"Even when the rainbow seems to pass right by me....I'm still finding Gold in the clouds....."

17 December 2021

Mid December Faves

Here we are at mid-December and Friday!  I took today off to do some baking and cleaning for our extended Family Gift Exchange tomorrow that Dave and I are hosting.  But for now, I'm pausing to reflect back on the week and give thanks for FIVE of my FAVE moments/people/things that God brought into my life.  I do this with other bloggers and we link up at Susanne's site. 


 
Scarborough's 
Latham NY
image courtesy of scarborough's website

Blueberry Cosmo 

CELEBRATIONS!  My close friend Lynn and I have December birthdays and for the last 10 years or so, we have celebrated by going out to breakfast, lunch or dinner.  We chose dinner at this place in town and oh my goodness my crispy orange chicken was amazing as was the blueberry cosmo cocktail I splurged on.  We followed up dinner with a piece of carrot cake (Lynn) and fudge cake (me).  I'm not a cake person but I did eat about half of it.  I'm thankful we had such a nice Friday evening out....and then......my husband took me out to breakfast Saturday morning for yummy French toast, to our fave local diner.  We had good conversation and then saw a former student of mine, who is now 11 (I had him when he was 5), and his family and we stopped to chat with them a bit.  I'm thankful for celebrations and time spent with my husband and friend.




  • GIRLS NIGHT!  Saturday evening, after a day of chores and baking, Claire and I headed over to Courtney's apartment and had our "girls night".  We ordered take out from the same diner mentioned above and watched a Christmas movie we all love, The Grinch with Jim Carrey.  Courtney, my oldest girl, is so much like me when it comes to Christmas.  We just love it and she has started to decorate her apartment so nicely.  I'm thankful we could spend Saturday evening with her. 

Courtney's dining area to the right
(she's currently repainting the table and chairs)
and her artist area to the left of the tree......

the "living room" area of her apartment


  • POSITIVE ANSWER TO PRAYER!  Tuesday morning found my husband going with our oldest girl to a new-to-us autobody shop as our regular one cannot fit her in until the last week of December (to fix the car from her accident 2 weeks ago).  The body shop guy gave her the estimate and within a couple of hours called Dave saying the parts would be in by the weekend and they can work on her car next week!!  This is a HUGE answer to prayer as many of my friends who have had car issues this past autumn, haven't been able to get in right away nor get the parts due to shipping issues.  I give God thanks for this quick positive answer to prayer that God has done for us. 

Town of Colonie bike/walking path
North Colonie, NY

  • REFRESHING WALKS AND GAME NIGHTS: We have had such an amazing autumn here in the Northeast...and even though Winter officially begins on Tuesday the 21st, we are still having very mild weather with sunshine and temps up to 60 yesterday!  All week I have been able to get to our two town parks to power walk/jog.  The fresh air after work gives me a lot more energy to tackle late day chores and dinner. Also, we have been enjoying Family Game Nights this week with our youngest daughter.  She actually asked us if we could play this game (pictured below) that she used to have trouble with when she was younger and now that she has more knowledge and experiences, she's willing to play.  It's one of our fave board games. I'm thankful we've had a week of fresh air and fellowship with each other.  We are savoring the simple things as we head into a busy weekend and week ahead. 
  • image courtesy of boardgamegeek website


  • POWERFUL MOVIE:  On Sunday afternoon, I was finishing up our Christmas cards for long distance family and friends who aren't on social media.  While I was filling out the addresses, I watched a very powerful movie with an actress I don't typically care for as some of her movies have always seemed really "ditzy" or just "dippy" to me.  This one is by far her best performance.  It's deep, gritty, sad, powerful.  I highly recommend it.  You can view it on Netflix.  I'm thankful I saw it because it's truly a remarkable story. I wasn't expecting the twist. 
The Unforgivable
Movie on Netflix
That wraps it up for me.
I hope you enjoy a restful weekend as we head into the week leading up to the celebration of our Savior's birth.



6 comments:

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Faith. I think we will look up that movie on Netflix and watch it this weekend. So glad you had such a nice birthday and were able to get together with your friend. Girls night with your daughters sounds like so much fun. So glad you could all get together. I am glad you have today off. This is my final school day for the year. I am now off until 2022! Have a great weekend and see you again soon!

a spirit of simplicity said...

That restaurant looks so cozy and welcoming and the blueberry cosmo looks delicious! I'm glad your daughter is able to get her car repaired in a timely manner. How fun to have a girl's night for watching Christmas movies. I think I may see if I can get my girls together to do something like that in the new year. I know my oldest daughter loves to entertain and my younger daughter would like a night out away from the children if she can manage it.

Susanne said...

It sounds like your week was filled with love and celebrations. So fun. Praise God the car is getting fixed in reasonable time. We are having horrendous shipping issues here too especially with all the flooding that occurred on the west coast and trucks can't get through hiways in BC. We loved that game too and will probably play it when the kids are here. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Barbara Harper said...

Belated happy birthday! What nice celebrations! Love the girls' night out. That's wonderful that the car shop could get Claire's car done in such a timely manner. I love game nights. I have seen that last movie advertised but haven't looked into it yet.

Happy Christmas to you and your family!

Willow said...

What fun to spend an evening with your friend to celebrate your birthdays. In fact, your whole week sounds wonderful, especially the girls night.
Good news on getting the car fixed. My daughter is having washer/dryer issues. Hopefully, we can get repairs done BEFORE the new year.
Isn't it fun to run in to a former student?
Merry Christmas week to you!

Wendy said...

Sounds like a good week and good news about getting the car fixed. I shall have to check out that film but probably not until after Christmas now.