Currently: November 2024

 

Happy Saturday and bonus blog post day! Since I never shared my own post for this month's Currently link-up, I thought I'd do that today. This month we're talking about the things we're currently loving, looking forward to, smelling, preparing for, and thankful for. 

loving

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I am loving the shorter days, especially when I have a day off and nowhere to be. I love waking up to sunlight in the mornings, and it's been my alarm clock since I've been home from Colorado. I am also loving family time, and I've had loads of that lately! I loved seeing my Colorado family, and I loved seeing my Memphis guys on Thursday night when I fed them all dinner. I always miss Noah on nights like that, but I'm thankful for the fact that I did talk to him on the phone that day. I will take quality time any way that I can get it! 

looking forward to

I am looking forward to a few fun things that I have coming up! First up is celebrating sweet Marilyn's birthday on Monday; we're going to breakfast that morning, and I'll see her again that night at a party that her friend is hosting in her honor. I'm looking forward to book club on Thursday night of next week, a sounds of the season concert that's coming up at my church, a hair appointment later this month, and a fun night planned on my town square to get me in the Christmas spirit! This is also the month that all the holiday things start, so our town tree lighting is another fun thing I'm looking forward to in November, not to mention the actual day of Thanksgiving...but I'm kind of dreading that day, truth be told. It's another first that I'll be glad to have behind me. 

smelling

As I write this, I'm sitting in my newly Christmas decorated home smelling a pine scented Yankee candle that's burning next to me. I love to have seasonal candles, and this one is my favorite! Speaking of smelling things, did you know that the Denver airport uses pine scented air fresheners in the bathrooms? It always smells so good when I go there! 

preparing for

I am preparing for Christmas and will start my shopping this weekend. I hope to be finished by Thanksgiving! I want as low key and stress free as possible this holiday season. I will keep you posted on how this goes, but I seriously hope to get started with at least one or two things today while I'm out and about. Here's to hoping! 

thankful for

I am so thankful for my family and friends. I know that this seems redundant to keep saying, but I seriously mean that from the bottom of my heart. They've all been my support system in so many ways, and they've put up with my bad moods, my spontaneous fits of anger and cursing, my tears, and my rants. And they still love me anyway, in spite of all of that. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that I don't have to "perform", so to speak, all of the time. The ones who I'm closest to have all seen this in me in the past five months, and it hasn't scared any of them away. 

Thanks for joining up with the Currently link party this month! I'm still not caught up on blog reading, but I hope to do that more this weekend. Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

Friday Favorites, 11.8.2024.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's blog post. How has your week been? Mine was great! I started it off near Denver, and I'm ending it by decorating for Christmas. It all started with a tree, but more about that in a minute. 

I had some favorite moments from the week and my trip that I thought I'd share with you today, but I'll talk more about it next Tuesday.  

Leaves on the ground are my favorite!

Organizing this coffee accoutrement container is a favorite! I don't know why this makes me so happy, but it does. 

I decided to get a picture with the ambient lights on this time to show you my favorite home away from home. I feel so blessed to get to go to work there every week! The people in my church are my family, and I have leaned on them countless times in the last few months. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that I have such an amazing support system in these people that I love so dearly! 

 

Ugh. I wish I didn't have to experience the truth of this statement, but I do and it is definitely true. There have been some things said about me recently to people that I see often, and for a while I was tempted to do damage control, but I recently decided to let my actions speak louder than his words. 

On a lighter note, this house was so cute all decked out for Halloween! Cute decorations are my favorite, rather than the gory kind, but this octopus house won the prize in my opinion. 

This tree is my new favorite! I decided to treat myself to a new one this year, in the spirit of totally changing up all my Christmas decor. Nothing is the same this year, therefore I want to my home to reflect that. Jonah wholeheartedly agrees with this, and I had already assembled the majority of this tree when he came into help me, but he put the top on it for me and fluffed it. I love that the tree is in a new spot this year, thanks to that rearranging that Jonah and I did last week! I also love that it lights up the whole room when it's turned on. It's one of the viral trees that you can buy on Amazon, and I'll confess that it was an investment at the price I paid for it, but I'll enjoy it for years and years to come, and will pay it off in a couple of payments. I feel like I earned the right to this tree. 

