Favorite Things Friday

Today I will discuss my favorite music. I am not a huge music changes my life kinda person, but I do enjoy the often mood altering experience.

My likes and dislikes have no patterns and barely make sense. Its all over the place.

In highschool, I chose to listen to whatever was popular or what I could afford to buy on a tape single to play on my awesome dual cassette player. Of course my friends and I made copies for each other to cut down on cost. Friends help friends save money. The more money we save here the more money we have for gas on the weekends to drive around for hours to stalk the popular people in the Brookshires parking lot.  Didn't you know? Anyone who is anyone hangs out in the Brookshires parking lot.

In college, I listened to those songs that were clearly written for me to describe whatever relationship problems I was going through at the time.  The sad ballads, the empower me as a woman, the boys sucks, the I want you back, the songs that clearly described your life.  I would drive around on the back roads with the windows down singing my heart out and imagining that I sounded like Christina Aguilera.  I'm pretty sure that I do sound like her a little bit. :)

Lets also not forget the club songs.  I most certainly listened to the club songs.  I had to be prepared with my steller dance moves.  It defined me.  Did you also know that I was the DJ for Karaoke night?  Yep, I was.  I called myself "DJ Jazzy Jules" and my crowd said "What?!?"  My staples you ask? Coolio - Gansta's Paridise and Reba - Fancy.  Ask me to perform for you.......I may bust out with it.

Into my adulthood music kind of fell off the radar for me.  Nothing was appealing. I guess my old mature self just couldn't keep up with the new age music.  I don't get the Pit Bull, Beyonce annoys me, Gaga overwhelms me, blah blah blah.  It is here that I found Christian music.  Love it.  Seriously, Love it.

I can honestly say that this music has encouraged and kept my relationship with Jesus Christ on track.  Thank goodness!! I am human and a walking sin, so I need a constant back pocket companion.  This music keeps my relationship relevant and living every day.  If you are local...88.7 is the place to be.  Try it out and I promise it will make a difference in your daily life.

Now........I still bust out some old school every once in a while.  This morning I jammed to a little snoop dog, just to make sure I still had some skills.  I am happy to report.......I still have skills.  Mad skillz.

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Favorite Things Friday

I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back

Though none go with me, I still will follow, no turning back

The cross I'll carry till I see Jesus, no turning back

The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back

These are a few of my absolute favorite words in the world. As a child, this hymn was sang often at my grandmothers church and in her home. It was one of her favorites and I can still hear her voice singing around the house. I sing this to my son every night before bed and then I pray for him.

I am incredibly blessed to have these moments each night that cradle so many important things of my life.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Favorite Things Friday

Paul Michaels. One of THE best stores in the world. Well, according to my limited knowledge. It is so beautiful and so inspiring and a wonderful experience. It easily takes 30 minutes just to browse the store. I want almost everything I see.




























Scrumptious. I instantly insist on redecorating my entire house.

If I had to name the very top favorite things in my life....apple strudle circle e candle would most certainly make the list. Apple strudle is the.best.candle.ever.period. I love it so much, I can hardly stand it. The first burn of the fall season is amazing. Immediately I am in a great mood. Immediately.



2 parties tomorrow so resting up!!

Favorite Things Friday

Today is my birthday eve and you would think that I would include my birthday in a favorite things post, right? Nope. It's not one of my favorite things. Unless I start turning YOUNGER its just another day.



For those of you who have known me a while, this may come as a shock. Many moons ago, I spent the week of September 7th thinking I was Queen of all those before me.  I rocked out with a new outfit, reminded people of the important countdown, and seriously felt as if it were the most important day of the year.












Layers of maturity later, I have stepped down from my high horse and realized that for me, September 7th has a different meaning.  I have had a couple of years that on this date, I was going through some really rough times.  They were out of my control and sometimes life just doesn't care that its your birthday!! The rough times kind of took the wind out of my celebration sail and turned Septmeber 7th into a day of memories.

