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It is not possible to express thankfulness until you understand how much you are valued. Think about the best gift you’ve ever received. That gift may not have been rare or expensive, but it was a great gift because it took someone knowing and appreciating you. They took the time to think about and understand what would make you happy. They thoughtfully sought it out and made whatever sacrifice necessary to get that gift for you. That’s how God is with us. Seek him in thankfulness because He loves and knows you. After all, He perfectly created you in His own image. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

If He sees you that way, how would it feel to pray for something without thankfulness?

“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It’s hard to say when I first noticed, but I’ll guess early Summer, that some new neighbors were frequently in their garage. It faces a residential but busy street that I pass regularly and I began to note how often I saw them and also that there was a bit of a set up- a mounted TV and folding chairs. As the summer progressed and the temperature rose, I expected the blistering Memphis heat to drive them indoors. This was not the case. Late afternoons and evenings, weekends, and holidays, I was certain to spot them as I drove by. They did, on occasion, put out a blow up pool for their dog thankfully. They are peaceable as far as I’ve observed so I have no issue with their choice, just many questions. To name a few:
1) Why the garage? Do they not have a back patio?
2) Do they have some sort of cooling device in the garage to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures and humid conditions, which could only be more severe in a garage, even with the door open?
3) What’s up with the inside of their house? Is there any seating? Are they saving it for something?
This is just a sampling of what goes through my mind as I, almost without fail, find them in their garage when I pass.
Phillip and I went for a walk last week, took CiCi, in the hopes she and their dog would show an interest in one another as we passed and give us a reason to talk to these folks and get some insight. THEY WERE NOT IN THE GARAGE. It was truly a first and I was a little concerned, thinking they may have moved or be ill. I drove by the next day and they had resumed their post. I suppose we will try again. In the meantime, the appeal of the garage hang remains a mystery.

I was visiting a bakery for some breakfast this morning (see review https://www.bensbreads.com/reviews/12/), when a man entered the shop looking very angry. He started yelling, asking if anyone was driving a Tesla who is blocking his driveway. When no one else spoke up, I began to realize he was talking about me, vaguely remembering how I had parked. So I grabbed my food and went outside to where my car was parked and saw the man standing by his car. He was still grumbling out loud (to no one in particular), and so I approached him and apologized, saying I was just leaving now. He was still outraged, saying he was disabled and that I had made him get out of his car, although he seemed perfectly healthy to me. He sarcastically told me that I hope I enjoyed my bread as I walked toward my car and then when I got there, I saw what all the fuss was about. The back of my car was blocking off about 2" of the edge of his driveway. Also, if you're thinking "maybe he was a in a Ram Mega Cab 3500" and needed every bit of space, then you're wrong. He was driving a mini cooper. There's no world in which my car was preventing him from getting into his garage. I had been parked for all of about 2 minutes before all of this went down, which makes me wonder if it was all a setup. My thought is that he saw me park and just didn't like that I was encroaching on his driveway space and decided to make a scene about it. How else would it have happened almost immediately after parking? How had he known exactly where to find me?

The part that bothers me most is that Ramsey was in the car (on dog mode) and surely saw the whole scene. I hate that she had to see her father like this.

About 6 months ago, I declared war against a population of mealybugs that had taken residence in a couple of my pothos plants in my bedroom. Initially, I wasn't really sure what I was up against or how dangerous they were to the plants but they look nasty. They look like tiny white Trilobites and they leave behind a white fuzz wherever they've been. They also lay eggs all over the leaves of the plants and in the soil, which makes them almost impossible to get rid of. I've tried 3 different types of insecticides as well as Neem oil, treating all the quarantined plants twice a week. I even spent an entire day physically removing the bugs off of all the infested plants.

However, today, I am throwing in the towel. Three of my plants have nearly succumbed to the mealybugs and it'll be best just to put them down before they spread further. One of them was my first plant. It's hard to put into words the amount of rage that thinking about this brings about in me. When I come back after a few days after spraying them to see them lounging rent-free, (literally) sucking the life out of otherwise perfectly healthy plants, it makes me feel a hatred I formerly didn't know I was capable of. If i ever see a mealybug again, Im coming after its whole bloodline.

This is Alex, Ben kindly allowed me to be apart of his website so I could add some recipes (follow @stressbakingwithalex on ig). This weekend was Maggie Finn’s bachelorette and she really wanted an appearance on the blog. Attached is a super cute photo of Maggie and Hannah (:

A couple weeks ago, something happened that’s been a on my mind a lot.

I was out in Blue Ridge with my family, relaxing on the patio with my dad, uncle, and grandad. Dinner was about to be ready when Josh (my oldest cousin Abbi’s boyfriend, might actually be named Zach) comes out says, “Alright boys, what are we drinking?” After everyone replied, mostly requesting tea and lemonade, he nodded and returned back inside. Although this seemed like a strong sign to me that he had intentions of providing us with drinks, several minutes passed without Josh returning. Still, I held out hope as we were called into dinner, that he had made our drinks and they’d be waiting for us inside. However, my hopes were quickly dashed as there were no such drinks prepared, leaving me no choice but to make my own.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been thoroughly considering the scenario. Did I misunderstand him? Was he just curious what we wanted to drink but had no intentions of making them? Was I pranked? It’s not clear to me at this point, but I wouldn’t normally attribute bad intent to him. When the time comes, I’ll ask him and hopefully get an answer.

The value of the past is simply in the lessons learned and memory of joyful moments. Being anxious about the future is valueless as it may never come and there is little we actually control. Regrets of the past and worries of the future come with the greatest cost as they take away from what is most of value, the now. ~Phil

Welcome to the blog...

I've had the vision for this site for a long time, but until recently, did not have the means or knowledge to complete it. Finally, it is in a state where I can focusing on adding content, with the first coming in this post today.

With this blog, I will not attempt to impart any kind of wisdom or opinions on the state of the world, but will mainly use it to document significant life events. I will not be retroactively adding any events from the past and will try to reference things before today as little as possible. My hope is that this makes it more inclusive for readers and will prove entertaining for my myself in the future. I have set it up to enable certain individuals to contribute to the blog as well, so hopefully it will contain others perspectives.

-Ben