weekending

 

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? Was it a snowy one like mine? I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. Because of all the snow, I was at home all weekend; it was actually lovely and wonderful. I just did things around the house that I have been wanting to do, and things that I needed to do to play catch-up from falling behind. I'll show you what I was up to...

 

I always love seeing the snow as it's falling and while it's fresh on the ground. I was outside with the dogs at this point, and someone named Chloe got the zoomies the second her little feet touched the snow. 

And this was her "telling" me to let her out for the thousandth time that morning. She was crying because she wanted to go outside to play and I wouldn't let her stay out too long. It was freezing! I wish I had videoed her having the zoomies. She was so funny; all I could do was laugh at her. 

I haven't shown this here yet, but my sister gave me this adorable pillow for Christmas. Isn't it cute? 

Here are the plant babies that live in my home; the peace lily is one that my friend gave me when my dad died, and the snake plant is two years old. I have been neglecting them both lately, so I spent time caring for them on Friday. I watered them really well and dusted their leaves, then trimmed off the dead leaves/stalks. They look so happy now that I've done that! Are you a plant lady? I wish I was, but I'm the exact opposite.

There used to be a desk on this wall; it looked really bare after Jonah and I moved it, so I hung these things there on Friday. The bells, copper art, and hat all came from Dad's house. I love how it all looks here! I love to create collage type walls; are you like this, or are you more minimal in your decor style? 

I love this old picture of my boys at the Memphis Zoo Lights!

I lingered over my coffee on Friday morning; it got cold, so when I warmed it up, I put into this adorable cup that my friend Kristy gave me years ago. When I first saw it, I thought it said, "Speak your mind", but I love this saying so much more! 

A lot of this snow melted on Saturday, at least in the backyard. 

I spent some time cleaning this weekend; one of the things I did was clean off the kitchen table; this is where I sit for my quiet time every morning, and I am really bad about letting it get messy with my books/journals/pens. I love this faux plant that I have sitting in the center. I love faux plants, in case you don't know this about me. Do you use them in your home? I have them all over the place! 

I was talking about this passage in Isaiah this week at work; when I was finished with my quiet time on Friday, I highlighted it in my Bible and then wrote it out in my journal. 

I've been getting so much out of the book of Job lately! I think it's because of my life circumstances, but when I haven't loved this book before, I do right now. I heard Tara-Leigh Cobble say last week that when you're going through something hard, that's when people get a lot out of the book of Job. I thought that was interesting! 

I was cleaning a bookshelf off this weekend and came across a really thick binder filled with notes, pictures, and quotes that I love. I found this picture of Abbey and me in the front pocket! These were the days when I volunteered with the youth at our church; I co-led a class on Sunday mornings, and on Sunday nights, I co-led community group. I always had girls that were in high school, and I loved them all so much! My sons were close friends with most of these girls, so there was always a huge group of teenagers at my house. I loved it; those were the days. Abbey was the girls ministry leader, and we met every week to pray together. That means that she became one of my very best friends, even though I'm a decade older than her. We went to camps together, we traveled halfway across the country together on a mission trip one summer, we generally just spent tons of time together anytime we could. The picture above was taken about ten (eleven? twelve?) years ago...

 

...and this one was taken at her house on November 22nd. I was there when she met her now-husband for the first time, I was there when he traveled halfway across the country to meet us that summer, I was a part of him proposing to her, and I saw her get married. Her adorable kids are some of my favorites! I am looking forward to spending time with them in the next week or two. 

Lastly, this quote was in that binder I mentioned. I love this quote by JRR Tolkien! I felt like my house was like this when my sons were growing up; I pray that it's still that way now. My greatest hope is for people to feel loved, welcomed, and cherished. More importantly, I want them to feel the love of Jesus when they're in my home. 

What did you do this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thank you for reading my blog today, friends, and thank you for your kind comments. Speaking of that, will you do me a favor from today on? 

I've noticed that a lot of the comments I get now are from "Anonymous"; some of you are sweet to leave your name there for me to see that it's an actual reader and not just someone trolling here like I suspect. Even if you don't have an account to sign into to give a name to your comment, will you tell me your name if you comment anonymously? One kind reader emailed me on Saturday morning letting me know that she was one of the anonymous commenters, and she told me how another anonymous person commented under her comment on this Friday Favorites post from last week, which made me think it was the same person. Does that make sense? Thank you in advance. 

Today is a great day to have a great day, so let's all go do that now, okay? Love to all!

P.s. Did you read my bonus post from Saturday? Here's a link if you missed that one...it was a long overdue installment of The Cozy Chronicles series that I started and stopped last year. You should consider reading all the comments; I've never had anything like that happen here before, but it's highly entertaining. On a lighter note, I have lots of posts already written and scheduled this week, so I'll see you back here tomorrow. 

Jenn 🖤