the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Joyce for today's hodgepodge post. I'll jump right in!

1. When you think of autumn, what sounds come to mind? I love this question! The crackling of a fire comes to mind. I love nothing more than sitting around a firepit in the cool season of the year; even when it's more than cool, it's still so much fun to drag blankets outside and sit by a fire. We don't have a regular firepit this season; ours was pretty warped, and when Drew moved in with Mallory, he brought his gas powered one here. It's not the same! I want a firepit back. 

2. Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? Wholeheartedly, YES! I cannot wait to get up into the Colorado Rockies in a couple of weeks. I can't wait! I think they're my favorite to date. 

I love it in Colorado.

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but now is just a molehill? I once felt like it was a mountain trying to navigate life on my own, one in which I don't have a husband. Now? It's way less of a mountain and more of a molehill. I'm grateful for this! My life exudes peace; I don't have to ever worry about someone else's bad mood, bad attitude, or bad day. I don't ever have to experience a marital fight or disagreement; I don't have to care about what someone else wants for dinner. It almost feels selfish to say and think these things, but I'm too happy to care what that makes me sound like. 

This night was an ultimate example of that peace. 

4. Let's play this or that, fall foods edition. Yes, you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte
• apple cider or hot chocolate
• stew or chili
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole
• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup
• cranberry sauce or gravy
  

  
  

Take me back to this time last year, when I had Maine to look forward to, please! 

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. I don't know if I can do this in just a sentence or two, but here goes. September has been a month of learning how to hold grief and gratitude in the same hands. I've missed someone I loved, while also discovering that there are little pockets of joy waiting for me—in my sons, my friends, my family, my faith, the Lord, my writing, my cozy evenings, and the ordinary moments that make up a life. I'm not the woman I was before this season, but I'm beginning to see that I don't have to be. I'm simply learning how to keep going, keep loving, and keep becoming who I am meant to be. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I love this Chat GPT trend! Ask it to make an image out of your life and turn it into a movie poster. She nailed it, y'all! 

I shared this on socials last night, and I used the song Keep On by Emily Ann Roberts as the background music. This is a great song! It's about persevering when life hurts and you're hurting enough to want to give up...but also that as long as you're still here, your story isn't finished. The central them is to keep moving forward. Here's a video to it, if you want to listen!

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

Jen

fashion files: fall is here!

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm linking up with Amy for the weekly Fashion Files; I wasn't going to link up today, because this is a bonus post I'm making later in the morning. Under this post is the Share 4 Somethings, so if this isn't your thing, keep scrolling! Here are my outfits from last week. 

Monday was still hot! I wore this dress to work, but on Tuesday...

...fall had arrived! I wore real pants to celebrate. 

I still love this fall colored poncho; I've had it for years, and I'm pretty sure my mom cringes every time she sees me wearing it, but it's one of my favorite pieces in my closet. I only wear it from September 20 something until Thanksgiving, and then it gets put away for next year. 

I wore this on Thursday, because it was comfy/cozy day again. I don't have an outfit pic from Friday, and I can't remember what I wore. I'm loving pulling out some fall pieces, though! I ordered some new Halara jeans and leggings; I can't wait for them to come in. I needed these! 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! See you back here for the Hodgepodge tomorrow. Love to all!

Jen 

Share 4 Somethings, September 2026

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! Thanks for being here today to talk about something you loved, something that sustained you, something you're carrying forward from this month to the next, and something you're making space for. I'll jump right in!

Something I loved this month...

Celebrating these girls birthdays...

re-watching and watching the old and new versions of Practical Magic...

...late season days of swimming...

...darker nail polish...

...and goat yoga at school!

Something that sustained me...

...morning quiet time and the word of God and reminders just like this, that nothing can ever separate me from the love of God.

Something I'm carrying forward from this month to next is the reminder to keep going, keep breathing, keep living, keep trying. Not everyday is perfect or even good, but there's always the promise of tomorrow. 

Something I'm making space for is the continued balance of work, home, and fun. I like to stay a little bit busy, but I'm also okay with being home on some nights as well. For instance, last night I was at home, and tonight I'll be at a concert with a friend from work. Life is all about balance, and I like how all of my people intersect with events in mine. 

I can't wait to read your posts! Again...I'm so sorry that I forgot about this over the weekend. We will keep doing this on the last Saturday of each month, today is just a one time thing. Love to all! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah to talk about mine. 

Friday was an ordinary day at work/school; my sweet little student was in a great mood that morning because she got to wear a hat. It was the cutest thing ever! She told me she loved her hat, because it was one her dad bought for her. I love hearing her talk about her parents; they are wonderful people and very dear to my heart. 

This was what we did for fun at recess time that day. I love coloring with her! It was a great school day. After work I went to get my car washed; while I was going through it, I was talking to Marilyn. All of a sudden, I felt something bite the temple of my forehead; I swatted it off and actually felt the bug, but then it was nowhere to be found. Of course the urge is to roll down the window to let the bug out was strong, but I was in the car wash! As soon as it was finished, I rolled down my windows and drove to a parking spot. Sure enough, it was a yellow jacket that stung/bit me! I'm not allergic to them, thankfully, but dang. That hurt! I might have cussed when I felt the bite. 🤣

I came home for a little while,  changed clothes, then picked up my date for dinner. Marilyn and I went to Taziki's for dinner; it was delicious!

