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A nice thing about my home is that it used to belong to my grandparents. My grandad was a builder, and this house is the first he built in our neighborhood in the mid-1970s. My husband and I bought it after they passed. We will forever be remodeling it due to the mid-1970s vibe that endured. Every once in awhile, I come home and it still smells like their house. When you come inside from the garage, you walk into the laundry room. Even though I use different detergents, it still smells like their house. It's so comforting to have the smell visit me from time to time! I also enjoy tending to the flowers and trees they planted since I thankfully inherited a green thumb. :)

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Hey Lil Swipes, new and old! I don’t know why it’s Tuesday and I’m just now reading and commenting but here we are. Could be that next week at this time we will be owners of a new home and in the process of moving in so my current home is a mess of boxes and trying to figure out what to pack and what to get rid of. The new house is definitely a treasure but I feel overwhelmed about it too. Also, I really want this to be our “forever” home and it really should be but also as we near move-in time, I second guess if it is everything I really want. So dumb yet normal on major purchases and decisions for this Enneagram 9. We love hosting people and now we finally have guest rooms to put people in instead of just the Murphy Bed in the family room.

Another treasure is that football is back…with tailgating and crowds. That is a huge part of fall for us!

I was so excited to hear about The Popcast going back to Chicago as well. My BFOTS friend and I went last time they were there and loved it so I’m really hoping the date works out for us again. There should be Lil Swipes meet ups at the tour like Carlos Whittaker does for his Instafamilia. Would so love to meet you all.

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Hello! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to make my entry into Lil Swipes again. I discovered this treasure trove last summer—The First Summer de Coronatide—and somehow I haven’t been around much. It’s nonsensical, but is it acceptable? Anyway, I’m here now.

It’s funny Erin asks about our homes because I am living with my parents right now in the house where I spent the bulk of my age 11-18 years, but have only lived here for days or sometimes a couple months at a time over 18-25. It’s both weird and completely un-weird that this is home right now.

There are many treasures here: fresh tomatoes and peppers from my parents’ garden, completely unbridled access to my favorite dogs, watching PBS at night with my mom.

Some moments are pretty trash—looking for a ministry job right now is not for the faint of heart 😅—but they don’t cancel the treasures. Thank God.

Oh yeah, we also sort of rescued a baby squirrel last night, which was an inconvenience and a treasure. I’ll try to link a pic below.

Don’t know if anyone will read this 24 hours late, but I plan to be around here more often if that’s all right. ❤️

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My favorite thing about my current house is nothing because it is a tiny trailer that I share with a 60 pound dog. However, the house I lived in before this was built to the precise specifications of a little old lady and was weird and wonderful in every way. You get a phone jack, you get a phone jack, phone jacks in every corner! There were many great/weird things about this house, but the one that sums it all up is that apparently she wanted her bedroom to be close to the kitchen (whomst among us?). The obvious solution was to make THE ENTIRE WALL between the bedroom and the kitchen an accordion-style folding door. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but it is very handy for moving. Other highlights include a huge porch and lovely garden. It was sometimes the only thing I liked about living here, and I was heartbroken to have to leave it.

I spent Labor Day weekend (or just, the weekend, since Monday is my normal day off) with my best friend in TN and they had actual fall weather. I think I brought some of it back because while it's still hot during the day, it's actually getting cool in the mornings and evenings.

I had almost forgotten about my job interview on Monday until my tech wished me luck on my way out the door today, so I'm just gonna go set an alarm for that real quick.

I started the new season of Star Trek Lower Decks this week and it felt like a little hug. Do not sleep on this show, especially if you're a Star Trek fan, it is such a delight.

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Y’all, I may have bought my first PSL of the season last week. I may have cranked the air way down in my car so it would feel like fall in south Alabama.

Trader Joe’s pumpkin jo-jo’s are the best and highly addictive. We always get 2 boxes and have to ration them (the closest TJ’s is 2 hours away).

Biggest treasure is we’ve reached the end of our Harry Potter reading journey. My oldest son finished the 7th book this week so we are watching Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2 this weekend in between SEC football games (roll tide).

He has promptly started on the Hunger Games and I predict we will be watching that movie next weekend!

