Stacie's Ramblings

We're getting ready to ring in a 3 day weekend! Do you have any special weekend plans? We are having a relaxing weekend at home. Matt is getting ready for an upcoming trip, so he's packing and I plan to do some reading, find a good movie to watch one evening and do a little gardening. We'll do a family meal with my in-laws on Monday. Here are some of my favorites from the week.   A Relaxing Porch   Last weekend I did a deep clean on the porch and sitting area. I've been enjoying happy hour and reading on the porch after work. It has been glorious! I am think of installing a few ceiling fans on this side of the porch for a little breeze. We have ceiling fans over the grilling area on the south side of the house, however, we site on the west side more often and could benefit from a little breeze. It's a beautiful place to watch the sunset.  Gardening I have a little row of some of my favorite summer veggies replanted. I have tomato plants, jalapeno peppers, zucchini,

We made it to Friday! How has your week been going? I'm sharing some the things this week that brought a little joy to me.  Reading  I just finished Elin Hildebrand's, What Happens in Paradise. Oh my word, it is so good and ended with a cliff hanger. I'm off to the library to pick up the third book in this trilogy.  Drinks I opened up this bottle of Joel Gott wine this week and it has become a new favorite. I picked it up at Sam's Club and it's under $20 a bottle. I have also seen it at several liquor stores as well. It is balanced and great on it's own or paired with a steak dinner. I will definitely buy a few more bottles of thi! YouTube I have been binging cleaning motivation videos on You Tube while doing my elliptical workouts in the evenings. Some have some great tips on organization, cleaning hacks, etc. This weekend I need to do a deep clean and wash the windows. Some people do spring cleaning, but I really feel the need to reset the house for fall and

It's Friday! It has been really warm this week and we might get some rain this weekend! How has your week been going? I'm sharing some the things this week that brought a little joy to me.  A Salon Appointment  I try to go every 6 - 8 weeks and get a partial foil highlight and every other time, I get a cut too. The cut was long overdue. I use purple brightening shampoo once a week or so to keep away the brassy tones.  A Clean Garden My summer garden was done and the plants were dry and crispy. The drought and heat really made gardening difficult this year. I cleaned it all up and now I am ready for fall planting! I LOVE starting with a blank slate! Podcasts I have listened to The Lazy Genius, hosted by Kendra Adachi, for a several years now. I get so many hacks for how to better streamline my life, home, work life, social, etc. Her latest episode #275 What's Saving My Life Right Now has something for everyone. Kendra gives such great advice for optimizing your life to find

  Welcome to Friday finally!! So, I've been reading a lot of blogger's Friday Favorite posts and they have a lot of photos throughout their week. I must admit I am the world worst about remembering to take a photo! Part of it is because I put my phone down as soon as I get home unless I need it for a dinner recipe and the other part is my iPhone really needs to be upgraded. I currently have the iPhone 10 and the camera quality is not nearly as clear as the newer phones. I'm holding out for the next Apple release which is rumored to be next month; fingers crossed I can upgrade then!  So, without further ado I do have a few things that have been my favorites this week I can share with you! Favorite Technology  Facebook addiction has been something I have been drying to conquer for the past year. It's difficult, especially when I need to look up a menu or store I am looking for and they only post on Facebook. I'll end up reinstalling the app on my phone to "just l

  It's Friday!! Hooray!! It's been a long week as Sunday night we returned back from Las Vegas, so I have been playing catch up all week. Since I skipped last Friday, I have to catch y'all up.  Horses We were in Vegas last Wednesday - Sunday for a horse show. My husband bought a new horse in October and he has been with a trainer. This is my husbands third show with him and he is such a wonderful horse. We have been calling him Badger, but I'm not sure it really fits. When he first came into our lives, he was pretty stand offish. He'd been a horse on a working ranch and had not really been loved on. Now he's a total love bug and a big pet!  Reading I have been reading Elin Hilderbrand's Winter in Paradise this week. I LOVE it and will continue this series. I believe there are 3 books in the series. The main character, Irene, lives an idyllic life with her husband and 2 grown sons. Her husband travels often for work, but she get's a call on night that tu

It's Friday, most everyone's favorite day of the week! This week was pretty standard around our house with going to work, enjoying dinner at home each night and our in-laws even shared some bbq they made with us one evening. Here's some of my favorite things from this week! Summer Fruit Watermelons are ready in my garden and they have been such a treat to have during this hot weather. It's been over 100 degrees each day and cold watermelon from the refrigerator is so refreshing. This is the Charleston Grey watermelon variety; they are large oblong melons and very tasty!  Exercise The elliptical really is a great workout and something I can do at home. I workout after dinner in the evenings and it has been too hot out to go for a walk outside. I put in my ear buds and catch up on my podcasts and enjoy the air conditioning!  Podcasts One of my favorite podcasts lately is the Sorta Awesome podcast with Meg Tietz and her co-hosts Kelly and Rebekah. These ladies cover every