Currently: December 2024

 

Happy Wednesday, friends, and happy bonus blog post day! I'm so glad you're here for this month's Currently link party. I will be bringing this post back in 2025, and will keep it on the first Wednesday of every month. I hope you make plans to keep joining me next year! Today we're talking about things we're currently loving, looking forward to, buying, hoping, and baking. In January we'll talk about what we're currently loving, doing to stay warm, resolving, organizing, and wearing. I'll jump in with today's post!

Loving

One thing I'm currently loving the most is my morning routine; actually, I think I just love routines in general, and the twinkling lights just add an extra touch of magic, right? Also, in case you don't know this about me, I keep twinkling lights out in my home all year long for that very reason. I always have lights strung on my mantle, and in several bedrooms. All my boys are like this and love it for the same reason! 

I almost always have a candle lit and music playing through the Roku device on the tv hanging in the living room. 

I have been loving the weather! It feels like winter has arrived, and I couldn't be happier. I think that cold weather makes this time of year feel more festive! I've been wearing my old favorite red coat with a faux fur-lined hood, and I've been wearing all the cozy sweaters and sweatshirts that I have that are also festive. 

Looking forward to

I am really looking forward to the annual Christmas parade Friday night! I'm also looking forward to keeping Graham's baby dogs again both this weekend and the next. I realize that seems strange to some of you, but I really do love his dogs and I miss them! This weekend he's going to Nashville for one night, and the next weekend he's in a wedding. Don't think for a second that I won't take the opportunity to take them to look at Christmas lights again! 

I will always be so glad that my sister and I went to the parade with Dad last year. He was so adamant about going, even though it was a long day for him and it was cold. It was totally worth it to have that experience with him one more time. I think in my heart I knew that it would be his last Christmas. It's funny how you get a sense of things like that, you know? 

 

Buying

I am thrilled to be able to say that I am done buying Christmas presents! All I've been buying so far this week is groceries. I may share a Costco post next week, so stay tuned.

Ignore my dirty floor, but here's the proof! Not all of the presents are here yet, and there are two or three in a big box in my kitchen that got here later in the weekend that weren't wrapped yet when I took this picture. I'm so proud of myself! 

Hoping

I am hoping for a lot of things, honestly: that I'm able to enjoy the beautiful season that we're in, that I don't dread the day of Christmas too much, that my sons continue to do well in the life circumstances we've all been dealt, that they continue to be surrounded by good friends who love and care for them, and that they're able to have a good Christmas in spite of it being so different. Different doesn't equal bad/sad! I told them that this weekend when we were all together. I anticipate it being a good Christmas day. Attitude and outlook is everything, right? 

Baking

We have a festive book club night coming up next week, and I will be baking a Bundt cake to take with me. I'm excited about doing something a little different for this month's book club! 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!  

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December things

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd talk about a few things I want to remember this Christmas season. I'm asking you to chime in at the end!

I don't want to take for granted this time of year, what it means and the reason why we celebrate. It's easy to become overwhelmed with life, particularly during this season. I want to remember that time spent with the Lord is of the utmost importance to start my days in the right way. I also want to spend time in prayer praying for those that I know of who are lost. 

I plan on spending some nights driving around looking at Christmas lights and will find people to go with me. Well, people or dogs. I love taking dogs to see lights, because they love them and can see them really well when the windows are rolled down a bit. 

I hope I can continue with my Christmas book reading streak, but it's not looking very promising. 

I am already making new memories this year, and I'm loving that! This will continue next weekend with the plans I already have in place. I'm excited for this!

I've already watched The Holiday and The Family Stone, but I'll probably rewatch one or both. I think those are my two favorite, alone with White Christmas being at the top. 

I've already been singing loudly for all to hear! I play Christmas music at work all week, and have already been caught doing this. 

Mission accomplished with the festive clothing! 

I'm trying to get into the habit of writing more, and also saying yes to as much as possible. I have too much free time on my hands!

And lastly, I want to remember to put on love each and everyday. This is a crazy busy time of year in stores nationwide; I want to remember to be patient, loving, and kind to the dear people who I'll come across working long hours this holiday season. 

What would you add to this list? I'd love to hear! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 🎄

Linking up with:

weekending

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a good weekend! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. Did you do anything fun this weekend? Here's a little peak of a few things I did. 

I woke up and enjoyed a leisurely morning on Friday. I had coffee, I watched a movie, and piddled around the house doing laundry and light cleaning. My friend Abbey dropped off something at my house, and when I grabbed it off my porch, I found some drawings her precious kids gave to me. I love those little people so very much! 

I hadn't planned on doing any Black Friday shopping on this day, but I needed to get up and get out of my house. I just went to one store, but I was in there for a couple of hours. We have this great local bookstore called Novel that I love visiting. I really prefer going there alone so that I can wander and just take my time; not only is it a bookstore, it's a great place to buy gifts. 

And because it was a Friday and the day we would normally celebrate Thanksgiving with Dad, I decided to go visit his grave. I've never been a grave visitor, honestly, but it's a peaceful place to go and just walk around. I like going there, because I feel close to Dad. That sounds weird, but he really loved going there when he was alive; that's why I feel close to him there. I often find that I can have a really good cry there, and I usually need it on the days I stop by there. I love where his grave is; I park under pine trees, which reminds me of the home I grew up in, because his driveway was lined with the same kind of tree. There's a little bridge I have to cross to get to his grave, and it's just quiet and peaceful. 

I don't have pictures of this one, but my best friend's son and wife invited me to their family Thanksgiving dinner that Friday night. I wasn't going to go, honestly, but they really weren't willing to take no for an answer. I wanted to stay home so bad, but I committed to going so that I wouldn't talk myself out of it; tell me I'm not the only one does things like that! So after being at home after my day out, I was here for about thirty minutes, then I changed and left again and headed to their house. And you know what? I am so glad I did this! I'll share more about this tomorrow, so come back for the full story...but just know that when I left there, I drove home thanking God the entire time, because they had invited me into their lives that particular night. 

I watched this movie Saturday morning! It was so cute, but I love those Debbie Macomber movies.

Check out my latest phone screensaver from Pinterest!

I had one more gift to buy, so I got out again on Saturday with my sister for some Shop Small Saturday Christmas shopping! We went to a local grocery store called Fresh Market, then we had chips and dips for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and ended our time on the square. I finished my shopping, friends, and I got everything that has come in so far wrapped and under the tree! I couldn't be more proud of myself. 

And then on a whim, Marilyn came over to hang out with me for a while. She watched me eat dinner (🤣), and Chloe fell in love. It was a fun night, and I was grateful for the distraction of her company while my sons celebrated Thanksgiving with their dad. I think if I'd been alone, I would have gone crazy wondering how it was going. As it turned out, I barely thought about what they were doing.

Church was yesterday morning, and then I did something really fun again last night, but I'll talk about that on Friday. How was your weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Don't forget about Wednesday being our day for the Currently link party! Our prompts for December are loving, looking forward to, buying, hoping, and baking. I hope to see you here again each day this week! Thanks for being here and being my cheerleaders. I'm so grateful for all of you! Love to all. 

Jenn 🖤