Hello Monday, 2.16.2026.

 

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. I'll jump right in!

I donned the shirt I'd been saving for this day for work and then regretted my choice of it all day long. It's cute, right? But the fabric is this terrible, synthetic material that I struggled with all day long. Work wasn't as crazy as I had thought it would be; nothing unusual happened and the day passed quickly. I was glad for this, because I was ready for my nighttime plans! 

A few weeks ago, Marilyn and I shopped together on a Saturday. We went to Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby and were basically inspired to have a party. She hosted Kendra and me Friday night for a Galentine's day party, complete with its own playlist on Spotify. It was such a fun night! 

Mare made chicken pasta, focaccia bread, I took a salad, and Kendra brought the wine! It was a delicious meal. We ate and caught up and then we eventually moved on to Valentine's day games. 

We started working on our vision board ideas for 2026 and gathered some more ideas. I want to do this soon, but I need to figure out what I want to use as the board. It was a fun night! I stayed as long as I could before I started to get really tired. It was an early to bed night!

Kendra came with gifts! This one had us cracking up. 

Chris came over early on Saturday, and we spent the whole day together. This is where I confess that I struggled with the day all day long. I don't know why I had a hard time all day; I cried at one point and have no idea why. I was quiet all day, and though I was grateful to have Chris around, I didn't necessarily feel up to having someone with me, you know? I told him I probably would have canceled on him had he not just shown up when he did. I still don't know what the issue was that I was having, and I think it's okay that I don't know. He was a rock star and was a steady and loving presence all day long. We ate lunch, we did some running around, we came back to my house at one point, and then I went to give gifts to my favorite local little people, also known as Abbey's kids.

I loved getting to love on some little people that day! I think it's what turned it around for me, honestly. It was so good to see these friends! We stayed for about an hour before leaving again. (Levi isn't pictured because he was about to be taking a late afternoon nap.) I love these kids, and I loved introducing Chris to them. I think they made him feel at ease, but he was nervous walking in. He's always a little nervous meeting new people! I love this endearing quality about him. 

I made sure to reassure Chris all day that whatever I was feeling had nothing to do with him. He did everything just right, and the fact that he didn't let me push him away, so to speak, spoke volumes to me. He was just there, quiet and steady all day long. He held my hand, he hugged me, he let me lean on him, and he let me cry on him. Emotions are a funny thing, you know? That evening we went to a place here in town called Nashoba. We had dinner and listened to live music before calling it a somewhat early night and heading back to my house. 

It was a fun night! I'm thankful that by the time we left Abbey's and Steve's, that I felt almost normal again. I loved sitting side by side with Chris for dinner; we sat at a bar type thing away from the bar as we ate, and we had the perfect spot to see the band and to people watch. We were given lots of opportunities to people watch! We could have danced some, but we decided that we're both more the dance in the kitchen variety. And we do! I love dancing in the kitchen with this man; he's got moves. I love how romantic he is; we didn't do anything crazy to celebrate the day, but we make sure to speak love and truth into each other everyday. 

Sunday was church! I woke up early and wrote a bonus blog post; here's a link if you'd like to check it out! He came over bright and early and we ate lunch with Mom, Bill, and Graham afterward. We came back to my house to watch more of Ted Lasso and then we said our goodbyes after an early dinner of leftovers. 

How was your weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all. 

Jenn

weekly reflection

 

Happy Sunday, friends! I'm going to give a shout out to Jen for giving me the idea for this post. She shared something similar on her own blog this weekend; you should check it out! Here are the prompts that Chat GPT gave me when I asked her for some ideas.

What filled me up this week? Something that filled me up this week was seeing Chris a lot. One of his hugs can go a long way, you know? Another thing that filled me up this week was being back at work. I love my work friends so much! I also love the students, and was so happy to be back with them after two full weeks off. 

Where did I see God (or His goodness) this week? I see God and His goodness every single day, honestly. Something that was sweet this week was my prayer time each morning before leaving home. I have this routine where I get dressed and have my quiet time simultaneously...I pray, then I listen to the Bible being read to me. I have some things I'm praying about right now, and I felt peace from the Lord all throughout my week. He's the only one who can give someone that kind of peace, and the Bible says that it's the peace that transcends all understanding. 

What am I letting go of moving ahead into a new week? I'm letting go of yesterday. I will share more about this on tomorrow's blog post. 

What am I carrying forward with me this week? I'm carrying forward the reminder that each day is a new morning; God's mercies are new everyday! I'm trusting Him with everything, and I'm embracing and leaning on the people that are in my life right now. 

What's a tiny victory from this week? A tiny victory from the week was surviving the week. I always kind of dread re-entry after an extended time off.  My house is even clean! I took the time to do this on Saturday; Chris was so sweet to help me when he got here. He was wiping off the stair railing at one point, y'all. Another tiny victory was waking up on time each day; after the holidays I started waking up thirty minutes earlier each day, to prolong my morning. This has been life changing, and I don't feel rushed at all before I leave for work everyday. 

How would you answer one of these? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

Friday Favorites, 2.13.2026.

 

Happy Friday (the 13th), friends! Are you superstitious? I'm not necessarily, but I do think Friday the 13th in a school on the day of Valentine's day class parties is a bit much. Think of me today when you're out doing adult things...I might be going crazy at that exact moment. I have lots of favorites from the week, though!