This card rack represents a favorite moment from my week: I put this together alone at work yesterday! It's the first time I've had to do something like this on my own, and while it may not seem like a huge deal to some of you, it is to me. I was so proud of myself yesterday! I'm fairly certain that I have dyslexia, so things like this do not come naturally to me, nor does any type of math. I've never been tested for that, but after working in an elementary school and performing dyslexia screening exams for students, I self-diagnosed myself. I struggled in those tests just like they did! Needless to say, this was a huge victory for me yesterday. 

I also want to encourage anyone out there who has a husband who does things for her. While that's great for you right now, consider learning to do some things for yourself! I thought it was great that he did all these types of things for me until he was no longer living in my home and wanting a divorce. For far too long I let him take care of me; I have big thoughts on this now that I'm going through a divorce, and I know for a fact that I will never let a man do things for me like that ever again. He was in charge of everything from the smallest of things to the bigger things, like our finances. He left me in a huge mess, but I'm muddling my way through one day at a time. This is why my anxiety was through the roof when all of this mess first started. I'm much better now, I'm happy to say, and I am learning each and everyday! 

Festive clothing is my favorite! I bought myself a new Christmas nightshirt and a sweatshirt from Walmart while I was in Colorado. Did you know that Walmart has the cutest Christmas sweaters/sweatshirts/pajamas?! They do. 

This is my newest favorite coffee mug! I loved it when I saw it in a TJ Maxx in Colorado and couldn't resist buying one; in fact, all of us sisters got one. We drank from them when we had our sisters sleepover night at Debi's house. 

When we were in Colorado Springs, we found this old school turned eating establishment with several different restaurants inside. It was the neatest place! You had to go to the Principal's office to pick up your food, and the bathrooms were complete with murals painted on the walls. 

It was a favorite teaching my niece Erika how to make sourdough bread! Her family loved it and they've already blown through the loaves she made with me there teaching her. 

My great nieces are and will forever be my very favorite little humans on earth. There is nothing quite like them!

This picture is my favorite, because we were so excited to be in Colorado together! I love our big cheesy grins. I'll share a little more about my trip next week, but it was a pretty laid back time with a few fun excursions. I'm so grateful that I got to go and be with my sisters! There's nothing like the love of a sister, and I don't take mine for granted. I already miss them! 

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

Jenn 🖤

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I've missed being here this week, so I'm glad to be back. Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement in my posts last week and when I shared the Currently link up this week. I am so thankful for this sweet little community of friends! Speaking of being thankful, here's what else I'm thankful for this week:

• the love of God and the gift of prayer
• conversations about both with people who don't share my beliefs
• beautiful (different) scenery to enjoy while I was in Colorado
• the gift of being able to be flexible when change occurs
• catching up with a friend whom I've missed in the two weeks since I've seen her
• being back at work after a few days off and being told how much I was missed
• seeing snow for the first time this season in Colorado
• time spent with my sisters
• hugs from my great nieces
• seeing Jonah when I got back
• talking to all of my boys often while I was gone
• experiencing the faithful love of dogs 
• being back home in our cozy space that Jonah and I have made into our haven
• that I have him to live with me—I don't know what I would do without him, honestly!

Those are just a few things I can think of that I experienced this week and thanked the Lord for. 

 

Those are just a few pictures as a sneak peak. I'll be back tomorrow to talk more about my trip! What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn 🖤

Share Your Shelf

Happy Thursday, friends! I have a lot going on here today, so I'll jump right in. 

I only read two books in October, which is better than the zero that I read in September! . 

Click on the image to be re-directed to Amazon. I can't remember who recommended this book to me, but thank you! It takes place in the Titanic days, and it tells the scandalous story of young Madeline attracting the attention of much older "Jack Astor". I'll let you read the description yourself, but this book is told from her viewpoint as she writes it to her young son. 

Secondly, I read this one for book club.

This was a classic tale of "whodunnit", and I was introduced to Mrs. Marple in this book. There's murder, mystique, scandalous behavior, gossip, and betrayal all within this little book, and it was pretty good, though not my favorite. It should lead to some good discussion next week when we meet, though! 

And that's all I've got for the books I read this month! You should see the movies I've watched, though.🤣

 

What did you read that you loved this month? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for linking up with us today, and for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

Currently, November 2024

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm so glad you're here to link up today. Don't forget to visit some of the other blogs and leave comment love for them! This month we're talking about the things we're currently loving, looking forward to, smelling, preparing for, and thankful for since it's the month of Thanksgiving. I won't be here today, but will chime in with a bonus blog post tomorrow or Friday, so stay tuned and come back to visit! In December we'll talk about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, buying, hoping, and baking. 

