Hi From the Beach

Hi friends!

We’re at the beach this week soaking up the sun and waves with our friends and kids and will be back here on the blog next week with some fun new posts!

Have a good one xoxo

Heading to The Beach & Happy Friday!

And we’re off!

Happy Friday, y’all! How was your week? We’re hitting the road today on our second and last beach trip of the summer and the kids are so excited. After not going anywhere with them for the last year and a half, we couldn’t think of a better way to end the summer than with a trip to our favorite part of Florida: 30A!

We’re heading down to meet some of our best friends (while our friend Dixie watches over the house and the animals) and plan to spend a few days relaxing in the sand and watching the kids soak up as much fun as possible before school starts the next week we get back. Summer is officially over!

Also, don’t forget: today we will be sending out our first email newsletter in over a year! Be sure to sign up for it below, even if you’ve done it in the past, you’ll have to re-enter your info as we’re using a new platform this time around. Oh, and warning: the newsletters may get flagged and show up in your junk folder if you have Gmail, so you may want to check that if you signed up for one and don’t see it by tomorrow morning.

Thank you all so much for being here with us! We’re immensely grateful for you. Have a lovely weekend, friends!! xoxo

Have You Signed Up For Our New Email Newsletter?

The first one goes out tomorrow!

We’re so excited to be starting our newsletters again, and if you sign up, you can expect to receive one once every week or so (but definitely no more than one in a week!).

Even if you were signed up for our old newsletter, you will have to re-enter your email address to be added to the list that the new one will go out to. Heads up: if you have a Gmail account, be sure to check your junk folder if you signed up and don’t see our email by Saturday morning; sometimes Gmail places newsletter emails into ‘junk’ by mistake.

You can sign up below, if you want, and thank y’all so much!!

Happy Friday Eve xoxo

We're Starting Email Newsletters Again & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!!

How has your week been? This morning, the boys woke up an hour earlier than they usually do, so I am sipping my coffee with my eyes half open as they build a fort under the coffee table behind me. As they woke up an hour earlier, I woke up an hour later than I usually do, so we met somewhere in the it’s-way-too-early-for-this-I-haven’t-had-my-coffee-yet middle. But the sun is shining through the windows and the light is dancing around the office right now, and the coffee taste so good, so all in all, the morning is already off to a great start.

Meanwhile, while we were at the farm last night, PJ walks over carrying three huge zucchinis from the garden!! Aren’t they beautiful? I’ve never had a garden before, so seeing the vegetables growing and being able to actually eat them has been such a cool experience. I of course haven’t done anything with the garden, and all credit goes to PJ and Dixie for starting and working it so well, but I sure am grateful we all get to enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of their labor!

Lastly, we’re starting up our email newsletter again! After more than a year of not sending one out, I’m happy and excited to share that now when you subscribe to PJandThomas.com, you’ll start getting email updates from us again!! They’ll be sent out once a week or so, so be sure to click “subscribe” when you come to our site and the little window pops up, as you’ll have to enter your email address again for the new email newsletter that will be going out (if you’ve already signed up before, you will have to do it again as we no longer send emails on the old one).

Hope you have a lovely weekend, friends! Stay cool out there, it’s going to be a hot one.

xoxo

Do You Like Living in a Small Town?

I was leaving the post office while running some errands the other day when I looked around at our small downtown and felt grateful to live in such a charming little city. Sure, we don’t always agree with the politics, but it’s been the only home we’ve ever known, and we’ve found ways to make it our own. Then that got me thinking about how I didn’t always have warm, happy feelings at the thought of living here, and why do I feel that way now and do other people feel that way about their small town?

That was a lot of thought in a very short amount of time, but I’m curious: do you like living in a small town? I used to hate it when I was growing up. Everyone knows everyone, there’s never anything to do, and life is so much slower here. Now, though, those are ironically some of the things I love most about it.

