top moments of 2024

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! As all of you know by now, it's been the hardest year of my life to date. Me being me, I don't want to end this year in a negative way, so I thought I'd share my top moments from this year. In spite of all that has gone on in my life, God has been so very good to me and to my sons. I have so many things to be thankful for that I don't ever want to forget. I'll try to keep this as condensed as possible, so here goes!

January brought this epic sunset that was taken at my mom's house and a massive amount of snow. I loved the cozy vibes it gave for the first day or two, but I quickly became a little claustrophobic and was so glad when it finally melted so that I could leave the house again. Have I mentioned that I don't drive in ice? Here's to hoping there is none of that this year! 

My sister Terri died in February of 2022; one year later, on the weekend of her birthday, the family came together to celebrate her life at my dad's house. This was an incredible kindness of God, because it would be the last time that the family would be together before Dad died just mere months later. How precious is my great niece Claire? She's a favorite of mine, for sure, and is one of the coolest people I know. Actually, the same can be said of her mom, my niece Amanda. 

March was the beginning of birthday season for my sons! We had a family celebration for them, and also in that month, I began the habit of using my Mondays off as a day to soak in some vitamin D while reading a book. As you can see, Crash enjoyed this activity immensely. 

We celebrated Dad turning 93 on March 29th! Look at his sweet smile. 

In April, Marilyn, Tanya, Joanne, and I started a new yearly tradition of a blogger's retreat! Maria was supposed to join us on this trip, but had to back out at the last minute due to an unforeseen injury. 

May brought about something new for both my church family and me; we hosted an event called Collegiate Summit for about a thousand adults in our church. I made literal tens of gallons of coffee over the course of three days and worked overtime in a week for the first time ever since having my job. It was exhausting, but so much fun! I remember feeling grateful for all of the help I had for this massive event. 

Also in May, Jonah and I started dog sitting for our neighbors and they let us use their pool. I loved getting to do this and working on a tan! 

We had a fun work outing as a church staff and attended a baseball game together!

Dad and I made a fun one day trip to the town where I attended college, and made memories to last my lifetime. 

I had one last night with all of my boys living in the same city before Noah moved to Dallas...

My niece and great nieces came into town...

...and we took Noah to Dallas with a trailer. That'll be the last time I say "we" here on my blog. 

June brought more pool days!

It also brought about the major life event that now defines my life...life before and life after. I appreciated getting to go away to the beach with my friend Dedee during the worst week of my entire life. She was exactly who I needed to be with, and I'm glad my sons forced me into going. I even swam in the ocean for the first time since I was a teenager! 

We rushed home on the last day of our trip, and two days later my sweet dad ran into the arms of Jesus. This was what my July consisted of. 

And in August, all my sisters came home and we celebrated my mom's birthday with a surprise party!

We cleaned out my dad's house and got it ready to be put on the market...

...and my Graham bought a house!

In September I made the trip to Dallas with Missy and Teresa to see my Noah...

...and bawled my eyes out for two hours as I began the drive home. I cried a lot in this trip, and at one point, Missy literally climbed into the bed with me and held me in her arms as I sobbed myself nearly to sleep. 

October brought about surviving a huge first for me, and Marilyn and I got to meet Sophie Hudson at a book signing. It was so much fun!

I confess to fangirling a bit when I finally got to meet John Mark. I could be his mom! 🤣

This was a month of doing things I've never done before, so this was us at a music fest! Also not pictured are the Oktoberfests we attended, one of which was in the sketchiest part of Memphis. 🤣

The end of October and November brought about a Denver trip! This was much needed and a relief to get away and be together with my sisters. Being with my greats is healing! 

And on Thanksgiving night, I spent the night at Mom's house. This was "my" bedroom. 

As much as I dreaded the day of Thanksgiving, I was glad that the day was so much better than what I'd hoped. 

December brought about many moments that I loved; getting to spend time with my best friends, seeing two plays at The Orpheum that friends treated me to, time with family, seeing Christmas lights, and lots of reading by the light of the Christmas tree. 

More than anything, I love and appreciate that my sons were like a wall of strength around me. They've stepped up their game this year in my life and have supported me, cried with me, laughed with me, held me while I sobbed in their arms, talked me through anxiety and panic attacks, called me often to check on me, hugged me even when they're not huggers all the time, and have stood behind and beside me. I am so grateful for the strong and kind men they've turned into, and that even if we're all a little worse off from the wear and tear of life this year, have somehow managed to stay positive for me. I don't know when the roles changed from me encouraging them to the exact opposite, but that happened this year. I would say we mutually encourage each other and continually remind one another that this will all be a distant memory this time next year. 

Lastly and most importantly, in case I didn't talk about it enough here this year, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Bible through again in chronological order with The Bible Recap community. I loved it so much that I'm starting all over again tomorrow! If you'd like to join me or are interested in learning more, here's a link with all the information you need to get started. In 2024 I mostly listened to the Bible being read aloud to me on the YouVersion Bible app, but next year I'm going to mostly read it again with my own eyeballs while using my new Bible. Here's how it works: you open the YouVersion app and click on Day 1; start with the "devotional" tab, which is just a prayer that you pray before you get started; you read or listen to the reading for that day, which is usually about three chapters give or take; then you go back to the "devotional" tab, scroll down, and watch the Recap video for that day, which is always less than ten minutes. All in all, this takes about twenty minutes a day. 

All of us have that time to spare! Care to join me in 2025? If not, what plan have you made to grow closer to God this year if you're a believer? I'd love to hear what you're doing, and I think it's great to talk about it, because it gives us accountability. 

Thanks for being a huge part of my life here each day, friends! I look forward to time spent here and the encouragement that we bring to each other. Many of you are bloggers yourselves, and others of you are readers. I appreciate each and every one of you! Thank you for the many prayers, words of encouragement, emails, texts, and cards that you have sent to me this year. I love this little online community and look forward to being back everyday of the week in the new year. I have lots more that I want to share and I'm working on some new ideas for each month; what would you like to read more of? I hope to incorporate one day a week to talk about Jesus, what I learn from His word, and how I walk out that faith everyday of my life. I'd love to hear any ideas or suggestions you may have for me! Today is not my only post; I'll be back later today for a book recap for the year, so check back tonight if you have some spare time. 

As always, thank you for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!


Jenn 🖤