We were also confronted with the future version of ourselves as we waited our turn in line. 🤣

I got a chicken bowl with basmati rice. We enjoyed the dinner and catching up; we ended up laughing our heads off the whole time we were there and finally decided to go back to her house to sit outside. However, what we actually ended up doing was watching all of the new episodes of The Voice. We're both big fans of Riley Green. 🤣

I was able to sleep until 7:30 on Saturday! I immediately got up, stripped all of my bedding, took a shower, and then started laundry. I was able to relax with two cups of coffee while that was happening; I finished a documentary I'd started on Netflix, then I cleaned. By 11:45, I was at Marilyn's house. We went to a fair/fall fest of sorts in her hometown of Hernando, Mississippi. 

It was a gorgeous day, but it got pretty warm as we walked in the sun. This was a fun little thing to do on a Saturday; we decided that we'll go there sometime soon for a full day of boutique browsing/shopping and maybe end on a night when we can spend it with her family. I love that we have time to do things like this together! 

We went back to her place after and had dinner, then watched the Nate Bargatze movie, The Breadwinner. It was cute and made us laugh, which is always good. There was a brief moment when I fell asleep, though...

I was back at church on Sunday, and it was great to be there. I always love the sermons! There are so many things I love about being there, and I'm reminded of this each week. I went to Kroger afterward to pick up a few groceries to start the week with, then I met a friend for a late lunch. It was a lovely weekend; how was yours? I'd love to hear something good from you!

Y'all. I cannot believe that I let Saturday slip by without the Share 4 Somethings link! I'm sorry. I'm going to open the link up tomorrow morning if you want to chime in...I'll leave it open for a couple of weeks. Oops! I'm blaming recent life events for this. 

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

Jen

Friday Favorites, 9.25.2026.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I hope your week was good; mine went by really fast. I have some favorites from the week that I thought I'd share today! 

I really love the accounts that I follow on Instagram; I loved the truth of this statement when I saw it this week. I struggle with seeing my worth sometimes, and when I'm feeling like that, I try to go back to Scripture. What does Scripture say that I am? I am chosen by an almighty God, I am deeply loved by Him, I will never be abandoned by Him, I am saved by Him from an eternal separation, He made me in His image, I am the apple of His eye (as are we all), I am His. Another thing...I am not made for this world, but for Heaven. When I remember that, it helps me put things into perspective. 

Dinners at home have been my favorite this week! Jonah made our dinner both Monday and Tuesday nights: steak, okra, macaroni; then grilled salmon and more okra. I didn't go to Rotolo's Wednesday night, so I had spicy dumplings at home, but they were too spicy. My mouth was on fire for the next half hour after I finished! 

Monday night spent at church was my favorite; you may remember that I told you about a membership class I signed up for. Well, I didn't want to go when I got home from work that day, because at the end of a day, I'm tired; the thought of being here from 7-8:30 just wasn't that appealing. I love my church, y'all, I'm just telling you how I'm the queen of talking myself out of things. Anyway, after I got home, I kept staying dressed in work clothes downstairs and finally at 6:30, I decided to stick with it and to go. 

I'm so glad I did! There were several people there with me for this, and it was great hearing Gib (the main teaching pastor) explain about the church. He said something that night that has stuck out to me ever since: people tend to come here looking for something new, and end up staying. Well, on Tuesday morning, I filled out the paperwork and submitted them online. This just means that I'm officially joining the church! I'm really excited about this...and it makes me smile thinking of how much Chris would have loved me doing this. It feels right. 

I stopped in the moment and took this picture before I got in my car to drive home. I'm going to sit and be fed for a little while before I jump into serving, though I do want to do that eventually. I'd love the chance to sing here, honestly. I'm doing this at the recommendations from my counselor and a friend I went for coffee with over the summer. This was before Chris died, so all the more reason for that now. There are tons of places I can serve, though, and I am excited to be more of a part of the body here. 

This was where I found myself on Tuesday night, which was a favorite for my week. I went over to Marilyn's after dinner at home, and her daughter and her boyfriend were there to watch a show. Because of the amazing fall like weather, we decided to walk over to her pool and sit there to talk. Y'all, this was amazing. We almost needed blankets, it was so cool! There was a breeze, and we could hear the water feature on the pool; it was just a really great and relaxing way to unwind for an hour before I went back home. She and I have both struggled separately over the week, and we needed this night to just vent and get things off our chest. 

Doing this for my little student in ELA this week was a favorite. I'm such a nerd and geek out over stuff like this! I loved this sweet little story; I actually told Marilyn about it on Tuesday night when I saw her. It kind of tied something in with what we see when we look at the Big Dipper. 

Going up to The O'Leans Wednesday night was a favorite! I was happily at home when my plans didn't happen, until my son's friend Nick called and asked to talk to me. He wanted me to join them up there for a drink and to hang out; I wasn't going to have a drink, but then he bought me (and Marilyn) one, so why not? I love that she joined us there! This was a fun little patio hang out for an hour; the weather this week has been incredible. 

Lastly, eating dinner at my mom's and Bill's this week was a favorite. I got to see Trish as well, and it was good to be out there with them for a little while. After that, I met my friend up at another patio while she ate dinner; it was nice getting to sit outside again and hang out before coming back home. I'm ready for the weekend! Are you? 

Thanks for reading today, friends. Tell me about your week! Love to all.

Jen