Randoms.

post by Casey.

Rocky’s little drawings:). I especially loved the American Flag he added to his boat!

Evan and I braved the hospital to visit a friend:). I think the last time we came here was when Ike was hospitalized with RSV in 2017? - boy we’ve come a million years as a family since then, thankfully. I couldn’t believe I’d been wheeled or walked those hallways 4 times before to have babies - something that went well, thankfully..but in hindsight, could have ended very differently - a place I pray we’ll be able to continue to avoid for the foreseeable future.

Not gonna lie…I was very stressed having to enter an establishment that ‘requires’ masks - I didn’t wear one and was never told or asked to wear one and I would have chosen to leave if that had been the case. 

While I nursed Evan in the lobby, there was a gentleman (in his early 60’s, if I had to guess) sitting a few chairs away with a gator covering his nose and mouth - I didn’t think anything of it. He kept glancing at me and then finally I saw him pull his gator down:). He proceeded to engage in a conversation with me about his family - his 2 grown children…a son 27 and daughter 30…were successful and good…and he was very proud:). He choked up talking about having felt like he achieved the few goals he had set for himself in his life: to raise good kids - check!, to stay married - going on 33yrs, check!, and to retire - he said he and his wife have fought about more stupid shit in the last 6mo than in their whole marriage…retirement has been an adjustment;) but he’s still so happy - CHECK!:)

Me being maskless lead to his gator coming down and before you know it we were talking family, politics and God.

We aligned on so much and had a conversation that I don’t believe would have happened had I walked in with my face covered…I believed him when he said he thought we ran into each-other for a reason:).

I love our 2012 Suburban so much…but sometimes I send Jacob things like this and we contemplate whether a downgrade would be worth an attached garage!;):)

Before + After of what might have been some amazing sweet potato bites! Lesson learned…mom needs to set an alarm because…no, she will not remember;).

 

Putting the final touches on our little church wedding ceremony:). We have heels - the most expensive part of the whole shindig, coming it at $54 - the dress was thrifted for $6.50:). I also ordered a little gold band for myself…$12 on Etsy. I had the same thing (but for $8;) almost 12yrs ago but it broke off a few years back.

 

Also, narrowing down ideas for the Anthropologie GC I still haven’t spent from the last year or 2 of birthdays!? These are both very expensive but are 2 items I’m considering - I love the chair and I’d want to purchase 2 of the sconces for our living-room:).

I saw this book at the local library and have plans to go back for a copy!! A couple thoughts ran through my head when I saw it:

1/ a new (in the last 3yrs) found?!/reignited?! pride and defense of our neighbors and community and hometown - Dorchester + Colby + Unity (nothing against Abbotsford, I’ve just never had any roots there:).

2/ an immediate curiosity of the history here anddddd it has me wanting to take that quick drive past the main strip to really look at the few old buildings that remain! I do have the airstream for a potential future ‘shop’ but a little brick and mortar store - extra points for actual brick and character;) - would also be a dream.

You can find A Village Called Unity by Alan Gurtner here.

Speaking of little-someday-shops…Jacob asked me this morning what I wanted to do and the first thing that came to mind was: THRIFTING!:)

I find myself wondering recently if these things…the stuff we gravitate towards, love, enjoy?!…maybe God put these things on our hearts? Or maybe I just want to make it okay in my brain to thrift once a week;). Regardless…I don’t know if this is what I ‘should do’. I don’t know if I’m actually any good at it or have an ‘eye’ for it. I don’t know how I’d make any money at it…but there’s a nudge and I pray it’s a God nudge. 

Above are a couple things I added to my thrifted tote recently:).

The kids playing Church…lead by Deacon Smith;):).

It’s almost over. It’s almost over. It’s almost over;)

Mostly, kidding…winter ain’t allllll bad!

(2 of 3:). My girls:).

I misspoke in my last post…after a few pages I realized I’d already read Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah. I’m really excited about this one - it’ll probably be more disturbing than ‘exciting’…but I have a feeling I’ll be encouraging everyone to pick this one up.

You can find this book here:).

And now the portion of the post where I…dum dum dummmmm…share my opinnnnionnnnn;):). 

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!:)

The topic surrounding the trans movement/agenda…whatever you’d like to call this growing/spreading/complicated issue…as a woman and a mother…is one that I’m feeling more and more…I’m taking more and more issue with. 

Allie speaks to this on her podcast here.

“…and he is celebrated by female organizations and by corporations for doing this. For displaying what, honestly, is a very offensive, very condescending, very patronizing, very infantilizing depiction of what it means to be a girl or to be a woman. He has gotten millions of dollars in sponsorships, millions and millions of followers. He is influencing young people, young girls in-particular, to imagine that this is what it means to be feminine. That to be a girl isn’t really anything substantive, it isn’t anything biological, it isn’t anything real. It’s something that you can take on and put off. 

You can become a girl just by wearing lipstick, by growing out your hair. It doesn’t matter if you have male genitalia, it doesn’t matter if you have male dna, it doesn’t matter if you have a male body, it doesn’t matter if you have a 5 o’clock shadow, it doesn’t matter if you have every indication of being a male…you can still be a woman cause it’s something as superficial as wearing a skirt.

That, apparently, is where progressiveness has taken us. It’s so progressive that we have completely forgotten one of the most fundamental tenants of reality, actually the foundation of all of human existence and that is that there is male and there is female and their innate differences…all of us exist because of the innate differences between male and female.

And so this person is a representation of the denial of reality and the celebration and the glorification of the denial of reality.

This person is a manifestation of Romans 1: we are exchanging the truth of God for a lie. We are diluting our minds because of sin, because of an exchange of the God of scripture for the God of self.”

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with/aware of Substack? It’s another online platform that you subscribe to/follow people - free or paid…for videos/information/newsletters. Slowdown Farmstead is one that I’ve enjoyed following for free here.

This mornings newsletter was on the longer side but I loved so much about it. I screenshot a couple excerpts - below - that I found especially good:).