the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm here with Joyce again today for the weekly hodgepodge...this is a post that I dearly love; thank you, Joyce, for your inspiring and thought provoking questions each and every week! I'll jump right in. 

1. Do you feel like you have a full plate at the moment? In what way? My life feels like a full plate at the moment, but not in a bad way. I just have a lot going on, honestly, and I'm having to learn to manage my time in a way that won't leave me feeling frazzled or rushed. I knew it would be like this when I started working, and I was right! 🤪 I love it, though. Before I felt like I had too much time on my hands, and now I like the feeling that life is more full and that it's a balancing act. Somehow I'm managing, though, and I'm grateful for the times when I am able to get things accomplished. I feel like I'm doing a decent job of having time to myself, seeing Chris, keeping up with friends, and seeing family. It's a lot of spinning plates, but for now it feels okay. 

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children, did you teach/encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your style more, "let's wing it"? I learned to cook from the best: my mom! I helped her in the kitchen from a young age, and by the time I was thirteen, I was a pro at making cornbread. My style is to follow a recipe the first time, and then tweak it to make it my own after that. I will still loosely follow it, but I don't stress about it that much. I remember learning that it's stressful for some people, so I guess I enjoy cooking enough that it never feels like that for me. I'm good at the timing, too; my ex-mom-in-law (good grief, that is so extra sounding) used to be amazed at this quality in me. She never enjoyed cooking, so it was always stressful for her. I would try to make things easier for her when I was around for the holidays, though, and both she and her husband relied on me for that. I've often wondered what it's like there now at their house for the holidays without me there to be a buffer/peacemaker. Things I never thought I would be writing about on my blog...

Moving on to happier topics...

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. Just recently I volunteered to help with the student choir at church. I was so excited to do this, but I quickly learned I'd bitten off way more than I could chew, so I stepped down from doing this. I couldn't ever make the time right with work, honestly, and balancing that with eating dinner beforehand and wanting to use Wednesday nights to have dinner with Chris before choir at six. I had such high hopes! But's okay...grace upon grace. 

4. When did you last say, "the more the merrier", and mean it? I feel like I say this and mean it when food and my sons and their friends are involved. I always truly mean that, because to me, the fuller the house, the fuller my heart feels. 

5. Write an acrostic using the word THANKS.

T—treasure the people who make life feel lighter and brighter

H—hold close those moments that shape your heart

A—appreciate grace in both the big and small things in life

N—notice beauty in the ordinary days

K—keep gratitude in the center of your heart

S—share love generously, the way it's been given to you

6. Insert your own random thought here. I'm leaving you with one of my favorite songs; this is called The Thanksgiving Song by Ben Rector. Don't let the lackluster title make you think it's not good...you should definitely listen to this since tomorrow is the big day.

I'm always excited to read your answers to these prompts! Thanks for being here today to read my blog, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn 

inspired writing Tuesday--home

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I've been feeling inspired to write lately, so I want to start sharing some of that here. I hope you enjoy today's post, and the ones I have planned to come in the following weeks. Happy reading! Feel free to leave me your thoughts or suggestions at the end of today's post. 

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For over two decades, my home has been more than walls and windows—it's been the place where my life has unfolded with quiet strength. 

It's held laughter, tears, kids growing up, late night conversations, meals, holidays, and those slow peaceful mornings when the world felt gentle.

Every corner has a memory.

There's a sweetness in loving a place that has loved you back—a kind of comfort that settles into your bones. I know which spots creak in the floor, where the lights hits just right in the afternoon, and how the air feels different when the seasons change.

These little things feel like old friends.

This house has carried me through heartbreak and healing, through ordinary days and extraordinary moments. 

It's where I've learned, where I've changed, where I've blended in, and where I've grown into the woman I am today.

It's where I've been held steady.

Twenty-two years later, I'm still grateful for every time that I get to walk through the doors. It's my safe place, my soft landing, my little piece of joy in this big, noisy world. 

It's home. 

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I hope you enjoyed today's post, friends. Feel free to leave me your thoughts or suggestions on what to write about next week! Love to all.

