Birthdays & Breaking Agreements

The Mini Miss K's 12th birthday was on Thursday!  I was able to move my Thursday clients to Wednesday night (yay!), and we had Mom's spaghetti (Kyndal's fav) for her birthday family dinner.  Here's me and the birthday girl ~ I just love her so much!!  I've realized how much I love to celebrate the people who love to celebrate themselves! lol  I always have and always will appreciate people who get excited about making a big deal of their birthday and embrace the belief that their life deserves to be richly celebrated!!  I'm on that list.  And Kyndal making us a detailed Google slideshow of her bday wishlist and spending the last couple months planning her party during family dinners puts her firmly in that category. lol #embracelife #youareworthcelebrating

She was looking so cute in her new leopard pants and pink shirt and birthday button. ❤

Mamaw with T&C!

Carter joined us for Kyndal's bday, so it was good to get caught up on his life and hear all of them catching up on the latest CHA-circle news.

MWC Sams did a slightly better job on this cake, but still not too impressed!

The Parrish boys!  J's inability to hold the serious face makes me happy. =)

The Miss K and everyone else!

And finally, a happy through-the-years slideshow!!

I really love that song and feel nostalgic whenever I hear it, thanks to S.C.  And I always call her "preshface" on the blog, so it feels appropriate! lol

Anyway, now that all the August events are over, all my best excuses for continually eating unhealthy foods are also gone.  And as my own presentation reminded me, I'm. not. stuck. and I'm. not. a. helpless. victim. in any area - I have the power to make better choices that build new habits and create real change, and I'm taking that seriously.  I don't love the trajectory I've been on lately with stress-eating and negative agreements (thinking patterns that are more aligned with the enemy's plan for my life than God's), and it's 100% up to me to fix that.  I'm gonna throw it out here that my new goal is to actually reach the 155 goal weight Dr. Matt set for me last summer.  Health is definitely not all about the scale numbers, but I was too quick to decide that number would be impossible for me.  It isn't the impossible dream, and it would actually put me at a healthy BMI and probably a size 10, which would be awesome and not extreme or absurd.  And I don't want to sell myself short by leaning into the old/familiar identity and limiting beliefs, so I'm leaning into new possibilities!  Here's to being intentional about breaking terrible agreements, setting new goals, agreeing with God's plan for me, embracing a new way of seeing myself, and staying the freaking course.  For the record, while we're on this topic, I'd like to be at 177 or below pre-pregnancy, then use wisdom and stay under 200 if God allows me to get pregnant... and then eventually (think 2027) push myself to reach 155 and try to maintain within 10 pounds of that + get 45 minutes of good exercise six days a week for the foreseeable future.  Okay then, great talk! lol  I am buckling down on healthy eating and training for my Route 66 Marathon Relay starting tomorrow! #getexcited #teamchettles

Hope you have a lovely Sunday ahead.

I love you and believe in you!
And I believe in our ability to course correct,

and I'm confident God is with us and for us in whatever we may face today!

❤ ❤ ❤

12!

My youngest niece turns 12 on Thursday!  They celebrated with a colorful slumber party on Friday!! 

Rach took them out for a movie + mall fun + Ted's dinner, then Triston, Jace, and TJ joined the girls for a glowing night swim at Mom and Dad's!

The decor was awesome and ever-so-slightly over the top, as per usual! lol

Rach went all out with the posters, banners, tents, balloons, and aerials!

Where Rach gave this party 190% effort, the MWC Sam's gave it a heartfelt 10% effort on his cake. lol Still tasty, but the decorating job was very rough!! 

Kyndal has been planning this party for several months, so I hope it was all she wanted it to be!  The matching tutus, shoes, and sunglasses are pretty cute and fun!! =)

Happy last full week of summer to the niece and nephews, and happy Monday to my lovely blog readers!

❤ ❤ ❤

72

Today is Dad's 72nd Birthday!

I joined Mom and Dad for Life.Church and lunch (5 weeks in a row now).  We did a brunchy meal at All-American Diner today.  We ❤ breakfast food! lol 

I had a virtual counseling session at 2:00 and a potential-client consult at 3:15, then I joined the fam for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse at 5:45!  Here's our happy table pic. =)

Mom and I got the $5 strawberry pecan side salad, which was pretty awesome and much more food than I'd expected!  We talked about how we love everything except the lettuce. lol 

Our waitress was pretty great, and they brought a complimentary b-day dessert for Dad!

Random guy outside offered to take our group pic, then he took 5 from different angles, so I applaud him for that!

The last half of the past week was discouraging and emotionally-heavy, so I'm very grateful that last night's walk with Kristin and most everything I did today felt light and happy!

Since we were a mile away from the new Andy's in Norman, we ended the day with some frozen custard!

This one makes me happy... at first, you could only see my dessert, so I told J to hold his ice cream up too, then everyone did it at once, and Rach (who doesn't care for ice cream) did a quick thumbs up! lol

Happy Birthday to Dad!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Chettles!

Friday was also the 37th birthday of Chet Lee, aka Chettles, everyone's favorite realtor and the core of our awesomesauce friend group...

We celebrated that with a fun ice cream bar and pool party + Whataburger dinner on Saturday!

Here's Jeffrey Edward in his Wynn-ing hat and Gathering Place t-shirt, Lindsey Claire in her 2009 peasant top and a regrettable absence of lipstick, and Chet Lee in his classic realtor shirt... "Mockey and the boys."  Love it!

