Superbowl Prep

Ok, maybe you all are all up on your sports news but for those of you like me.....I am here to help.

I did some googling and here are the two teams in this weekend's game

Kansas City Chiefs

 against the

San Francisco 49ers

Here is the really good news about these two playing against each other.  The 49ers colors are scarlet and gold.  The Chiefs colors are red and gold.  Scarlet, red......red, scarlet......yep I am calling them the same for decor purposes and guess what decorating scheme I am going with

Red and Gold......Ha!  No matter who the family cheers for, it will be fine.

I am keeping the food simple

Sunday morning I will start the slow cooker with some boneless/skinless chicken breast, a pack of 

and a jar of salsa.  When the chicken is done I will shred it and have it ready for nachos, tacos or rice bowls.  

For the fixings I am going to pick up some tortilla chips from our favorite restaurant and I will have some black beans, sour cream, shredded cheese, tomatos, lettuce and avocado.  I will also cook some rice in case someone wants to make a bowl instead.

In years past we have played a Superbowl commercial Bingo that I ordered from Amazon.  This year we are going to play a different game

Printable Game

Feel free to print this and play at your house......but be warned.....I made up the questions and I may not know all the correct football terminology and rules......but I think it is correct.  If not, just adjust.  I know you all are flexible.

I hope your team wins.  I hope you enjoy the commercials.  I hope you enjoy the game food.

Have a great weekend.

Not the Post I had Planned

Y'all the whole Kobe Bryant thing......too much. I ,admittedly, am not a big sports fan.  There has never been a truer statement.  But I am a people fan, a relationship fan, a family fan.

Several families were devastated in this horrible accident.

 The Bryant family being the most publicly devastated.

And I am going to be real honest, I avoided a lot of the coverage.  I did not, I could not really think about it. It is just too much. Especially the kids......I can't.  You all know as much as I love to read, I generally avoid books where tough things happen to kids and I don't want to see a movie about any such thing..... I just cannot emotionally go there - even when it is someone I don't know personally.  I can't.

I wish I were stronger, but I am not.

But the first night of the coverage I saw all of these people showing up because they loved Kobe, loved who he was, what he stood for, the legacy he built in his short lifetime.  The tweets from everywhere were touching and raw.  The posts on Facebook and Instagram......the pictures.......

And here is where my heart went......did Kobe know how much he meant, the difference he made to so many, the love that obviously existed for him? Did he know that ?  I hope he did.  I really hope he did.

So I showed you a picture weeks ago, where I bought all my cards, addressed them and had them ready to mail out.

So here is what I just stayed up til midnight doing...... I just opened up every Valentine card I had ready to mail out.  I just opened every single one of those cards that I had simply signed

Love, Rhega

I opened every one of them up and wrote a personal note to each recipient because

I want them to HEAR,

I want them to KNOW,

I want them to FEEL

that they matter, that they are loved, that their presence is special and makes a difference in my life.

Is there someone who needs to hear that from you?

Today's a really good day to make it happen.

And if I haven't told you lately, I so appreciate that you take a little time out each week to meet me here, to listen to me, to share with me.  Thank you for that. You are making a difference to me and I am most grateful for it.

Taking Inventory and a Winner

First things first....let's announce the winner of the

Sacred Holidays by Becky Kiser

Thank you all for entering.  It is always nice to know who's out there checking in with me here on the blog.  There are two winners and they are.....

D. Boaz and L. Townsend

Congratulations, ladies.  I will message you and get your book to you.  

Now if you didn't win, just click the link above if you'd like to pick up your own copy.

Now on to today's post........

Have you ever worked retail?  January in retail means inventory time.  If you ever had to work it, you are probably sighing and rolling your eyes with the memory of it.  My first retail job was at Parisian and  in those first years we literally counted every single item by hand and wrote the numbers on a sheet of paper.  I worked there long enough that they finally got handheld scanners and we could scan the tickets and electronically take inventory.  Before I left they had handed the whole inventory process over to a private company and they came in overnight and scanned the whole store.

But January is also a good time to take inventory in our own lives.  Here's a few categories that may be good to inventory

1) Your obligations.  Take a look at what all you have committed to doing and see if it is not enough, too much or just right.

