Friday Favorites, 5.15.2026.

 

Happy Friday, friends! Today is my last day with students at school; that is surreal to me. Next week I will be there all week, but I will be packing up several rooms and sorting through paperwork for my co-workers. How has your week been? Mine went by super fast...and I have some favorites from the week. Buckle up!

This was a favorite post from Instagram this week; it's true! 

Monday night's dinner was my favorite! Chris and I bought some steak tips from a place called Sprouts last weekend; we cooked that and added rice and sauteed green beans. It was delicious and took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. 

Has there been a more true statement? I think not. Accounts like this that I follow on socials are my favorite! 

Reading is my favorite at the moment! I can't wait for summer reading! I found this book inspiration while scrolling this week. 

Favorite new coffee mug! This was a mother's day gift.

The verse pictured above is one of my favorites! I needed to see this yesterday. 

This sweet little kindergarten program yesterday was my favorite! Seriously, y'all, I cried. They sang a sweet song from The Greatest Showman that just about did me in. 

Getting dressed will always be my favorite. I went super casual most of the week because of field day and because I had to cover kindergarten and first grade classes. 

These were the little kindergarten kiddos I sat with on Wednesday. 

This is a favorite sight to me! My little first graders walking down the hall catching up is the sweetest thing ever. 

I'm leaving you with one of my favorite sayings of all time; I found this on a coaster last year in Louisville, Kentucky...I'd love to frame this and hang it somewhere in my home. 

It's your turn! What was a favorite of yours from the week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

good things from the week

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I wasn't going to share a post today since I worked my old job at the bookstore at church last night, but I changed my mind and wanted to publish something quick before work today. I hope you enjoy this list of good things from the week so far! Stay tuned for my question at the end for you...here we go...

• the fun work things this week...Summer Blast...kindergarten program...so many things
• meeting new students in classes I covered this week...that's not part of my everyday
• priority time with the Lord before I go to work everyday
• good conversations in the mornings before work...I'm talking to you, Mare
• seeing Chris a lot this week and being able to navigate ups and downs
• having time to read at work
• being back in the bookstore at church Wednesday night...it was fun, but I don't miss it at all
• friends that rescue when I forget how to do something
• having a clean home for all of 2.5 hours on Sunday
• being able to see all of my sons on Sunday at Mom's
• a fun new thing we did on Mother's Day...we had a shrimp boil with the fam
• my coworkers who feel like I've known them forever
• a good evaluation at work recently
• meeting the new principal
• catching up with friends from church that I don't normally see
• good rest
• things to look forward to
• greeting kiddos as they step out of their cars every morning
• never dreading going to work in the mornings
• inspiration from other bloggers...Amy, this one's you!

These are just a few, but I could go on! What is something good from your week? I'd love to hear about it! Thanks for reading today, friends. Love to all. 

Jenn 

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. What's one piece of advice you would give a recent or soon-to-be graduate? I would sincerely congratulate them and then I would encourage them to embrace their youth; I would say to them that they're still young enough to not have to worry about having life figured out. I would encourage them to take the time to discover who they were as a whole person before rushing into a relationship, and to lean into whatever it is they find out about themselves.

The picture of the toddler is me with my sister Lisa when she graduated. This picture of Graham will always be my favorite representation of graduation...it's a blur, which is about how fast the time between birth and that day goes by. 

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time, are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain. Currently, I feel like I am more in need of brains. Part of my job is helping co-teach students in K-5 who need extra help with reading and math. I'm here for the reading part of the job, but the math? I don't have the brains to help teach math at the end of a long school day. I did this yesterday with two second graders, and their way of explaining different ways to regroup in subtraction is the most bizarre thing ever. My brain always feel fried by the time this occurs! I do this three days a week with two second graders. 

3. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement? I last felt the truth of that statement when Dad died and we were going through his house. His house was home to me; with the sale of the property in February of last year, it was the final piece of closure that made that more of a reality than ever. 

I miss this place! 

4. May is National BBQ month...do you own a grill? Who does the grilling at your house? What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? What's the last thing you grilled? There is a grill at my house; it belongs to Jonah. He's the one who does most of the grilling for us here. I love anything on a grill, but my favorite would be either one of his steaks, some of Graham's salmon, or maybe even some chicken. The last thing that he grilled was chicken last Friday night. 

    Oooohhhh, I forgot to mention Bill's wings. Those are definitely another favorite!

5. What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy? Something I often think back on a lot are travel memories. I replay times at the beach with Marilyn last summer, or when my sisters and I went to Maine together last fall. I also love to think back on all the concerts I got to attend last summer; that summer will go down as my favorite to date! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. Give me all your summer reading recs! I need to hear them, please. Here are a few I'll be reading this summer; one of these is a Prime series I can't wait to watch, based on the first Carley Fortune book I ever read (and her debut novel). 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! I'll see you back here tomorrow (I think). Love to all!

Jenn 

Fashion Files & recent Amazon purchases

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm linking up with Amy and Marsha today for Fashion Files. I was looking into ideas of things to wear during the summer months, and discovered that I already have some of what I was looking at on Pinterest. 

One trend I saw for "casual summer outfits" were button downs. 

Button downs are still trending this spring and summer! I have plenty of these and wear them in a couple of different ways: with leggings, or with cropped wide leg jeans. I think my favorite is with leggings, but you could wear one unbuttoned with a tee underneath, or buttoned and then tied off at the waist. I like them as coverups with swimwear (and plan on using the white one this summer as one of mine), and even as pajamas, though I don't use mine that way. All of my button downs were purchased from Old Navy; the most recent two that I bought are white, and pink stripes. I love them both! I also love a denim button down and found this one on Amazon.

I love this two piece lounge set!

Here's a link. 

Speaking of swimwear...I ordered a couple of new suits this week.

This one is very reasonably priced! 

And because Marilyn told me I need more than one swimsuit, I also bought this one.

Here's a link for this one.

While I was browsing Amazon, I found this kimono and this white tee. 

In case you're wondering, here are the sandals I'll be wearing with all of my summer wear. 

 

I don't have a link for the block heels, but they're from Rack Room last summer. I love them, but only wore them once. I'll definitely wear them again this year. The second pair is the Reef brand, and will be on repeat. Here's the link for those. 

These Dr. Scholl's sandals were a favorite from last summer! And why not add a pretty gold anklet to complete the look? Here's a link for that. 

Do you have thoughts on all of these things? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn