Sunny Week Faves

 

Wow!  It's Friday already, and it's almost 9 AM and I haven't even shared FIVE FAVE blessings from the week yet!  I slept in until about 6:45 which was delightful as I was in bed later than usual. But it's time now for coffee on the deck, share my blessings from the week, and then link up at Susanne's to join in with other grateful bloggers. Thank you, Susanne, for keeping this weekly gratitude exercise going.  It's very meaningful to me. 

FIVE FAVES 

• COMPUTER HELP:  Sunday evening, our oldest daughter came over for dinner and to help me with what I thought was a Macbook Pro issue but turned out to be a SIMS4 issue. Courtney had bought me this game which I enjoy in the winter evenings when Dave and I are doing separate things and the last time I played it, the game seemed frozen and was having major issues. Courtney solved the problem in about 20 minutes and then showed me how to keep it from happening again.  Or least that's the hope. For those of you who enjoy EA Games, they are not a great  company and have many issues, but when one knows how to do simple computer programming (definitely not me) like my daughter (she knows all things Sims4) the fixes are usually easy.  Even my software engineer computer nerd husband couldn't figure it out! I'm grateful for the help and her pay? She asked if she could do laundry here as her apartment complex is still installing new machines so of course I said that's an easy trade! I'm so thankful for my daughter Courtney and her computer skills. 

this is one of the adult rabbits living under our shed
we alsosaw a baby bunny off and on this week
enjoying our "meadow" of a backyard

God's Love in nature
saw this perfect heart shaped leaf 
on one of my power walks on the town bike path

new summer flag on sale!

Peonies have bloomed!

Woodpeckers have been enjoying the suet 
all throughout the week.  We've had hairy and downy ones
along with  cardinals, bluejays, black capped chickadees and nuthatches

• SIGHTS, SCENTS,  AND SOUNDS OF SPRING:  This past week has been glorious, weather-wise here in the Capital Region of NYS.  How I love June-October here in NY. It truly is heaven on earth minus a few here and there hot, humid days.  This week we only needed the central air one afternoon to cool the upstairs and then we could turn it off for sleeping. It's been just perfect for sitting on the deck or the backyard swing and just being still.  I've enjoyed morning coffee, lunch, dinner on the deck as well as my personal devotions time and reading in the late afternoon. We've seen a family of rabbits off and on all year and they are now producing babies who come out from under the shed very timidly so we can never seem to snap a pic. We've had birdsong all morning, all day, and into the evening. The roses and peonies are blooming and the scent is beautiful. I placed  some peonies in a mason jar for the deck  table for my last small group meeting and the ladies really enjoyed the scent.  I'm so thankful for  the beautiful Creation that God has blessed us with. 

SoulSteps Hikers: Bessies Woods Trail System 
l-r: Shawna, Maggie, me, Melanie
photo used with permisson
3 June 

• WEDNESDAY WALK!  I had scheduled a Wednesday morning walk in the woods with the SoulSteps group and originally I had 7 people signed up.  2 had to cancel due to an emergency and a physical issue, and the other one we have no idea why she didn't show up. So there were just 4 of us to explore a "new to all of us" trail system about a half hour from our  church across the Hudson River. It was a gorgeous morning and although we needed bug spray, none of us got bit by mosquitoes.  The trail was dry the whole way and we were supposed to combine the Greywhacke Wonder trail with the Old Woods Rd trail but about half-way on that trail, it turned to walking through a meadow of tall grass so we turned around as we didn't want to deal with ticks. We instead closed the loop by taking the snowmobile trail for a total of 3.2 miles of hiking. Google what greywacke is if you don't know. It's rather fascinating. It's found mainly in New Zealand, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, central Europe, the lakes district of England,  the northeastern USA, and the Canadian Shield. Here are a few of our fave photos from the morning.  I'm thankful we all had a great time! 

photo compliments of Maggie

greywacke

more greywacke

shawna on the greywacke! 
used with permission

The Greywacke Wonder trail 

• LAKE DAY!  Our youngest daughter has Sundays/Mondays/Thursdays off from now until September. She's working T-W-F-S for 10 hours each day. The other optimetric tech has to take a summer class so she switched hours with him.  She's still working as an apprentice optician as well. so her days are busy. She asked me to go with her to her fave state park and enjoy a day at the lake. I told her I had to be home by 4 pm to shower and get ready for a dinner event I needed to attend. So we left around 10 AM and were home by 4.  There were only 3 other people on the beach yesterday! She had pre-made some cocktails (similar to a Tom Collins) and I brought the glasses and ice.  We both packed our own lunch foods.  The water was numbing.  It wasn't even 50 degrees yet (the lake water). It's a spring fed mountain lake and was so cold I could only go in up to my waist. She  actually swam!! We loved the temps of 75 and when we got home here in suburbia it was 85!!  I'm thankful she wanted to spend the day with me. She shared a story with me about her Pakistani friend that I cannot share on here but please pray for this young woman if you have time. Her first name begins with a P.  God knows the details. Here are some pics of our time at the lake: 

