These past few weeks

I've not traveled so much for work [yay!] 

and I've enjoyed having time to

 just be -

 You know what I mean ---

with no real agenda or time frame...

except for going to the office, of course....

 It makes me think retirement will be a really fun thing...

But y'all know ---- I'm no where NEAR retirement - ha.

 

I took my sweetie to the airport in Nashville a couple of weeks ago 

[for a fun fishing trip to Lake Erie]

and I spent the rest of the day just visiting with my sister - we did some 'find-the-label' shopping at Goodwill - we think it's a little weird that we can automatically pull out a label just by the look of the fabric [and I'm not talking design or color --]

And we found some sweet deals - but we only came home with some picture frames - lol -

I've had time to work on some art [and catch-up with my weekly art challenges -- 

but to be clear I'm not stressing over doing every-single-one 

because there's just some that don't appeal to me at all -]

 

Had a great time at the BIG BIRTHDAY BASH -  

See? My cupcakes DID look cute before the buttercream melted...

Ha.

Then I went back to Nashville [sitting in traffic for an hour] to get my sweetheart and we enjoyed a nice relaxing evening at Maggiano's - we LOVE that place -- 

I ordered this personalized cuff from Christy Tomlinson [isn't it great?!?!]

And I've discovered the Amazon [super] store [where you can buy just about anything your little heart desires -] and finally found my favorite red lipstick [revlon 626 - cha cha cherry] that should be here any day -- 

and I've joined Margie's new on-line class, 

complete with kit that should also be arriving soon... 

--- Been spending that travel check from June - ha.

I said a final goodbye to an old-time Mexican favorite...

No, they aren't closing... but the quality has gone so low that  I'll not be back...

Kinda sad, really.

But we've sure been enjoying 

eating local - eating fresh...

 

We saw some friends at the farmer's market the other day and they said something about being inspired by how HEALTHY we were eating - and....

 I'm not sure it's HEALTHY - 

because an awful lot of it is fried - 

but IT IS local and fresh - [no preservatives.]

 

And the grilled cake with berries and yogurt WAS delicious!

And, oh-so-easy with my grill pan that I got for Christmas!

I also had  Discovering Joy in Creativity Group meeting 
at our house again this week - 
I'm sooo enjoying this group of gals who get together each month 
to study The Word and do a little art too -- 
It's such a pleasure to see the things they are working 
outside of class!
WE MUST GET A GROUP PHOTO NEXT MONTH!!!
I've thought about it - 
but am just enjoying myself too much to remember to do it!

In other news...

My heart has been heavy for one of my sweet aunts and her family...

[Photo June - 2014 - credit - Jess Everhart]

She's been in the hospital this past week with a very serious heart attack... 

but is  home and resting now... please keep her in your prayers.

She's a sweetheart -- 

and taught me how to snap my fingers...

-- Tried incessantly to teach me how to whistle...

[but I still can't - lol]