Rekindling Moments: July

July seriously flew by!! But many blessings came from these 31 days.

1 - bible study reunion dinner and laughter over Miguels white sauce
2 - a little pool time with C
3 - a good day's sleep
4 - fireworks from the bed of J's truck with blankets and pillows, Carly, J, and our four pups
5 - morning walk through Coronado with my sister
6 - encouragement from my Ali over Panera
7 - Coronado with our first married friends and favorite family, the Ritters
8 - Panera with Lindsey at work
9 - Target with Carly after a 14 hour night shift/meeting and buying a tanktop I already have... oops :)
10 - Mom's birthday! Cinnabons and Claim Jumper :) {and I got to sneak a visit to the Ritters in there too... Elle's first carousel ride... priceless!}
11 - chicken salad sandwiches with and made by my lovely sister, Chef Carly
12 - grace for the work night
13 - Get-healthy day: gym memberships, laying out, and J's first official homemade green smoothie (we think we may need to start a bit sweeter before going all-out-green!)
14 - Pat and Oscar's O's American Kitchen and frozen yogurt, and pictures in the living room with J
15 - back to the gym... thankful for the ability to exercise... and the strawberry banana smoothie I made afterward!
16 - new blooms outside
17 - helping one of our mommies hold her tiny twins together for the first time
18 - Chik Fil A and creme brulee while playing with Evie and chatting with Dwain and Jaclyn
19 - kicking off an ENTIRE weekend off with J with dinner and meaningful conversation with Jessi and Jeremiah
20 - great conversation with J about the sermon at church tonight after quesadillas with Chris and Katie {three nights in a row with friends - holla!}
21 - late night of mexican food with Sam, Valinda, Daryl and Valerie - they're here for a visit!
22 - photo shoots and crafting fun with Lindz
23 - giving Katie a hug as she started her first day of work on my unit... excited to work with her!
24 - starting and finishing a book.... can't remember the last time I did that in one day. Let alone, at all.
25 - walking through Balboa Park with my sweet sister in law, brother in law, and her fam, and then barbequin' it up at the McGovern's
26 - breakfast of champions and matching nail polish
27 - the peach valencia orange refresher I was craving that J brought me at 2200 to work!
28 - meeting my sweet preceptee
29 - laughing through report
30 - walking with Jaclyn around the beautiful Santee lakes and reaching 10,000 steps on my fitbit
31 - Panera and a good chat with Lindsey after sharing 'Letters from Juliette' at our First Touch meeting

Rekindling Moments: June

June gloom? What's that?
These are the moments of my days...

1 - J's "happy June" song and dance
2 -  counting steps with the girls at work and reaching 10,000 steps on my fitbit!
3 - my husband being encouraged by his friends
4 - getting off work and walking outside on a cloudy cool morning
5 - good day's sleep
6 - harvest ranch sandwiches and an amazing three hour conversation with Katie
7 - sweet unexpected relaxing afternoon outside with my mother in law and puppies
8 - late night showers in our white freshly resurfaced bathtubs
9 - sweet naptime with my husband
10 - J grocery shopping for me after work, making dinner, and cleaning up before I went to work
11 - putting our pretty new-looking bathrooms back together
12 - three step-down kids and working with Lindsey
13 - the phone call from Katie to say we soon get to work together
14 - brief God-like understanding of the Scriptures
15 - real estate prospects
16 - sending texts and making calls and visits to celebrate Father's Day and looking forward to the day when we celebrate J as a father [beyond a puppy daddy]
17 - toast with nutella reminding me of Italy - I've eaten almost an entire jar of nutella in like a week. #addicted
18 - an amazing day of sleep
19 - a cup of french vanilla coffee from our coffee machine at work
20 - house hunting through Lakeside with Grandma
21 - J telling me "put them in the freezer" about the chocolates we picked up in Del Mar with friends tonight - love that he's come to my side on the cold chocolate thing
22 - snuggling with Baker while braving the latest 007 movie
23 - getting our families together to celebrate my J's 28th birthday
24 - Panera with and encouragement from my amazing friend at work, and just the right words from my amazing husband
25 - grace undeserved
26 - tea time with my favorites, youtube brainstorming, chinese food and birthday celebrating
27 - clean house, afternoon in Coronado watching Em and Bakes frolic in the ocean and then time with the Lord on the grass overlooking San Diego
28 - appreciating my in laws on their 39th wedding anniversary
29 - beautifully yummy sugar cookies and the sweetest card on our doorstep from my mom
30 - two nights in a row working with Lindsey

God is so good. I am so thankful.
I will choose joy.

Rekindling Moments: April

So then I missed March, but here are my April moments!

I missed May too... but am working on June and am planning on finishing out this year strong. :)

So, the best of my April days:

1 - reflecting on last week's adventures in Italy through unpacking
2 - hot tea, a blanket, and a season of "Hawthorne." #sicky
3 - God challenging my thinking while studying the Psalms
4 - snuggling with J
5 - feeling better
6 - amazing morning sky
7 - hubby bringing me fro yo before work
8 - seven solid hours of sleep in the middle of a series of shifts
9 - encouraging text from a friend
10 - dinner and life giving conversation with Chris and Katie
11 - knowing without a doubt God is Real in watching my grandpa die with my loved ones
12 - spending the day with mom and grandma
13 - a much needed date night with my love and late night pillow talk
14 - recognizing my need for Jesus
15 - an evening chatting with Grandma and J in Grandma's living room
16 - sweet hugs from my J
17 - spending an entire afternoon listening to my grandma, mom, and uncles reminisce and laugh over stories growing up with Grandpa
18 - lunch and sweet conversation with Jessi
19 - snuggling precious kiddos at work
20 - not having to work my usual Saturday
21 - sweet prayer time lifting up Pastor Garlow upon hearing of the loss of his beloved wife
22 - watching J enjoy getting ready for work
23 - encouraging texts
24 - a meeting with work friends and coffee after a long night
25 - time with Kelli over a much needed hair cut
26 - celebrating Sam's police academy graduation in WV from afar
27 - setting up Grandpa's picture table I put together and decorating the church for Grandpa's service tomorrow - love seeing a vision come together
28 - singing with my sister, even though I cried through it, and a hug from my J after four long days apart
29 - a sliver of normalcy going back to work
30 - two sweet snuggly puppies welcoming me home and sleeping all day with me

Rekindling Moments: February

Too bad it's June... not March 1st, which is when I had planned to post this! oops!!