Black Lake at Cherry Plain State Park
this is located about 40 minutes east of my home
and is Claire's fave state park  

Claire loves swimming in ice cold lake water

ice cold cocktails made by Claire

• Night on the Deck:  I had to attend a dinner at my church for all small group leaders/leaders of ministries. We had to share our name and what ministries we oversee/facilitate. The food and conversation was delicious and there was a short testimony from the young woman who heads up the Prayer Team every Wednesday. She  gave a very powerful short testimony on fasting and prayer and what it really means to her. It was so good. Afterwards, I came home and sat with Dave on the deck because it was a perfect late Spring evening. The birds were settling down, the bunny was out nibbling our dandelions and the tree peepers were so noisy!  I have solar powered lanterns around the yard and deck and they were coming on. I neglected to take a pic because we were busy sharing about our days and I told him about Claire's friend and the situation. We need to pray that our national leaders get a clue about certain people groups. That's all I'll say.  Woe to us as a nation if we shut our doors on true refugees. The Bible is very clear on how we as Believers are to treat foreigners/refugees,  widows, and orphans. I'm thankful Dave and I ended our day with a time of good conversation. 

That wraps up my week.  

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

2026 Book Review #20:I Surrender All

 

I'm a huge fan of Priscilla Shirer.  You may know her from the movie War Room. You've probably heard her dad or read one of his books (Tony Evans, pastor).  Well, this past Spring semester my ladies small group that I facilitate, read one of her latest books, I Surrender All. WOW.  Was it ever convicting and so deep yet an easy read.  It made for great discussions. 

STUDY SUMMARY 

The book was inspired by the themes in the movie The Forge. 

The study is a challenge and an invitation to surrender everything to Jesus Christ. To know and follow Him not just as your Savior but are your priority, your  first love, your Lord. To move beyond being a believer to becoming His disciple.   

"Because there is a difference". From the back cover:

"Salvation is a gift of God. It's free. It's grace. It's the cross. Discipleship comes at a high cost. It's surrender. It's effort. It's a daily choice to lay down your life and follow His. Few believers choose this route, but the ones who do will experience the abundance that only the surrendered life can offer. It's the one choice standing between you and the life of freedom and fulfillment, of peace and purpose you've always wanted." 

That paragraph spoke to me and prompted me to buy the book and lead the study. 

The book is divided into an Intro called "First". 

Then there are 8 chapters which are as follows:

1.  Everything You Have 
2. Everything You Need'
3. Everything You Are
4. Everhthing You're Becoming
5. Everything You Want
6. Everything You Face
7. Everywhere You Go
8. Everything for Jesus

There is a place of Notes and an About the Author page as well. 

MY THOUGHTS

This book study is fantastic for the new or mature Christ follower. 

The chapter are easy to read, include various Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments and have 3 questions at the very end for self reflection or for sharing in class/small group. 

There was space to write notes which I didn't do....I put my notes/thoughts into a journal. But I did highlight many sections or Scriptures that jumped out at me and I encouraged my ladies to do that as well.

There were 6 of us for this group and I  had some great positive feedback about what they learned, how they grew and how Priscilla's words challenged them. 

We chose to just meet for the 7 chapters for discussion and left the last chapter to read on our own as it's more personal stories from Priscilla and not much to share on. 

I highly recommend this book for a ladies Bible study/small group if you are a leader....or it's great to just read on your own!  I was definitely challenged in many areas and convicted to lay down some "things"/"Stuff" and give them over to God.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older. 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10. 

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE MEME

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Subtraction.  I honestly struggle with it. I have to add backwards to subtract....in fact that's how I learned.  For example: 40-18= I have to say 8 plus what makes 10? Oh.  2 so the number on the right in the answer is 2.  Then 1 + what makes 4. Oh, 3! so the answer is 32. I hated math after 5th grade. I barely made it through Geometry and Algebra I passed ok but ended up with a C on the Regents so a C+ in the class. after that, I was done! Thank God both daughters take after Dave and excelled and homework was super easy for them AND they both got Level 5 on their AP Calc.  One daughter  went on to major in math "for fun" along with her Art major. My dad was great at math and my mom was ok. Not sure what happened to me. 

