3 THINGS ~ MAY

Eek, this one has me so excited because I feel like it’s the kick off to summer. My dear and precious friend, Laura Horton from the Horton Family Blog has come up with the best me questions for her 3 Things, Write with Me series!

1. If April Showers bring May Flowers, what 3 kinds of flowers are you planting this Spring?
If you know me at all, you know I am totally crazy about my posies and inherited my green thumb from my sweet mom. You know I go to at least half a dozen greenhouses every year and plant many varieties of flowers. My Ultimate favorite every single year are Bubble Gum Petunias. They get huge, spread out fabulously, you do not have to dead them in the pink shade is absolutely amazing!

Here are some of mine from last year by the pool, I had some in the ground and in Pots, it was still early I the year and they got much bigger.

Here they are at our old house in railing boxes and pots. Our old neighbors just texted me the other day and said how much they miss looking over at the beautiful bubblegum petunias. 

 Here is mom and I in a town about an hour and a half south of us that have the biggest bubblegum petunias we’ve ever seen. This is just one pot of about 200 that the town plants every year.

I also love geraniums and last year I got a beautiful red and pink shade to go in one of the window boxes on our pool shed. This year I got a couple dozen of that variety to plant in various places. They are called Calliope medium Crimson flame.

Another favorite is Verbena, they get huge and do so good. I got several varieties this year and these are some of mine from last year at their peak. I love hibiscus too

I love hibiscus too! 

And Ferns and Sweet Potato Vine too...

These are Mom's Impaitents, still going mid-September last year! 

2. Cinco de Mayo. End of the School Year. A Long Memorial Weekend. How are you celebrating the kick off to Summer?

While we celebrate and love all of these, the best way for us to kick off summer is Memorial Day weekend. Usually, Mr. Nine and I do this alone because it often falls around our anniversary and we always go to either a beer and brats festival in Michigan or sometimes we take a long weekend in Chicago. This year, we will most likely just be hanging by the pool with the boys as we have our last one graduating this year. That will be a true kick off as we will have no more in regular school but Eek, three in college in the fall!

Michigan Beer and Brat Festival  

LOVE hanging with my guys poolside

3. What 3 qualities make a great mom? Or show us a picture of you and your mom and tell us why she is so special to you.

It is no secret how wonderful my mom is. In fact, I just mentioned her on Friday and have often shared her and talked about her on the blog. She is just the cutest and most beautiful inside and out! Her beauty, grace and precious heart touch everything she does and everyone she knows. She loves her family so much and does whatever she can to help us when in need. She is fun and spunky and loves life! A big part of the woman and mother I am today is because of her and the values and love she has instilled in me. I am the luckiest girl to call her mom and I don’t know what I would do without her!

1974..look how beautiful mom's hair was.

1990....look how BIG with our hair was, lol.

Yep, we like to toast once again. 

Yesterday, before Brunch

And because my sweet photog is a son of mine and loving the dress and sneakers look..always...Took these on the windiest day yet this Spring..may have lost my hat a couple times, lol! LOVE this Blooming Jelly line!

BUY DRESS HERE // HAT HERE & HERE // SHOES HERE & HERE

A very Happy Week to you all!

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xoxo

3 THINGS...APRIL

My Precious Laura from The Horton Family has done it again!! She has created the best Q&A to get your juices flowing. I love that this one is geared towards Spring! Always excited to see what she comes up with! Let’s get right to it! 

1. What 3 Things are on your Spring Bucket List?

~Enjoy a fabulous Birthday Week....CHECK...it was the best thanks to many of you!

~A TRIP to beat the “Spring is not quite here despite what the calendar says” blues!....Coming UP

~Go to the local Greenhouses with mom to pick out our poises and then and then get digging in the dirt....Coming Up 

Past Greenhouse love!

2. Spring Cleaning, Spring Froward, or Spring Break. Which is your favorite and why?

~Hands down Spring Break! Even if we don’t go anywhere, I always relished the down time when the kids were in school. Spring Break vacations used to be together as a family but now college boys and HS boy are off on their own gig. So, Mr. Nine and I get outta dodge if we can. Cayman's I'm coming for ya soon!

3. What 3 Dishes will be on your Easter Menu? 

Well I’m a little sad to say we won’t get to go to Easter Dinner at mom's as we will be traveling but dinner will ALWAYS include her hash brown casserole, Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Recipe HERE) and Deviled Eggs, which she will still make for us when all the boys are home for the summer! Deviled eggs are her most requested item..never had better!! 

