31 Favorites for 31!

Hey, y’all! Well… last week I turned 31! It seems like this year’s birthday is a little different with everything going on, but maybe not that much, haha! I said it last year- I’m not sad to be in my 30s, if I’m honest. It feels like now I have a little more “street cred” for the stage of life we’re in, and it moves us a little closer to our ultimate goals. Last year, I shared 30 facts/ tidbits about myself for turning 30, and there’s no way in the world I could come up with 31 more things, so I decided to share 31 of my favorite things instead! These are random, and in no particular order, but I hope maybe you’ll find a new favorite thing from this list! 🙂

What is my favorite…

… food?

Anything sweet… does that count? Haha! I am 1000% a dessert girl to my core! But if I had to pick a savory food, it would probably be fried chicken of some sort- nuggets, strips, legs, etc. 😉 But also fries. Fresh Whataburger or McDonald’s fries are the best.

… place to shop?

Target, hands down. They are always my go to for pretty much any and everything!

… scent?

Anything citrus- especially lemon. Citrus smells clean and fresh to me, so it’s my preference.

… beverage?

Sweet tea (non carbonated) and Dr. Pepper (carbonated)

… TV show(s)?

I’m going by “desert island rules” so my top five are: The Office, Gilmore Girls, Friday Night Lights, The Middle, and Laverne & Shirley.

… part of my job?

Hearing people’s stories, especially now that I work with veterans. And with my current job, I love that I can hear stories and meet super interesting people, but don’t have to deal with repeat complainers 😉

… place to be?

Absolutely, 100% our ranch. Every single time we are there, usually when we are riding around in the Gator, I always have a moment that I think it is so surreal that it is ours- it fits us so perfectly and it’s still hard to believe that we will get to live there not long from now.

… time of year?

I love winter, especially Christmas! I can’t stand the heat, so winter is my jam, I love cold weather clothes way more than warm weather clothes, and I feel like everything is just a little happier around the Christmas season.

... thing to do on a weekend?

Hang with my little family! If an adventure is involved, that’s always great, but I really love hanging with those people doing not much of anything/ just being outside with the dogs, too. 🙂

… sports team?

That would be the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Great at basketball and baseball, not so much at the football lately. But that’s okay- every dog (Raider) has his day!

Livy girl has been a Tech Baseball fan since four weeks old! 🙂

… restaurant?

I think Pappadeaux if we’re talking sit down/ special occasion. Chick Fil A for everyday life.

… podcast?

I love The Big Boo Cast with Melanie Shankle and Sophie Hudson!

Runner ups: The Popcast with Knox and Jamie, That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs, and I Hate Green Beans with Lincee Ray.

… color?

Turquoise for everything!

… flower?

I love peonies, lilies, and hydrangeas.

… part of being a mom?

There is so much I love about being a mom- I love being a mom the most of anything I’ve ever done or will get to do. I think one of my favorite parts is seeing things “click” for my littles and watching them grow. Like Livy being able to name different animals and tell me what they “say” as she puts the right puzzle pieces into the puzzle when she couldn’t do that a few months ago, or when she FINALLY now says “I luh you!” back to me after me saying “I love you” to her multiple times a day every day of her life. Or this past weekend when I pointed out a crane to her flying to land on our lake and she said “I see, Mama! He fwy!” (Sorry, y’all, I could go on for days, I’m a proud mama! 😉 )Henry will get there- for now it’s little things like him finding his little thumb to suck on on his own. 🙂 Also snuggles (especially sleeping snuggles). Baby snuggles, toddler snuggles, I’ll probably love and demand teenage snuggles too, but we’ll see if they comply 😉

… place we’ve lived?

I loved living in Lubbock! Really everywhere in west Texas/ the Panhandle was great. I like where we are now, but we’re ready to get back to west Texas!

… hobby?

Probably reading. I love sitting with a good book (and probably a good cup of coffee or something warm!). The hardest part about it is that I have a hard time reading in little snippets, which is really what season I’m in right now. This is not the season to have long periods of time to sit and read non-stop and that’s exactly what I like to do with a good book!

… Bible verse(s)?

I actually have this Esther verse framed on the counter next to my sink in our bathroom and have for years (not this particular graphic, it’s just a sheet of card stock that I wrote the verse out on). It’s my constant reminder that wherever we are in life, whether physically or emotionally or whatever, that is exactly where we are supposed to be- we are in this particular kingdom for this particular set of circumstances because the Lord is doing work there whether we realize it or not, and wishing to be somewhere else just disregards the work He’s doing where we are.

… nail polish color?

I love bright colors for warm weather and dark colors for cold weather (does anyone else do this?). I love Sally Hansen’s White on Time and OPI Strawberry Margarita or Elephantastic Pink for summer and then Sally Hansen Plummet or Essie Don’t Sweater It in the winter.

… make-up product?

