Mid-January Faves

 

Here it is Friday again and the mid-way mark through January has passed us......wow....this month that I usually dread is going by so quickly!  

I'm pausing today to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the past week.  Susanne is our host and she keeps us in the "being thankful" mode all year long.  I love looking back at the week and choosing 5 blessings that made me smile.  

canvas of Lake George and the Tongue Mountain Range
from  the summit of Fifth Peak Mt
Eastern Adirondacks
Spring 2021

• CANVAS COMPLETE!! I went on a mountain climb with a local hiking group led by one of my work colleagues last April and it was a small mountain that I had never hiked up before.  The view from the top was wonderful so I snapped the above pic.  Earlier this month, Sn@pfish was having a sale on their pics to canvas...a 65% off sale! So I uploaded this pic, and made the canvas to go in our new office/work-out room.  (it's a lake/ocean theme).  Oddly, in this photo above, the wall looks beige!  It is not....the paint on the walls is actually called Moonsail and it is a mix of blue and grey.  It's like the sky at twilight.  Anyways, the canvas represents Lake George in Spring.  We now have a canvas for Autumn (Long Lake/Central Adirondacks), this new one for  Spring and a watercolor depicting Summer on Cape Cod. I'm still trying to decide which photo to use and which lake....to represent Winter. I'm thankful this canvas is complete and the sale certainly made me smile!

Living room couch with Winter and Valentine's pillows

a touch of love for the piano in the living room

• NEW DECOR! I had put away all of the Christmas decor a few weeks ago and still have out a couple of items that are "winter" related (like the candle wreath pictured above) but wanted to get out Valentine's decor while I had the 3 day weekend.  I don't have a lot of Valentine-themed items.....but I have this pretty cream candle that has a scent of Cranberry Cinnamon (Xmas gift from my sister Jill) and this little sign I bought from H*bby L*bby a few years ago.  A couple of heart wreaths for living room wall and kitchen window and a couple of hanging hearts for family room. That's about it although I have a few towels with hearts on them and I won a raffle my niece was holding and it's a Valentine themed door wreath for the front door.  Decorating my home is something I'm thankful I can do. 

• PRAYER SUPPORT:  I'm so thankful for praying friends and family.  Claire (our youngest..the one who still lives at home) tested positive for Covid on Sat.  She started by feeling super tired on Thursday evening but she figured it's because she's been working long days at St@rbucks.  Well, Friday morning she  had a slight fever and swollen tonsils.  Then the bronchial cough set in so Dave went over to her employer to pick up a rapid test that they  give to all employees. We all stayed inside for the required 5 days and thankfully she started feeling much better by Tuesday afternoon and can return to work later today as she is vaccinated.  Because she was positive I had to report it to my boss and because I'm vaccinated I could go to work Tuesday unless I developed symptoms.  Thankfully I didn't!  My small group was praying for us as well as 2 of my sisters and our pastor's wife.  I can't imagine my life without the power of praying friends. and what really made me smile was a text from our pastor's wife yesterday while I was at work, asking how Claire was doing and that they were praying for her and hoping Dave and I were ok. (so far so good for us) 

• POWER WALKING!  Wednesday, after work and running 2 errands, I had time to get my sneakers on and hit the pavement for a good power walk.  The temp had climbed up to 37 degrees F and it was partly sunny with a pretty sky.  I only saw 2 other people out walking in my neighborhood but it was so mild I ended up power walking at a very fast pace for 1.4 miles.  It felt so good!! Fresh air and that little bit of snow made my heart happy.  I'm thankful for the 4 seasons and for days I can walk outdoors.

• 
  READING  AND RELAXATION:  Because our daughter tested positive for Covid, we cancelled our going out to the small group leadership dinner and stayed home to order from our fave quesadilla place via Grub Hub.  Boy am I thankful for that app and for the drivers.  I tipped him well.  Claire ate isolated in her room of course so Dave and I had a "Date Night" on the family room couch with Rum and Cokes, our food, and this cute Netflix romantic comedy.  Then Saturday we cancelled our dinner company (Friends from church were supposed to come to a Roasted Chicken/All American dinner...they are Indian and we wanted to expose them to some American staples).  We ended up eating the food ourselves...Claire was only in the mood for soup due to her swollen tonsils...and we spent the evening catching up on some reading. Sunday we didn't go to church so watched it live online at 9 am. Then we spent most of the day getting caught up on some housework and reading.  Monday was a repeat of Sunday minus the church service except I added in a cardio workout I like via You Tube.  I'm so thankful for times we are forced to rest. I'm also thankful that by Wednesday afternoon, our daughter was starting to feel much better with less coughing. Thankful for that vaccine!  The symptoms could have been a LOT worse. 

That wraps up the week of Faves for me. 

Stay warm this weekend...it's feeling like a real winter here this week and we even got about 4 inches of snow to prove it!!

HAPPY WEEKEND!