five finds friday (oatmeal cream pies & a little explaining about “that” photo)

You think those baby and toddler years FLY by?

Good grief, so do these high school ones.

Everything I see is in fast forward.

funny

Laughing is my favorite hobby.

Bergen is especially funny of late. And thank goodness, because life is so overflowing with NOT funny things that I need some daily doses of humor.

Our TV and movie viewing has shifted dramatically from the days of Veggie Tales and Little People. (Remember that tune, “Discovering Michael, discovering you. Discovering there’s room for everyone …”? No? Just me? Okay.)

A quick Google search helped me find this memory —

But that’s not even what I was planning to share this week.

This guy on You Tube has us cracking up lately. (I cannot explain how a random person can become famous for acting ridiculous and just talking to a camera, but I’m laughing nonetheless.)

Maybe it won’t be as funny to you, but we have come to love this guy and his nonsense.

fashionable

Hey wide legged jeans and bell bottoms, I see you.

I don’t want to be friends again right now.

And I don’t care if I part my hair in the middle or the side. My cousin and I were talking last weekend and we said living life in our forties is kind of perfect because I DON’T CARE if you like my clothes or my haircut. I do still care deeply if I like my shoes or my skirt, but I care a whole lot less about what anyone else thinks.

That’s golden. I’m glad to be here. I only wish I’d arrived sooner.

In other news – look at twenty-year old Lacey. (She’s so unaware, isn’t she?)

flavorful

It seems lately most of our meals have been some version of leftovers or fried rice or scrambled eggs. (I’m actually looking forward to meal planning this week and resuming some normal schedule so send me a few new dishes to try!)

A few weekends ago we did make some homemade oatmeal cream pies, spontaneously and with no reason.

You can find the recipe right here.

They were delicious!

faithful

Last weekend my dad and Bergen and I drove up to snowy upstate New York to celebrate the life of my Aunt Yvonne.

It was bittersweet, like all memorial services are.

But sitting at tables crowded with cousins and eating breakfast with uncles and aunts and seeing road named after my family reminded me that there’s a wide and there’s a deep history of people before me (and around me and after me) who have loved Jesus, who have provided for their families, who have worked land and served in the military.

I have a history. I have a story. I have a place in this family’s story.

It’s beautiful and humbling and I’m grateful for the reminder.

feels

Sometimes on social media I post a lot of photos. Sometimes I post nothing for a week.

And let me tell you, I KNOW numbers and likes and all of those lame words mean next to nothing, except when I’m trying to tell a funny story like I’m trying to do right now. Then they serve as a reference to prove my point.

Which is this.

Last week, while we were in New York, I had a spontaneous opportunity to have breakfast with an old friend – a friend from 27 years ago, in fact.

And that friend happened to be a grown man.

So – first I post a sweet photo of my dad and my son and I on my dad’s family farm and a few people are like, “Oh, sweet.”

Then I post a picture of me and my friend Jason and more than 100 people are like, “Well look at here – what is going on?” Heart. Heart. Heart.

Even funnier, no one leaves a comment.

But my phone is EXPLODING with texts and messages with ALL the questions.

And that makes me laugh.

But mostly, I know it’s because I’m insanely fortunate to be so blessed with friends who love me and friends who want to see me happy.

And you know what? That’s lucky.

And you know what else? I AM happy.

And you know what else after that? The great guy in that photo is just my friend. Just friends, you guys. In fact, he’s happily engaged and I’m happy for him.

It was exactly what it was – a sweet reunion after almost THREE decades in the snowiest and cutest little town in Upstate New York. (Hallmark would have loved the background though – a frozen lake AND a gazebo.)

Trust me, if I ever successfully have a second date with any adult dude, I’ll probably tell you. Well, at least some of you!

But thank you for texting and laughing with me and being fabulous cheerleaders because it made me feel loved and seen and that was wonderfully unexpected.

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