Stories from the Porch in March

March was full of madness – in good ways! But the month went so quickly. I’m happy winter seems to be waning and spring is coming, but, still, I need to figure out a way to slow down time, especially as I look forward to our busy April and May.

Highlights

We had a lot of fun watching basketball – in arenas and from our couch. We went to Evansville to watch our beloved Murray State Racers win the Ohio Valley Conference championship and clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They ended up a 12 seed, but they got a rough draw with West Virginia and its feisty defense.

We also went to Nashville for one day the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament to watch two second-round games. We saw Nevada make its incredible comeback against Cincinnati and then witnessed Xavier blow its lead to Florida State.

Earlier this month, I wrote about why I like taking my kids to basketball games. And I stand by that after our fun month of basketball.

We also spent a weekend at Kentucky Lake with our best friends to celebrate Jaclyn’s 40th birthday. The whole weekend was truly such a gift. And we won a local Trivia Night fundraiser competition. I wrote about a scary moment from the weekend that showed me God’s faithfulness and kindness.

Favorite things

DropBox app – I realized this month if I could scan documents with my phone, my life would be more organized and my counter less cluttered. This app is a great solution for me! It’s way better than dragging out my scanner or keeping the scanner on the kitchen counter like I used to.

New music – I bought a couple entire new albums this month. Often times I’ll just buy songs I already like. But I couldn’t resist new albums from Brandon Heath and Tauren Wells.

From the bookshelf

I had trouble picking up another book after I finished “The Nightingale,” but I eventually did.

“The Weight of Lies” by Emily Carpenter – I really enjoyed this one and have already recommended it to real-life friends! It was suspenseful and I couldn’t quite put it all together before I got to the end.

“Burying the Honeysuckle Girls” by Emily Carpenter – Thanks to my Kindle recommendations, I realized I wanted to read more of the same author. It immediately pulled me in and kept my interest as the story unfolded with the main character discovering more about the generations before her.

(Plus I could borrow it free from Amazon with my Prime membership. The number of things we order from Amazon, the streaming shows and movies, listening to music for free, and now the books I can borrow are really worth the membership fee. Try Prime FREE for 30-Day Free Trial30 days! And I keep an updated list of books I’ve enjoyed on Amazon for easy recommending to friends.)

“This I Know: Trusting Your Unknown Future to a Known God” by Laura Dingman – I’m slowly working through this study, which is excellent! (You can read my full review.)

“Small Church Essentials” by Karl Vaters – I mentioned this last month, but I officially reviewed it this month.

“Keep a Quiet Heart” by Elisabeth Elliot – A friend shared some of this book with me, and I immediately bought it. I just started, but I already love it.

On the screen

“The Voice” – Thanks to all the promotions for this show during the Olympics, my oldest wanted to watch this. So I started recording, and the kids and I started watching. We love it! Plus one of the contestants this season is friends with a bunch of my friends, so that’s fun.

My DVR is full of episodes of some of my regular shows (“Madam Secretary,” “Blue Bloods,” “Designated Survivor” and “Black List”) as well as a couple new show (“Instinct” and “For the People”). I’m looking forward to catching up now that there is less basketball on TV.

Was your March madness in good ways?
Let’s share our #PorchStories.

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