It is a lot slower here, we have a low crime rate, and everyone knows everyone, which actually does come in handy sometimes, like when you forget your I.D. or wallet at home and the store lets you get away with it because they know you’re good for it. You know all of your mom’s friends and see them at various places around town, you run into old high school friends at the grocery store and give them a friendly nod and smile when you pass, and all the shops and restaurants are only 5 minutes (at most) away.

Speaking of, though we live in a small city, it is growing! It seems like every day a sign for a new restaurant or store pops up that we get excited about. It’s neat to see how the city has changed over the last few decades, growing more and more every year. It’s also fun to compare how much we have changed, too: things we didn’t love about living here when we were younger are the things we enjoy about it now that we’re older and raising a family (like the slower pace of life).

One difficult thing has been there isn’t a big LGBTQIA+ community here, and our town isn’t necessarily known for being an open-minded place. People ask us all the time why we don’t pack up and move to a more liberal, progressive city to raise a family. We always say that if everyone just left as soon as they could, change would never happen, and that small, close-minded town you’re from would always remain that way. And I’m not naive or self-righteous; I’m not saying we alone will change the way people in any certain place think, but by staying and living our life, we’re showing those who might not be as accepting that it’s okay to be different. We’re exposing them to something they may not come in contact with every day, and maybe, little by little, they will grow to become more open-minded and accepting of those who are different than them.

We live only a few hours away from much bigger areas (Nashville, Atlanta, Knoxville), so we get that small-town feel while still being close to the convenience and fun of those other, more lively cities. There’s a certain charming, whimsical vibe of living in a small town that you don’t get in other places. It’s a feeling of comfort, familiarity, and ease. And it’s a feeling we’ve come to love.

What about you? Do you like living in a small town, too? Or can you not wait to leave as soon as you can? x

Mail Call

You guys are always so thoughtful in what you send our way.

We received the most beautiful book from Daniel (who has sent us some of the sweetest things in the mail before) called To Be a Gay Man by British singer Will Young. It looks so good! I’ve been looking for a new book to read (currently listening to the audiobook of The Dutch House) and I can’t wait to crack this one open and dive in. And how cool that it’s signed by the author?!

Daniel is from the U.K. and we always get so excited every time we receive a package from him because we never know what to expect except that it’s going to be something unique and special. He also let us know that Will Young has a new song out and that it’s very good. The name of the song? “Daniel”.

Daniel, thank you SO much, as always, for being so kind and sending the most precious gifts. We’re so grateful for you, friend!!

We also received a package with some sweet gifts for the kiddos from John and Bob! They sent a pink octopus for sis (so cute), saying it is very soft with “a smily face BUT if you turn it inside out it has a sad face. We immediately thought sis might like this just to show you what kind of mood she is in for the day (or the minute lol, lol). It is small and cuddly and easy for her to carry around. We just thought it was so cute.”

Also included in the package was a dinosaur soap lab for the boys, which, everything about that sentence appeals to them. They LOVE experiments (especially older bother) and anything dinosaur related, of course, so this is right up their alley. John & Bob warned it would be messy, but how fun does it look?! Thank you SO much, y’all!

Thank you to everyone who sends our family sweet packages!! We feel the love from you all the way in our little corner of the world, and are forever grateful for you. xoxo

This Beach Robe is My New Favorite Piece of Clothing (and It's Not Just For the Beach)

And I’m never taking it off.

I saw this block print beach robe on Instagram the other day and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. The pattern! The color! The flowiness of it! I just googled if “flowiness” is a word and it’s technically not, but you absolutely knew what it meant in the context of that sentence, right? And I’m 93% sure you’ve used it before, too!

Anyway, our favorite interior designer, entrepreneur, mom of 5 and all-around inspiration in all areas of life, Lauren Liess was the one wearing it and it turns out it'’s one of the items she sells in her shop! I knew immediately I was going to order one for myself. I messaged her asking if it came in my size and she said it definitely does!

