Everything Else!

"Aggressively control your inputs."

This is my current focus, thanks to the Wild at Heart podcast.  This phrase definitely caught my attention as they talked about the foundational importance of being attentive and intentional about what we allow ourselves to take in (the daily content we consume on social media, podcasts, TV, news, etc.).  Physically and spiritually, we reap what we sow, and our physical, mental, and spiritual health (for the great most part) reflects our choices.  I want to be more intentional about choosing to take in and dwell on things that will bring me closer to God's joy, love, peace, and hope!!

Just a meme that made me laugh. =)

My cousin, Michael, with his fam - a hilarious AI portrait to mirror the "floating head" portrait trend of our parents' generation! lol

I need all the advice, please!

Parker E being a spinning star at her Spring ballet and tap recital... ❤❤ I missed this one in person, but Chettles was kind enough to send videos!! =)

A collage to celebrate Mom (also known as Mamaw) on Mother's Day!!

Parker E was upset but "trying to make herself smile" for this pic with Karli outside FBC... the closeup is so entertaining to me!  Preshface. lol  She's the best at bringing the drama of all the big emotions at once!!

Balcony seats at the MWC Warren for a nearly sold-out viewing of Michael on Mother's Day (round 4 for me, round one for everyone else - they all loved it - YAY!) -- followed by cookiecake and hanging out at Mom and Dad's!

Meet Libby, my new copper RX, an unexpectedly early gift from my Dad, and I love it!!!

Her full name is Liberty Belle bc that name combo made me laugh, and I chose Liberty for the Statue of Liberty, which was once this beautiful, vibrant copper color (and I'd so love to see it that way!!).  

Anyway, thanks for stopping by the blog!  This is a busy season, but I always feel better when I take some time to write things down, so I'm going to try to do it more often!

Make it a great day ahead!

❤ ❤ ❤

The Mini Miss K

Our best girl had her 6th Grade Graduation ceremony this week!

My one and only niece is a Jesus-loving, courageous, athletic, funny, creative, fiercely competitive, popular, kindhearted, intuitive, feisty, smart, fashionable, decisive, beautiful, resilient, effervescent, one-of-a-kind sparkling gem of a person!  She's good at reading the room and has a gift for planning fun things and bringing people together, much like Chettles.  I adore her, and I am confident she will continue to shine and grow as life moves forward. ❤

She wanted it to be fun surprise for us that she (as newly-elected 7th Grade Chaplain) got to lead the Scripture reading and prayer... it definitely was!!  This = one of my infamous prayer pics, but it had to be done! lol

Walking the stage!  (And in less than 10 days, Triston will do the same for his Senior graduation, both happening during Josh Bullard's final year as CHA Headmaster!!)

Post-ceremony pics with the fam!!

The Jaceman surprised us choosing the purple suit last year, but it was perfect for him.  And Kyndal Faith surprised us going with a plain navy dress over something glittery, but she rocked it along with her sparkly boots and headband, and it was perfect too - I just love them both!!  It's so fun to watch them grow and learn and change!

Class of 2032 group pic! Fun fact: Much like myself, her school years move right along with the numbers... 7th grade in 2027, 8th in 2028, etc.  My 6th grade graduation was 1996, 7th grade in 1997, and so on.  So Lord willing, she'll walk that CHA stage as a Senior exactly 30 years after me!! =)

Coach Nikki came to celebrate Kyn and Aniston - she's the best!  The middle pic = Talon, Story, Colin, Kyndal, and Ellery (four of her very favorite people in her class, to my knowledge, so I was happy to capture that moment).  And the bottom is a pic with her teachers!

Throwback to J's Graduation last year!  They've decided to call it a Promotion Ceremony instead of Graduation (whatever on that, but we don't love change)... and they put it oddly early in the year and moved it from a 6pm night event to a 1pm event I had to take off work for... worth it, but an annoying move on CHA's part!

