The Niece and Nephews

Happy Wednesday!  Hearing June 3rd brings two things to mind: Gilmore Girls (Lorelai and Luke's non-wedding day, and Rory's sentencing day in court, which brought me joy).  And more importantly, it makes me think of my friend, Tiffany Joanne, for whom this date is a grief anniversary.  Today marks one decade since the earthly death of her dad.  Praying for God's presence to bring peace, anchored hope, and comfort in the midst of this painful season of grief for her. ❤

I'm in my Zoom courtroom 25 minutes early and figured I'd use this time to get some blogging in before another exciting day of OCC work! ;-)

Here's a couple professional photos of Triston Michael at the Graduation ceremony! 

Side note: Mom had his robe professionally cleaned/steamed so it would be wrinkle-free.  He wore it to the final practice the morning of graduation (where I'm sure it looked pristine), then he stuffed it into the plastic bag for safekeeping (he's holding it in the picture below after practice that very morning). lol  If only they'd had photographers there for the practice run!  But whatever, definitely unintended and accidental on his part, and it's kinda funny to me now!

A professional pic of Carter Lee steer wrestling in the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Finals (where I believe he placed 2nd)! ❤

Jace Michael celebrating the Spurs victory with me last week! ❤

And the mini-Miss Kyndal Faith FaceTiming to show me her colorful summer hair!

Here's a throwback pic of her five years ago when she made this lovely sign to encourage Grandpa when he came home from the hospital! ❤

A good reminder...

More good reminders that were worth printing out!  I am feeling freshly inspired after reading these Big Trust and Theo of Golden and several of Allen Levi's blog posts!!

And finally, here's a fun video of J&K playing basketball last night after our Rib Crib family dinner!  They're just so much FUN right now... Miss K with her 3-pointers and entertaining MJ victory dance, and Jaceman sinking three half-court shots over the past week - so happy I caught the last one on video!! ❤

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you have a wonderful day ahead!

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Timelines and Testimonies

Happy last day of May!!

We had a pizza party at Mom and Dad's to watch Game 7 of the Playoffs last night... a sad loss for the Thunder, but at least the Jaceman was happy!!

Watching the game, Paris (Bill & Jill's dog - Jill used to live in San Antonio), and the Spurs with their trophy!

GIF of Jace high-fiving Wemby at the beginning of Game 5 (the white hand closest to the camera on the left).  It made his day!

Sour Patch Kids' marketing team is the best... the "first they're sour, then they're sweet" commercials are the cutest, and seeing this nonsense brought me instant joy (in spite of it being fake news in my personal life at times). lol

Speaking of cuteness, here's Katie and Kaden after his Kindergarten graduation - little kids in caps and gowns is so adorable to me!!

Nana with Carter and Emberlee as he was competing in the high school rodeo finals this past week!

Cousin pics from 18 years ago this week... 2008 sincerely does not seem that far back to me!!

Also in that Shutterfly stack was this gem when we were grabbing a few things from 9121 for my move to 522 in the summer of 2007... Dad, Grandad, Babah, Rach, and Emily.

And this gem - my last-ever photo with JMM from June of '07 - (I never loved it as he'd just gotten a buzz cut and didn't look like the version of himself I was accustomed to, and I was wearing vertical stripes, which are almost always a mistake without a sweater or overshirt to change up the angle).  It's crazy to think that Triston is now the age Josh was here... and wearing his own Harvard shirt from the Senior trip to Boston!

Mini Miss K and her friends playing cards at Mom and Dad's... she opted not to swim that day because "Well, I just got my hair done, and it looks really good!" lol  She's not wrong.

I hosted, led, and shared my testimony and the condensed version of my life story with my women's LifeGroup on Saturday.  I'm thankful to say it went well, and we had a memorable discussion about Psalm 23 and Psalm 34.  It had a strengthening effect on me to really think through the whole timeline of my story again, to consider new ways I can see God's hand in it, and to specifically speak the gospel part of it out loud this time as I recounted the story of Mom leading me to Christ!!

❤

We're doing "Psalms and Stories" this summer - reading through and discussing Psalms then getting into our personal stories and walks with God.  I wrote mine out before sharing to help myself mentally organize it, and the themes I saw paired well with Christine Caine's email today:  "He's not distant or disinterested.  He's not too busy or too important.  He misses you when you drift.  He's calling you to come back, to come close, to come home.  God's heart is revealed throughout Scripture.  He wants relationship with you."