And then something amazing happened. She offered to just send me one!!! Y’all, I can’t downplay the significance of this. I have loved Lauren’s work for years and have always swooned over her designs and admired her work ethic (as a parent and a business owner), so to have her send me something from her shop is huge. We’ve been Instagram friends for the last few years now and it’s still a pinch-me situation every time we talk.

This robe is light and airy and the material is so dang comfortable. I plan on wearing it all summer and then into fall as the months start getting cooler. I’ve really been into caftans and cardigans and robes lately, and this one my absolute favorite.

You can find the beach robe here (I’m wearing the L/XL), and check out her full store of apparel, furniture, accessories, and more here.

Thank you SO much again, Lauren!!!!

An Update on Our Foster Care Journey

Morning, friends! Happy Monday.

Wanted to share some news and a big foster care update! In case you missed yesterday’s YouTube video, where we discuss what our plans are as far as adopting the kiddos and where we’re at in our foster care journey, I’m linking it here for you!

It’s been a long, emotional road for everyone involved, and we’re ready to finally move on to the next steps in our journey. We can’t thank you enough for all the love and support you’ve sent our family over the years. From the messages to the emails to the snail mail (my favorite), you have been with us every step of the way from the very beginning of us being foster parents.

We’re excited for this next chapter!!!

Thank You For Being Here & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends.

First off, thank you SO much for the kind words on yesterday’s post. Having you here with us and hearing your thoughts and opinions and reading your comments (even the bad ones) means more to us than you’ll ever know. The amount of knowledge we’ve learned from you over the years is so valuable to us because it gives us a chance to, in a roundabout way, virtually travel and meet people all over the world.

And secondly, thank you for all the advice and personal testimonies on our latest vlog!! PJ shared his struggles with adult acne and you sympathized and empathized with him, sharing your own issues with acne and what worked/didn’t work for you. We’ve read every comment and email and DM and want to let you know how grateful we are for this community of virtual friends who make the world feel a little smaller with your heartfelt and honest inputs.

We’re heading into the weekend with a rainy morning (my favorite) and a to-do list longer than anything I would ever make on my own. I woke up before anyone else to enjoy my coffee and write a little before the craziness of the day begins. Mornings have been my favorite time of the day for many years now and I would love to find a way to extend them by just a few more hours. I think the solution to that is just waking up a tad bit earlier?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, friends, and again, thank you so much for everything!!!!!!

The Garden at Ocoee Farm is Starting to Come Together!

I feel like every day some king of big change is happening at the farm…and that’s probably because it is!

Our friend Dixie, who’s been staying at the farm the last few months and helping us with the animals, started a garden a while back. It was filled with squash and zucchini and corn and watermelons, among other things. The only problem was she didn’t have the proper gardening tools to really get it to where it needed to be, so it was needing a little help.

However, PJ started tweaking it the other night and completely turned it around in a day or two. And now it looks like this!

The kiddos and I helped (and I use the term “help” term very loosely here) PJ plant corn on the half of the garden that he’s been working on. There’s still the entire right side to do that I conveniently forgot to take a picture of :).

There’s also garlic and squash and tomatoes and a few other veggies planted, and lettuce will be planted in the fall. How exciting is that? They chose to put the garden in a spot that gets the most amazing afternoon sun so all the delicious veggies planted should do really well there if everything goes according to plan.

PJ grew up working in the garden with his grandma so he knows his stuff when it comes to keeping one. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no idea about gardening, so all of this is new and fresh and exciting for me to see and help with. And by help with, I mean hand PJ the hoe when he needs one and drop the seeds in the little holes while the kids cover them with dirt.

Look at those gorgeous tomatoes!! I can’t wait to taste them, because does anything taste better than fresh vegetables? Especially in the summer? The answer is a resounding no.

