Well, let’s see.

Melanie is cooking ribs during this podcast, and a couple of times she has to take a podcast break to flip her ribs.

I don’t know what more any of us could ask, really.

But we also talk about college football, pro football, the color of the Cowboys’ football pants, pop-up ads, an allergy I recently discovered (it’s an allergy I have – not an actual medical discovery), and cotton pants (good job, GAP).

This episode is a little shorter than usual, but we were in a time crunch. We’re going to try to do a repeat podcast next week, so if you have any questions for us, just leave them in the comments.

Did I mention that Melanie cooked ribs?

We’re talking staggering new levels of excitement.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here on the blog.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes if you’re feeling particularly fancy.

Just FYI – here’s where you can get more info on the products / places we mention (these aren’t affiliate links – just regular ole links):

– Carlsbad Caverns Barbecue Ribs

– The most beautiful fall container planting I’ve ever seen

– Dak Prescott – QB1 for the Dallas Cowboys

– The icy blue/green/silver Dallas Cowboys football pants

– LSU’s retro uniforms for the Mississippi State game

– Trevor Knight’s leadership

– GAP wide-leg utility pants

– “How the Sugar Industry Shifted the Blame to Fat”

Enjoy, y’all!

Listen. I am the worst blogger.

I’m not even sure where the time goes every day. Well, that’s not true. I kind of am sure where the time goes. We are up early for school, then at school all day, then Alex has football practice until 5:30, then we have supper and homework and try to carve out some time to, you know, TALK to one another and then it’s bedtime and we go to sleep and start all over again.

I know. I just described the lives of 80% of the people reading this post. Only most of y’all are handling practices and games and meals for more people than I am. KUDOS TO YOU, I say.

So since I don’t really have anything to report (well, I mean, there are stories – but teenagers don’t really love to be fodder for blog posts, and you can probably live happily without hearing about the saga of me finding some new running shoes) (I finally settled on the Brooks Ghost 9) (I use them for walking, not running) (and they are so comfortable) (just FYI if you’re a high-arch person), how about I share some things that I have enjoyed on the interwebs?

Oh, and also – there’s a deal on Amazon where my first two books are an eBook bundle, and it’s only $3.99 for the bundle. PRACTICALLY FREE. In case you’re interested.

All righty. Laughs and hijinks coming up.

– For some reason this video always cracks me up. I probably watch it once a week just because it tickles me.

– Also, this one is called “When Your Dad Tries to Keep Up with the Trends”:

Have I been around high school kids too long? :-)

– As you can imagine, I have a lot of happy feelings about this.

I have never followed NFL football – we have always been college football people.

But last week I ordered a Cowboys t-shirt, and I wore it last night. I’M NOT PLAYING AROUND.

So proud of Dak Prescott.

– And as you can imagine, I also have a lot of happy feelings that college football starts this weekend.

I’m going to try not to ring my cowbell in the house. I make no promises.

– NEEDTOBREATHE fans, this interview with the band is pretty awesome.

– It’s not out for a few more weeks, but I love Edie’s book so much. I actually wrote an endorsement for it, and part of that endorsement says that the book is “part Southern gothic, part C.S. Lewis, part pure poetry, and 100% gut-level-honest Edie Wadsworth.” It is really beautiful – one of my favorites this year for sure.

All righty – it’s time for me to pick up the boy from football practice. But I hope y’all are having a great week, and I hope your team wins this weekend. Unless you’re playing Mississippi State, of course. (YAY, FOOTBALL!)

Well, we have us some new theme music, and it’s pretty sassy if I do say so myself. Apparently at least one of us (me!) is destined to like loud saxophones for the rest of her life, and if they have a hint of a disco groove, then all the better.

We cover a whole bunch of conversational ground in this episode: the Rio Olympics, our summertime entertainment favorites, our fitness goals / struggles, the fact that Melanie draws the line at kale, and why she will never go deep sea fishing ever again.

It’s an assortment of fun, you might say.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here on the blog.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes if you’re feeling particularly fancy.

Just FYI – here’s where you can get more info on the products / places we mention (these aren’t affiliate links – just regular ole links):

– 41 year-old gymnast

– Last Chance U

– Alias

– Hillary Scott & the Scott Family – Love Remains

– Miranda Lambert “Vice”

– Beatriz Williams’ A Hundred Summers

– Beatriz Williams’ The Secret Life of Violet Grant

– Giddy Up, Eunice (fall 2016, y’all!) (it really was summer 2016) (but our conversation about non-fiction books in the fall made me laugh) :-)

– fancy dorm rooms

– Saucony Ride 8

– Kate Middleton’s Adidas

– Barefoot Dreams robe

– flounder gigging (I had no idea this was even a thing)

– Melanie’s ceviche recipe

– burgundy / maroon men’s pants

– Seychelles Lucky Penny booties that Sophie loves

– Junk Gypsy boots that Melanie loves

Enjoy, everybody!

