Five Things Friday

Here you have it, my five things Friday! Hope everyone had a great week and has an even better weekend! See you on Monday! Or, better yet, keep up with me on social media! @estherlaurien on Instagram & Twitter!

5 Things I did

1. We got snow. Because of said snow, we had a snow day last Friday. There was a very bad accident about an hour or so away from here, it involved a 150 car pileup and a truck carrying fireworks. There was a fatality. My thoughts are with all those who were involved and with their families.

 

2. My mom had foot surgery last Tuesday, so on Sunday I went out to see them. As it ended up, my Dad got sick the night before and my Grandparents came over with tons of food for them. So I went on fridge duty for them, and left with some yummy food for myself too. Hope they get better soon, silly parents.

3. So this is Shiloh. She was my 16th birthday present (I am now 30). She is a verrrry old girl who doesn't usually like to snuggle. When I was at my parents house, she randomly decided she wanted to snuggle. It was adorable and glorious and my mom snapped this cute picture of her.

4. I took 10,500 steps one day this week!! I know this because for Christmas I received a Jawbone UP24.

5. I caught up on Parenthood; my husband doesn't really like it (too soap opera-y for him) and he was out of town so I caught up on it one night. It was gloriously guilty and delightful.

5 things I ate

1. A delicious bowl of Cream of Wheat on a snowy winter morning is just absolute perfection. Truly.

 

2. I had some leftover frozen blueberries; so I threw those along with some spinach and milk into the blender. Pretty yummy.

3. Monkey Bread!

4. I have a guilty pleasure in eating frozen lasagna. I mean, I heat it up first, then eat it. My husband does not understand this, and has no desire to partake in it. So that means when he is out of town, I eat it and I enjoy every guilty morsel. He calls it a Lasagna Brick. So that is what I ate; a lasagna brick. Delicious.

5.Swedish Fish. That's all that needs to be said about that, am I right?

5 things I read

1. Corgi cuteness

This is an adorable little article about this corgi who went to Disney and got pictures taken with the characters. Trust me, it will make you smile.

2. How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

This book was well written, but kind of confusing because it is told in the voices of like 10 different characters. So that is kind of annoying, but I do understand the importance of the different voices to the plot but still...I had a  hard time keeping up with each switch.

3. Literally made me LOL

4.  The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Loved, loved, loved this book. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads in fact. Historical Fiction is often hard for me to get into, but this story just sucked me in for days. Let me know if you want a full review on this book!

5.  Every month from my library I get a free copy of BookPage and I thumb through it very slowly and deliberately to decide what books to add to my Goodreads. It's a book nerds heaven for sure.

High Five for Friday | Link Up

Even though it was only a 4-day work week, I still felt like I was going in a million different directions. I may be delayed on the blogging every now and again, but I am still going to try and do one book review, one beauty, the weekly wrap up and h54f every week...and when I can a travel post, or just something random. That is my goal. If it proves to be too lofty, I may have to cut back to only blogging 3 days a week until I can figure it out, but right 4 days a week, possibly 5 every now and then. 

Here are the highlights of my week!

1. C officiated his first wedding on Saturday! A friend of his from high school asked him to do it many months ago, and he happily obliged. The wedding took place in this beautiful pavilion, with the reception following down by a nice little creek. The weather held off, even after a rainy start to the day, and it was a beautiful wedding and C did a great job!

2. On Sunday I got to hang out with these dudes. I got some snuggles in, and they weren't too impressed with my picture taking.

3. After a long weekend, I jammed to some Jay-Z on the way to work. Sometimes you just need to put your damn hands up and surrender, it is what it is. #workjams

4. My classroom is pretty much in order. Now it's just detail stuff, and knocking out home visits. This year is going to be a big change from what I'm used to but it will be a good experience...at least that is what I am telling myself to stay positive. 

5.  We have nothing major going on this weekend. With the last few weekends being so crazy and busy, it will be really nice to just be at home this weekend. That is a major high five!

Enjoy your weekend!

High Five for Friday | Link Up

Since it is my last week of official summer vacation, it has just been a chill week. Laying around, going for walks and reading. The calm before the storm if you will.

1.  On Saturday a group of friends and myself went out to celebrate my birthday! We went to a local brewery that I had been wanting to try, EagleMonk Pub and Brewery. Pictured is the sampler that C and I split, to decide what beer we liked best. I had about 4 favorites (out of 8), so that's a definite win in my book! It was a great time, and I super appreciate the people that came to help me celebrate. 

2. It's always a great week when I get to see this old girls smiling face. She was my 16th birthday present, and seeing that I just turned 30...that tells you how old she is. She continues to live at my parents, since it seems evil to yank her from her comfort zone. She has lots of land there, plus her best friend Mojo to snuggle with on cold winter nights. I love her. 

3. I have been going for walks everyday, usually to the library. It's been great to get outside and walk to one of my favorite places ever.

4. I am test driving some cars this week. Unfortunately my car has pooped out. That is not a high five. BUT getting test drive some cars is. I have had my current car...for 12 years. I have never really driven anything else, so this is kind of exciting.

5. We are going to be joining some friends for dinner in Old Town, Lansing. It will be delightful to eat some great food and catch up with people.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, see you back here on Monday!

High Five for Friday | link-up

Happy Friday friends! In case you haven't noticed, I added some follow buttons on the main page so now you can follow me on instagram, pinterest and bloglovin'! I am on twitter as well, just having a few issues with the button. Anyway, here is my H54F!


1. My 4th of July was very relaxed. Hung out by a bonfire, ate some s'mores, lit some sparklers and watched my dad and brother throw firecrackers and whip-its. It was delightful.

2. One morning when I was getting ready to leave, I went to load my dogs into their kennels--'lo and behold they were ready to go without any encouragement on my part. They are both pretty old now, but the expectant looks on their faces cracked me up. I think they just wanted me to leave so they could sleep all day undisturbed. What a life.

3.  Tuesday, we had a concert in Clarkston, Mi and beforehand we needed to eat, obviously. We stopped at Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen, which is housed in an old church. It was  a neat atmosphere and the food was decent as well!

4. After gorging ourselves, we ventured down the road to DTE Energy Music Theatre for an outdoor concert (blog post is linked). It was a great night to lay back and listen to music.

5. It has been a pretty chill week since the concert. I have been just lounging around, reading and doing some transcription work for C. It has been very cool, but sunny so it has been perfection weather-wise.

How has your week been? Linking up to The Lauren Elizabeth, and let me know if you popped over from there! Welcome!

See you Monday for the Photo A Day weekly wrap-up!