Happy Friday, y’all! It’s our last Friday before Thanksgiving! (What?? How is it already Thanksgiving???). I hope you all have wonderful plans for the holiday involving lots and lots of food!

We have had a great week, mostly get getting ready for next week! I’ve got all my recipes lined up, and we’ve started our Christmas shopping (we’re doing Christmas with hubs’s family at Thanksgiving).

We had a visit last Saturday from Avery and Drover, and the pups had tons of fun playing with each other! We love their company, and our pups love their Uncle Avery and cousin Drover! 🙂

 

 

And here are our faves for this week!

1. Aaron Watson- “Outta Style” 

I believe it was in our very first #favefivethings that I discussed how much hubby and I like Aaron Watson. The Underdog is pretty much on replay in our house most of the time. Well, much to the delight of our ears, he has a new single out! AND- I’ve actually heard this played on mainstream radio stations (previously I’d really only heard him on the Texas Country stations).

The best part about this is that a new single means a new album is coming! For now enjoy this, and this bonus video:

This was part of promotional material for Strait Out of the Box: Part 2, and we love it. So basically, our house cycles through The Underdog, the SOOTB:P2 covers, and the Yeti documentary on Wyman Meinzer. And I highly recommend all of those things. 😉

 

2. Oral B Pro-Health Pulsar Toothbrushes

Last Saturday, Steven and I had our usual brunch at Cracker Barrel, and then made our way across I35 to Target to shop for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We picked out a bunch of toys to put in there (Steven was not amused that he couldn’t include GI Joe’s or Twix, but we managed to find suitable replacements), and then I said we needed to put in toothbrushes. I was told I was somewhat of a stick in the mud for this suggestion, but you can’t play with your cool new toys if your teeth are all rotting, am I right?

So, we picked out single toothbrushes to put in our boxes, and I asked if we wanted new toothbrushes while we were looking at them. I can never keep up with how often you’re supposed to change yours out, but I’m guessing if you can’t remember when you last switched, it’s probably time.

Literally, I picked these up because Steven said, “Look, there’s a package with a red one and a blue one.”

And y’all, I got these home and popped them open and figured out they’re battery powered (we’re clearly investigative consumers…). It’s designed to knock plaque loose from between your teeth so that you can get extra clean. And my teeth feel SO CLEAN! Much better than the average toothbrush. We didn’t even notice they were battery powered because they were basically the same price as person powered toothbrushes. So, if you can’t remember when the last time you changed out your toothbrush, pop down to Target, and get yourself one of these!

 

3. Duncan Hines Perfect Size Chocolate Cake 

Our house loves chocolate cake. Steven never turns down a chocolate cake when I make one, but with it being just the two of us, usually about half the cake goes to waste before we eat it (I’ve found that homemade things mold if you leave them for over a week 😐 ).

Earlier this week, Steven requested a chocolate cake, and when I was looking for the ingredients, I ran across these. They have several different flavors of Perfect Size desserts, but obviously I went with the chocolate.

So, you just take the kit and mix the cake mix with a little water, butter, and an egg and bake it in the pan provided. Then, you take the frosting powder and mix it with a little water and butter. And voila! Cake for two! (Or four if you are a good sharer 😉 ) It tastes just like a big cake, so really it is perfect for situations like ours where halves of cakes were going to waste!

I have a chocolate pie mix as well, but I haven’t tried it yet, so I’ll keep y’all up to date on that!

 

4. The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman 

Y’all, I’m ashamed of how long it’s been since I’ve read an entire book.

I used to read like crazy, and now I feel like when I finally find time to sit down and read, I fall asleep after reading only a few pages. All that to say, this is the first book I’ve made it all the way through in a while and it was SO GOOD.

Gut-wrenching and parts were so terribly sad. But SO GOOD.

Basic synopsis is that Tom, a World War I veteran, is now a lighthouse keeper on a remote island off the coast of Australia and his wife Isabel has suffered a handful of miscarriages and is to the point of devastation and mental breakdown over it. In the midst of this, a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a live baby. In a moment of weakness, Tom and Isabel decide to keep the baby and raise it as theirs instead of turning in the incident to see if the baby had surviving family. Now that the baby is a toddler, they find out on the mainland that the baby’s mother is alive and has been looking for her, as she lives in the same small town as Isabel’s parents. This sparks a huge debate between Tom and Isabel about who the baby’s rightful parents are, and if it is too late to right this mistake.

This is one of those terrible, wonderful stories where there’s no good way for it to end. There will inevitably be someone who is devastated, so you just hope for the least amount of devastation when it all washes out. Which I think is pretty much how this turned out. It was interesting from the standpoint of learning about lighthouses, and Australia and the involvement of the people of Australia in World War I.

This is also apparently a movie starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz. Somehow, I missed this even being in the theatre, so now that I’ve read the book, I’m going to look for it on DVD!

 

5. Mary and Martha Dish Towels 

I have some of the sweetest friends! (I just wanted to throw that in there!) Last week, one of said sweet friends, Kerry (who is a bestie from college who is now a Colorado resident with her farmer hubby), sent me this beautiful tea towel from Mary and Martha. It is now on a canvas in our hallway (I struggled all week trying to figure out where to put it because it’s so pretty!), and I LOVE it! It looks perfect on the canvas, like it was made as a canvas and is such a personal touch to our home!

So, this sweet gift sparked an interest in where it came from- Mary and Martha. This is a brand that features all types of home goods, and you can either buy things through a Mary and Martha rep (similar to Tupperware, 31 bags, or Scentsy– you know, all the good stuff!), or through their website mymaryandmartha.com.

They have a similar towel that I also love that features Acts 2:46, which is think is perfect for kitchens and dining rooms. And I also already have it on a wooden sign in our house, so I’ll pass on the towel for us, but both towels (this one and Acts 2:46) would make excellent housewarming gifts! They also have other gifts that can be personalized if you are looking for a housewarming or wedding gift.

 

Y’all, our boys are getting so big! (Well, Gump is getting big. So big.)

They loved the new Christmas pillow I found…

And Gump was a total trooper at his 12 week shots! As in, he slept through the whole thing. To have that kind of composure in the midst of danger…

 

Thanks for stopping by! Let’s all say a little prayer for the Red Raiders (especially our kicker), and we’ll see you next week! Happy weekend!