Hi. It’s 412 degrees here. How are you?

We’ve been busy soaking up the home stretch of summer around here. Daddy spent the first part of last week with us, which was great. Now he’s home in Mississippi, and that means I’ve spent a considerable amount of time this week wondering if it’ll ever seem normal to me that he’s living by himself. We had some sweet talks while he was visiting, though, and he’s doing pretty well; so many of you have been so kind to email and check on him. And that reminds me: I am so behind on email that it’s laughable – I can’t seem to hold onto a train of thought long enough to make much forward progress – but I am hoping to be caught up soon.

That last sentence is pretty much the story of my life, by the way.

This week has been all about trying to finish the last of the summer to-do list. Alex started football practice on Monday, so in between that and having some work done around the house, we’ve gotten haircuts and bought school supplies and been to the doctor and basically just lived it up doing all manner of errands. I’ve been walking a lot (trying to get this broken foot back into shape) (also trying to find a productive way to dial down my anxiety level, which has been cranked up since Mama died), so that means I’ve also been sweating a lot because FOUR HUNDRED TWELVE DEGREES. However, all that sweating has a silver lining because let me show y’all a picture of the best thing that has happened to me all summer. It’s at the fitness place we go to (I do not know correct gym and fitness terminology, hence “fitness place”).

It’s a pellet ice machine. LORD BE PRAISED.

Needless to say, the daily access to the complimentary pellet ice has changed my whole life.

ANYWAY.

I know that it’s been more quiet than usual in this neck of the bloggy woods, but one thing I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt after Mama died was that I needed to give myself some space and some time. There is a lot about those last few days with Mama that I’m not ready to write about; I just want all of those sacred moments and conversations and prayers to sink way down deep in my heart so I can live with them a while before they become sentences (I hope that makes sense).

All that to say: we are okay. We are good, even. I have been using Mama’s Bible when I have my quiet time in the mornings, and that has been the sweetest gift and the most unexpected comfort. I’ve been reading through Paul David Tripp’s New Morning Mercies (it is EXCELLENT, by the way – one of the very best devotional books I’ve ever used), and the Scripture passage one day last week was Philippians 3. So when I opened Mama’s Bible and saw this –

– well, it pretty much made my day to see how she had underlined those words.

So. I’m gonna ease my way back into the blog (or, as I pronounce it, the blawg). There are some new books I want to tell you about, not to mention that I haven’t raved about NEEDTOBREATHE’s new album near enough.

Hope y’all have the best weekend. If you need me, I’ll just be refilling my cup with pellet ice.

:-)

(It really is the little things, isn’t it?)

There are times when Melanie and I record a podcast and everything seems right in the world. The skies are blue, life is easy, and cheerfulness comes oh-so-naturally.

This particular podcast is not necessarily one of those times.

But here’s the thing, I guess. After the last few weeks and everything that’s been going on in the world – not to mention with our close friends and family members – well, we were feeling a little punchy. And while yes, punchy can certainly be funny, we probably weren’t showing off the sunniest sides of our personalities the day we recorded episode 62.

But you know what? It ended up being an oddly therapeutic conversation (well, I mean, I can’t speak for Melanie, but it was therapy for me, at least). And we covered all sorts of topics: Tiny House Hunters, my great closet clean-out of 2016, the confusion over when a “dress” is actually a shirt, Melanie’s lack of interest in a process, my unfortunate experience with a handkerchief dress, plus so much more.

Finally, thank you so much for your emails, messages, comments, and prayers during Mama’s hospital stay and after she passed away. I said this yesterday on the podcast Facebook page, but the joy of the Lord really has been our strength. Please know that our family is so grateful for y’all.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here on the blog.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes if you’re feeling particularly fancy.

Just FYI – here’s where you can get more info on the products / places we mention (these aren’t affiliate links – just regular ole links):

– acrylic T necklace holder

– Blue Door Boutique

– Tiny House Hunters

– Melanie’s Pinterest

– Sophie’s Pinterest

– Somebody giving a hedgehog a bath

– Creed

– The Intern

– Band of Brothers

– Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

– Mrs. Kennedy & Me by Clint Hill

– Murad Rapid Age Spot & Pigment Lightening System

– Bad Day by Daniel Powter

Hope y’all enjoy it!

The blog hasn’t been working today, so a little while ago I posted something on Facebook that I was originally planning to put in a blog post. But now, of course, the blog is working (thank you, kind web hosts at Fused), so I thought I’d put the Facebook post here for those of you who might miss it otherwise.

This is some impressively needless explaining, isn’t it?

So here’s the Facebook post, and I’d just like to say that if you are a Hamilton fan, well, YOU ARE SO WELCOME.

I don’t know if the link will show up if you’re an email subscriber, so you may have to click through to the post.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sit and think about other processes that I can overcomplicate.

What can I say? IT’S A GIFT.