October Bliss

H A P P Y  O C T O B E R!!!

Our life has been moving full speed ahead over here, and I've missed this little space. But I couldn't miss hopping on here for the big day of October 1st. October may be one of, if not my all-time, favorite month of the year. I love seriously everything about it. From the cool crisp weather, to the pure blue sky, and the leaves changing and falling, the amazing snacks and foods and drinks, to pumpkins, the beginning of the holiday season (in my mind), and celebrating our anniversary...we love every minute and try to soak up all of the fall favorites during these few weeks. 

Life Lately [9.1.21]

Happy September!!!

Boy, have I missed being on here. The month of August is ALWAYS busy, but this one has felt especially full. We took a last summer trip up to Jackson to see Pierce's parents at the beginning of the month, visited my family in Kentucky, started school, celebrated four family birthdays, three anniversaries and have prayed our way through a job-searching season for Pierce. It has felt busy, but fun and in the midst we've found ways to start back into our routines and simple joys. I thought I'd post just a little of what's been going on recently!

Friday Favorites [7.30.21]

Happy Friday and 40th blog post of the Riddick Family Blog and last weekday of July!!! At the beginning of this month, I set out with a goal to write a blog post every weekday this month and I wasn't sure if I would make it, but it's been such a fun goal to have throughout the month....

I owe a huge thank you to everyone who's followed along this month and given so much encouragement - it's been fun to hear that you've loved to read it every morning. As school starts back up for me next week, I'll continue to be around on here, but it'll be a few less times per week. I hope you'll stick around for that though, and I would still love to be a part of your life as well!! 

Today I thought it would be fun to do a Friday Favorites on my favorites of blogging so far....

The Riddick Home - Our Kitchen

Happy Thursday and the last July edition of The Riddick Home! Today, welcome to our kitchen!  

What's Up Wednesday [7.28.21]

Happy Wednesday!!! As we are getting close to the end of July and as my goal to blog every week day during the month comes closer to finishing, I thought it would be fun to link up with one of the last parties for the month - What's Up Wednesday. Hope you enjoy these random and fun thoughts for the day!

What We've Been Eating:

Summer Reads 2021

Well, a few blogs I love do a book review every month, and I love getting new ideas for authors and books. So I thought it'd be fun to do a little post on the books I've read this summer... It's been a fun summer of books for me. A few new authors, a few classics, and a few great beach reads. Hope you enjoy this Summer Reads edition blog post! 

A Day in the Life [7.23.21]

Happy Monday!! I hope you guys had a great weekend!! Pierce and I successfully filled almost every hour with at least some Olympic sport - it's just too fun not to watch! 

But I thought I'd kick off today with a Day in the Life post. I've been wanting to do one of these all summer, and I realized Friday might be the last opportunity for one this summer since we will be with family this week. So I tried to snap some pictures throughout the day to give you all a little insight into our day. We didn't have much on the schedule, but we took the day as it came...hope you enjoy this Day in the Life!

Friday Favorites 7.23.21

   

Happy Friday!!! I hope you guys have had a great week! Ours was full of friends and community and lots of checking things off the summer to-do list before school starts back up. I thought I'd continue with Friday Favorites today and share a few of the things we are loving! Hope you enjoy and happy Opening Ceremonies tonight!! That is where you'll find us all weekend...we love the Olympics over here!! See you back here on Monday! Happy weekend! 

The Riddick Home - Our Room

Happy Thursday and welcome to another day in the Riddick Home! I thought it would be fun to give an update on another room in our house...this time, our room. This is a fun one and has been a special place for me to get to put together... 

Past Summer Favorites

It's Wednesday in the middle of July, so in honor of the summer heat and sun and family vacations, I thought it might be fun to remember some of our past summer favorites. I love summer, and I love pictures...and I love remembering the sweetest times by going back through them. So I thought it could be fun to document a few of our favorite snapshots and memories from previous summers...hope you enjoy, and we would love to know what we should add to our summer bucket-list too!! 

Tuesday Talk...Hot Tea.

Happy Tuesday!! I hope everyone had an amazing weekend and a great start to the week. Mine was filled with family and friends and lots of sunshine. I'm back today though with another link up that I like to follow - "Tuesday Talk." As I was brainstorming topics, I stumbled on one that I get asked about all the time... Hot Tea.

I grew up having hot tea all the time, thanks to my sweet mom. She would always make us herbal hot tea at night if we ever had an upset stomach or didn't feel well. I always asked for "the purple tea" or "the pink tea," which I'll share below. She would drink earl grey in the mornings though and at some point in college, I started following in her footprints. She's taught me so much about tea throughout my years, so I thought it'd be fun to share a little of what I've learned and what we love! 