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald~

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

Not really.  It's more like a pause. My life...especially now that I'm retired from Special Ed Prek teaching, pauses in the summer so to speak. Slower paced life style, way more time in the mountains and hikes, kayaking, no ministry duties other than planning and leading the hikes, more personal time for Bible study vs working on a specific book for the small group I lead Sept-June.  As a teacher from 1987-2023, my life beginning again was with September.  I still think this way and it's been almost 3 years since I officially retired! 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

My fave is the kind that the Amish make ( I found them in Lancaster Co PA when my youngest and I were down there several years ago and sometimes I can find them in a central NY Amish farm) which taste just like the ones my paternal grandmother made.  They're "bread and butter" pickles and I LOVE them on my vegan burgers or chopped fine in potato salad. I also, every once in a while, love a good, crisp, ice cold dill pickle with fish n chips like on Cape Cod. 

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

I'm a last day of June bride as is my senior pastor's wife! We were married on the same day/same year (1990) and didn't know each other until 2005. We exchange greetings back and forth on that day or sometimes the night before. A friend of mine from college also got married in June. 

Me on June 30th, 1990 before heading to the church
my organist also made my gown....look how 90s it is!
Big puffy sleeves with the ribbons/bows and instead of a veil
which to me was so old fashioned, I chose for her to make me a lace headband.
The teal flowers in the basket match the bridesmaids dresses and they carried similar baskets but smaller

No June weddings this year. Last one we went to was at a large flower garden in the Catskills about 3 years ago. 

My favorite wedding movie. Hm...well i LOVE the scene of Maria's and the Captain's wedding in Sound of Music but that's mainly due to the music. I also love My Best Friend's Wedding.  Dave and I just loved that one!  

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

TUESDAY 4 MEME

 

A great way to meet other bloggers, is to participate once in awhile, in these weekly memes.  I enjoyed today's questions and am procrastinating from finishing the dusting so....here we go! 

Head to this blog to join in and learn more! 

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Let's talk about your week okay?

1. Is anything interesting on TV this week?  What will you be watching?

No idea  as I don't watch TV other than Law and Order: SVU and that's done for the season.   I do watch the first 15-20 min of The Today Show Monday through Friday (unless leaving early for a hike) and I watch our local news about 6:45 AM for 15 min. I use my Macbook to watch Netflix and right now I'm in the middle of the series Legends about England's drug trade, based on a true event. I typically watch while cooking/chopping veggies or folding laundry, or shredding papers, etc.  

2. Any books on your horizon right now? What will you be reading?

I always have a fiction book from the library going.  Right now I'm reading one of Europe's best sellers that has finally made its way to the States:  Mona's Eyes.  Highly recommend, especially if you enjoy Art and family drama. I'm also trying to read through the Bible chronologically which is taking a long time. I was doing well until mid-April.  I'll get back to reading a little bit each evening. I also have Northwoods by Amy Pease on my coffee table as I made it to  chapter 6 when the library alerted me that Mona's Eyes were ready for my turn. (There's a wait list  so I only get it for 2 weeks).  I'll go back to Northwoods once  this European book is complete. 

3. What's been on the menu lately?  Any new recipes caught your eye?

I actually tried a new-to-us recipe last week: Beef Ramen bowls.  I used ground vegan/plant based "beef" called Beyond Meat. It was delicious. I tweaked the recipe a bit and added in chopped broccoli besides the onions and peppers. 

For last evening's dinner I made "Pulled Pork" with jackfruit to replace the pork and served it in sesame buns with broccoli slaw, steamed carrots/peas/cauliflower, and quinoa-flaxseed chips. Easy Monday menu! 

Tomorrow evening I'm making stuffed peppers with the Beyond Meat.  My husband really likes those.  

Thursday I'll be at a catered dinner for all small  group leaders at church, so Dave will  be on his own. 

Tonight's menu is potato salad, grilled pork for Dave, grilled chicken for me, and steamed green beans. 

4. Who will you spend time with this week?

Besides my husband in the evenings, I have my last book group discussion here tonight; tomorrow I will be with other hikers who signed up for a local hike I'm leading in the morning; Thursday will be spent with my youngest daughter at a local lake for our first official 2026 Beach Day (she has Thursdays and Sundays off), Sunday was spent with oldest daughter as her boyfriend had a family thing; Saturday I will be out in my hometown area with a couple of  childhood friends. 

What does your week look like??  Any plans?