Hi, friends, and Happy Friday! (woot woot!) I hope you’ve all had a great week and are settling nicely into 2017.

We haven’t been super busy around here, just the usual. Steven has been working at the VA the last two weeks, so his hours fluctuate a little depending on if they are on short call, long call, or post call (I think that’s what they call it? Basically I ask, or he tells me every day about what time he expects to be home).

This week I saw social media posts from current 3rd years in our program talking out it being comps week, and I was reminded for a whole new year how thankful I am to not be a 3rd year 🙂 . Comps week means that in the second semester of the 3rd year of coursework for your doctorate of audiology, you sit through 2.5 days of 18 comprehensive exams over every class you’ve taken in grad school so far. It is a hellish 2.5 days (and plenty of studying leading up to that), but getting it done, and then getting the results letter back was the biggest relief!  So, if you’d like, send up a prayer for those comping it this week- I know they would appreciate it!

We have a busy weekend planned of working around the house. Steven’s parents will be staying with us for a few days next week, and we’ve got to get everything in top shape again since the holidays! I finally got the tree and other Christmas decor down, and everything is waiting to head back up to the attic. Now that the winter stuff is out, I’ve been contemplating swapping out to our spring stuff since it’s still pretty warm here, but maybe we’ll make a Valentine’s stop in between. 🙂

So, this is actually my first five fave things- as in varied things I recommend- in a few weeks, so I’m excited to share!

1.Fences

In between Christmas and New Year’s, Steven and I got a few days off together, and it was wonderful. We love going to the movies together (when we can!)- mainly to eat popcorn, but also to see good movies. 😉 We have our favorite theater here in town that we love, mostly because of the popcorn, but also because it is clean and friendly there.

We decided to go to a movie on our first day off, and struggled to decide which one. We watched a few different trailers and ended up deciding on Fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.

If you watch the trailer, they will have you believe it is a movie about a dad (Denzel) who was pretty good at baseball, but missed his chance, and now doesn’t want his son to meet with college football recruiters because of this. Well… that happens, but that is definitely not what this movie is about. Unfortunately, I can’t really say what this is about without spoiling it. But I will say, it had some shockers in it. And the acting is superb.

It is based on a play by the same name, and with my experience in theatre, it very much felt like a play, even though it was a movie. I really enjoyed it, although I would say our theater experience was not my fave. We had two different groups in front of us that talked to the screen the entire time. And not just whispering their opinions occasionally- there were multiple “OH, NO, YOU DIDN’T!”s and “I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT!”s shouted at the screen. It was definitely my most rambunctious movie going experience.

2. Biore Charcoal Pore Minimizer

I believe we discussed here on #favefive before the fact that my pores are the size of craters. It’s just a fact at this point, and no need to deny or sugarcoat it. I use Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser on the daily, either under my make up, or alone, and it helps loads.

So, I love charcoal masks for pore cleansing, particularly the Origins brand. I was on the lookout for something like this at Target the other day (I was thinking Garnier makes one?), and bought this Biore Charcoal Pore Minimizer. I thought I still had my Origins mask bottle somewhere, but it seems to have disappeared through 3 moves in the last two years…

This is not actually what I thought it was. It’s not a mask, it’s a scrub, but I think I like it better (masks have to sit and harden and then wash off and all that). I’ve just left it in the shower, and I use it two to three times a week, typically when I come in from working out so I’m not using it to wash off any make up.

I feel like I’ve noticed a difference in pore size- mostly under my make up. The charcoal is supposed to pull all the gunk out of your pores, and I feel like it does. And the bottle is one of the most awesome product packaging I’ve ever seen.

3.  The One Year Bible (NLT) by Tyndale Publishers

One of my 2017 goals was to work on my relationship with the Lord, and one of my ways of doing that is by being more in the Word. I read a great quote the other day- “Waiting to hear from the Lord, and not being in the Word is like waiting for a text message and not having your phone turned on”. WOW! So, I’ve been using The One Year Bible to practice daily Bible reading (I need direction, I’m not good at just reading randomly). I’ve recently discovered the New Living Translation (NLT) and I think it’s my favorite. To me, it flows a little easier than the NIV, but a little more traditional than the Message. It utilizes both word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation to give the best conveyance of the message. I like this translation so much, I ordered myself a new study Bible (plus, I needed one with my new married name 😉 ).

The actual reading plan has a few different options. I’m doing the one-year plan, so I read a portion from the Old Testament, a portion from the New Testament, a portion from Psalms, and a short excerpt of Proverbs every day. All together, it’s about three to four pages of reading daily.  There are also two and three year reading plans if you want to take it a little slower. There are also a few indices to help you find chapters both alphabetically in book order.

4. Essie “Buy Me A Cameo”

I think this is such a fun color for the new year! It’s like a champagne color, but with major shine and sparkle! Almost a reflective color- which I love!

I also have this on my toes, but I’ll spare y’all a pic of my feet 😉 And, once again, check out the DIY At-Home Shellac Hack if you want a good home manicure!

5. Boudreaux

So… we are puppy parents again!

Just when we think we’re glad to have older, potty-trained dogs, we get puppy fever and do it all over again. But, we’re done. For real this time!

Steven has been wanting a Bull Mastiff for a long time, and we have discussed getting one as a protection dog. So, meet Salt Creek Protection. Doesn’t he look just downright ferocious?

We have been in discussion about this for a while, and happened to find a litter with available males that were the brindle color just south of Ft. Worth on New Year’s Day, and decided it was meant to be with how everything lined up. We took off that afternoon and added a third fur-child to our family.

We started out with the name Tex, but it just didn’t seem to fit him. And then we moved to the name Apollo, but it didn’t really fit with the theme we had going. So, we settled later on Boudreaux. He was very skittish and jumpy at first (we were surprised by this, but then later realized this is probably the norm- our labs were sound desensitized at a very young age by our breeder so they won’t be gun shy when hunting), but he has really come out of his shell the last two weeks. He and Gump have gotten to be two peas in a pod, but he also likes to tag around behind Ruger, or watch intently as the two “big boys” play as well. He doesn’t seem to be growing very quickly, but we are anticipating he will grow to be VERY large!! 😉

Here are a few more pics from our last few weeks!

 

And, I’m starting something semi-new this year… I’m going to start linking #favefive to the Friday Favorites hosted by Erika at A Little Bit of Everything, Narci at Grace and Love Blog, and Andrea at Momfessionals. If you are looking for other faves, be sure to check them out!