2) Your time budget.  Maybe track one day and see how much time you spend on social media, looking for things, cleaning, watching tv, reading, emails.....etc.  Then decide if you are using your time in the best way. I am just going to say someone very close to me complained about how she spent so much time looking for things.  So she devised a better way of putting things away, always putting things in the same place and elimination of unneccessary clutter.  The result was a good portion of her day back to her....WIN!!!

3) People.  Come on you know it as well as I ...... some people are just not good for us.  Inventory the people you are investing your time in and see if is the right group.

4) Stuff.  Do you have about 20 more pairs of socks than you actually need in your sock drawer?  Oh wait, I started talking to myself for a second there.  But this is a good time to see if you need to purge your make-up products, clothing, shoes, jewelry, books....you know your vice go ahead and inventory it.

5) Pantry and Freezer.  If you can't even see what you have in there, you are probably over buying.  Take a good inventory and get rid of any questionable or expired items so you can make good use of the remaining food.

6) Pens and Pencils.....don't act like you don't have this drawer.  I am pretty sure if inkpens or pencils ever became currency I would be multi-trillionaire.    But at least I can record all these inventories I am taking.

I am pretty sure I just wrote a whole blog post to myself.  You guys are probably already in good shape.  Well in that case, thanks for being here and supporting me as I inventory my life.

I hope you have a great week and I will see you back here on Wednesday!

Holidays.....how do you celebrate?

Ok, you all know that I love most holidays (sorry, Halloween).  I pretty much enjoy any reason to celebrate and if it has a theme - I am even more in.  I buy mint ice cream for St. Patricks Day.  I am all about the tacos on Cinco de Mayo.  I embrace the Super Bown even though I am not a football fan and I have no idea who the players are.  What can I say....I just enjoy enjoying.

So I bought this book last year

Sacred Holidays

I have been reading through it and it is just an easy read and reminder of how to keep Christ as our focus.

It doesn't cover all the holidays but it does talk about New Year's, Valentine's Day, Lent and Easter, Summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas and Birthdays.  

For instance, for Valentine's Day the book leads you through some simple ideas including sending your friends Valentines through the mail and random acts of kindness plus about 5-6 more ideas.  Well I like all these ideas so I can totally get behind this book. 

And the summer section is really good.  I don't know what happens in the summer.  I get out of my normal routine, I get a little more relaxed.....maybe even a tad lazy.  So I like a little guide about some productive and focused things to make the most of those months. 

Maybe you'd be interested in having this book......well two of you are in luck!!!!

You all know how I roll, I very often buy things in threes.  Don't ask me why.  I have no explanation.  But in my true form I bought three copies of this book when I bought mine......so I have two copies to give away.  

Very simple to enter this giveaway

1) comment here on the blog "pick me".  (Remember your comment will not show up until I accept it.)

2) comment on Instagram "pick me"

3) comment on Facebook "pick me"

Go ahead and do all three for three entries.

I will randomly select two winners from all the entries at noon CST this Sunday (1/27/2020).

I will announce the winner here on Monday. And don't worry if you don't win, just click the link above to purchase your own copy.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Weekend Review

Hope you had a great weekend! Part of ours was rainy, part was windy and sunny, but all of it was longer than usual and that is the part I choose to focus on.  Since Saturday was super rainy and definitely an indoor day, I chose to make myself a nice little Valentine setting and work on getting a few things ready for Valentine's Day

Those powdered donuts and strawberry cream cheese cookies are fuel for me as I work.  By the way, those cookies are from the Publix bakery and they are delicious. The rose candles are just great ambiance and brightened a pretty gloomy day.

I got all kinds of chocolates and gummy candy and valentine cakes.  Those little jars with the red heart lids came from the Target Dollar Spot and I am filling them with candy for a couple of college care packages.

The two-pack of mugs also came from the Target dollar spot and I thought they'd be perfect for one of my favorite couples.

Each college student is getting a jar of chocolates, some heart shaped cakes and a gift card to a restaurant.

Then I put together a little gift bag for some girlfriends.

So now I have my care packages ready to mail,

My cards addressed and ready

And a few gifts ready to share

I still have a few things to still pull together, but we are well on our way.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful but still cold, my younger daughter and I took a trip to the Huntsville Museum of Art.  They are currently featuring

It is a great collection of historic African-American photos taken by famed photographer Jack Mitchell.  We used the cell phone tour feature and got quite a tour of the exhibit through our air pods.  We spent time going through the other exhibits while we were there.  If you get a chance, definitely swing by and check it out.