Please pray for my parents as they travel home this weekend. It has been an ordeal. They were on vacation down in Costa Rica for what was supposed to be 5 weeks (they’re retired and living the life 😂) but had to extend it due to rising Covid cases in our city and counties. My dad is a heart patient so contacting Covid is out of the question.

Hope everyone has a great and restful weekend! Go sports! Hope your teams win!

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Okay so our neighborhood was established in the 20s/30s (brick streets, old maples, the whole thing) but at some point they created an official book with every house listed in the area with all sorts of information about the house and stories about the people who owned the house and where they worked 😍 and of course pictures! It is the greatest thing of my life. Only like 100 copies exist but you can check it out at the local library. It is my life dream to own one someday. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

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Happy Friday, friends!

It's been one of those longest short weeks ever, ya know? Even after waking up early, working out, and showering, I still felt half-asleep going into work this morning. TGIF, am I right?

Things that happened this week (not calling them treasures or turds, they're just "things"):

-The Boy surprised me (kind of) with a birthday dinner with a few dear friends last weekend! The weekend before my birthday (the 1st), he made it seem like we weren't going to do anything for my birthday this year even though I'd told him what I'd want most a few weeks before (time with friends). I'm not usually a 'let's do something big for my birthday' person, but last year I had mono and literally couldn't even eat anything, so I wanted to make up for it this year and do a little something. He played it off as if he'd dropped the ball, and I got really sad. 😆

Then mid-week, I started suspecting that he actually had something up his sleeve - he said he'd made a reservation for the two of us to go to a nice dinner somewhere on Saturday. He mentioned he had to go pick something up for me either on Friday, which would result in him missing a little work, or on Saturday morning. He asked if I had a guess (his first mistake - I'm great at guessing 😂), and I immediately guessed correctly, but he denied it. Then he let it slip the next day that I was correct (it was a cake from the bakery we got our wedding cake from - he had them recreate a delicious chocolate cake with salted caramel filling and vanilla meringue buttercream that I didn't even get to try at our wedding 😍). The he mentioned that he'd checked with the restaurant to make sure he could bring the cake in with us (which made me think, "why would we bring an entire cake to dinner just for two of us?"). Then on Saturday when we were driving to the mystery place, he made one particular turn and asked if I had a guess as to where we're going, and I immediately knew we were going to a winery that I'd mentioned wanting to go to (again, don't ask me to guess because I'll get it right😂). My suspicions were confirmed when we ended up behind my best friend's car on the drive. 🤣 Anyway, it was a lovely dinner filled with lots of delicious wine and good conversation and laughs with friends!

-The Boy and I also got massages on Saturday, and it was a-maz-ing. We booked these right after our wedding when our honeymoon had to be cancelled. We were going to be getting a couples massage there, so when we cancelled, I immediately looked for couples massage here, but EVERYWHERE was booked until this day, which just happened to be a few days after my birthday. It was lovely.

-I almost took a new position at my organization this week, but ended up deciding not to. Long story short - the guy offering me the job wasn't being completely honest about what it would be, but it opened up the door to a really good conversation with my boss about what I need to continue in my current position. The whole thing was my enneagram 9 heart's worst nightmare, but it turned out really good in the end. At one point in my meeting with my boss, I uttered the words, "If I stay with you, what can you offer me to make it worth it?" and I couldn't have been more shocked and proud of myself. I also negotiated a raise for the first time ever in my life! 💃

-Michael and I are going camping this weekend, and I'm so excited! A few months ago, I was looking at available spots at one of my favorite campgrounds, and by some magic, the PRIME spot right on the lake's edge with tons of extra space was available. The spot that's ALWAYS booked a year in advance (literally just checked for next summer, and it's already all booked out). It has perfect views, perfect access to jump in the lake, and perfect trees for setting up my hammock, and I am so excited!

Alright, that was long! Happy Friday, everyone!