I'll see you back here tomorrow! Love to all. 

Jenn 🖤

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Thankful Thursday, and some blog business

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I will jump right in with my post for today! This week, I am thankful for:

•  the love of God and the gift that prayer is
• that my boys are safe
• my amazing family
• my wonderful friends
• long showers
• afternoon naps on the days when I just cannot 
• something to look forward to
• this trip that is finally happening after being postponed twice
• knowing that Jonah will be at home to hold the fort down, so to speak
• that I got to see both Graham and Drew on Monday night
• the times when I get to talk to Noah
• my work friend who greatly encourages me, and that she is back
• my job
• the gift of being organized
• my friend Kelly who will run the bookstore for me in my absence

What are you thankful for this week? 

As far as the blog business goes, I'm taking a break after today until Wednesday November 6, when I'll come back for the Currently link party which opens at midnight. The prompts for November are things we're currently loving, looking forward to, smelling, preparing for, and thankful for. I'll share the December prompts on Wednesday's post. 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! I hope you have a great rest of your week and weekend. I'll see you next week! Love to all. 

Jenn 🖤

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Click here to enter

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond for today's post. I'll jump right in!

1. What are your current priorities in this season of life? Elaborate as much as or as little as you'd like.

This is a loaded question! My current priorities today are to read my Bible and pray often each day, to take one day at a time, to check in on my sons anytime they come to my mind and make sure they're all okay, and to work as faithfully/diligently  as possible. Those are my top four, but additionally, I also aim to have plans as often as possible, to be flexible, and to have grace for myself (and others) when I have bad days. 

2. What's one thing you wish you had more of?

Grace. 🤣 Seriously, I wish I had more energy/motivation/extrovertedness. I feel like those three things are tied together, but maybe that's just me. I was praying about this yesterday, asking the Lord to give me energy for my future, because it will be changing drastically. Maybe it's just my life circumstances that have me feeling like this the majority of the time. I'm hoping for brighter days soon.

3. Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what are your favorite Halloween traditions? Any special plans for Halloween this year? 

When my sons were little, we went trick-or-treating every year. Some of the family would hang around here at home handing out candy, when the rest of us would go walk with the boys. I always hosted our families for this; and would cook a huge pot of soup. Those were really fun times! When the boys started growing up and wanted to go out on their own, we started staying here to hand out candy; that changed into us sitting in the driveway visiting with neighbors each year. It was always an enjoyable night. 

This year, I am so glad to be out of town on Halloween night. I'll be in Denver with my sisters, and we'll be eating Mexican food and drinking margaritas together. I was already promised this, and I'm holding them to it! 

4. What was the last thing you ate that contained chocolate? What was the last thing you made that called for chocolate?

Last night I had a small handful of chocolate covered almonds from Costco. They're so good! The last thing I made that used chocolate (but didn't call for it) were these cupcakes I made a couple of weeks ago. 

I shared them before, but in case you didn't see that, all you do is make a spice cake according to the instructions on the box, but exchange the eggs for half a can of pumpkin puree. I added chocolate chips, and then topped them with homemade cream cheese frosting. These are delicious! 

5. Do you prefer laid back weekends, or do you prefer to have lots of plans? Thinking back to this past weekend, what did yours look like?

Honestly? I like a good mix of the two. I really need to have plans more right now, because I get lonely a lot if I don't. But I also love to stay at home on a weekend night, eat a comforting dinner and watch a show or movie. This past weekend was really low key, but I didn't mind it too much. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I've been rearranging again! I got this idea on Monday to offer Graham the use of my kitchen table and chairs since he doesn't have one. It looks great in his house, even if it's a little too big for the space, but he is going to use it until he buys something else. Meanwhile, I pulled the table out of the dining room (well, Jonah and I did this together) and put it in the kitchen. We brought the piano into the dining room (thus making it a music room instead?) and moved the desk that is in the living room into the space that held the piano. I still have some things to hang, but now I'll put my Christmas tree into the corner where you see the plant on a stand. I plan on doing that as soon as I come home from Denver next week! Additionally, I brought home some rugs from Mom's house that they're no longer using. I love them both and will take them with me moving forward. 

This felt good to do and it makes me happy! I love rearranging a room enough to make a big impact. All it takes is a little imagination and some creativity! 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'm excited to read your posts, too, and I love the questions this week. Love to all!


Jenn 🖤