First Five Favorites

This is the first time I'm linking up with Hallie for my Five Favorites this week...

1.  My new swimsuit!  I picked it up at Macy's this week.  I spend alot of time at the pool, we are there pretty much everyday.  I've been wearing my old one but next week we'll be going to a waterpark with our church.  My old suit is fine for swimming or sitting out poolside watching the kids.  However, walking around a waterpark is another matter entirely!

I did some on-line shopping and saw this tankini on their website so I decided to hit the local store and see if I could find it there.  I didn't see any on display but as I was searching the racks I came across a top (which just happened to be in my size).  So I snagged it and as I was browsing another rack I found some bottoms stuck in-between some other stuff (also in my size).  I tried on some other suits just to be sure but this was definitely "the one".  The best part...when I went to check-out the sales clerk mentioned she had never seen this one before in this color.  She said it must have been an internet return.  To top it off, it was on sale and with my 20% off coupon I snagged this $208 swimsuit for $66!  What are the odds?  Jesus had my angels working overtime, I am sure.  I hate swimsuit shopping as much as every other female I know but this trip was the best.one.eva!

"Sinful Colors"

2.  My daugher's nailpolish.  She got them as a birthday gift from her cousin and I've spent lots of time painting her fingers and toes.  Today I took some time to do mine and I love them.  I'm so, so happy God decided to add a girl to our group of boys.  All the testosterone in our home sometimes makes me forget what being a girl is all about.  Princess is more girly than tomboy at this point, and that's good for the whole family.  She generously lets me borrow any color I want except her pink sparkle one (which is fine by me because I don't look all that good in pink anyway).

3.   Reconciliation.  Maybe this one is too serious to be on the list, but right now I'm really thankful for it.  My church's priest is out of town for the next two weeks, I went to confession right before he left but wouldn't you know it...  So Saturday I went hunting for another church for reconciliation.  I went by one who had times listed before their 4:00 Mass but when I got there the place was deserted!  Which was ok, I spent some time praying in the empty church, but I still needed reconciliation.  Lucky for me I live near a shrine that offers it twice daily.  I just didn't appreciate the power and graces behind that sacrament until I became Catholic!  It makes me sad that so few people take advantage of it that the area churches don't have regular set times, usually you have to make an appointment.

4.  My kindle fire.  I love old fashioned books too, but the convenience of an e-reader just can't be beat.  I use mine for reading 99% of the time.  I especially like downloading the daily readings from Mobile Gabriel for my morning devotion time.  I just download it at the beginning of the month and I have all of the readings for that month with a little devotional write up at the end of each one.  Anything to make my frazzled brain a bit more focused and organized, I love starting my day with prayers while the house is still quite in the early morning (why, yes, I am a morning person...why do you ask)?  As an aside, the mornings are pretty much the only time the house is "quiet", even the dogs like sleeping in.

Hanging with my honey in our tent

5.  Last but not least on my list...long weekends with my sweetheart!  Doug was off work July 4th and he took off Friday too, making it a four day weekend.  He works alot of hours so it's nice to have him around for long stretches of time.  We didn't work on any major projects this weekend, just relaxing, hanging out at the pool and playing with the kids.  I've just been on "maintenance mode" with the house over the extended weekend and it's starting to show the strain.  Maybe I'll try to put in an hour Sunday evening so I don't wake up to a disaster Monday morning.

That's my 5...go check out more with Hallie at Moxie Wife.