Protego Maxima

Hello, and hope you're having a great weekend!  What a gift to have the day off work tomorrow and to have the coming week off from school - our last break week until Thanksgiving!

Saved this one because I can feel myself asking a lot of "what if" questions lately, and it was a timely reminder to push into a faith mindset!!  "Even if (insert worst case scenario here), God is still good and faithful, and I will still love and serve Him."

The Harry Potter marathon continues at Warren Theaters - I caught my top favorite movie last week (Order of the Phoenix), and the very close second late yesterday (Deathly Hallows, Part 2).  I was thrilled to be there clapping with everyone at the defeat of Voldemort just after midnight last night. lol  Every time I see this movie, I ADORE this scene (among many others).  I often picture this one when I am praying for God's protection in some area where I feel real fear or know the enemy is attacking - it's a fantastic visual for our role in praying for and applying God's protection.  Voldemort is readying his army to attack, so they mobilize the guardians of Hogwarts to defend it (us praying for angelic protection), then the professors and parents surround the school and individually use "Protego Maxima," the advanced Shield Charm for maximum protection, creating a large-scale defensive barrier/invisible bubble that surrounds the school and keeps their enemy out.  They acknowledge that they cannot hold him off forever, but initially, the shots of Voldemort and co. bounce off of the barrier they set and give everyone more time to prepare for battle.  It's SO. GOOD.

In other TV and movie-related news, I've started The Gilded Age on HBO Max.  Julian Fellowes is at it again with this show about New York in the late 1800s, and I'm here for it!  I love seeing the characters at landmarks that are actually familiar to me, like the Bethesda Fountain at Central Park.  And this caught my attention and led to a Google search, and it's real.  For a while, the arm and torch of the statue of liberty were displayed in NYC as they raised money to build the pedestal. lol

I know the green is iconic now, but this made me wish I could see the original true copper-colored version of the Statue of Liberty.  But alas, no color photographs of it exist (only colorized versions like the one below).  Personally, I would prefer that to the green, but no one asked me. lol

Fun news: Breese Campbell, my fav local-ish baker on Instagram -- (and no, I don't really know her in person, but she's Ashley's daughter, so I know she's awesome) -- she is now an employee of Laurannae, my newly-discovered favorite bakery!!

This Broken Arrow gem has THE. BEST. CUPCAKES. around.  Having sampled their top 7 flavors (Strawberries & Cream, Snickerdoodle, Brown Butter Vanilla, Blackout Chocolate, Bride's Cake, Cookie Dough, and Cookies & Cream), I can decidedly vouch for them all being delicious!!  (Mom, Dad, and Rach agree.) ❤  They do a fun sprinkle-infused icing with a colorful drip cake decor, so we wish we had known about this place before Kyndal's bday, buuut there's always next year! =)

Mom's home is already filling up with Christmas decor - seeing this red made me happy.  I'm just a fan of red in general, and this candy cane combo is classic Christmas cuteness and cheer!!

Love this reminder.  I tried exceptionally hard to regulate my emotions in certain friendships, but that won't solve things when the relationship itself is out of alignment with what we know to be right and healthy.  I've felt out of sync in certain areas lately, and I don't want to minimize that or just focus on trying to stay calm/regulated.  So my September focus will be pursuing mind, body, soul, and spirit alignment!

Happy last day of August, friends and fam.  Overall, it's been a good month!

Hope you enjoy your Labor Day break tomorrow,
and I hope September will be our best month of 2025 so far!

❤ ❤ ❤