And then Monday morning we started the day off with the best pancakes in town at Shaggy's

Their pancakes are huge and we always split a platter.



And then we were off to drop off part of our hearts back at college......with just a few of her things

A full, lovely, long weekend.  Hope you are having a great week.  See you back on Friday!

Love over Hate

Photo from Pinterest Thistle and Farm

Let go of the burden of hate.

Lighten your load.

Let it go.

It truly is too great a burden a bear.

Sending you love!

Ruggable Rug Review

If you are on social media you probably see posts from Ruggable pop up from time to time.  Their unique quality is that you can wash them in the washer........game changer.  I have had a rug on my kitchen floor for a while now.  I like having it there.  I like the color it adds.  I like the softness underfoot. But having a rug in the kitchen can be a tedious thing when it comes to cleaning.  I bought two indoor/outdoor rugs that could be hosed off.  They worked.  But I gotta tell you, while doable, hauling a 5x7 rug out to the driveway to hose off is not that much fun.

So for Christmas my family got me a Ruggable and I am thrilled.

Here's the magic behind it.  It comes in two pieces.  First there is this nonslip rug pad that you lay out first.

You roll it out onto the floor

Then you roll the top piece rug cover up and center it over the pad and slowly roll it out.

It has this cling effect technology that holds the two pieces together.


Here is the pattern they chose for me.

Isn't it beautiful? It is called the Vintage Daisy Bordered Rug.

Whenever it needs to be cleaned, we can roll up that top layer and throw it into the washer and the dryer.  Our own washer and dryer - no large commercial size required.

The website has lots of different patterns and sizes to select from and the good news is now that I have the 5x7 pad, I can buy additional covers if we want to change out the look at any time.  The website always gives you the option of buying both pieces or just the one. And here is the best part - the price is very reasonable........about what you would pay for a traditional rug.

Oh and here's more good news, Ruggable is on Rakuten so you can also get some cash back when you order.  If you haven't signed up on Rakuten (previously ebates) click here and create an account.

I am super excited about this new rug!

Set up for Success

I think we all are getting ourselves organized for the New Year, right?  I have spent the last couple of weeks working on the following to get myself on track

I am using a utensil caddy to organize my birthday cards. I have had mine for years but you can find one similar here.

I went through my calendar and made a list of all the birthday cards I need to send out this year.  I bought all my cards, addressed them and have them ready to go.  I have stamps in one section and some of my favorite pens in another slot.

I took some card stock and we (and by we I mean my talented daughter) wrote each month on them to make dividers. 

Now that those were ready I selected my devotional for the year and I updated my prayer list in this prayer journal.  I pretty much pray all day like many of you.  But I also carve out three times a day for some really focused prayer.  To keep myself on track I write all the people, circumstances and situations that I need to daily cover in prayer. 

Then, of course, I listed every person I need to buy a gift for ...birthdays, valentines, Easter, Christmas and have my handy notebook all set to start filling in with gifts as I go through the year.

Lastly, I updated my Christmas card address list with all the return addresses on the cards we received.  Some people moved and have new addresses.  Some people sent us a card for the first time this year and got added to the list.  In December I will not remember all of this, so I always update the addresses right after Christmas. My address labels will be ready to print when the time comes.

So basically if I fail at any of these things I have no one to blame but me because the foundation is there for a successful year.  Maybe one of these ideas will help you in some way.

And if you have any tricks or tips that help you march through the year successfully, please share with me.  I love the chance to do things smarter, easier and more organized.

See you back on Friday!

December Book Review

It is book review day.  I had a mixed month of books I loved and those I didn't.  Here is what I read in December.

First up,



The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton.  Hmmmm.....I am not sure what to say about this one.  If you like art history, good old tales from the 19th Century and lots of going back and forth between time and characters.....maybe you will love this one.  While I do enjoy a good story that is told in the present and past, I just couldn't quite get my bearings in this book.  There were some story lines I couldn't figure out what or who I was supposed to get out of them.  I pushed through, but if any of you email me and ask for a book recommendation, I am sorry but this would not be one I would mention.  It reminded me of something you would be required to read in college.....not really a pleasure read.