Hosting also inspired me to fully clean my house for the first time in a minute, so I had to snap some photos of everything looking put together!

The final portion of what I shared yesterday...

My favorite things about Jesus:

• His fiercely protective strength on behalf of His people
• His delight in the details of our lives

Looking back, I see a few themes in my story:  I am very relational, and I've spent a lot of my life looking for belonging in close relationships.  All while God has continually reminded me that my deepest belonging is found in Jesus - I belong to Him and I belong with Him.

I've learned to hold on to Kingdom hope and remember that we rarely understand the full picture while we're living through it.  One of my favorite verses says: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."  ~I Corinthians 13:12

And finally, God is far more attentive, personal, and involved than I once believed.  I don’t always understand what He is up to even now, but I will know it completely in Heaven (if not before).  And I know with confidence today that He loves me deeply, He cares about every detail of my life, and He deserves the highest place of honor in my heart!

Okay, friends... 5 months down, 7 to go... here's my 1SE video for 2026 so far!

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In Other News...

My word for 2026 is Renewal, so it catches my eye any time I see it.  Yes, please to Jesus being my Shepherd and renewing my strength and guiding me along right paths that bring honor to His name!!

Made me laugh to get the full welcome packet after registering for the Biblical Foundations class this fall!  I've been here for four years now, but thanks for the extra swag! =)

Random pic I saved from FB - maybe it's AI, but I'm choosing to believe it's just adorable pom puppies that bring my heart the most joy!!

Sophie Hudson is writing a book that's a tribute to her Mom and also includes a cookbook with lots of her old recipes - as a longtime podcast listener, I freaking love that journey for her! =)

Grabbed some Gourmet donuts this morning for a friend who's going through a very hard season... this would help cheer anyone up, right!?

Lindsay Jane with Phoenix, Memphis, and Wavy - I don't get to see her much these days, but I'm praying for God's very best for her and her kids!!

My CleanEatz meal delivery kit arrived right before my DoorDashed Mexican food dinner and dessert, and the irony of that made me laugh!

Michael reclaimed the #1 spot back from Devil Wears Prada 2, which is incredibly appropriate, as that movie was over-hyped nonsense, and Michael is fantastic!  Mom and I went to see it again this afternoon! =)

5-22 = my old address, Tman's graduation day, and Elizabeth Jane's birthday, which I still always think of that day!  I'm very unsure about what went wrong there, but I love and miss her and sincerely wish her and her husband all the best!  It's honestly a fairly long list of people I will be thrilled to fully catch up with in Heaven, but we will have the time and the relational capacity and love and understanding and personal wholeness for exactly that - what a GIFT!  Kudos to her for training hard and conquering multiple marathons over the past few years!!

Here's Kate and Tman on the subway in Boston!

And Triston and Reese at a Red Sox game!

K-Faith and Laynie (her classmate, Colin's older sister)

Jace Michael and Gavin (his Senior "Big Brother")

Dad's new car (and mine behind it)!  Rach and I came over to hang out with them and watch the Thunder playoffs game last night... Jaceman called approximately 15x throughout the game to gloat about how well his new fav Spurs player, "Wemby" (Victor Wembanyama) was playing! lol

Cute picture frame at Amber Marie, but not really worth $130!

MacKenzie is proud of her stuff! lol

And that concludes the random pics I wanted to throw in here somewhere. =)

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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!

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If We Don't Give Up

This card made me laugh! =)

Some Biblical encouragement for today:

Alaska cruise prep has begun - get excited (including my first and hopefully last pair of hiking boots - lol)!

Goals:

New dress for my cruise - yay!

A personalized collage of 2026 Rise club team pics for Kyndal Faith and each of her teammates, created and wrapped by Mom!!  Loving all the creativity and generosity and fun color here!

And here's the awesomesauce chalkboards Rach made for each of them!!

Seeing this made me happy - pretty good casting!

Yay for meeting another neighbor today - I picked up a belated bday treat for Millie (the 6-year-old leukemia survivor who lives just down the street) and wrote her family a nice card!  Unfortunately, their cute little dog was trying to escape when they opened the front door, so we didn't get to chat for long. lol

I had my first workout with Solid Rock Personal Training yesterday... rough times, but the coaches are great, and there's lots of support in the group workouts!  I'm enjoying my free week and probably going to sign up as a member when it's over!

And last but not least, HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY to Miss Parker Elizabeth today... her singing happy birthday to herself in her room at the end is my favorite thing!! lol

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