Having said that, this change DID give me the extra time to write a card, order a last-minute cookiecake, and grab some perfume and lip gloss at the Sooner Mall for Kyndal before family dinner!!

For short notice, they did good on the cookiecake!

Family pic after our traditional spaghetti dinner (Kyndal's consistent favorite, even if the rest of us prefer more variety).   This was also T-man's last night before the Senior trip to Boston, so it was a fun dinner talking about all of the above!

A quickly-assembled-but-still-great slideshow!

Congrats, Mini-Miss K!!

"May the Lord bless you and protect you;
May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;

May the Lord show you favor and give you His peace!"

~Numbers 6:24-26

❤ ❤ ❤ 

First Things First

May always feels extra busy.  End-of-year activities with CHA are adding up, especially as Kyndal is in 6th grade and Triston is a Senior this year!  We had T's Sunday Baccalaureate service (with Mr. Smith speaking) this past weekend!  It was exciting and a bit surreal to see him in his cap and gown (which Mom is very ready to iron for him pre-graduation)!

Reese, Triston, and Kate!

Aunt Lindsey, T-man, and Mamaw!

YAY for the LiveCollage app, and yay for adorable Kindergarten graduation photos!!

❤

K-Faith had her final volleyball tournament for this season... this pic = the dads praying over the girls on their last game day!  LOVE that.

Winning 3 games in a row on Saturday!

They had an end-of-season pizza party on Monday... this is Kyndal presenting the volleyball gift to Coach Nikki - such a solid and Godly leader!

The 11-minute slideshow I made to play in the background throughout their VB party - the girls all watched it and had some entertaining commentary!

 

Senator Lankford and Kyndal on the plane ride back to OKC - her being in the 6/7 shirt makes me laugh!

K and Rach at the Iwo Jima Memorial

Ellery, Kyndal, and Rachel by the US Capitol

Lincoln Memorial... hearing K's detailed recap of the trip was the best!  She mostly focused on the games she and her friends played and the funny things they said! lol

I've stayed busy lately with work, Solid Rock workouts, lunch with Natalie, dinner with Sarah, and seeing the Michael movie thrice (so far)... highly recommend!!

Dinner with Sarah at Red Rock by Lake Hefner last night - we had a good, long talk which included talking about the difference in positive and negative stress... positive stress being stress with a clear end-goal and purpose in mind.  I told her school no longer feels that way for me because I'm less sure of the end goal.  She asked if I still want to teach, and I said the thought of grading papers written by AI feels less and less appealing.  What I want (and articulated for the first time last night) is to be in the Christian school atmosphere, to be a respected professional and be good friends and have good relationships with quality Christians (whether that is the CCU professors or others).  That was good for me to clarify, as it's a very different end goal than researching and attaining my PhD and teaching.  I would at all times much rather be in the warm and relational role of Mel Robbins than the dry and clinical role of many of her esteemed guests.  So I am going to continue to clarify that in my own mind and heart, praying for wisdom on the next right step forward!!

I'm at the OCC about to start a protest hearing this morning, but I had a little time while the attorneys were talking and decided to sneak in a blog post!!  I am assuming I will get a transcript order in today and tomorrow's docket, so I'll be busy with that for a bit.  Anyway, here's a final reminder for you today!

Hope you have a fantastic day!

I love you and believe in you,

and Jesus does too!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Extrovert for a Day

This blurry gif is a condensed version of my life story (readable version HERE) now on my photo wall with 80+ 3x3 photo stickers - yay, FoxPrint!! ❤

It feels comprehensive and identity-affirming, and I love it!

Rach and Kyndal have now joined K's classmates for the DC trip - hope they have a blast!  Three of my former CHA classmates have kids in that same class, so this = Sarah, Heather, and Lyndsay repping the class of 2002 in Philadelphia!

Gracious, WHY will this company not make jeans for average-height women!?  I'm wearing my tallest 4-inch heels here, and they still drag the ground.  They'll be cute once I get them hemmed!

