Friends and Family Faves

It's time for the Friday Fave Fives!

Linking up with other friends over at Susanne's to share our five favorite blessings from God this past week.

Mine all center around good friends and my family.  I love summer because it's a time to relax a little more, spend time with friends for longer periods due to not working, and just kicking back and trying new things, visiting new places.

What did you like about this summer week?

 How about joining in with us.......

MY FIVE FAVES

• HIKING!  Yes, I spent another Saturday hiking. This time it was in the deep woods with my good friend and neighbor, Melissa. Oh.my.goodness. We THOUGHT we were hiking a 6 mile hike. It was supposed to be 3 miles in to the pond you see below. Along the trail were 3 ponds. About a mile to each pond along the trail. NOT! We actually hiked a little over 8 miles. This was just after the previous Saturday hike with my husband up and down a 7.8 mile mountain! So....this past week I totaled 15.8 miles of hiking in the Adirondacks. In mosquito-laden areas. On hot and humid days. We were completely exhausted when we finally got out of the woods at 6 pm. We started on the trail at a little before 10 a.m. We were in the Lake George Wilderness Region, about 30 minutes north of the village. And it was pretty remote. We even had to bushwhack the last part of the trail. I was NOT amused. I don't do bushwhacking!! Thank God there were 2 young guys who came along and cleared part of the way for us.  At 2 different times we were hiking in the rain but it was a light mist and not bad. In fact, it felt good on our sweaty skin. I am now done hiking until the end of August. I just can't take the bugs in July anymore nor the hot temperatures. BUT...YES...it was worth it to see this beautiful remote pond with the gorgeous water and to spend the time with my neighbor. I thank God for the blessing of His Creation and for friends to enjoy it with!

Fishbrook Pond
in the Black Mountain Region
Eastern Adirondack Mountains

• BIKING!  Yes....I went biking one evening this week even though my body wanted to just lie down and veg.  My youngest really wanted to ride so I went with her throughout our neighborhood and across the road to the farm area where a new development is starting. Sometimes we like to watch the horses graze but they weren't out that evening. It was so much fun chatting with my ballerina and getting that cool evening air. We've had perfect summer weather this week (except yesterday and today with the high humidity.) I LOVED the nights we could sleep with the AC off and the windows open. The cooler temps made for awesome biking conditions.  I thank God my 13 year old still likes to bike with her mama!

Claire in 2011

• BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!  Our oldest daughter turned 19 this past week. Omgoodness, how time flies. I reminded her this is the last year of being a teen. I think she's kind of happy about that!  We had told her she could choose any restaurant in the Capital Region to go to for her birthday dinner. And you know what? She said all she wanted was my specialty chicken pasta salad and a cake!  And SHE wanted to be the one to do the frosting. I was touched that she wanted ME to cook for her birthday dinner. Especially because we live near so many of her fave eating places.  The gifts were a hit too. Claire had bought her a really nice necklace and earring set. A very artsy set for our art girl.  And Dave and I bought her a 4 cup coffeemaker for her dorm room, with a bag of her fave brand. I also gave her this fun shower gel. My love language is Gifts, as is hers so our love tanks were pretty full the other night!  I thank God for allowing me to have this daughter in my life.

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Courtney is 19!!

• COFFEE WITH FRIEND!  One morning this week, I was looking at Facebook and noticed a status from my friend who is visiting the area from Florida. She used to be part of the small group I lead and she moved last summer.  She was looking to do coffee with someone so I texted back and invited her over. It was awesome! I had lots to do, but it felt right to be hospitable. We were able to catch up with each other, chatting about all kinds of things going on in our lives. I love having coffee with friends and reconnecting.  I am so thankful for my friend Amy and being reconnected. AND..she and her boys can come to our beach bbq next week!

• TEA TIME! A new establishment just opened about 2 months ago in our town. It's called The Tailored Tea and is owned/operated by a teacher who just retired from our high school. (check out the link and browse around!) Yesterday my friends Carla and Lynn met me there for an early evening tea-time. (They close at 7 pm). This was supposed to be a small group event but everyone started cancelling! We still had fun with just the 3 of us. And the food, service and raspberry iced tea was absolutely delightful! I had the salad special of the day (greens, apple slices, walnuts, and goat cheese) with the savory scone of the day (ham, bacon, chives, and cheddar cheese). It was delicious and made for a perfect light dinner on a hot summer evening.  It's a charming place and perfect for a gathering. Yesterday was my spiritual birthday....37 years old in Christ and I am so thankful I had my 2 closest friends to celebrate with.

The Tailored Tea Cafe
image taken from thetailoredtea.com

So those are just a few faves from the week.

God is good..........I love how He gives us special moments with family and friends.  Sometimes it is hard to just choose 5!  I am also going to give a shout out to my husband. He finished repairing/replacing our half bathroom ceiling, added a new vent, and repainted. We also removed the panes in our windows to get rid of the "colonial" look. I liked it but we were having trouble with the panes on almost all the windows.  It is much easier to clean the glass now! 

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into how God gives us special moments in our week.  Look for them in your life and share! I love reading your comments!

ENJOY THE WEEKEND!