Friday Favorites 7.16.21

  

I can't believe it's already Friday!! Oh, we are so looking forward to this weekend. We have some friends coming over tonight, a Small Group Leader Training at our church tomorrow, and then our Small Group coming over on Monday for a grill-out and summer catch-up! Busy calendars, but we are looking forward to it all! I am taking the long weekend to enjoy some quality time, but will be back here on Tuesday for another post. I hope you enjoy our Friday Favorites and have a great weekend!!! 

The Riddick Home - Our Study

Happy Thursday!! Last week, I shared a little post about our Living Room and so many people loved having a Riddick Home update, so I thought I'd keep it going with a little room in our house that we worked on last weekend... 

Let's Look...Bathroom Organization.

Well, this post is a little vulnerable for me...

When I decided to blog throughout the month of July, I told myself I would try all of the blog "link-ups" I like to follow. And on the the second Wednesday of the month, Shay and Erika, who have blogs that I love to read, do a "Let's Look..." post. I have loved looking at people's Christmas Cards, bedside tables, coffee bars, etc. But when I saw July........I have to admit that I was a tad nervous... "Bathroom Organization..." 

I kind of consider myself a semi-organized person...except for when it comes to cabinets, drawers, closets, and small things where I can put/hide things 😂 Thank you, Mom, for teaching me this valuable skill bahahaha it is great for when you have company coming over, but not so great when you have a blog to write on bathroom organization...haha But these bathroom cabinets have been on my "to-do list" for far too long, so I took the opportunity to get something done that needed to be done. Every time Pierce would open one of these cabinets, I would hold my breath and look the other direction because I knew he was just as frustrated as I was as things would fall out 🤦🏼‍♀️😂  

Give me a can of paint, a blank wall to decorate or an empty bookshelf, and I'm all about it. But give me a cabinet that has way too many random miscellaneous items in it, and I kind of crumble....

Our Favorite Trader Joe's Finds

Happy Tuesday!! Well, I love reading about other people's Trader Joe's finds, so I thought I could share some of ours too! We love Trader Joe's... Last fall, I had had a harder day at school, and Pierce took me to Trader Joe's after school to grab a snack... We really hadn't been much, and we just loved walking down the aisles looking at all the snacks. We usually try to eat pretty healthy. but that day, we decided to try a few things that looked and sounded so great. And some of those things have become somewhat of our "usuals" when we go. A lot of items are seasonal, so we try to find something new every time we go, but here is what was in our cart the last time we went! 

Our MEXICO Getaway ❤️☀️🌴 [Part Three]

Happy Monday!! Hope you all had a great weekend. We enjoyed the lazy rainy days over here in Nashville and worked on a few house projects. I thought it’d be fun to start the week out sharing our last few days in Mexico...toward the end of our trip, we definitely were loving the sun and the ocean breeze and getting used to it as a way of life haha! But we were looking forward to being "back in the States" as I would say haha and enjoying a few weeks of summer at home too! 

Friday Favorites 7.9.21

 

Happy Friday!! Well, the Riddick Family Blog's first full week of blogging...thanks for following along! I thought it'd be fun to end the week again with our Friday Favorites. Hope you enjoy and happy weekend!!

The Riddick Home - Our Living Room

One of the biggest questions I get from friends and family is, "Tab, what happened to your Riddick Home Instagram?!" I mean...I never imagined so many people would know and come to love that little space. I started it simply because we had just moved in and I LOVED putting our house together. I had just interned for a staging company that past summer and truly found so much joy in arranging and rearranging and painting and creating, and I wanted to remember that season of our life and the beginning stages of our home. And honestly, two and a half years later, I still find so much joy in making our house a home. There have been many times where I've thought about restarting that little Instagram page, and maybe I still will one day, especially knowing it was so loved by so many. But for now, I thought it could be fun to do a few posts of our home on here. 

I hope you enjoy this little living room tour! I tried to include the story behind a few of the pieces because that is always a fun part of putting a house together to me! Without further-ado, welcome to the Riddick Home!

Our Recent Amazon Favorites

Happy Wednesday! I thought it would be fun to share a few of our favorite Amazon finds recently. This is another post I love to follow on other people's blogs, and I always get so many great ideas, so I hope it's fun getting a peek into some of our recent Amazon orders!

Fourth of July Weekend 🇺🇸

Happy 4th of July!! I'm not sure when I started loving this holiday so much...I think I just love that it's in the middle of summer, it's such a sweet time with family and it's a great reminder of so many of our blessings. This year we spent July 4th in Louisville with my family and had such a sweet weekend. 