An Easy, Made Up On-The-Spot Red Wine Pasta

I had some leftover noodles from dinner the other night just sitting in the fridge that I really didn’t want to just throw away, so I used a few ingredients that I had on hand (and pretty much made the recipe up as I went along ) to turn them into an actually delicious, super quick meal! Here’s what I used…

Ingredients

• A few tablespoons of olive oil

• 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 and 1/2 cups of red wine (I used a cabernet)

• 1 tablespoon of butter

• salt & pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon of basil (or more, to taste)

• parmesan cheese to garnish

My sister and her girlfriend made us dinner last week, so we had some cherry tomatoes on hand (I never think to buy those for some reason, but they’re so good!). I cut them in half, poured a heaping amount of olive oil into a pan, and threw the tomatoes in. I generously sprinkled some salt and pepper while mashing the tomatoes to create a sort of sauce.

Then I quickly minced three cloves of garlic and put that and a little amount of butter in the pan and stirred for about 30 seconds, letting it all get nice and fragrant on medium heat. I added some basil (I wish it was fresh but it wasn’t!) and then about a cup and a half of red wine and let it all simmer for a few minutes.

I didn’t measure ANY of this and usually don’t when I make recipes, which sort of makes it hard to replicate them exactly the same way every time. But I always say to use your best judgement! You know the amounts of the things you like (how much garlic, salt, etc.) so experiment and have a little fun with the ingredients.

Anyway, I then tossed the noodles from the night before into the pan and stirred it all together while topping it off with some parmesan cheese (also not fresh!).

I made this on a whim because I didn’t want the noodles to go to waste- we had all already had pizza for dinner that night so this was just going to be for lunch the next day. But it was so yummy that little sis even had a bowl after she already had her dinner, which never happens (it’s hard enough to get her to eat her own dinner every night, let alone a whole other meal with ingredients she usually doesn’t prefer). It was rich with flavor and felt fancy. Cherry tomatoes add such a burst of flavor to whatever they’re in. I need to remember to add them to the list when I go to the store next time!

Happy cooking, friends! x

The Day We Had All to Ourselves

It’s something that happens so rarely, I feel the need to document it almost every time that it does.

PJ’s mom came and scooped up the kiddos the other morning so we could make the 30 minute drive to Chattanooga to pick up some hardwood floors for Holiday House (!) that had arrived the week before. While we were there, we decided to make the most of it just being the two of us and go downtown to eat with my sister and her girlfriend and it was just the sort of carefree, whatever happens happens afternoon that we haven’t had in honestly…years it feels like.

Maybe I’m being dramatic? I don’t know, but I do know it was fun and felt like, for an afternoon, we didn’t have a million deadlines or things to do other than what we were doing right then and there.

The real reason we had to go downtown in the first place was to get fitted for our tuxes for my brother’s wedding next month. We’re both in the wedding (I’m the best man!) and after several “Would you please just go get your tuxes we are running out of time” texts from my brother, we finally are able to check this off of the to do list. PJ always looks so handsome in a suit (and who am I kidding, in shorts and a friggin t-shirt), so I cant wait to see him on the big day. Also! The kids are in the wedding, which means we get to pick out cute clothes for them to wear, too, which has become our favorite thing to do here lately.

Why is shopping for kids clothes way more fun than shopping for yourself?

We ended up having to walk quite a ways from the car to the restaurant to meet Sydney and her girlfriend due to the fact that I didn’t calculate how far of a walking distance we were from it, but it was kind of fun to take a stroll through downtown Chattanooga and have a change of scenery. Chattanooga is by no means a huge city, but it is the 4th largest in Tennessee and it’s growing every year, and seeing all the changes that have happened within the last year on our way to eat (new buildings, restaurants, parks) was kind of neat.

It helped that it was a gorgeous day. Hot, like, extremely hot, and humid of course, and I don’t know why I decided to wear pants, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless.

We ate at one of my sister’s favorite spots called Mr. Burrito. She kept saying how good it was and she was right: it did not disappoint. Look how big the burritos were!!! And the spicy cheese dip was everything. Highly recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a yummy place to eat with fresh ingredients (they make the food right in front of you).

