I’m feeling a little arbitrary today. Some of my favorites at random…
1. Scent of a new book
2. My husband’s hands when he plays the piano 
3. The twilight hour
4. Sound of words when spoken by a true word lover
5. Wind that gentles the leaves just before the rain
6. Daydreams
7. Long naps
8. Black and White photos that need a home
9. Touch me then try to leave cream
10. Seeing what’s around the next bend
Living in grace,
Teresa (aka Sadie Grace)
1. I love food. It doesn’t always love me back. And it really makes the struggle to lose weight a losing battle. And I don’t mean losing in a good way. But, this is not about my weight battle. This is about my favorite food.
2. My favorite genre of food is Italian. Give me Italian food any day of the week. Or a good cheeseburger will work too. But, if you limit my choices, then make it Italian. I am not Italian. But my taste buds sure are. Somewhere in there a little taste buddy is waving an Italian flag. Ok. cheesy (yes, please, on my Italian entree, or pizza….). I digress again.
3. Italian it is. But, if you want to narrow it down even more to a specific food. Pizza. Hands down. I could eat pizza almost every day of the week. I don’t. But I could. I am having Pizza for dinner tonight (10/1) with salad. Just so I can feel virtuous about eating my vegetables. I do love salad. It pairs well with Italian food, including pizza.
4. I’m not sure when my love affair with pizza began. I remember once, when I was younger, being at my aunt’s house and the adults were playing cards and eating something called pizza. First time I remember hearing about it. For some reason I remember thinking it wasn’t something I wanted to try. I also remember watching American Bandstand at her house too. So, there really is no accounting for the taste of the younger me. I digress again. The point is, at some point in life, I developed a red hot love affair with pizza and it is still going strong.
5. With every move we make (sounds like a song), and there have been lots of moves, we always check out the pizza joints as soon as possible, like before all the boxes are even unpacked. And it doesn’t take us long to find our favorite. In the small town where we currently hang our hat, it happens to be from our local grocer. Yes, in a small corner of their deli department, they do pizza, subs and salads. And they are the best in town. Even better than a popular chain hut that used to be the only place to eat pizza.
6. Prior to our move, we lived in Louisville and of course there were many options for pizza from dine-in only dives to delivery. We tried several of them, but usually relied on faithful papa to deliver right to our door. A few months before we moved, we finally tried one of the local pizza joints we’d heard good things about and were literally swept off our feet. It was that good. My mouth waters now just thinking about it. You can read about our first experience here. It truly was a moment of sheer foodie beauty.
7. I could talk a good while about all the pizza places I’ve been and rank them for you, but I know it is almost time for pick-up and I am starved for the first bite of cheesy goodness with an under note of rich tomatoey sauce (always ask for extra sauce) that so gently nestles the pepperoni, sausage, onion and peppers, just waiting to make my taste buds come alive. I need a moment. Really. Just….wait….one moment.
In case you are wondering why my paragraphs are numbered, let me explain. This is a 31 day series where I do daily LISTS. Of my favorite things. Since I went on and on and on about pizza. My favorite food. Ever. I thought I should at least pretend that it is a list. So, I numbered the paragraphs. It is now a list.
Eating pizza gracefully (probably not),
Teresa (aka Sadie Grace)
Almost anything can trigger a memory. Today’s list is a compilation of some of my favorite memories and the things that trigger them.
1. The smell of honeysuckle always reminds me of my childhood church. Honeysuckle grew along the fence in the side yard and on those warm summer evenings, we’d run over after service and pull out the stamen and eat the nectar. It was heavenly.
2. When I see green apples, I’m reminded of the times in the late summer just before the apples on the tree across the road were ripe, we’d eat them all green with lips puckered and eyes squinted from the sour. We didn’t care that we might end up with a stomach ache.
3. The smell of rain in the air reminds me of being a child and standing on the front porch, with pure abandonment, watching a storm roll in . Even now, I love a good thunderstorm (unless it’s a scary tornadic type storm).
4. Hearing a UK (University of Kentucky) basketball game on the radio reminds me of time spent at my paternal grandparents house with my cousin. My Grandfather would go to the Bahama’s on a mission trip every January and my cousin and I would “babysit” grandma. My cousin would listen to UK games and she and Grandma would work a puzzle and I’d read. It was a cozy evening in the kitchen.
5. Eating saltine crackers reminds me of staying with my maternal grandmother. We’d pile up in the feather bed with books and crackers. She’d try to stay awake, but usually fell asleep while I was reading. I’d try my best to make her stay awake with me, but she kept dozing.
6. When someone mentions Kentucky author, Jesse Stuart I remember my Mother’s joy the day she got to meet him. We knew some people, who sort of knew him and we took a drive to meet them, and they drove us right up to Jesse Stuart’s front door. He came out on the porch and chatted with us and told my mother she had a twinkle in her eye.
7. The smell of Aqua Net (does anybody still use this stuff?) Hairspray or Dial soap will trigger memories of summer church camp. I loved church camp. I literally grew up at camp. From the time I was a baby until about age 20 or 21 I was involved in church camp. My mother “worked” Youth camp and took me as a child. We lived on the campgrounds as caretakers two different times when I was younger and I went to Youth camp every summer when I was old enough. Then, when I was older I’d stay in a camper with one of my friends at Adult camp. I remember the girls dormitory always smelled like soap and hairspray. It was the seventies. I rarely wear hairspray these days; however, I do use soap.
8. The smell of fresh cut hay brings back memories of hayrides through the countryside. A good hayride signals that fall has officially arrived. The air is crisp and the colors are vibrant. There is new found energy.
Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.
Teresa (aka Sadie Grace)
I’ll add a link to each new post here as it goes live. Scroll down below the button for the introductory post.