Our MEXICO Getaway ❤️☀️🌴 [Part Two]

Happy Monday! We have been loving the 4th of July weekend over here. 🇺🇸 I thought I would hop back on here this morning though with part two of our Mexico trip! Honestly, I'm not sure how in one week I had enough pictures to make multiple posts, but somehow I did haha so, here is part 2! These days in the middle, we pretty much spent every minute on the beach, but I wanted to remember the sweetness of all the days, so here are a few beach pics! 

Friday Favorites 7.2.21

Well, in my attempt to blog throughout the month of July, I thought it would be fun to join in some of the fun posts that I love to look at it. I look forward to Friday Favorites on a few of my favorite blogs, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I don't know if I'll post every Friday, but here are some favorites from this week. 

Our MEXICO Getaway ❤️☀️🌴 [Part One]

Happy July! We are loving summer over here...it's just such a fun season. I made a goal to blog every weekday in the month of July...so, here it goes. Not sure if I will make it every day, but I thought it would be fun to try to blog some of our memories for us to have to look back on. So, I'll be here most mornings if you want to follow along! First, I thought it would be fun to start with a little post about our Mexico getaway. ❤️

Goodness...our trip to Mexico was such a dream in a lot of ways. We had always dreamed of going to Europe this summer...we wanted a big travel extravaganza before we started praying about starting a family with little ones... But, the Lord had different plans in store for us. So, we packed our sandals and swimsuits and beach bags instead of our walking shoes and maps and backpacks, but we still brought our camera and were together with time off work, which made it just as sweet, and we were just as thankful. 

Life Lately and Riddicks Beach Bound! [6.20.21]

Well, we have been full on in summer-mode over here at the Riddick house and have been loving every minute. I'm still tutoring and Pierce is still working from home, but we've found some time to enjoy the little moments and celebrate the big ones too. Here is a little of our life lately and what we've been up to...

A Texas Ranch Wedding

Pierce's sister and brother-in-law celebrated their one-year anniversary with a wedding celebration at their family Ranch in Texas last weekend. They did the official ceremony last year via Zoom with only a few family members and decided to do the official "celebration" this May.

This is the "fourth" Riddick wedding in the books. All of our days have been the most gorgeous weather days, and this one was no exception. It had poured and stormed the night before, and on Saturday it was high 70s, low 80s, with a slight breeze, and just perfect for a sunny wedding in Texas. 

The Gift of Teaching

Wow...I can't believe the school year has come to a close...it wouldn't feel right to end my fourth year of teaching without going back and reflecting on some of my favorite parts and favorite snapshots from all that the year held. I am thankful to the Lord for this sweet school and for all of the memories that I have from this special place and school year. 

Life Lately [5.18.21]

Life around here has been fun and full and busy! We are counting down till summer while finishing school and celebrating birthdays and enjoying the longer days of sunshine!!

Here's a little of what we've been up to at the Riddick house lately...

May 12th ❤️

May 12th, 2021. It was just the sweetest day!

Pierce worked hard to make this day so special, seriously from beginning to end. From a surprise in the car on the way to our workout, to Chick-fil-A for breakfast and a Starbucks London Fog before school...

Happy Birthday, Pierce!

Happy Birthday to my favorite person! Celebrating Pierce is easy and fun and something I love to do. He's the person that makes me laugh, that makes the everyday fun, and that has made me understand the Lord's love in a deeper way.

Two and a Half Years...

April 27th... Two and a half years into marriage and we could not be more grateful. We love a day to look back and thank the Lord for all He has done and all we have learned. 

March Favorites [2021]

I started this blog at the very end of February this year, and originally, I wanted to document all that had already happened so far in the year, so I made my January Favorites post about our start to the year and New Years trip to Jackson and my February Favorites post about our month of February with the Snow Storm being in the middle. 

I wasn't sure if I would continue for each month this year, but I thought I would add March and we'll go from there... I'll be honest, March wasn't that exciting this year in the Riddick house, but here are a few snapshots of what we were up to...

This Spring, we have found one of our all-time favorite things...coconuts!

Life Lately [4.13.21]

Just a little life lately for the Riddicks... 

Our life lately has mainly consisted of so much joy from some of our best friends visiting this past weekend. Caroline and I have been friends almost 10 years now. We lived together for 3 years in college, and when I say live together, I mean literally in a 10x10 shared room...and we truly loved every minute of it. 

Our Easter Weekend

Easter weekend could not have come at a more perfect time for the Riddicks...

