(OK, I’m coming back on here about four or so hours after putting up this post so that I can tell you that it turned out to be one of “My Favorite Comment-Sections EVER”! I’m not kidding. You guys are the world’s biggest blast. But, I’m now in the shopping mood again.)
Good Monday Morning, Sweet Things!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you were able to observe some Sabbath rest and be still for a few moments, knowing that He is God. I had an usually wonderful weekend with unexpected joys. For starters, this was a weekend off. That means I got to awaken slowly on Saturday with no plans whatsoever then had an impromptu call from Amanda saying that she had a few hours to hang out. Turned out Melissa did, too. (The joys of having her back are too many to count!) As we were trying to think of what we wanted to do (and were shopped out and grossed out at the thought), Amanda said, “Let’s go see Aunt Gay’s new apartment!” I’m hoping it won’t be long before you get to know my big sister here on the blog. She has a story that might hit those of us presently slogging around in faithlessness with a fresh bolt of lightening. Her boys (25 and 15) also headed over to her new place at the same time and the thought of us all being together was better than a bubbling plate of cheese enchiladas with chili gravy running all into the rice and beans. (Man, I hate that I just did that to myself.) The six of us were inseparable in the early years when my mom, our Queen of Everything, was still alive and in complete control. (I say that with great affection…and without deception.) I have almost as many pictures of my sister’s boys as I do my own girls. Then a whole lot of life happened and that’s a story for another time. We had a blast together Saturday and laughed our heads off, which has always been a Green (my maiden name) family trait. What we lacked in emotional health, we made up for in humor. As my older brother, Wayne, says, we all have a keen sense of the absurd. And I might add, we earned it.
If you only knew the whole story…but, then again, you could say the same thing to me. Some whole stories don’t need to be told in public but they do indeed need to be redeemed. (To me, the line is drawn where the glory to God and the good to the listeners profoundly exceeds the pain of the testimony. If the listener will likely be left with graphic visuals and oppressive thoughts or pervasive sadness, we need to refrain from telling it in detail. In those occasions, generalities are best. We don’t have to tell people everything to tell them an important something. We also have to be very sensitive to the other people – often family members – whose secrets are inadvertently told as we tells ours. These are HUGE issues that need to be worked through with great sensitivity. Mind you, I’m talking about audiences here. I’m not talking about counseling sessions. We do indeed need to find someone trustworthy and mature in the faith, with a gift for counsel, to hear our whole story.) All this to say, if you’re alive enough to read this blog, you’re story is not yet finished and you’ve got time for a really great turn in the narrative that leads to a brilliant finish. I know that for a fact.
OK, can you switch tracks really fast? I thought we’d do something fun today. I was thinking again yesterday while I was putting on my make up and getting ready for church how ticked I am that L’Oreal discontinued the mascara Melissa and I used to use. It was our favorite EVER and no other mascara does lashes like it did. It’s so annoying when that happens. And what a double whammy after my favorite pen got discontinued! Some of you remember that nail biter. No wonder it’s been such a hard year. (Of course, I’m being ridiculous. I don’t want to insult those of you going through tremendously hard times. Like many of you, last year actually was really rough but, oh, that it would have been over pens and mascaras.) I decided it would be fun today to share your favorite ___________ ever. By all means, don’t share something that’s been discontinued or you will dangle a plastic carrot in front of your Siestas. Beyond that, it can be anything! (Suitable to this blog, of course) It can be your favorite mascara. It can be your favorite book. It can be your favorite recipe. It can be your favorite meal. It can be your favorite memory. It can be your favorite song. Share ONE FAVORITE THING of yours (only 1!) with your Siestas today. It may mean that some of us find a new favorite something this very day.
Start it like this: My favorite (fill-in-your-blank) EVER is… (then, for crying out loud, tell us)
I think this is going to be fun. I’ll start with a really stupid one.
My favorite lip plumper EVER is Sally Hansen “Lip Inflation.” It’s dirt cheap and it feels like you’ve rubbed Tabasco all over your mouth. If it plumps like it hurts, move over Angelina.
What’s your favorite something, Siestas??
My favorite thing is when someone calls me just to say Hi and see how I’m doing. A random “friend thing” that doesn’t happen often these days…
My favorite place to live is Northeast Ohio. I love watching all the seasons change into the next and seeing the joy each one brings to my 3 young children. They enjoy running around in the warm Spring rains, playing in the sprinkler on hot Summer afternoons, the beautiful colorful leaves we see and smell as we hike together in the Fall, and of course the excitement the first falling snowflakes bring in the Winter as they anticipate sledding and building snowmen. I just love to stop the hustle and bustle of life and spend some time with them to enjoy God’s creation during each of the four seasons.
