weekending

 

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? Mine flew by! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. I'll jump right in! 

I finally got to enjoy a Friday when it didn't rain! Marilyn and I made plans last weekend to have lunch and swim together on Friday; we were both excited about the weather being perfect. She had the makings for nachos, so that's what we had for lunch. It was delicious! We floated and talked about all of life's problems right here for the next few hours. It was the best day because I didn't have to rush off; I had all the time in the world to linger over coffee and blog reading. I did some laundry and did a few other little chores while I was home, then I left at eleven to head to her house. I was back home by three; I showered and got dressed and took a nap. 

Chris and I went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner and shared their parmesan crusted chicken; we also got a shrimp appetizer to share, and I got their house margarita. It was a great dinner! 

We went to see if he could find some new work shoes after dinner (he didn't), then we came back to my house and went night swimming. I love to swim at night! I also love it when he writes me sweet notes. ❤️

I made plans to swim with my sister Saturday; we floated in the pool for several hours, then I came back in to shower and get ready for dinner that night. Chris and I made plans to meet up with his dad for dinner that night; we went to Red Lobster. It was good! He made me laugh the entire time by making me wear a bib and pose for this picture. 🤣 I especially loved it when he put my glasses on and took a picture of himself.

I went to a new church Sunday! This will be one that I stay at for a good while. I loved it the most of the three I've visited so far; the size is small, the preaching was Godly and relevant, the music was good and singable, and one of my best friends goes there as well. I'm excited about next Sunday already! 

After church, I went to lunch with Chris; we went to Mugshot's and split a hot dog and Rotel. After lunch we grocery shopped, then came to my house for a while before swimming later in the afternoon. I watched TV Sunday evening and worked on blog posts for the week before turning in early. What about you? How was your weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jen 

p.s. Saturday was Share 4 Somethings; I'm leaving the link open for another week if you want to join in at some point. And if you'd like to read that post from the weekend, here's a link for you.

Share 4 Somethings (June 2026)

 

Happy Saturday, friends! Thanks for being here today to talk about something you loved, something that sustained you, something you're carrying forward from this month to the next, and something you're making space for. I'll jump right in! 

I loved:

This month I loved seeing Beauty and the Beast at The Orpheum with my sister, getting started on summer themed books, date nights spent outside with my guy, and days at the pool. 

What sustained me:

Good food eaten with friends and soft serve margaritas sustained me this month. I'm kidding about the margaritas...but I do enjoy one of these on occasion. I'm not kidding about the time spent with friends, though.

 

What I'm carrying forward from this month to next:

I'm carrying forward reminders like this from now until this time next month.

What I'm making space for: 

I'm making space for doing things I love next month: listening to music, witnessing a sunset, enjoying the brilliant summer colors in nature, doing things I love, drinking delicious iced coffee, Bible study, and being with the people I love most.

I can't wait to read your posts! Thanks for joining me today, friends. I'll see you back here Monday. Love to all!

Jenn 

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Friday Favorites, 6.26.2026

 

Happy Friday, friends! I hope all of you had a great week; I want to hear about it at the end of this post, so stay tuned. Here are some favorite things and moments from this week...

Doodling/drawing is one of my favorite things; my little student at work is in a wheelchair that I push her around in because she can't walk on her own. Because of that, while her classmates are at recess outside, we find other things to do. So far we have read books, walked the halls to visit favorite teachers, we have gone to the gym to toss a soft ball back and forth, we have watched The Magic School Bus, and we have drawn/colored. This was from Wednesday; she asked me to write "beach day" on her paper so that she could color it in her favorite bright colors. While she did that, she told me I should draw a tree and then write some words on it, so that's what I did. When she tells me to do something, I do whatever she says! This was what I came up with: a family tree of sorts. I never finished, but I got a good start and she loved it after I added the apples she suggested I draw. 

Stella's positions are always a favorite.

This is a picture from a few years ago, but doing a Bible study is my favorite; I just bought a new one that will be here tomorrow. I can't wait to start on it this weekend! It's been way too long since I've done a Bible study; I think I got burned out on them, honestly. If you didn't know this already, I used to help write Bible studies for women with a group of ladies from my church; after that I lead small groups for years before my life changed. Because of the job I used to have as the bookstore/coffee shop manager at my church, that prohibited me from doing a lot of extra things like attending classes or studies.

Tuesday night dinner was a favorite! Remember a few weeks ago when I made steamed/pan seared dumplings with Chris? We had leftover wrappers and meat, so I froze it and pulled it out this week to make a dumpling "lasagna" of sorts. I lined the dish with wrappers, then meat, and repeated that once; to the top layer I added some sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot water. I covered it with foil and baked it at 375 for fifty minutes. This was a delicious meal! 

Being with these lovely ladies was a favorite from the weekend! 

Things I bought from my Old Navy shopping trip have continued to be my favorite! I've worn nothing but dresses this week, because I get hot at work, and these are easy to move around a lot in. 

Speaking of work...this is my favorite home away from home. 

These are my my favorite graphics from Instagram this week.

Yesterday's petting zoo was a favorite for most of us at Summer Learning Camp! Who doesn't love a donkey or a Highland cow?! 

And lastly, another favorite is that my blog turns nineteen this year on June 26th; I wrote my very first blog post on that day in 2007 (I included the link in case anyone wanted to go back and read what I was up to way back then). And then in typical fashion, I came back that same day and made a bonus post...here's a link for that one too. As I was looking for something on an  old post Tuesday morning, I noticed that as of right then, I had written 4,060 blog posts over the nineteen year span. I was curious about which post had been the most popular in all of that time, and this is the one that had the most traffic. It's a random day; but it was about a major life update. It had over 25K views, and I have no clue why! Can you believe I've been at this whole blog thing for that long? It doesn't seem possible! 

Just a quick reminder about tomorrow: it's already time for June's Share 4 Somethings! If you don't know what that is, it's a monthly link party that I host where we come together and talk about something we loved, something that sustained us, something we're carrying forward from this month to the next, and something we're making space for. I hope you make plans now to join us tomorrow! I keep the link open for about two weeks each month. 

Tell me something that was a favorite from your week! I would love to hear from you. Thanks for being here to read my blog everyday, friends. Love to all!

Jenn