THIS is my Friday Favorite.....



This knock out of a woman is my grandmother Mama-Betty.  Every single year before she passed away SHE made my birthday special. 

I am 1 of 3 first cousins on her side and we all have birthdays within a month of each other.  Every year we would have a family birthday party at my grandparents house to celebrate.  My cousin and I would share a chocolate cake and my sister had her own white cake.  I can still feel the excitement of looking forward to this day.  Whats crazy is that I do not have a single memory of my "regular" birthday parties.  The ones you had a McDonalds, Pizza Hut, or the park.  Not one single memory.  I only remember the birthday parties with my family.






As I got older and distance would not allow the cousins to get together for a birthday party, Mama-Betty still made sure that she made me feel special on this day.  She would drive her Lincoln town car to my college apartment with a birthday cake in hand.  A birthday cake complete with frosted roses (my favorite part) and the cursive words that read "Happy Birthday Julie".  The cakes she served were always THE BEST.  My friends new she would deliver, so they always made sure to be available to help me eat it!!

So now, my birthday no longer means "What am I getting" or "Where is my cake", but instead my time to reflect and remember all of the special memories that Mama-Betty created for me.  This is why I smile on September 7th.  Not because I have survived one more year, but because I can still feel the warmth of her smile and hear her voice saying "Happy Birthday".

Favorite Things Friday

Here are a few of my favorite things.

Sonic diet coke. Happy hour only




Coffee with cream. 1 cup a day. This is what gets me out of bed at 430 am!



My new camera I'm trying to learn to use



My bible app. I listen every morning while getting ready. Its great for an audio learner



My stockpiles. :)






Have a good weekend!!

Favorite Things Friday

Here are a few of my favorite things

Princess parties



Big boxes






Baby belly



Coupon resets



Dinner tonight.....

Found this maranara meat sauce over pasta packaged meal marked down at wal-mart.



Added some carrots, celery, onions, garlic, pepper, italian seasoning



Topped with cheese



It was a good little quick one dish dinner. It wasnt the healthiest or anything spectacular, but it was pretty good. D and RL enjoyed it. Of course, it doesnt fit into my low carb plan so spinach for me :)

Favorite Things Friday

Here are a few of my favorite things from san antonio.



I found this in my sisters cabinet. It's beautiful and inspires me to have a tea party. I also want to wear a fancy hat.



If you ever visit san antonio, it is an absolutely MUST that you stop by the Magnolia Pancake Haus to taste the incredible buttermilk pancakes. If the thought "pancakes are pancakes" entered your mind, you are not alone. I thought the same. Then I took my first bite and I realized that not all pancakes are created equal or even similiar. These are amazing!!!!






Obviously these precious babies top my favorite things list. I am soaking up every minute I have with them!

Learning new things

I am so excited to be in san antonio visiting with my sis and her baby boy john as well as mom, brother n law, and nephew john. I brought Ruddick with me and he did great on his first flight ever!! He slept through most of the time!!

I am learning so many new things while visiting. I love to inspect my friends and families homes. Not in a judgy way but in a desire to search for new ideas kind of way. Some friends know this about me and encourage me in a walk through their home. Some even get offended if I dont take notice of something they are especially proud of. For my more sensitive friends, I make my observations in secret. No need to risk a friendship due to my constant curiosity.

So let's move on to some new things I've learned.

Groovebook


This is an app that makes 100 of your moble pictures into a book each month! For 2.99 a month, I am so excited to have a rolling record of my kids activities with such ease.

Learning colors


My 2 year old nephew is a genius! I'm teaching him to say so himself! So, my sis must be doing something right, right? Therefore, I'm taking notes. Here are her Colored circles in the kitchen as a constant and fun reminder when learning colors.

New blogs:

Mix match mama



Plain chicken



And my child can now push up all the way!



Thats all for now, but I still have another day to learn!