Now, this is not my photo, so I can't take credit for it, but we've been looking for a visual to match our hearts recently and this seemed to fit perfectly. On Thursday night, we were saying that our path between us and God feels like a "well-walked field" because of how much we have been in prayer, on our knees, in tears at times, seeking Him, listening for His voice, and just turning to Him when we haven't known where exactly else to turn. Pierce has been pursuing a new job and it's been a 12-week journey that has felt a little more like a rollercoaster than a flat path, but we have seen God bring us closer to Him through it. 

Our prayer going into this weekend was for a lot of peace, a lot of time together, a lot of laughter and healing and just rest after the weariness and exhaustion that we have both been feeling. And the Lord gave exactly that. I think we will probably never forget this weekend and how grateful we are for the answered prayers. And I continue to pray that when, not if, we enter our next weary season, we will look back with grateful and reminiscent hearts knowing that sometimes that well-walked path and closeness to the Lord is worth the journey to get there. 

So...here is our Easter weekend...one focused on healing and rest and a perfect reminder of our Savior's complete and perfect sacrifice on our behalf...one that we wanted to document so we wouldn't forget. ❤️

Cinnamon Roll French Toast

 

One Easter Morning, we thought it would be so fun to make something fun, different and sweet to celebrate. Cinnamon Rolls came to mind, but as we started looking up recipes, we knew we didn't have all of the ingredients and did not want to head to the store...so, we improvised and came up with French Toast Cinnamon Rolls with things we had on hand, and it's been a tradition ever since!! It is easy and fun and now a birthday breakfast favorite too! 

A Day in the Life [3.22.21]

Well, one of my all-time favorite blog posts to read is "A Day in the Life." I'm not really sure why I love it so much, but it is so intriguing to me. I LOVE learning about other people's lives, routines, marriages, families, homes, etc... So, just incase there's anyone else out there like that...this post is for you haha! 

Before we begin, I should preface...our life has already looked so different in many seasons. And to be honest, I wish I had documented our other seasons' Day in the Life...well, I'm sure it's probably documented on my millions of pictures on my phone (Pierce would probably say, "You aren't kidding...millions!" bahaha), but I don't have a specific place to remember what those sweet days looked like, so I hope this will be fun for us to look back on one day too. Also, this is just one Monday in our world. Some Mondays look different for us because we only have small group every other week and other days look different because I only tutor Monday and Wednesday and oftentimes back to back, we only work out M, W, F, so, you get the idea, but this is what March 22nd, 2021 looked like for us...here we go! 

The Next Nine Things You Might Not Know About Us...

Well, I started the last post thinking I would just list ten things you might not know, but then as I got to number one, it just kind of led into us telling our story of how we met... You can read about that here. 

But here we are back to the next nine things you might not know about us...I love reading random facts about other people/couples/families that I might not have known, and I can still think of things that I have read that have stuck with me and become a part of my life too, big and small. So, here we go...our life isn't too crazy, but hopefully these will be fun for you to know. 

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Us...turned "How We Met"

I love reading blogs...it's been a hobby of mine for many years, and I always love just reading about people's lives and what they're up to. So, depending on who is reading, these are ten things you might not know about us...

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1. We met at a summer camp. (So...this was supposed to be one out of ten, but I realized this could be a post in and of itself...so here is the story of how we met...the other nine things to come in a future post 😂)

Life Lately [3.15.21]

Life lately for the Riddicks....

We had one of our best friends get married this past weekend, so we loved getting to head back to Texas and support her for the weekend. 

February Favorites [2021]

February was such a fun month for us. It's always short, but always holds some fun memories for us. The snowstorm came in the middle, but here are some of our other February highlights. 

January Favorites [2021]

We love the start of a new year. The freshness, the fun, the new beginnings...

To celebrate the New Years this year, we were actually in Jackson, WY with Pierce's family. 

We hit the slopes for a day and had so much fun. I found out Pierce is actually a pro-snowboarder...and he was very patient with me as it had been a while since I had been snowboarding...

Life Lately [3.2.21]

One of my favorite parts of blogs I read is simply hearing about their life via pictures and small snapshots. So I thought I'd do that here and update you just a little on our life lately. There's always so much going on around here, but these are just a few highlights from the last few weeks! 

Pierce had a session this past weekend, so we packed up and basically moved into the studio for the weekend. I took my laptop and just worked away on our Blog while Pierce killed it recording. 

I love watching Pierce do what he does best. Watching him not only lead but also get to use his musical gifts is such a fun treat for me! 

A huge part of our life lately was the 2021 Snow Storm.....

Welcome to The Riddick Family Blog

Hi! Welcome to a small glimpse into the lives of the Riddicks. We love keeping our friends and family updated, but we aren't on social media much, so we thought this might be a fun way to share our pictures and updates. Thanks for following along in our journey. We're so glad you're here! 

Love, Tab & Pierce