his:

Catching an early flight to Chicago

Sipping Intelligentsia coffee

Walking down Elm Street

Officiating his first wedding on the deck of a boat in Lake Michigan

hers:

Catching up on orders

Lunches and dinners with friends

Soaking up alone time at a coffee shop before baby comes

Watching You've Got Mail twice

ours:

Sunday naps

Pot roast at Mom and Dad's

Skyping with family and friends in Germany (a big birthday for Papa!)

Sushi dinner with friends

Lots of hugs to make up for lost time

Hope your weekend was sweet!

This weekend.

"Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I have ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing... Through all the haste I thought I was making up time. 

It turns out I was throwing it away."

- Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Here's to a weekend of slowing down. 

Hope yours is beautiful.

Sabbath rest.

"Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it." - Malachi 3:10

Shawn and I have been feeling convicted lately that we're not very good at taking a true Sabbath and truly resting from our work. Actually, that's an understatement. We're terrible at it. With two full-time jobs and a full-time business, it's easy to make excuses not to rest. And we have. For months. We've gone so long without a full day of no work.

This weekend was different, though. Not only is once-a-week Sabbath rest mandated in Scripture, it's a need for our bodies and souls. So on Saturday, we prepared for the Sabbath by sewing our little hearts out. Ten hours of sewing and six completed orders later, we knew that Sunday had to look a lot different.

And it did...
Pancakes with strawberries. French press coffee. Sunday worship with our church family. Soaking up the sun by the pool. Planting a garden (finally). Browsing books at the library. Seeing some friends. Watching the EuroCup.

That sounds like a lot, but the fact that it didn't involve Brighter Day was so refreshing. And here's the coolest part. Sunday was our biggest sales day for Brighter Day in all four years of its existence. Four large orders came through unexpectedly, and we couldn't believe that on the one day we haven't done a thing, God chose to bless us.

Lesson learned, Lord. We're about to start taking this once-a-week Sabbath a whole lot more seriously.

Weekend highlights.

This weekend was gorgeous. Most of this whole Fall season in Tennessee is. We hit the Franklin Farmer's Market which just keeps getting bigger and better every time we go. Shawn tried basil lemonade and pumpkin donuts. I had fresh juice. I could seriously live at the Farmer's Market. It's hard to pull me away when it's time to go.

We also celebrated this little guy's birthday. He's not so little anymore... and he's kind of a daredevil on a skateboard. The nurse in me couldn't watch.

Favorite photo of the day: 

We also got to go to an 84-mile-long yard sale (does that not sound heavenly?) that started in Franklin. I should've taken pictures!

How was your weekend? 

Cozy, cozy.

Rainy Saturday evenings spent in the sewing room are pretty much the coziest thing imaginable. 

Happy Saturday to you!

Our weekend in pictures.

This weekend has been lovely. The Saturday morning light that streamed in gave us the perfect backdrop to homemade pumpkin spice pancakes, peaches, and cinnamon tea.

    

In the afternoon, we had the privilege of photographing this sweet girl for some headshots she needs for an upcoming audition. It was one of my first forays into hair and makeup, but thankfully a 12-year-old that's this photogenic really doesn't need much. We ended up with at least 50 good options for which we were so thankful, and her precious personality really shined through. At the end of our session, when her face was sore from smiling so much, she ran out to the best swing ever and loved it.

Hope your weekend has been beautiful!