This Northwest Ohio gal smiled when I read your post! It’s nice for someone to appreciate living here. So many times I only hear negative things. Much of my family has moved South. I love it here, too!! 🙂
My favorite place to ever visit – Ireland. Especially Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare. In Ireland the greens are so green, the brooks just babble, I love the accents and the friendliness of the Irish. This was our trip of a lifetime. The lodge upgraded our standard room to a luxurious one… so for a night we were especially spoiled! We saw a double rainbow too. Rainbows so easily remind me of God’s promises.
My favorite song EVER ( for this season) is Stolen by Brandon Heath. I love the picture of God catching us like a thief in the night. Brandon also does point out that God never uses a lock or a key because we are free! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Have a blessed day! 😉
My favorite time of the day is when all the kids are home and tucked in bed. Then comes that wonderful first moment when I lay my head down on the sweet soft pillow. Nothing better!
My favorite book EVER (other than the Bible, of course) is Gone with the Wind… There’s something about Miss Scarlet in all her Southern belle tendencies that makes my heart feel good… Love, love, love it!
You’re the best, Beth. Your grasp of the ordinary things in life and how they relate to the supernatural make me smile on a cloudy day. Thanks!
Tazo awake(black)tea lattes. Better than coffee. Strong words, I know.
My favorite thing ever are my pets! They love you unconditionally no matter what – kind of like Christ. So we get a little heaven on earth! 🙂
This is my first post on here EVER, but I read the blog often! 🙂 I thought it was time to contribute! My best thing ever are these little confectionary wonders called “Cherry Blossoms”. I get them from my favorite bakery and they are little pink cakes with a wonderful, thick confectioners sugar icing! PS-Beth and Mellissa, you need to try a new mascara that came out by Maybelline called the “Falsies”. Its AMAZING!
My favorite ice cream is Mayfield Snow Cream. It taste just like snow cream!!
Excuse my ignorance please, but what is snow cream?
Snow Cream is made from real snow sugar and milk. The only thing good about snow. Except pictures of snow.
My favorite morning drink is hot tea with honey in it (local honey, so its delightful).
My favorite fattening food ever is a gooey, hot, bubblin’, taco dip full of beans, cream cheese, and spicey goodness. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
My favorite cleaning supply is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Seriously, IT CAN CLEAN ANYTHING. And with a 5 and 2 year old, that ‘claim’ has been tested with a plethora of messes 🙂
I just cleaned my kitchen with a Magic Eraser today! I love those things. Truly, they clean everything.
We couldn’t live without it in Kindergarten classrooms either! It’s a lifesaver!
My favorite marinate, we usually use it on steak, but it works well on chicken and pork. About 12 hours ahead of grilling, mix 1/4 cup dark molasses,
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. dry ginger
1 tsp. garlic powder
I mix it all in a ziplock bag and then put the steaks in it. All the seasonings may be adjusted according to personal taste.
Makes the BEST steak ever! And, we had grilled steaks last evening. Fit it in between the rain and hail.
Can’t wait for spring!
Sally, Columbus, OH
always looking for good marinades. Thank you, I wrote it down!
Oh my word, I HAVE to try this! Thanks for the recipe.
me too!
The best eye makeup remover ever is Mary Kay oil-free Eye Makeup Remover. It also removes the “all-day lipstick” by Cover Girl & others.
Ewwww, I love that stuff! Haven’t been able to buy Mary Kay for a long time! My budget is down to Cover Girl standards 🙂
I meant to do a frowny face, not a smiley face!!!
My favorite comfort food is my Mom’s chicken & spaghetti – YUM! I only get to go home a couple times a year, and she always fixes it for me. Can’t wait to go home this summer and have some 🙂
A swing in the garden and a cup of tea.
My favorite time…..bedtime prayers with my kids. My animal loving six year old has to pray for the caterpillar our dog ate last summer, the bee that stung him, and the baby frog that he caught but jumped out of the bucket he was trying to save it in! Every night he has to pray for all of them and the list keeps getting bigger all the time!
Sometimes I want to freeze time when he says “Jesus please forgive Boston for eating the caterpillar, he don’t know no better.”
That is SO precious! Write it down so that it will never go forgotten from generations to generations!
My favorite “God” moment was when my son was just a few days old… watching him in his crib thinking how much I loved him, about how I would still love him when he made mistakes and disappointed me. God spoke to my heart and said “My child, that is exactly the love I have for you.”… it was such a divine picture of how God loves us, and gave such great perspective. It still awes me… even 28 years later!