Jenn 

Hello Monday, Thanksgiving Week Edition

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! I can't wait to hear from you at the end of today's post. I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. 

My weekend was epic! 

First off, I didn't sleep great on Thursday night, because Chris was driving all night as I slept. I kept waking up to check on him and to see where he was on Life 360. I was feeling pretty rough by the time I actually woke up to get ready for work! I was glad that he made it to Georgia safely. 

I started getting pictures like this. I love his dogs, crazy though they may be. They love me too. ❤️

This was the container from which I drank all day for "drink from anything but a cup day". I was over it and switched back to my cup two hours into the day.

Our sweet principal Kristie bought us all these Nothing Bundt Cakes! I chose lemon.

Look at our sweet fourth graders on our virtual field trip into NYC, and check out our snacks! I don't have a picture, but Marilyn picked me up for dinner at Salad Station Friday night. We met another friend there and caught up for a while. Stephanie had to leave early, but Mare and I walked down to Marshall's. I was home early to dog sit for Graham, and to pack. 

I left home at 6:45 the next morning and was in Little Rock getting gas by 8:30. I made good time, despite the dense fog I drove in for two hours. I was glad when it finally lifted as I traveled west. I made it into Dallas by three and drove straight to Noah's house. 

He looks amazing! He's actually lost a good bit of weight, and it was sooooooo good to squeeze him for lots of his incredible hugs. He's my teddy bear of a son and will hug me like the characters of Disney hand out their hugs...and he doesn't let go until I let go.

I loved seeing his new house and meeting his second roommate. Now there are three of them that live together, and it makes me happy knowing that makes it a little easier for him financially.

We came to the hotel so that I could check in; I changed and freshened up, then we took off. We went to Walmart for some Christmas decorations! I'm so glad they have a tree up now; he loves Christmas, and I wanted him to have a tree.

Isn't it beautiful? We all left from his house and went to have dinner at The Yard in downtown McKinney. I saw a Shull again, but I missed the chance to say anything. I saw Andrew, but not Shay; I was going to say hello, but I was trying to order first. By the time I ordered, they had left. 

The food was great, but the company made the night. We drove around the square for a few minutes, but we ended the night around eight, because I was tired. I came back and showered and watched a movie/talked to Chris until I fell asleep.

Don't mind me loving solo hotel life! I could get used to this. I got breakfast, watched TV, had my quiet time and then worked on my blog for the week. 

I got dressed for the day, then Noah came to pick me up. 

I needed coffee ASAP! From here, we went to this huge sports store called Sheels, and I started Christmas shopping. I have a great start now, and I'm pretty proud, if I do say so myself! We grabbed burgers from In & Out, then ate them at his house. I took a nap on his amazing couch, then we hung out upstairs for a while.

I love his newest kitty, Sylvie. She's the sweetest and reminds me of our last cat that died on Christmas Eve a few years ago, Twinkles. We left and went to dinner, just the two of us this time. We ate at La Hacienda Ranch for the second time, and it was amazing.

I had brisket tacos; they were delicious! From there we went to the Legacy West area in Plano. The Christmas lights were spectacular, as was the whole area. We went to The Star, the practice arena for the Dallas Cowboys, and were there just in time to see the end of the game, when the Cowboys pulled out a win with a comeback for the first time in twenty-two years! It was electric.

It was so much fun, and our timing couldn't have been more perfect. Honestly, I think it's one of those core moments that we will never forget. 

Legacy West is the Texas version of Rodeo Drive in LA. There are cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars cruising up and down this one street; you never know what you'll see, but the yellow car is a Lamborghini, which is Noah's favorite car. He gets to work a Lamborghini event in a couple of weeks, when their newest model will be released. He's beyond excited about this and proud that he has this connection now with someone he used to work for. We drove around to look at Christmas lights after this, then we went our separate ways for a while for showers. He ended up coming back to the hotel for about an hour, then I went to bed pretty quickly after he left. 

Today I'm driving home! It's been an amazing weekend, and it was so good to see my son. I can't wait until we're all together for Christmas! What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn