Merry November!

"He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;

He snapped their chains.

Let them praise the Lord for His great love

and for the wonderful things He has done for them."

~Psalm 107:14-15

❤

No clue what these things that fall off the trees in this season are called, but it brings me stupid amounts of joy every year to crush them and see all the fluffy goodness inside! lol

This also brings me joy!  "A majestic uni-corgi." lol #yasqueen
Side note: We saw a Corgi in a Christmas sweater at Evergreen last night, and I promptly ran over to befriend him!

Speaking of Evergreen, here we are hanging out with Edie and Joni before heading back to Adam's house last night!

(These pictures came into Blogger in reverse order, so I'm just going with it rather than selecting them all again.)

Adam (as Coach Bear Bryant) with the Long family and their impressive pirate ship!  (Ike, Edie, Joni, and Josh)

Adsey + Charli and fam. lol
...Nope, I will never call us that again.

Wonderful Wilson fam (Chet and Karli are truffalo trees, Parker is The Lorax, Paige is a bar-ba-loot, and Tate is the Once-ler).  Tate's friend, Leo, is an angry stormtrooper! lol

Us with the Foster fam!

Bluey's Mum and Dad + Bingo + Miles as King David! lol  I love it!!

Earlier that afternoon, we had a fun lunch at Hideaway with Adam's family + his brother Mark, cousin Greg, and niece Kaeci!  That was followed by a trip to Scheels and Starbucks, then back to Adam's for a bit before Adam and I went to Evergreen's rainy Trunk-or-Treat event!

It made me happy to see Adam awaiting my arrival with a big umbrella ready to guard me on the walk to the door - one of many consistent and genuine acts of kindness and service - he's the best!

Greg and Mark walking back across the bridge after the game Friday night.  I love this bridge, and it was fun getting to experience my first "Ram Walk" on Friday!

Mark and Greg joined Adam and his coaching staff on the sidelines throughout the game - I'm getting a little more comfortable asking for photos, and I'm happy we got this one!

Post-game prayer and shoutouts... I love it all!  The Rams lost to the Talahina Tigers this time (their 5th loss at home in the past 12 years - WOW), but that puts them in a better bracket moving forward, and we very much hope they make it to the championship game on 12-11 in Edmond, OK!! ❤

The cheerleaders did a halftime routine to Thriller that made me happy! lol
Also, one of the cheer dads is super passionate and fun - after they get the crowd going then things calm back down, he'll randomly yell out "Yay, cheeeer!!" and his daughter and her friends will turn around and smile and wave - it's the best! =)

Pre-game warm-ups!  It was fun seeing John David out there in his mascot uniform!

Earlier that day, Adam drove the bus for the Regent sophomores field trip to Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, OK.  He's told me a lot about it, and I'd love to see the monastery and nunnery (we talked about how there should be a protestant equivalent for those things).  Anyway, their main sanctuary is under construction right now, but I'm hoping to come with him to see it once it's been rebuilt!

Adam invited me upstairs for this, and I loved seeing it!  They have a pre-game pep talk and prayer time where the boys pray over each other - everyone prayed for the player/coach to the right of them, and what I could hear was FANTASTIC and heartwarming and brought me a lot of hope and joy!!

Coach Bishop (Regent) and Coach Kelly Gravitt (Talahina) - it makes me happy that they're good friends who can celebrate each others successes!

Friday was Senior Night - pictured is John David with Adam and Barbara + Cade Johnson and his family (Amy is the mom) + Cai Brookover and his family (Amy is his mom's name too) + Rory Casey with Heath and Shea (old friends from FBC) + Jude Emerson with his family (Amy is his mom's name also - there are five Amys total!) + Eli Peters with his parents (his mom's name is Karah).

I'll try not to take any more mid-prayer pics, but I do love the Mom's pre-game prayer circle, and I appreciated the specific prayers for the Bishop fam this week!

Yay, Regent! ❤

The Ram walk is a fun tradition where the cheerleaders and fans (and in this case, the entire Talahina football team) line the sides and cheer as the Regent coaches and players walk over from the school across the bridge to their football field!  (Adam led the way, grabbing my hand for a bit as we crossed paths, which brought me so. much. joy!)  Joni and her mom and I cheered them all on, then I crossed back over to join Adam's family.  I decided to get a picture with them, then a kind referee offered to take it for us!  So here's me, Mark, Barbara, Greg, and Kaeci!  (And behind us is the construction work for Adam's future office.)

 Mark and Greg live in Houston, TX, and Kaeci goes to college in OKC.  It was a really fun weekend getting to know them and hanging out with the Bishop fam, who I'm growing to love more day by day! ❤

My apologies for these pics being absurdly out of order, but feel free to scroll back up in reverse now. lol  I drove back home late last night then slept in/ laid around until noon today... it was really nice and needed! #noragrets  I took an afternoon walk, then talked to Adam, then finished up my homework for week 2 of Biblical Foundations - it's good to be getting back into the swing of academic writing, and we have a worldview interview assignment coming up that I'm honestly looking forward to.  In the non-academic realm, tomorrow night, I have a podcast interview with my friends Amy and Megan from the Alaska cruise - fun! 

October is historically not my favorite month with its emphasis on Halloween and fear-based decor and entertainment... but this October was among the best months of my life thus far!  It may go without saying, but I'm deeply grateful for all God has done, all He is doing, and all He will continue to do ahead!!  We are now officially 5/6ths of the way through 2026, and by God's grace, I'm determined to finish strong.

For everyone in Christ, the best is yet to come.

Happy November, friends!!

❤ ❤ ❤