The days are long, but the years are short

It's that time of year, cap and gown season for another graduating class. This month it was all about bachelor's degrees for our youngest and her cousin Chance. When every chick leaves the nest for the next step in their education, we fret and worry that our parenting skills didn't fully prepare them for life away from home. That they'll forget what we taught them and fall under the spell of negative influences. We pray and do our utmost to trust our Heavenly Father to keep them safe. And so we praise the Lord that He kept these two in the palm of His hand over the past four years. Our dedicated scholars are headed off to law school at Texas Tech and SMU come August. We are all so proud of their accomplishments.

This past week, the older daughter and her fiance went to California and invited the younger daughter to join them since she's footloose and fancy free for the next couple months. They enjoyed several days touring the wine country before heading south to San Francisco. I thought the silly video they sent me was really cute.

In wedding news, the daughter finished interviewing several planners and hired one. She also toured various venues and put a deposit down at The Arlo to secure her date. I love all of the Arlo's bright and airy spaces. I think this newer wedding venue will be a beautiful backdrop for her reception. I'm looking forward to the next step this summer, which will be her hunt for the dress.

Slow down, fall, and wait your turn

This morning I made a run to Hobby Lobby to buy supplies to make patriotic summer wreaths to go alongside the Uncle Sam I ordered for our front gate. I usually put my decorations up in early June to keep in place until right after Labor Day when my fall pumpkins make an appearance.

In addition to searching for red, white and blue mesh and ribbon, I was looking for silk greenery to fill a tall urn I bought for our downstairs living room. As I strolled the aisles, I was surprised to see they already have fall decor on display. I'm not talking a row or two either. They've seriously devoted quite a bit of space to pumpkins and it's only May 18. Not even Memorial Day yet. I swear every year the holiday decor rolls out earlier and earlier. Back in my day, sonny, we didn't see hide nor hair of a pumpkin until early October.

Don't get me wrong, I adore fall. Every Labor Day I snap out of my summer funk in anticipation of the BER months. Saying goodbye (in October) to triple digit temps. Being able to sit on the back porch again without fighting off swarms of mosquitos. Friday night football lights. Hot cocoa. Family time at the holidays. What's not to love?! But I gotta admit, it's hard to contemplate the joys of fall when today's high was 95 and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

Mother's Day 2023

This year we had a very laid back mother's day. We opted to spend last Saturday with my husband's parents. Our girls joined us and we enjoyed a lovely lunch with them, which also included our future son-in-law. While snooping through a store the week before, I ran across this cute planter. Since my husband's mother's name is Rosemary, the girls thought it would be a fun addition to the gift card for a department store that carries one of her favorite clothing brands. So I found a decorative rosemary plant to put in it. Hardest part was keeping the older daughter's chorkie from hiking his leg on it, and thus I placed it out of his reach on the back porch.

The sweet ladies in my BSF class gave me some lovely flowers at our final fellowship last Thursday as we wrapped up our Kingdom Divided study. So I got to enjoy them through mother's day. God blessed me with a precious group this year, my first one as a leader, and I'll always remember their kindness as I fumbled around in the beginning to find my way.

The dogs were happy both daughters came home so they could get in some snuggle time. The chorkie was our older daughter's shadow all weekend. He can be really feisty, but is also a big lap baby. Sadly, our old cairn boy Ollie was diagnosed with an inoperable liver tumor almost two months ago, and so our younger daughter spent quality time with him. He's slowing down and losing weight here in our doggie hospice. However, the Lord has answered my prayers and kept his pain at bay as his life winds down and we prepare to say goodbye.  

As for me, my biggest gift was spending time with my husband and our girls. I don't take it for granted that they live close enough to visit on a regular basis. With our youngest moving to Dallas this summer and the oldest getting married, I sincerely appreciate the gift of their time. It always makes my momma's heart sad to see them go after they've come for a visit.

Coffee station is a wrap

Ten weeks later and I've finally put the finishing touches on the new coffee station we created between the kitchen and butler's pantry. With drawers below to store cups and all of the brewing necessities, including my holiday mug collection, I've got everything where I want it. I might add a milk foamer/frother, but don't imagine that will happen until the fall when we start thinking about warm drinks to ward off the chill once again.

