them moving back down the road.

Our random patriotic final pic with Chet's flags - I couldn't love it more!!

That's all for today - proud of myself for getting these written before work!

Happy 7-7, friends!!  I love you and believe in you, and I pray God gives you the daily grace and strength you need to have an awesome week ahead!
❤ ❤ ❤

Food & Fireworks with Friends!

The Wilsons had a low-key gathering with friends and family for their neighborhood fireworks show on Saturday night!  I insisted on a couple pre-swim pics knowing my hair would not be the same afterward!  Also because Chettles and Kristin Renee are two of my favorite people... but mostly the hair thing! lol ;-)


Me and Karli Marie!  (My shirt is a Melanie quote from the Big Boo Podcast)

Me and Teresa, who brought strawberry fluff and chips! lol

Speaking of, the food was great - Tate was craving apple pie, so I stopped by my fav Jenks Reasors and grabbed it for him.  Chet grilled burgers and hot dogs, and we had lots of fun desserts!  I snuck in a prayer pic because every once in a wihle, I'm just gripped with intense thankfulness to have a friend group like this.  Seeing Parker and Hope and Kristin holding hands while Chet prayed was one of those times. ❤

Swimming and playing with Parker Elizabeth was a rare treat! ❤  She went back and forth between me and Kristin and Karli about 500,000 times.  Vivian (the Halo hairpiece) did not fare well, but it was very worth it! lol

Chet and Chet (a pic from their morning neighborhood parade, a sign one of his Thunder fan neighbors was carrying) - and the new fort built by Bill and Chet... it was a hit with all the kids!!

The Country Crossing fireworks show was fantastic and memorable - Jessica sat on the back row with me, Miles loved it all, Tate was less sure about it, Kristin brought bug spray to share - yes please, Melissa had a spider on her chair, I was concerned about the bat flying above us, Chet and Teresa had some fireworks debris land on them, and Evan stayed back with Sophia and Parker!

Quote of the Day = Evan:  "I mean, best case scenario, it all goes well and it's just like every other fireworks show you've ever seen!  Worst case scenario, something goes wrong and somebody gets hurt!" lol  Mark and I were kinda with him on that.

Anyway, grateful for fun times with a friend group I adore!

❤ ❤ ❤

A Fun-Filled Family Fourth!

Mom and Dad hosted a family get-together on Friday, July 4th... here's our group photo of the whole crowd!! ❤


Our annual girls' pic(s)!

We had approximately 1,000 dessert options (including my Pioneer Woman Strawberries and Cream Sheet Cake), and we had Mom's broccoli rice casserole + corn + mac and cheese + Al's brisket + French bread Charlene brought + ribs and chicken... lots of great food, and LOTS of leftovers, but we split them up and everyone got to take some home!

Cousin pic with Kristin, whose 39th birthday was Thursday!!

(We did a Cheesecake Factory brunch yesterday to celebrate - YAY!)

The fam!! ❤  (Kyndal did a screen mirror of a fireworks video, and it made a fun background for all these photos!)

Dad and his sisters!

Nash and Amelia!

Mamaw and Kyndal Faith!

The Whitaker Fam (just missing Anthony)! ❤

Cute cousins!!  Diesel, Wesson, Nash, Clara, and Amelia!  (Patriotic photo props by Nancy)

Gene and Nancy! lol
(Gene and Alan were both very complimentary and kind about my weight loss - they hadn't seen me in a while, so the change seemed more dramatic to them!)

The Tinker fireworks show didn't start until 9:45, so everyone but the Myricks and Charlene had gone home.  It never disappoints, though, and I love watching it all from Mom and Dad's backyard...
...with my feet in their pool! =)

All in all, there were cute kids, good conversation, good food, and awesome fireworks for a fun-filled family holiday!!
❤ ❤ ❤