Day 1: Favorite Memories – 31:1
Day 2: Favorite Food – 31:2
Day 3: Random Favorites – 31:3
Day 4: Favorite Emily – 31:4
Day 5: Favorite Blogs – 31:5
Day 6: Favorite Scripture(s) I – 31:6
Day 7: Favorite Revisited – 31:7
Day 8: Favorite Aunt Nancy – 31:8
Day 9: Favorite To Do – 31:9
Day 10: Favorite Non-favorites – 31:10
Day 11: Favorite Movies – 31:11
Day 12: Favorite New Blogs – 31:12
Day 13: Favorite Scripture(s) II – 31:13
Day 14: Favorite Revisited – 31:14
Day 15: Favorite Colors – 31:15
Day 16: Favorite Songs I – 31:16
Day 17: Favorite Songs II – 31:17
Day 18: Favorite Living – 31:18
Day 19: (more) Favorite New Blogs – 31:19
Day 20: Favorite Scripture(s) III – 31:20
Day 21: Favorite Revisited III – 31:21
Day 22: (more) Random Favorites II – 31:22
Day 23: Favorite Healthy Snack (Three Ways) – 31:23
Day 24: Favorite Season – 31:24
Day 25: Favorite Flowers – 31:25
Day 26: Favorite Pinterest Boards – 31:26
Day 27: Favorite Scripture IV – 31:27
Day 28: Favorite Revisited IV – 31:28 – & Click for a poem inspired by this post
Day 29: New Favorites (salty and sweet) – 31:29
Day 30: Favorite Book (one of) – 31:30
Day 31: (more) Random Favorites III – 31:31
The daily format will be in a list as follows:
Monday – a review of how I revisited one of my favorite things over the weekend.
Since this is the first Monday and I haven’t done weekly lists yet, the first review will be next Monday and the first list will be tomorrow.
Tuesday through Friday – a specific lists of favorites (no set number).
Saturday – links to some of my favorite bloggers.
Sunday – verses / passages of scripture that have become favorites.
Come back tomorrow for the first list of favorites?
Teresa (aka Sadie Grace)
Join the Nester and others here.
What I’ve learned in June. A reflective list of realizations, some new, some rediscovered. Join the party hosted by Emily over at Chatting at the Sky and see what others are sharing about June lessons.
1. I like cool spring days better than hot, humid summer days and we were blessed with several of those early in the month.
2. Hydrangeas need lots, lots, lots of water. They wilt at the first sign of too much heat. But they are beautiful and worth the extra maintenance. I hope the one I planted this month survives. And I hope it retains the beautiful blue color. There is much I don’t know about Hydrangeas yet.
Source Raul654
3. Speaking of high maintenance, my brother would rather I call him once with a list of all things going on, instead of calling him randomly. Then he can get back to me. Whatever! Today’s list for him (a list within a list if you will): I love you. How is your foot? Have you seen Dad’s new building yet? Aunt C is in the hospital. Aunt K is in the nursing home. B is going back to Texas for a week and then she’ll be back here for a while. Come see us sometime. Tell T and the kids we love them. If you need me I’m only a phone call away! Come to church with us sometime. So, when I called him, he actually answered. Turns out I’m supposed to mail the list every Friday. I just might do that. I know he loves me and I think he was just joking about the list. Bottom line – he doesn’t like to talk on the phone. I don’t either, but I do like to keep in touch with my brother once in a while. So, I call him sometimes. He’ll get over it. If I didn’t call he’d think I didn’t love him anymore. And, a list is very efficient, the call lasted less than five minutes.
4. I did not learn this in June (I’ve always known), but was once again reminded that I love my sister and I love having her home from Texas, she fills in some gaps that are missing when she is not here. I think I’ll lasso her, tie her up and keep her here. Can you tell I’ve been catching up with McLeod’s daughters on Netflix? Sisters are a gift to be treasured.
5. They killed Claire McLeod off on McLeod’s daughters. I know this is old news to most people who remember this show. I just discovered this last night and I’m still in shock. She was the pivotal character. I hope I did not spoil this for anyone, I realize I may not be the only one ten years behind. (it was just as depressing as Matthew dying on Downton Abbey – oops, hopefully you already knew that).
6. I should remember that if you attend church business meetings, you will be elected to be the clerk or something like that.
7. I’m discovering that as much as I love people, I really need a lot of quiet time to reflect and regroup.
8. I like the idea of owning a first edition book over the idea of selling it for big bucks. That is a true book lover. I also have too many books, but I did not learn this in June.
9. I read lots of blogs in June rather than doing a lot of writing on my blog. I came to some conclusions that I’m formulating into a post. I’ll share my thoughts once they are in line.
10. I’ve been seeing that depression is a topic that we need to speak out about. I have some thoughts brewing about this too that I want to write about on my blog.
11. I’m so over all this equality stuff. I will not share my thoughts on my blog. There are already too many voices out there espousing opinions. OK, I will say one thing: God knows the truth of everything and he knows his designs and plans. I need to trust him and follow his lead. OK, two things: words have meanings and those meanings should not be changed. It is what it is. That is all I will say. You have to choose your own opinion about all this stuff. Hopefully you will do that prayerfully.
12. Prayer, even in the little everyday things is vitally important. It builds our faith. Praying daily helps prepare us for the bigger issues. It makes us more grounded when they come. And come they will.
13. After 29 years I love my husband more than ever. We celebrated our marriage this month – not a new thing I learned, but a good reminder of where we’ve been on the journey to where we’re going.
So, what have you learned or re-learned in June? You can link-up here to share , or if you want to read what others have learned, just pop on over and read some of the other blogs.
Learning in Grace, Sadie
Teresa L Hardymon 