My one must have makeup is always mascara- I look terrible without it! I’ve used L’oreal Voluminous, Voluminous Superstar, and Lash Paradise for the last few years and really like them all!

... college memory?

My junior and senior year, my two BFFs and I would get together to “study” for all our tests (because we were all the same major), and I use the term study loosely because we typically would watch old SNL reruns or clips or other funny shows/ movies, and just eat a lot of take out and have just generally a lot of fun together. Those girls are the reason I had so much fun at the end of college and barely made it into grad school 😉

… book(s)?

Fiction- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Nonfiction- Love Does by Bob Goff.

Fiction Honorable Mentions: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee; The Gown by Jennifer Robson

Nonfiction Honorable Mentions: anything/everything by Melanie Shankle or Sophie Hudson.

... quality in my husband?

Well, I don’t think I can say just one- I adore his sense of humor, and he is always able to make me laugh consistently, unexpectedly, and when I need it most. I also love his steadfastness- he is so steady, calm, and even (which is part of why I think he excels in medicine- very little to nothing phases him and he is so good at rolling with the punches). He is loyal, brave, and pretty good lookin’, too 😉

(He’s also a pretty dang good little cook if we’re being really honest, but don’t tell him I said that 😉 I think it’s because he’s good at following directions, and I’m not as good at that, haha!)

… Instagram follow?

Probably Cristin Cooper. She’s a beauty/lifestyle blogger, but I love her outlook on life and how she deals with people on Instagram. She is so funny- I knew she was my kind of people on the day she ranted in her Instastory about people giving her a hard time for giving her kids melatonin at night and she responded with “Over here, we’re pro-epidural, pro-Chick Fil A for dinner, pro- help your kids go to sleep, so you can move along if you don’t agree with those things for me”. I love the no-nonsense, honest and real, just trying to survive mom life but also thrive attitude. Plus she shares cute and helpful things 😉 Runner up lately has been Christina Shoemaker with The Whole Cook. These recipes are DELICIOUS and she just seems like one of the nicest humans ever. I’ve pre-ordered her cookbook and am so excited about it!

… music artist?

I’ve been a huge John Mayer fan for at least fifteen years. He’s like the comfort food of music for me.

... way to workout?

I’m not a huge workout fan, but I adore our Peloton bike. I’ve also really enjoyed Barre classes in the past, but I’m just not in a season of life to be going to classes (it’s too much for me right now to spend the extra time to go somewhere other than my bedroom and to figure out childcare), and I just don’t love trying to do Barre at home.

… gift I’ve been given?

So, when I was in grad school, one of our graduation requirements was completing comprehensive exams or “comps” as we called them. It was a three day stretch where we did basically the equivalent of a final exam for each of the 18 classes we took over the course of the previous three years. They would group them so we’d have 2-3 tests per morning or afternoon block, and it was the week before the spring semester of our third year started (our program is three years of classroom work with a clinical placement, and then the fourth year working an internship wherever you want, so this was at the start of our last semester before being sent out to essentially practice under supervision). You had to score at least an 80 on each one to have passed it, and if you didn’t pass, you had to do remediation work for that class to bring it to passing, otherwise you weren’t allowed to receive your white coat and go out on internship.

That Christmas break, I had taken this large tub of notebooks and notes, etc home with me to study the entire time (yes, it sucked!), and one night while I was studying, Steven texted me that he’d gotten me a surprise. He sent me a picture of a little elephant figurine he’d picked up at Tractor Supply and said that I could talk to him while I study and then put him on my desk while I took the tests and he’d help me remember anything I forgot. I mean?? Talk about thoughtful!!! And I passed all 18 of those suckers the first time! (No doubt with the help of my elephant friend!!)

*Now he sits on the shelf in our bedroom with other important mementos and gifts!*

… movie(s)?

I love Pride and Prejudice, and just about any rom com or musical!

… subject to study in school?

English! I’ve always loved writing and reading. Like I mentioned on my 30 for 30 post, I actually started out college as an English major (and if I could have gotten paid for just reading and writing, I might have stayed one, haha!).

… ice cream flavor?

Have y’all heard of Cookie Two-Step? It’s cookie dough and cookies and cream mixed together. (insert drool emoji here 😉 ) But really any Blue Bell flavor is delicious!

… part about being 31?

I think hitting my 30’s meant really hitting my stride with who I am and who I want to be. I feel like I’m more confident than I was in my 20’s and understand a lot more about life, so I have more confidence in what I believe and how I feel because of that. Our 30’s hold a lot of dreams come true for us– we bought our dream land, we’ll be building our dream home, we’ll be sending our kiddos off to school, we’ll be closer to family, and we’ll get to have a lot of fun along the way. I like to think these are “the good ol’ days” we’ll reminisce on in the future, but each year has gotten sweeter as time has gone on, so maybe they’re all the good ol’ days. Cheers to 31, y’all!

And just a few highlights from the past year…