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Coming back one more time, because I just found it and thought y'all would enjoy:

- read this thread from a woman trying to find the people her father helped on 9/11. Tears for days: https://twitter.com/MercedesLV/status/1436162538622779394

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Hi friends! Yay for fall goodness at TJ’s. The gluten-free pumpkin bread mix and the harvest pasta sauce are winners for me. Adding in nuts, dried fruit, and crystallized ginger to the pumpkin bread really takes it up a notch. Recently I’ve been mainlining TJ’s honey roasted peanuts. They’re like the kind we used to get on airplanes back in the day only better.

My favorite thing about my house is that it is still standing. This week was the year anniversary of the horrible gender reveal El Dorado fire that threatened our home last year. I’m so grateful that we’ve made it through almost another summer season without that kind of fire threat in our area. I know so many others have not been as lucky.

Right now in the throes of newborn season I’m lucky if I can start the washer and the dishwasher in the same day. I’m learning that good is not always an enemy of great. If I go for great I get nowhere but some days I can manage good.

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I just rewatched the Lindsey Lohan parent trap this summer with my 8 year old niece and fell in love with it all over!

I see your excitement for Brene Brown and raise you Shauna Niequiest sharing her new title!

Turd of the week: every day has been a marathon at work because it's my last week

Treasure of the week: its my last week before a change!

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#1: We just got a Trader Joe’s in Chattanooga so yes, I WILL be buying all the pumpkin things on my next trip.

#2: Sometimes my house angers me. Why did I get one with such a steep driveway? Why do I have to replace windows and why does wood rot? And then the giant hydrangeas on the side bloom &, in the spring, the peonies come out. The previous owners loved peonies and I have a ton. I do nothing to them except trim them and they get bigger and bigger and darn it, it makes me love my house despite the upkeep.

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Hey y'all, So after a while lurking...and the occasional comment and like...I need to draw on the wisdom of the masses here. Time management, work, and family. How? Just how do you do it?

My husband has been getting on to me about going into and staying at work later. I have a relatively flexible work setup, and I've definitely been flexing it to make my life easier and not really anyone else's. Anyway, Husband basically asked point blank, how are we ever going to have kids if I'm not around. It was a gut punch, and a wake up call that I have been erring a bit too much on the selfish side of things.

I'm grateful for the wakeup call, and I really want to put more effort in to being more present at home and more focused at work. Has anyone unlocked the universal secret for balancing everything? How do those of y'all with kids get stuff done? Is it possible? (Yes this is a bit tongue in cheek, but also, anyone?)

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Moving sucks! We recently moved and I realized the other day I hardly remember it! I normally have a spooky good memory and I our last two moves are mostly blurry question marks.

As for the house…eh, we have a bit of buyer’s remorse because it needs quite a bit of work we can’t do right now. The location is great, though!

My week was a mixed bag. My daughter Maggie had a neurology appointment, and we walked out with a plan, despite not having a diagnosis. There are a handful of options for what is causing her dizzy spells, but unfortunately none of them have diagnostic tests, so we have to treat down the list, starting with the most likely, until something works. I then got a call from the nurse that her chest hurt that afternoon. I think it’s anxiety from being scared about the dizziness, but it’s so hard to know what to do. She has missed as much school as she’s attended and I live in worry about another call from the school. It’s such a treasure to know that her issue is very likely not one of the major scary ones, but this not-knowing is really hard.

But the treasures are that it is happening here. We got to spend the night before with my cousin and her family, and it’s just so nice to be able to do that. ❤️

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Continue to feel friendship strains between me and those who don’t agree with me. Trying to walk the balance between safety (masks! Vaccines!) and compassion / choice. I’m exhausted for continuing to worry how others choices are impacting my and my family’s health.

I feel friendships slipping away (like sands through the hourglass) because of my hesitancy to spend time with those who I feel aren’t making choices to protect the community and themselves.

Do I hold my friends and those I love to a higher standard? Yes

Am I being unreasonably stubborn? Maybe??? But how to tell?

Le sigh. Thanks for listening.

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My favorite fall “non-recipe” with TJ’s things:

Vanilla ice cream in a bowl, then a healthy drizzle of TJ’s fleur de sel caramel sauce (warm), sprinkle on pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds. TRUST ME. 😋

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That tweet about Steve from Blues Clues got me right in the lolz. I startled my children with my laughter.

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