From the interwebs: 

I love each and every one of these images from Instagram this week! My favorite is the one that reminds us to look for the best in people. Nobody likes a mean girl, and nobody likes a Debbie Downer, either. I think smiles and kind words are life changing! This week at school, our focus has been on kindness. I adore our school counselors, and they've had some great things to say to the students on how they can carry this out each and everyday. 

Teacher treat days from our PTA are always a favorite! Please note the homemade cheddar sourdough bagel I enjoyed. They had coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet treats from Nothing Bundt Cakes and from scratch, several types of homemade bread, Babybel cheese, a tomato/cheese/basil salad, fruits and veggies, chips, granola bars, and more for us on this particular day. The offerings are always a lot and everything is delicious each month. We get these days once a month! I brought home an extra bagel when I saw there were some leftover at the end of Wednesday. 

Seeing the students again was a favorite this week. I've missed them so much! This sweet little one jumped into my arms when she saw me on Monday morning. I love getting to spend fifteen minutes with her each day, one on one. I'm so proud of her for how far she's come since August! I love getting to witness the spark in their little eyes as they learn to read and unscramble letters on a page. I would dare say it's one of the greatest joys I have in life! 

I love a themed week at school! I've worn all the Valentine's day things this week. These are the infamous earrings that Abbey gave me last year on Valentine's day that I've talked about here recently. 

It's a favorite seeing this banner displayed in our hallways at school! We were recently given this award of being one of the top ten schools in the state of Tennessee. Isn't that amazing?! 

Getting dressed for work is always a favorite! Here are my outfits from Sunday through Thursday; I didn't get a full outfit pic on Wednesday because I was running late, but I had on brown leggings, this blue and white striped button down, and the apricot colored vest from Amazon that I love. White sneakers have been my shoe of choice everyday so far this week! 

I was talking about this very thing with Chris recently; I often feel sleepy around him. Maybe this is why? I know he has said that he feels the same. 

Being busy at work is my favorite! I walked my rear end off at work Thursday morning and got this notification on my watch. I don't know how much I walked that day, but I ran for what felt like all day long.

Fifth graders can be my favorite sometimes. This was me waiting on them yesterday when I taught them.

Receiving this Eagle Award was my favorite part of the week! My friend and coworker said some incredibly nice things about me; the principal videoed me, and took pictures, and the third grade class that I was with at that moment erupted in cheers. It was the sweetest part of my week. 

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 

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! (And if this meme offends, I'm sorry, but I saw it on socials yesterday and about cracked up laughing. It's true!)

1. What's something recent that had you "tickled pink"? Besides my front door? Kidding, kidding. I would say something that had me ticked pink was when I went back to work on Monday. I got one of my favorite little first graders out of the car that morning in the car line and when she saw me her face lit up like fireworks. She literally jumped into my arms and told me how much she'd missed me, and wanted to know where I had been. I can't explain just what this does for my heart! `

I adore this kid. She has no idea what her words and hugs mean to me! I'm so proud of her and how far she's come since I've known her. She's reading like a little champ! 

2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has its thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? I would say at this present moment, that everything is coming up roses in my life. I hesitate to say that, because I don't want to jinx anything. Yikes! 

3. What makes you feel loved and appreciated? I feel loved when someone hears me. An example of this would be a practical gesture or gift, like if I say something in passing, and my person or friend does just that. Two people came to mind as I wrote this: Chris and my friend and co-worker Karen. They're two of the most thoughtful people I've ever met! I feel appreciated when someone thanks me for something, or when they offer to help me. 

I asked Chris this question and here's what he said: he feels loved when his person spends quality time with him, and he feels appreciated when someone tells him thank you. He was here one night recently for dinner, and right when we started cooking, I got sick to my stomach and had to go upstairs to my room. I ended up taking a quick cool shower, because I was literally about to be sick physically. I texted him to tell him sorry and that I would be back down as soon as possible. I came downstairs twenty minutes later, and dinner was finished, and he had hand washed the dishes. Dinner was amazing! When I thanked him and hugged him for this, I remember him getting a really funny look on his face, like he was gazing at me so lovingly. Now I know why. He said he fell a little more in love with me that night.

4. A box of chocolates or a bouquet of fresh flowers: what's your pleasure? Any special plans for Valentine's day? Can I say both, please? I would pick fresh flowers, probably, because they're beautiful to look at. I do have plans for both Galentine's day on Friday night the 13th, and for Valentine's day with Chris. On Friday night, Kendra and I are going to Marilyn's house for a fun, girls only party. On Saturday night, Chris and I will eat dinner at my house and then go listen to live music at a local hang out here in town, called Nashoba. I'm excited for both!  

5. Share a favorite quote, Scripture, or song lyric relating to love. There's a song that I recently came across by Sarah Bareilles called I Choose You; there's a line (stanza?) in it that I can't stop thinking about. I'll write it out below. 

We are not perfect

We'll learn from our mistakes

And as long as it takes

I will prove my love to you

I am not scared of the elements

I am under-prepared, but I am willing

And even better

I get to be the other half of you

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you, yeah, I choose you

6. Insert your own random thought here. Here are a few random things from life lately.

I'm so proud of my school! Not only are we a National Blue Ribbon school (Google it), we recently were given this award as well. 

I loved this from Instagram this week! 

Right? Life is short, friends.

I can't wait to read your answers to the prompts later today! Thanks for being here to read my blog, friends. Love to all!

Jenn