After we finished, we headed back home and went to the farm to get as much work done as we could for a few hours. PJ has been working on the garden that Dixie started last month and it’s starting to look so good! And yes, the man doesn’t stop working as long as he’s awake, especially when it feels like there’s always so much to do. Maybe one day we’ll decide to just stop and take it easy, but I don’t think that will be anytime soon :).

It was a good day, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the kids by the time we got to the farm. It’s always such a weird feeling when they’re not with us for whatever reason. It’s nice to have some alone time outside the regular hours of them sleeping at night or during nap time in the day, but I did find myself missing the sound of their laughter at random parts throughout the day. Still, I know how important and essential making time for just the two of us is.

When we left the restaurant, my sister texted me to tell me how much fun she had. She said, “Thank y’all so much for eating with me. I miss it just being us. Obviously wouldn’t trade the kids for anything, but I do miss us.” Isn’t that so sweet? Sydney is obsessed with the kids, especially little sis, and will FaceTime me almost every day (usually right in the middle of her shift at work!) just to see them, but it hasn’t been just us in a few years now, and we haven’t gone out to eat with her, just her, in whoknowshowlong, so I get what she’s saying.

Life has changed so much just in the last two years, and I always say it’s hard to remember what we did with our time before our kiddos, but it’s nice to get little glimpses of what it was now and then and be grateful for what our life used to look like and for what it looks like now. I think it’s possible to do both and enjoy the beauty (or try to, at least) of each season of life that we’re in.

PS: you can see the day in video form in our newest vlog here!

Slow Mornings & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!!

I woke up early on this rainy Friday, before anyone else, to drink my coffee and enjoy some quiet time before the house wakes up. The other day I was thinking about our mornings and how much we relish in them being slow; we have a hard time getting out of the house before 12p no matter what we have going on that day.

We have the luxury of being able to work from home and we often take full advantage of that- multiple cups of coffee, not changing out of our pajamas until after lunch, picking up around the house while sending emails and watching The View. I crave our slow mornings and I know we’re both soooo grateful for them. Things will look a lot different come August when the kids go back to school and we’re running around the house in the morning trying to get everyone out the door, but for now, they’re probably my favorite part of the day.

I keep forgetting this weekend is the 4th of July, but to be honest, we never do anything for the 4th anyway. Do you? Every year people ask us what our plans are and every year we say absolutely nothing except spend the night trying to calm our dogs down as fireworks blast off every few seconds.

In other news, we’re heading to pick up some flooring today for a fun project!! It is going to completely change the look and feel of the space (a space we’ve wanted to change the look and feel of for a while now), but we can’t reveal too much yet since it’s for an upcoming collaboration. It’s going to be a good one, y’all.

I thought I would try something fun and different for today’s Happy Friday post and include a few links that have been catching my interest lately. Have a good one, y’all!!

These natural wonders from around the world no longer exist.

The trans history you weren’t taught in school.

This is what the future of the American house looks like (we do, and agree with, a lot of these already!)

Did you ever read the creepy story on The Cut about “The Watcher?” Well now it’s being turned into a limited series on Netflix by Ryan Murphy and will star Naomi Watts. BEYOND excited about it!!!

Portraits of gay fatherhood.

This might be my favorite room of all time.

How good does this easy pasta sound?

10 beautiful places in Florida you didn’t know existed.

Loved all of your responses on our Instagram post from last week!!

I’ve been following along with the #FreeBritney movement that is literally unfolding before our eyes for the past few weeks. It’s so heartbreaking, and information seems to be coming out every few hours about what a nightmare her life has been for the last so many years. Jessica from @houseinhabit on Instagram does a good job of breaking everything down and her IG stories are compelling to read. I’ve been addicted to them for an in-depth look at what’s going on in Britney’s conservatorship.

I’ve been obsessed with this farmhouse all week and can’t get it out of my mind. So beautiful.