Chet has been committed to a gluten-free lifestyle for several months now, along with regular workouts with Evan, nutrition coaching with Rachel, and recently adding marathon-training runs to his schedule!  His dedication in all of the above is inspiring, and the consistency is paying off, and I love that for him!  I'm gearing up to push myself in running workouts and feeling excited about our Chet-side relay team in November!! =)

Sarah Elizabeth with Katherine Claire and Parker Elizabeth!

Chet with the aforementioned ice cream bar!  They pre-scooped it to make the line move faster - smart and creative, like most of Karli's party ideas!

Fun at the pool, under the shade of my very favorite "junk tree." lol

The statue of ice cream cones!

I blew up the balloons, Chet tied them, Karli and Melissa added streamers...

And it came together in this super-cute balloon chandelier effect!

I also helped with the charcuterie board of ice cream toppings - look how fun and colorful! =)

❤

Chet's Whataburger group selfie - love it!!

Sparklers and one final pic for his 37th bday party!

A post-party test drive of what may very well be Chet's new car!! =)

Karli and the kids made 37 candles using pool noodles to decorate their front yard!! ❤
Debbie surprised Chet with birthday desserts!

And the guys (minus Mark Anthony, the classic Umbertos-era version) went to lunch at Meddys for his birthday earlier that week!

I participated in exactly zero percent of that, but still felt it was important to document it. lol

On my Facebook memories were these pics from Chet's 2014 party... I really love that most of this friend group is still getting together regularly 11 years and 10 added children later... what a gift!!

I'm on limited time, so that's all for today.

My schedule is *very full* lately, but full of good things.  I'm growing and making progress, and I have to be more intentional with budgeting my time and energy!  I'm excited about all the new things God is doing in this season - in my life and the lives of many of my closest people!

Okay then... I love you and believe in you, and I believe in your ability to gently challenge yourself, strengthen your self-respect, learn new things, and build a life you love!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Pool Party!

Friday was the 11th birthday of Diesel Eugene, and we celebrated with a pizza party by the pool! =)

Whitaker fam + Aunt Lindsey!

2023 and 2025

The water felt great, and it was good to catch up on life with Kristin whilst watching the boys and Frankie do all kinds of jumps and tricks!

I had them pose together, knowing I was recreating this 2015 pic... love how it turned out! 

The sun was at just the right angle for fun sun-flare pics! 

Love these boys!!  And Eagle One pizza did not disappoint!  We also had rice krispie treats and cupcakes + Pokemon themed gifts. =)  (His official bday party was on Saturday, but I missed it due to being in Tulsa, so I'm glad we got to celebrate on his real birthday!)

I hope it was a fun birthday weekend and hope it's a great year ahead for Diesel!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Photo Friday!

Happy Friday to everyone, and Happy Birthday to Karli Marie!! ❤

This = the first time we hung out outside of Lifegroup - May 21, 2011 - Jimmy John's with Chet, Bobbi, Michael, and Amanda!

We became FB friends the next day, so yay for a "522" friendiversary! ;-)

Important updates:  JoBug is recovering well and feeling better today, set to be released from the hospital tomorrow afternoon - thankful for that!  Kristen is staying strong spiritually and feeling determined to choose life in every way she can - we had a mutually encouraging talk on Wednesday night.  Praying for a strong and healthy mind, body, soul, and spirit for both of them! ❤

Our Thursday fam dinner was also a graduation party for Jace! =)

Mom got him an expensive Transformer and we made him a wood panel of his Facetime call with Paul Cuffaro - he was pretty thrilled about both! lol

Triston and I had a good talk whilst J&K swam... this = Kyndal "surfing" on Jace's back! lol

I cannot even with this "smoking smarties" trend. lol  I looked over to say something to Rach and saw this out of the corner of my eye, then had to make a gif photo.

Jace:  "YES, I look like Snoop Dogg - I just need sunglasses and braids!" lolol

Cute new table Rach painted for Mom - nice and subtle, as per usual for us. ;-)

When Rach came out to her car, Jace had buckled Optimus in for their ride home. lolol "Safety first!"

He FaceTimed me later that night to show me how he'd set up the Transformers and the Paul pic in his room... here, he's diving dramatically to demonstrate the Transformers scene he's planning to recreate with his toys. lol Mess.  He's a funny one!!

The Jesus flag made me happy during my morning worship-walk today!

I had an encouraging interview at 9:30 with Integrated Therapy Solutions - loved the vibe, very flexible in all the right ways - I'm likely to start my candidacy working nights and weekends there!  HUZZAH!!

Then I had a meet and greet tour of the Federal courthouse in Muskogee... and everything I learned there was also encouraging and promising, so yay God and yay hope - good things are in store, and we shall see which doors He chooses to open!

Resume suggestions from Rach! lol

After all that, I swung by the Peach Barn for some baked pies, then went to the Wilsons for a tiny minute to bring a table for the flower bar tomorrow... here they are making me a Block Party t-shirt - fun!! =)

And my final stop for the day was CHA Graduation from 6:30-8:45ish!  Long ceremony, but I was happy to see Abby and give her the monogram necklace and card!

This made me laugh harder than it should have. lol

Last pic for today = Alan, Dad, Bill W, and Rick at a golf tournament last week... love it!!

It's been a long but productive and happy Friday!  I hope the same is true for you, and hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend ahead!!

❤ ❤ ❤