Then I wanted something light (insert sarcasm) so I read



The Lost Husband by Katherine Center.  Now this one I did like.  Although, I still think the title is weird for it.  Yes, a young mom of two loses her husband in a car accident, but this book is about so much more than that.  This young mom moves with her two kids to her aunt's goat farm for a fresh start.  There's self-discovery, heartache and love all wrapped up in this one......plus there's a twist that I did not figure out.....and I always love it when that happens.

Now back to heavy reads




The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. Oh my....this book is all about a family in Europe during the war.  There are some hard things: Refugee camps, hunger, mistreatment, fear.  But the real story is what families did to survive, to carry on, to live one more day.  Sometimes deception is the only ticket to facing another day.....sometimes that deception is to others and sometimes it is to yourself.  I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to you.

Then I NEEDED a light read so I went back to



The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I totally enjoyed book one is this series - Slightly South of Simple.  Well book 2 certainly did not disappoint.  This one has a lot of focus on the middle daughter but the whole family is involved seeing her through it all.  Read book one and then grab this one.  You won't be sorry.

See you back on Wednesday.  I hope you have a great week!

December Trunk Club Review

I received another trunk from the Nordstrom Trunk Club in December, but there was just so much going on I did not get a chance to show you.  But have no fear, I will show you today.

As a reminder, Trunk Club is a service provided by Nordstrom.  You take a little style survey and indicate looks you like and don't like.  You also set your budget for items.  You can even request what type of clothing you are interested in......work, date night, athletic, casual, etc.

A stylist shops for you and sends you the items to try on in your own home.  There is no charge for the items until  you select which you want to keep.  Then you pay for those and ship the others back with the pre-paid label.

I love to shop, but I pretty much buy the same things for myself over and over.  This has really stretched me and allowed me to try some things that I would never have picked out on my own.

Here's what I received in the December Trunk

It comes in this cute little box

With all the goodies inside

First up was this red top (sorry I can't find a link) and khaki pants

I am not a fan of fancy sleeves on me.....I just can't carry them off so I did not like the shirt but I loved the pants!

Here's a closer look at them

Then I had this sweater which I LOVED!  It is so soft and comfortable and I have worn it several times.  I paired it with the denim and black booties that also came in the trunk

Closer look at the sweater

I also really liked the jeans and the booties.  I kept the jeans but just did not need another black bootie.  So while they were cute and comfortable, I just did not need them.

Then there was this blazer.......which I loved BUT it was almost $200.......and I just couldn't.  I wanted to, but I just couldn't.

Then I had this black top and black pants.  Both were perfectly fine and if I had a holiday party or something festive to attend, I may have kept them.  But I didn't so I decided not to keep either.

But then there was this dress and these red shoes

I don't have anywhere scheduled to wear this dress, but I am going to try to get invited somewhere.  It was just a great black dress.  It fit wonderfully and I really liked it.....so I kept it!

Now for the shoes.......y'all, I need one of you to buy these shoes.  I loved them but just not the right fit on me.  But they are gorgeous.  Gorgeous!!!!!!

When I selected the items I was keeping, I commented to the stylist that I loved the blazer but just didn't want to spend that much on it.  I also told her how much I loved the red shoe but the fit wasn't quite right.  I also mentioned how I didn't care for the fancy sleeves on the red top.  She was so sweet she sent me replacement items.

She sent me this jacket

1901 Blazer

I liked it and I kept it.  She sent me these two blouses as alternatives to the red one I did not like

Vince Camuto Enchanted Floral

Vince Camuto Pool Stripe

Loved them both, especially with the blazer so they became keepers.

She sent me this replacement red shoe

Frye Kenzie Venetian Flat

This leather was scrumptious.  So lovely.  The fit was good, but you know how you just don't like some things on yourself.....well apparently I am just not cool enough for a smoking hot red shoe.  But look, if you can pull it off, this is a great one.

And that is a full review of my December Trunk Club experience.  I am set up to get one every 3 months so my next one will come in March and should be full of spring goodies which I am certain I will be more than ready for by then.

Maybe you have some wardrobe goals for 2020.  Well I highly recommend the Trunk Club to help you reach those goals.  If you are interested, please use my referral link to sign up.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.