Favorite Things Friday #29

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Whew, what a week it’s been in our neck of the woods. Our town suffered great loss from an unexpected flood and record amounts of rainfall in just a few short hours on Sunday. Just about everyone you talk to had water in their homes, basements totally destroyed, and SO. MANY. businesses on Main Street just gone. The life of an admirable National Guardsman was lost saving another, and it’s all just so heartbreaking. On top of all of that, Main Street and these SAME businesses just rebuilt after a similar flooding in July 2016. You may have seen it on the national news. It’s beyond gut-wrenching.

And as I’ve said before, it’s hard to blog about light topics when there’s so much heaviness around. So much devastation and lives changed forever – and not in the good way. But a part of me feels like it’s ok to talk about these things, because sometimes you need a quick break from the sadness. Not that it changes what happened, but just because a mental break from it all can sometimes be what you need to keep on going.

So local friends (or any friends dealing with your own heartbreak), I hope this Favorite Things Friday post does just that. Brings you a couple minutes of distraction so you can hustle through the rest of your day. Go grab that cup of coffee, we’ll wait…

…ok, ready? Let’s go!

1. An Oval Pot

When I say I use this pot everyday, I am 100% telling the truth. Ok, ok, with the exception of Friday Pizza Night – but every other night, it’s on the stove. My husband even jokes about it – it’s not a night of cleaning dishes until he gets to the oval pot!

Now, my husband got this for me about 14 or 15 years ago, so talk about bang for your buck! But the thing I am crazy about is the shape. Pasta goes right in – no breaking necessary. And corn? Yup! I don’t know what I’d do without this guy. While looking it up so I could find a link for you, I found this one that’s even deeper, and can cook even MORE corn at a time. I do sometimes wish it was taller, for when we have a crowd coming over. I think if I had to choose, I’d go with the deeper one, so I’m gonna link that one up for ya!

Seriously, if you cook a lot of spaghetti or corn, or lobster, or heck, you can use it for pretty much anything at all  – I do – like I said, EVERY NIGHT. Browned up my ground turkey last night for tacos. It’s my one stop pot right here. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re short on storage and can’t have a ton of pots around. This guy can pretty much do it all.

(affiliate link)

2. Talking on the Phone

Those of you who follow me on Facebook might’ve seen this photo the other day:

It’s our daughter on our landline calling her friend after school. A group of my friends and I (who have kids who are friends with mine) got to talking recently.  We are big believers in not giving our kids phones yet, and realized we all have landlines. So we exchanged numbers for our kids to communicate on their own. And it hit me how this is such a lost art. To know how to properly introduce yourself and ask politely to speak to someone – think about it. We rarely do it anymore. After posting this photo, it was clear that so many of you agree. And when my high school best friend commented that she remembered talking on her home phone to me for hours on end, and “I’m certain that they were some of the most life changing, heartfelt conversations of my life,” I couldn’t have agreed more.

Modern technology has its perks, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t be here typing this to you right now if it weren’t for it! But there are some things I think we could use a little less of. Texting is one of them. Sure, I do it. A lot. Some days I’m so darn thankful for it. But I think teaching our kids to pick up a phone, using their manners, and actually speaking to someone – hearing their voice, so nothing is lost in translation – it’s something I’d like to bring back. I think it’s important. They can text later, when they’re a little older and wiser.

And you know what? They actually LOVE it. We have all the numbers on the side of our fridge, and they’ll call one of their friends for a homework question, and end up chatting for 20 minutes – and they hang up smiling. It’s adorable. Long live the landline and friends talking to friends!

3. Sideways Silver Cross necklace

I picked up this cross necklace last year from Target and I have to say – it’s rarely off my neck.  The only time I take it off is if I’m getting dressed up for something and wearing fancy jewelry…so pretty rarely;)

It’s so delicate and lightweight and sweet – honestly, I forget I even have it on sometimes – but yet it is enough all on its own. I love that the cross is built sideways into the necklace, so there’s none of that having to turn it around because the clasp made it’s way to the front, you know what I’m talking about? I realized as I scrolled through my phone, that I’m wearing it in almost every photo, so CLEARLY its one of my favorite things! You can actually see it in my pajama pic from last week’s post:

And I found this selfie I took with crazy Mr. Charlie: (because apparently all I do is take photos of and with my dog now.) 😉

He’s such a little nugget.

Here’s an affiliate link in case you’d like your own: Silver Sideways Cross Necklace

Not only do I love the way it looks and feels, but it is a constant reminder of my faith.  Every time I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror, or my hand goes to touch it, I feel a little sense of peace and comfort. I love that.

So that wraps up this week’s Favorite Things Friday. I hope these few minutes were a nice respite for those of you who needed it, and let’s end this post with a reminder of last week’s Favorite Thing #3: This Is Temporary. We will overcome. It will be hard, and it may take a while, but it will happen.

Sending much love and prayers to all of you! XO