Easter Dress

And I had to include the dress I "would" be wearing for Easter and Love it so much I will save it for another sunny day. You all loved this one on Insta, another JCPenny's find and under $40!!! It would be perfect for a wedding too. So flattering and the coral color has my heart! 

BUY DRESS HERE (UNDER $40) // 

EARRINGS HERE // Similar Necklace HERE

HAVE THE BEST DAY SWEET LOVES!!!

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xoxo

3 THINGS ~ MARCH

I get so excited to see what Laura comes up with each month for her 3 Things Write with Me series. The prompts are so spectacular and relatable so let’s get right to it! And I hope if you're not joining us today, head over to Laura's Blog today to not only check out her answers, but to see what fabulous April questions are in store.

1. Do You Believe in Luck? Why or Why Not? Absolutely I do believe in luck! The unfortunate thing is, it just seems to strike some people more than others. I feel I’m kind of middle the road, I’m lucky in life and have won a few contests over the years. In fact, one time I won $50 from scratch off tickets twice in one week. However, let me tell you about a lady who was extremely lucky in a certain area and how extremely lucky we were to know her! As you may know, my beautiful grandmother passed away about three years ago. Shortly before she passed, my aunt found all these four-leaf clover’s pressed into her Bible. I don’t know if you know this, and I’m attaching it here, but the odds of finding a four-leaf clover Clover are 10,000 to 1. My grandma didn’t just find one, kids, she found 105 in her yard over the years! I feel it was the sweetest treasure to leave behind for us and a testament to how beautiful her heart was! After I originally wrote this, My Aunt sent me a photo of another 133 found in the Bible that she had inherited from Grandma!!! WOW!! 238 4-Leaf Clovers!!!

The jar my mom has filled with grandma's 105 four leaf clovers

The additional 133 in her Bible, look how tiny the bottom one is..precious!

My mom found this the other day and we truly believe this is 100% my sweet grandma!

2. What was your favorite thing about yesterday or today?

The best thing about today has not happened yet as I write this. The most beautiful friend and the sweetest kiddos are coming to my house today for lunch. Here’s the cool thing, we met on Instagram and live in neighboring towns! As I was scrolling through Instagram several months ago, I saw a box of donuts that are extremely popular in our area sitting on her lap and I was like are you from (insert the town where the donut shop it is) and lo and behold she was from my area. This girl is a rising Instagram star, is the leader of some fantastic giveaways and her style is spot on spectacular. If you’re not following her, head over to her Instagram and do. She is the absolute sweetest and I cannot wait to give her a big hug and talk life, our blogs and the gram!

3. Show us the last Picture you took and a Short description of it?

Well, it was these Lucky T-shirt pics! The weather is finally warming up enough to get more blog post pictures outside (occasionally). This was from our One sunny day last week. Now it’s just a matter of which T-shirt do I wear next Sunday on St. Patrick’s Day? The lucky one? Or the Shake Your Shamrocks?

BUY T-Shirt HERE // Earrings HERE // Sneakers  HERE // Skirt HERE & HERE // Similar Hat HERE //Similar Bead Bracelets HERE

MAY LUCK & LOVE Follow 
You wherever you may go! 

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xoxo

3 THINGS

Welcome to 3 Things Monday. When a bestie of yours announces she is starting a new series called “3 Things” and posting on the second Monday of each month, well, you can best bet I’ll be riding that train of goodness and fun. My dear Laura from The Horton Family has come up with the neatest prompts to really get you thinking about life, love and happiness. Won’t you join her in getting those juices flowing! I know I am excited to see what she comes up with each month! This girl is smart as a whip, funny as all get out and her creative mind is the bomb!! Here we go!

1. College Care Packages

Sending care packages to my college boys! You may remember the very special one I shared the first year they were in college called Pumpkin Spice Care Package. Well there was no way Valentine’s Day was going by without mama showing some love! Here is a tip for sending packages in cute boxes that you don’t have to buy. I know many of you my order from Bath and Body, well the boxes that Bath and Body products are shipped in are printed with the adorable blue and white signature gingham on the inside. All I have to do is add some stickers, packaging shred or tissue paper and it’s like opening a beautiful and fun box of goodness! And did you see the cute box decorating skills of the mentioned Laura on my Friday Favorites?

 

2. What Verse, Song or Quote inspires you in your current Situation?

I’m actually going to pick all three because it is quite often that verses, songs and quotes resonate with me and I can always find one to relate to what is going on in my life but these are my literal favorites of all time in each category.