I had a similar revelation when my daughter was just a few weeks old – amazing!
My favorite place to be is the beach where I can just sit and watch the ocean. It’s just so big and powerful and dangerous and exciting and constant, full of life. It’s a little like our God and it makes me appreciate Him.
My favorite mascara ever is Dior Show! If you are mourning mascara…you’ve got to try it!
My favorite creamer for my morning coffee is peppermint mocha!!
This last year when I found it in the store in October- a full 2 months before Christmas, I shrieked with delight and startled the teenaged stock boy working there on the beverage aisle. As I apologized, I tried to explain my joy over the creamer, which only made things more awkward. 🙂
So thankful for the little things in life!!
My store now carries this year-round 🙂
I so agree!! I think they have it year-round now. I keep finding it – unless it’s just the leftovers from Christmas!
My favorite thing is going fishing with my husband…enjoying God’s big sky all day long…catching lots of crappie…then having them for supper that night. (Yes, I bait my own hook and mostly handle the fish I catch. It’s great!)
I love to go fishing with my husband too. It is one of the most relaxing things we do together. Nothing more relaxing to me than being with him on the water in a boat.
My favorite mascara is Cover Girl Lashblast in the purple tube. My favorite color is purple and if you knew me, you would have no doubt about that. However, that is not why I like the mascara. My favorite walk is with Jesus!
My favorite breakfast is “The Goddess Omelet” at our local J.Christopher’s. Its egg whites, spinach, tomatoes, and feta and it truly tastes divine! I go there once every other month or so before church 🙂
My favorite thing ever is cuddling up with my sweet 8 (almost 9) year old daughter. She has to have mom time every night before she goes to bed. Needless to say, mom needs that time with her just as much as she needs it with me. Man, kids grow up way too fast!
My favorite “thing” is a mom who is also my best friend.
I have many favorite things, but the one I’m looking at right at this moment is the soulful, loving face of my golden retriever, Jack. Yes, I have a wonderful husband and 4 daughters who love me, but there is nothing quite like the unconditional adoration of a dog. Who else acts like it’s Christmas morning EACH and EVERY time I walk through the door? Who else acts as though his greatest joy in life is simply being near me? Jack is never in a bad mood, never holds a grudge, and has never once laughed when he saw me naked! Aren’t dogs great?
Oh my! How do I pick just one favorite thing? Well, I can’t! There is nothing better than spending time with my family. They are amazing. My nieces and nephews are the children I never was able to have and they make me smile all over! My church is awesome! I knew that I was home the first time I attended. I have a pastor who is an amazing man of God and a church family that has been such a great blessing! Spending a weekend or two each year with my best girlfriends is another favorite thing to do!!! I love them so much!!! AND…who can live without Sonic ice? It makes every drink better!!! Give me a Sonic drink and let me watch Grease and I am thrilled beyond words!!! Thanks Beth! This has been fun!!
Love Sonic drinks. Their ice is definitely the best. 🙂
I’m getting the feeling I need to order a drink from Sonic!
YES you do: a route 44 strawberry limeade!!! have one for my hubby and i we use to have one 2 mins. off base and i won’t lie we found out they opened one in MA and we drove 2 1/2 hours for the BEST drinks in this world 🙂
First I must agree about the mascara…..after Melissa shared it years ago, I started using it…..absolutely crushed it is gone. I am in the same boat…looking for a wonderful mascara. I don’t wear a whole lot of makeup but I do wear mascara….any suggestions????
Blessings……
Maybelline Stiletto is amazing! A friend blogged about it and I finally got a steal of a sale on it. It really is as unbelievable as she said.
What was the name if it….Loreal what???
One of my favorite things is Garnier Fructis hair color in Truffle!
Oh MY! Just one thing?
I LOVE SCENTSY products! Its kinda like Yankee Candle tarts and warmers, but SO SO SO much better. I bought it for everyone the past two Christmas. And so I decided to sale it myself. My startup stuff is due to arrive today. Here is a link:
https://cwincel.scentsy.us/Home
MY absolute favorite thing is READING!
Crazy Love
The Hole In The Gospel
Radical
Beth Moore
John Piper
Max Lucado
J.M. Farro
and so many more!
My favorite thing EVER is America. I never appreciated it fully until I became an Army wife and moved to Germany last year at the age of 50.