I haven't done very well as keeping up with daily moments, but I wanted to post a couple months I had written before I slacked off. So this is out of order which messes with my organizational mind, but I think it's more important to document moments that I can remember. :)

So, here are my February best of my days:

1 - watersliding it with my cute husband and finishing off our underwater camera pics
2 - Dudley's bread galore and a little fudge shack stop on our way to our family cabin retreat, and games galore later that evening
3 - watching Emma, Baker, and Ava run/swim together on our lake walk
4 - listening to Disney classics on the piano in the lobby of our amazing hotel over ice cream cones with my love
5 - conquering not just one, but two 'roller coasters' at California Adventure... hello Goofy's Flight School and Cars ride!! {Goofys... not again. Cars? again :)}
6 - sleeping in and a day off at home with J
7 - celebrating Jessi's birthday with yummy lunch and great conversation
8 - sweet words from my sick hubby
9 - working together with a great group of nurses to care for sick little ones
10 - beautiful new white blooms on our trees outside
11 - nap time with no alarm clock
12 - Italy planning/puppy play date with sis
13 - booking our Florence and Cinque Terre hotels
14 - placed on-call for work and getting to spend valentines night with my best friend... even if i was sick
15 - getting to know new coworkers
16 - meeting and snuggling Brinkley, Mom's precious new golden/lab mix puppy
17 - lounging in the park on a sweet sunday afternoon
18 - working with Lindsey again
19 - a good daytime sleep between shifts on a rainy day
20 - falling asleep with a fire in the fireplace
21 - pay day! 
22 - giving Grandpa a hug ... time with Mom, Grandma, and Brinkley ... and an affirming conversation and walk with the pups and Katie through Balboa Park on a crisp sunshiney day
23 - coffee on the balcony with Carly and the pups
24 - church after work
25 - worship music in the car
26 - funny work conversations 
27 - reading an email about my mother in law battling a raccoon at Grandmama's house
28 - last night of work before a weekend off

Rekindling Moments: January

For the new year, I have decided to highlight a special/significant moment for every day.

Originally inspired by a friend, I believe this is such an important practice for everyone.

{This could get a little tricky, since I work nights and sometimes can't tell what day it is... but I will try}.

You try, too!

January

1 - planning our upcoming trip to Maui and dreaming about our next business venture over hot dogs and trader joes garlic fries with J

2 - sweatpants on clearance, a medium iced tea latte, and beginning a new study with the Lord

3 - 36 degrees waiting for me outside of work in the morning and getting an awesome deal on our hawaii hotel

4 - visiting one-week-old baby Joey and watching his mommy and daddy lovingly work together to be parents.

5 - being off work for an entire weekend with J and taking an afternoon nap

6 - waking up early on Sunday for homemade cinnamon rolls, and arming up and treking into Walmart with J and our list of items for our little business in hand... and coming away with little treasures. #walmartisstillcrazy

7 - dreaming of Italy travels with Carly on side-by-side treadmills

8 - amazon boxes piled at my door 

(mostly for our business but I did find a curling iron and good book hidden in there!)

9 - making Italy dreams a reality by booking plane tickets for our March sister voyage

10 - watching Carly get excited with me about Italy and make us a tentative itinerary

11 - meals with special people: celebratory coffee after applying for passports with mom and sister, heartfelt conversation over lunch with Jessi and lots of laughter over dinner with Dwain, Jaclyn, and baby Evie

12 - being kidnapped by my husband to go for coffee

13 - six hours of uninterrupted daytime sleep

14 - J home in time to share pizza with him before I headed off to work

15 - celebrating Steve's birthday the Irish way

16 - having time at work to snuggle little ones who needed snuggling

17 - getting off work in the morning knowing I am off for a week, and celebrating by having sister dye my hair {don't worry -- i managed to pick the exact same color as my hair color so you can't tell at all}

18 - breakthroughs with the Lord through psalm 123 and acts 3

19 - puppy pile in the backseat of the car on the way home from a cousin lake walk and a kind walmart returns employee after deciding to postpone the business for a bit

20 - hearing my grandma tell me with confidence that she trusts the Lord

21 - watching emma, baker, and ava run in circles around a communal bush

22 - heartfelt prayer time with the Lord for my children

23 - baby snuggles with Joey and Evie

24 - threat of rain and a few [sparse] raindrops on my windshield

25 - a surprise work cancel on a rainy friday night

26 - celebrating five years of marriage with my husband

27 - much needed lazy day home together with a week of vacation ahead of us

28 - a clean clean refrigerator and a clean clean house... ready for vacation!

29 - arriving in beautiful Maui and turning one vacation into three

30 - sunny day on the water with my love ... 

lying out, pool chats, ice cream cones galore, and barefoot beach walks

31 - Maui reunion with one of the most influential people in my life, my high school dteam leader Amy and her husband Brandon who married us