VERSE

On the day I met my Mr. Nine, my wonderful prince charming, I had been given a Bible verse that morning. I folded it up and put it in my purse but kept thinking about it all day. How were I to have known, it was THE verse associated with him coming into my life. Psalm 40:2. I truly believe he was led by the hand of God to come into my life at a time when I was at my lowest. When I didn’t think I would climb out of the murky pit, this man was there to save me. I know we cannot rely on another person to save us but it wasn’t that, it was that our Lord and Savior was doing his magic to provide the light for me to finally see a bright future! To this day, I carry that folded up Bible verse in my wallet!

 Here, in one of our favorite places where we go every year..our condo in upper Michigan

QUOTE

Remember a few weeks ago, I talked about my goals for the year and one of them was to take my husband’s breath away? (HERE) Well, it’s not just him that takes my breath away, it is all the small joys of life. Magical moments that happen when you least expect it. So, this quote always resonates with me to look around you because the breath taking moments are everywhere! 

SONG

“You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban

Literally one of the most beautiful songs ever written and recorded. I cry every time I hear it. For me, it holds truth of what God and all the people I love, do for me. They Raise me up to be more than I can be. My husband, my boys, my mom, my friends and strangers who touch my heart and above all, our Lord and Savior. It is because of them, that I am strong and can conquer all. When I first started my job at the Hospital almost 20 years ago now, we had a college meeting, where our then CEO, said this song reminded him of all of us, that we, his colleges make him all that he can be. What a wonderful thing for an organization head to say. It was a loss when he left, but he left bits like that, that we carry into our lives long after we leave the organization. YOU all have the ability to Raise Others Up. Listen to the lyrics of this song today if you can. Go out there and soar, be strong.

3. The Quality I admire most in others is____?

Hands down the quality I admire most in people is Compassion! I feel like people who have a compassionate heart pretty much have it all together in the sense that they care about other people, they respect other people, they try to support and lift others up and care about the good of the entire world! A compassionate and giving heart is so to be admired especially in today’s age where selfishness, entitlement and mean spirits sometimes invade the good in our lives! I try to surround myself with people whose hearts offer 110% compassion!

My heart holds compassion for each one of you. 

May this day and Everyday bring you joys, big and small.

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xoxo

3 THINGS...THIS IS US EDITION

I am missing This Is Us! Don’t get me wrong, I love the Olympics but I get so excited for a Tuesday night cry fest. Who doesn’t need a good cry? The last 2 episodes had me crying the entire time! For those of you that aren’t into this show, this post may not mean much. However, for the 40 million that are, this show speaks to our hearts! #jackpearsonforever

Why? Why do we love this show so much? Is it because it is a program about happiness, family and good people? With much of what we see on television these days being about science fiction, crime dramas, or bad things, this show tells the story about a family who came together by chance, and yet it was meant to be. You know the kind of show that we "used to watch." The kind of show that is so rare to find these days.

According to Kristin Wynns, a clinical psychologist from North Carolina, 

"It is a refreshing reminder that for most of us, we have dysfunctional families, if not permanently, at least for a season. But even in the midst of dysfunction, there is love and growth."

Each episode gives us a deeper understanding of this family and the ties that bind them. It gives us meaning behind the universal truths regarding human relationships. As Kevin said to his nieces about his painting, “Life is full of color and we each get to come along and we add our own color to the painting”. All I can say is thank God for Doctor Katowski for bringing this incredible family together.   

In Honor of Kevin, Kate and Randall being called, “BIG THREE,” I thought it would be fun to do one of those "3 Things" Posts surrounding this show! If you’re a fan, feel free to play along and do this “This Is Us” 3 Things for your own. Feb. 27th can’t come fast enough for the next episode. 

3 THINGS THIS IS US EDITION

3 Favorite This Is Us Characters? 

*Jack

*Dr. K (Major Dad)
*Toby

3 Things (besides your people & pets) you would grab from your burning house?

*Scrapbooks

*Purse b/c who wants to hassle yet again with new Driver’s License, CC's, etc. 
*That's all I need

3 Favorite Slow Cooker foods? 

*Island Kielbasa RECIPE HERE

*Beef and Broccoli RECIPE HERE

*SlowCooker Beef Stew RECIPE HERE

3 Favorite TV Series of all Time?

*Parenthood

*Breaking Bad

*Sons of Anarchy

3 Go to TV Watching Snacks 

*M&M’s

*Microwave Pop Corn

*Thin stick pretzels

3 Favorite Sitcoms of all Time (in honor of Kevin playing “The Manny”)

*I Love Lucy

*Tie: The Middle/The Goldbergs
*Everybody Loves Raymond

HAPPY WEEK AHEAD MY PEOPLE...May the ties that bind keep you happy and strong, may you have a good cry now and then and may love surround you!

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xoxo