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. ❤️

If there is ever a morning that starts with sleeping, tea and coffee and reading in bed, it is a favorite in my book! This was such a great morning just to spend uninterrupted time just reading and praying. We are in Genesis reading about Joseph, and it has been an encouraging reminder knowing that His ways and His timing are so much better than ours and always more than we could imagine. 

After a slow morning and late breakfast, we headed to Cheekwood for the afternoon. We like to say it's kind of like a miniature Biltmore here in Nashville. There are beautiful gardens to walk through and on this particular weekend, about a million tulips blooming and beautiful bunnies hidden throughout the gardens. 

I'm not kidding when I say millions of tulips...something just so beautiful about so many pops of color everywhere you look. 🌷🌷🌷

Just loved spending the afternoon with Pierce...it was a beautiful day and we just soaked up the sun and cool breeze definitely got our steps in too! 

We love this place and will definitely be back on the next sunny afternoon we have free! ☀️

Then, we started/continued our food splurging and went to a little cafe in Nashville to get one of our favorite Caprese Sandwiches. With Pierce, some peach iced tea and sunshine, you have about my perfect lunch. 

We came home for a short afternoon nap and then headed to our favorite part of our church, worship, fellowship, and communion. They had an outside "drive-in" Good Friday service so that everyone could come, and it was just the most refreshing getting to see faces that we love and celebrate our Savior through communion. 

We just could not love our church more and left this night so refreshed and encouraged. If you live in Nashville and are looking for a church home, please reach out and I would LOVE to share more and even for you to come with us one weekend. There's nothing better than authentic community, especially now, and we feel blessed to be a part of a body that we genuinely love. ❤️

After, Pierce had a date planned and reservations at one of our favorite spots. It's not a Nashville gem, but we've come to love these little booths at P.F. Chang's that have held so many dates, memories, and conversations for us. We had so much fun and enjoyed our meal so much that night. 

On Saturday, we made the most of the day off, had what we call a "kitchen rescue" ...if you had seen it before, the name would make a little more sense 😂 

We enjoyed the sunshine, Pierce re-potted our Audrey Ficuses... we are praying the new soil helps them stay alive...if you have any tips, we will gladly take them over here!! Although Pierce has been killing it...not the plants, just in taking care of the plants bahaha 🪴😂 

Pierce took advantage of the perfect weather that afternoon and mowed our grass and I napped for a bit...we just enjoyed a low-key and stress-free Saturday. 

Then we ended our night with one of our favorite meals...Chicken Pot Pie Pasta. It's not our official recipe, but we have tweaked it here and there and seriously, love it. It came from The Defined Dish...one of our all-time favorite cookbooks. Highly recommend every meal we've had in it!! 

Then on Sunday...

Last Easter, we were wanting something fun for breakfast, but our supplies were limited, so we decided to put together what we had and have what we called "Cinnamon Roll French Toast." It became a hit for our birthdays too, but we hadn't had it since, so we were excited for our Easter morning breakfast this year! 

We had lots of neighborhood walks and even walked down to a sweet neighbor's Easter brunch/egg-hunt. We are so grateful for our neighborhood in this season! 

Then, we had a spontaneous night and we decided to make our favorite snack, get the extra mattress down from the attic, grab the couch cushions and pack the truck for a night at the Drive-In. They were playing Tom and Jerry 😂 But the weather was so perfect, and it sounded like the best date night we could think of, so we settled in for the night and enjoyed the evening at one of our favorite places. 

A night for the books. We've been to the Drive-In so many summer nights, and this just made us ready all the more for warm nights ahead! 

Monday morning, we soaked up our last day off with our favorite little breakfast spot after our workout. It's so quiet and quaint at 7am, that it has become one of our favorite places to chat and get our day started...not to mention that my weakness is biscuits and gravy...it's a good thing this can only happen on days off 😂

I love this man and loved being able to soak up so much rest these past few days. We feel so much more full to pour out this next week. We also feel so blessed for our family and friends who have walked the past 12 weeks with us, and for all the prayers and texts and calls. We are so grateful. And we are excited to walk faithfully into what He has for us next. 

We'll post more soon! 

We love y'all!! 

Tab and Pierce