I know everybody goes for the floating shelves these days, but it's just a classic look that lends itself to fun decor choices that give it some character. The french press came from England. The bird nest in a metal cloche came from my mother's house. Those green jadeite pieces were collected by me. 

 

I wanted a fun informal picture to punch up the space across from the coffee station, and found Buffalo Bob enjoying a cup of joe when I was snooping around online. While hanging him, we discovered a Bible reference by the artist - Psalm 86:14-17 that you can read below. What a wonderful reminder that we can be confident the Lord hears us when we call out to Him in difficult situations. The Creator of the universe and everything in it is infinitely bigger than our human minds can fathom, and only He is able to save us from our sin. What a blessing He is always trustworthy and extends grace to His people.

Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me - they have no regard for you. But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of our servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Office-ially done

This morning I enjoyed the fruits of my labors over the past couple weeks, working at my desk in this lovely new office I've created. Since my office isn't too big, I love how the white cabinetry makes it feel a bit more spacious since the desk I bought at Pottery Barn basically matches the floor. My collection of blue and green glass on the lighted upper display shelves I had the cabinetmaker create for me really gives it a fresh and airy feel. The granite I chose for my cabinet tops is a bit darker than I realized, but is still very complimentary to the overall vibe and has lots of great movement.

Our beautiful girls have taken pride of place on my larger wall. The last item on my to-do list is to have our contractor drill a couple holes through the back of the cabinet drawers to connect my printer cord to the desktop. Since I opted to store it in a pull out shelf inside the cabinets rather than on the countertop, its wireless signal tends to be spotty. 

A recent fun addition to my desk was the old rotary dial phone in a shade of blue to match my decorative glass. I love nosing around for these cool old finds on eBay. Nobody has land lines anymore, and so this phone from my youth is a true technological dinosaur these days. Next up on my decorating hit list is finishing the upstairs, including the selection of a good paint color for the big buffet from our last house that matches absolutely nothing in the upstairs living area. Plus I need to get busy organizing a fun collage of vintage 1980s Southern Living magazine covers to display on my kitchen wall.

Congrats & Hook 'em, Class of 2023

Despite a pandemic, change of major and move back to Texas, our younger daughter graduated last night *on time* from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. Since the UT honors day last month was a total traffic nightmare, we opted to arrive earlier this go round. We parked on the street near her apartment in west campus while she finished getting ready, and spied this across from us. 

Next we toodled over to the Trinity Garage to park and walk to the Moody Center. After a cloudy morning, the sun came out and we were all fanning ourselves in the humidity that rolled in to make the temps soar.

We met the older daughter and her fiance right after we cleared security to grab some seats and wait for the program to start. I was glad our honors graduate opted to submit a photo and blurb that was playing on the big screens while we were cooling our heels. Literally. I'm not sure who created the pre-ceremony music play list, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear a Bee Gees tune in the mix.

I thought it was interesting the university brought in a drum line to get the party started... doing their part to Keep Austin Weird.

The commencement speakers were good. Or maybe I just feel that way because they were blessedly brief. What was advertised as a 2.5 hour ceremony was finished in a little over two. Way to go, UT.

I thought the balloon drop at the end instead of a hat throw was a nice touch, and made for some great pics for the grads from their perspective on the floor.  

I recalled a cute pic I took of the girls when the older daughter got her bachelors degree in December 2016, so I had them try to recreate it for me. The Lord has blessed both of our girls with intelligence and a strong work ethic so they can chase their dreams, and we praise Him for it. Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Now that she has wrapped up her first degree, our graduate gets to enjoy a relaxing summer break that includes a few fun trips. Right now she's in the process of securing her apartment lease in Dallas for the move to get settled up there in advance of classes starting in late summer. I'm sure time will fly like it always does and in the blink of an eye we'll be seeing her in another cap and gown when she earns her law degree. Like the girl said, it's time to Pony Up!