Coach Nikki (SNU college VB coach and the head of RISE volleyball club + stepped in as Kyndal's 12s coach), K-Faith, and Coach Kate (SNU player for Coach Nikki and moving up with the girls to coach their 13s team next year!)  I'm such a fan of seeing the strong and caring Christian leadership!! 

Side note: Kyndal Faith has started wearing shorts and a leg-sleeve in honor of the OKC Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which I find cute and funny!  She's a fan and loves to be on trend; however, she's not tall enough for there to be a gap, so it just looks like half-pants, half-shorts... which makes me laugh!  Mom and Rach and I are hoping the pants make a comeback after the Thunder playoffs! lol

They made it to the championship game and played really well together... this = them celebrating a kill hit during that last game... I LOVE sports moments like this where the competition is intense and the families/fans are loud and the tension and joy all feel heightened!!

They got 2nd place in this tournament, but hopefully they were proud of the way they played together!  They've improved a lot over this season, and I'm excited for their final tournament at the Tulsa Regionals next weekend!!

Kate is leaving for a Missions trip, so they gave her her Coaches gifts early... gift wrapping by Mom; volleyball and sign by Rachael; jokingly taking credit for everything by Kyndal!

Me, Mom, and Rach at the tournament... we had a good long talk about the Michael Jackson movie (me filling them in on it before we all go see it together soon) - it was great - his nephew Jaafar plays him, and both he and the young actor playing Jackson 5 MJ did a fantastic job!!

Saturday also included LifeGroup with Katie and Josie, congratulating Katie on her engagement news and telling her I'm happy to be set up with her coworker (feeling more hopeful about that than anything happening on the apps lately), reaching out to Adrianne (Millie's mom + our neighbor) about joining our next study - yay!, reaching out to Natalie to make lunch plans for next week, initiating a convo with Coach Nikki  (psychology major turned coach) about how God led her to start Rise club and how much I appreciate her praying with the girls and teaching the importance of character and sportsmanship, talking with Casey and Sarah (Aniston's parents) about the coming DC trip and my workouts with Solid Rock PT (SO FREAKING SORE from last week, but going again this afternoon).  Yay, spring energy!  It was a very extroverted day for me - especially considering that I felt energized rather than drained by all of the social interaction above - I feel very encouraged to keep being brave and making new connections!!

After a few confidence-draining rounds of kind friends trying unsuccessfully to talk suuuper-passive Christian men into dating me, hearing about Godly men who are actively seeking someone and open to dating feels really encouraging.  I would so love to be chosen by a man with real goals and a decisive/assertive personality, not settled for or reluctantly asked out by a video gamer who's too nice to keep saying no to the setup - woof.  Megan Elizabeth is now married, and Annie F. is now engaged!  AFD's story is speaking hope and joy to a lot of women!  It's obviously not plan A for any of us, but it could be plan A in God's book, and it makes me happy to see quality Christian women in their early 40s finding love.  God is kind and powerful - He loves to write redemptive stories, and nothing in my past disqualifies me from being chosen and loved and building a future with someone God has yet to introduce - reminding myself of that in this prolonged waiting-and-hoping season!!  I am after mutual excitement and love, and I won't settle for less than that!

In lighter news, Miss Parker Elizabeth had a Princess Party for her 5th birthday yesterday...
what a preshface - she was definitely feeling cute here! lol

Pic with Katherine Claire, Holly Marie in her bowl hat, Paige Evelyn in her tutu, Disney princess pics, and presents (mirroring Tate's Kiwi-Co gift this year, I got Parker a Petite Princess 6-month subscription service, so hopefully that'll turn out well).

26.2 - one year ago today!! ❤

And with that, I'm all caught up.  Thanks for stopping by - I love you and believe in you, and I believe that God is with you and for you today, working behind the scenes for your good and His glory!!

❤ ❤ ❤