And Beth, you can still get that mascara on Amazon.com through (I think it’s called) Makeup Warehouse. 🙂
I agree being an American is truly a blessing from God. I am also an Army wife of 15 years & have lived in the States, Germany and now Naples Italy. Mamma Mia!! There is just no other place like the good ole’ USA. Missionaries are heroes in my book. Thank you Lord for helping me appreciate my country & my roots. 🙂
Ooh! I have so many favourite things–this is extremely hard. Only one??
My favourite thing is when I am on my face before God, and I just can’t seem to break through–and maybe it’s been hours, maybe it’s been days or weeks or more–and it feels like desperation and dread are cementing themselves to my soul; and I’ll be reading the Word (or maybe a book, or listening to the radio or a good teaching) and God’s Spirit will jump off the page (or out of the airwaves) right into my heart and infuse me with fresh hope and energy.
And that’s when everything is right with the world again, and all things are possible–and beyond that, nothing else really matters. 🙂
errrr… what a struggle it is not to slip in that…
One of my favorite things is a bushel of fresh peaches from Fredericksburg, Tx — eaten right off of the peach tree or cut up and put in peach cobbler. They are the best peaches in the world!
My favorite dessert is White Chocolate Bread Pudding from Ruggle’s. In Houston, TX. Something everyone Must try! DIVINE!!!!
My favorite moments these days are my 16 month old baby boy. When he belly laughs…it is just too much. Such a fun age… when he happy!
My favorite flower EVER is the calla lily! I hope God has a earthly wedding planned for me at some point so I can carry a beautiful bouquet of them down the aisle!!!
I have a lot of favorite things, but my favorite movies are the Tyler Perry “Madea” movies. They make me and my family laugh so hard and I have seen them each several times.
Madea is hilarious. One of my favorite parts (can’t remember which movie it is) was when she and the little foster girl were sitting on her front porch and she tried to tell her a bible story. Good times!
yes and then she tried to teach her how to pray! priceless:)
Madea is HILARIOUS!
Oh my goodness, so many! My favorite vacation was traveling across the state of Tennessee before my oldest went off to college and my two youngest were reaching into their mid teens and pre teen years. The time in the car was spent laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Just us, nobody else! It was a blast!
Cilantro….my body craves it… I guess I must gave a lot if metal in my system…
Seriously, playing disc golf in the awesome woods of PA with my kiddos and their friends!!
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I could eat the stuff by itself!
I LOVE cilantro!
My favorite vacation spot is Monhegan Island, Maine. You take a boat off the coast of Maine and land on an island with no vehicles or paved roads and lots of gorgeous trails through the woods, up to the steep cliffs overlooking nothing but ocean. It’s an artist community so often you will run into artists painting and drawing away. It’s simply peaceful. Honestly, I’ve only been there once, but it remains my favorite place on earth and I hope to go back some day. Here’s a website if you are interested in finding out more…http://www.monheganwelcome.com/index.html
I have been there! It is awesome.
One of my favorite things is how my daughter and I NEVER EVER run out of things to talk about, laugh about, smile about, stress about, rejoice about, cry about…God knew I needed a daughter as a best friend.
My favorite rib joint – Guy & Mae’s in Williamsburg, KS. It’s just a little hole in the wall but the family that runs it is so nice and friendly and you won’t find better ribs anywhere else. So if you are ever traveling down I-35 between Kansas City and Wichita you should stop in – and tell them Lebo sent you. You’ll be glad you went 🙂
My favorite author is M.M. Kaye. British, old-school, and an artist-turned-writer who never fails to delight your mind’s eye. Do yourself a huge favor and try one of her books. Her murder mysteries aren’t too long, and both the death and romance involved are tasteful. Delicious!
My favorite sushi ever is from the sushi stand inside HEB @ Bunker Hill (Houston) where they make it right there…the ones with the crunchy panko topping. Yummmm!!! This place also has my 11-y/o daughter’s favorite sushi, and I love that she enjoys it!
My favorite thing is coffee. I get the big bags of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee from Costco, but I’m not picky. It just needs to be strong, black and readily available. I told my husband that if I thought about sex half as often as I think about coffee, he would NEVER leave this house.
This made me laugh out loud. My husband and I LOVE coffee too. We dream about it, talk about it…
My favorite kitchen tool ever is my Hamilton Beach silicone spatula. 🙂
Amen siesta! My silicone spatula is the first tool I reach for in the kitchen.
My favorite bagel ever is Panera Bread’s Cinnamon Crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese. Yummo!! It
Me, too! I feel like I am eating dessert.
I’m living outside the country right now….and miss Panera Bread Co. like you would NOT believe. 🙂
My favorite thing is “being in the woods, and see all that God have created!” It’s perfect.