inspired writing Tuesdays--what moving on looks like

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I've been feeling inspired to write lately, so I want to start sharing some of that here. I hope you enjoy today's post, and the ones I have planned to come in the following weeks. Happy reading! Feel free to leave me your thoughts or suggestions at the end of today's post. Some of you gave some suggestions last week, and I heard you! Thanks for that, and please keep it up. Today, at the suggestion of Debbie, I'm writing about what moving on looks like for me. I hope you enjoy!

..................................................................................................

Moving on after an unwanted divorce isn't a single moment; it's a long, uneven becoming. It starts quietly, almost invisibly. With mornings when when getting out of bed feels like an act of bravery. With nights when you learn how to sit with the silence that used to have someone's voice in it. You didn't want this chapter, but somehow you're living in it fully, line by line.

You learn that grief isn't just sadness; it's confusion, anger, loneliness, and the ache of remembering a life you thought was permanent. It's the betrayal of watching something you poured yourself into crumble without your consent. It's the bewildering—often overwhelming—isolation of having to rebuild a world you didn't choose to break. 

But then, slowly, something starts to shift. 

You begin to understand that healing isn't forgetting the marriage or pretending the hurt never happened. It's learning to look at your reflection and recognizing the woman who survived it all, a woman who didn't walk away—who was forced to let go—and still find a way to stand up again anyway.

Moving on looks like rediscovering the person you were always meant to be, finding pieces of yourself that you'd forgotten. It looks like choosing hope even when it feels fragile. It looks like giving yourself permission to dream again—not the old dreams, but new ones shaped by clarity, courage, and a deeper understanding of your own worth. It looks like doing the things that you've always wanted to do, yet somehow talked yourself out of because of the person you once had to be. 

It feels like seeing the world with new eyes, and being thankful for where you are right now. It's about loving and appreciating the people that God has put into your life that you've had to lean on, family members who have supported you, and friends you've trauma bonded with. It feels like fully learning to trust and rely on God during the hardest, and scariest times of your life and not knowing how it will all turn out—but also feeling that deep inner peace of knowing that it will all somehow work out in whatever way that will be best. 

And eventually, it looks like realizing that the life you're stepping into wasn't the consolation prize. It's the life you built with your own resilience. The life that waited for you on the other side of heartbreak. The life where you can finally exhale and say, "I didn't want this, but I'm becoming someone I'm proud of."

That is what moving on after an unwanted divorce looks like—not erasing the past, but rising from the ashes of what once was. Not being unbroken, but choosing to grow anyway. And discovering, day by day, that your story isn't over. It's simply unfolding in a new direction, one that has room for joy, connection, and love you never imagined you'd get to feel again. 

..................................................................................................

Thanks for being here to read my blog today, friends. Love to all. 

Jenn 

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday and happy December, friends! Before I get started, I posted my Share 4 Somethings post late Saturday because it slipped my mind. It's there now if you shared a post and would like to link up; I'm leaving it open for about a week. I hope you had a great weekend! I can't wait to hear from you at the end of today's post. I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. I'll jump in since I'm recapping last week from Tuesday.

I met Mom on Tuesday for some much needed girl time. Unfortunately, I didn't last long because I felt terrible. We went to Ulta, then had lunch at Newk's, and I ended the day with my favorite thing:

...by getting a much needed pedicure. I came home and took some medicine and took a nap. I woke up and struggled with a sinus headache that whole day, sadly. Chris came over when he got off work; I had plans to attend our town's tree lighting service, but I went to Marilyn's house instead at the last minute. We snacked and watched Dancing with the Stars; and be "we" snacked, I mean I ate an entire bag of Buckey's Beaver Nuggets. I wish I was kidding. 

I did things around my house for a while on Wednesday, then I took lunch to Chris while he was at work since he was having a terrible day. That was fun! I loved seeing where he worked, and we just sat in my car and ate together. I ran errands after that, then came home before going out to his area for dinner and a movie. 

Thanksgiving day arrived early for me! I showered and dressed in this outfit above, and wore my pumpkin sweater one last time for this year. 

We had a delicious lunch at Mom's and Bill's; Chris and Drew met here at my house, then we caravanned to Mom's. It was cold! I love a cold holiday. We came home around three and tried watching a Christmas movie, but we took an epic nap instead. Chris and I met Kendra for a movie; we saw Wicked! It was amazing. 

We both sobbed in this movie, and I do mean sobbed. Have you seen these? 

Friday was another easy morning at home for me; I did laundry and cleaned a little and left around noon to spend the day with Chris. I did the same thing Saturday, so consider that your spoiler alert. 

I watched this adorable movie first!

I situated my new tree collar around my tree; isn't she pretty? 

I got cozied up for the long day and drove to him. We explored the town of New Albany while we were together and ended with an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Saturday was more of the same!

 

Ever since he's been in this area, he's been trying to find an old drag strip that used to be in Blue Mountain. He thought it had been bulldozed and covered up, but he just found it last week since the trees are bare now. We climbed through a fence and went exploring. How cool is this? I love things that are no longer, or that have been abandoned. I wish I'd grabbed that old impact wrench, now that I'm looking at these pictures again. We had so much fun doing this and we walked the strip. 

After that we drove around and explored some more of his area since we had the whole day, and I eventually left him at three to head back home for a night out with Marilyn! 

The pictures are out of order, but it was cold and rainy, so I went with this outfit because of that. I wish I could say we loved the play &Juliet at The Orpheum, but it wasn't our favorite. We actually left during intermission! I've never done that, but we decided to call it a night and Google the ending. (I just did that and looked it up on Wikipedia, and I am so glad we left!)

Church came early Sunday morning! I was on the praise team, so I was there by eight. I went to lunch with Mom and Bill after church, and Chris met us there. We came to my house after church and washed our vehicles in the freezing cold weather. We had to thaw out after! We got iced coffee, then came back here to watch a movie. After that we left and went on what was a first of many Christmas lights date nights. Here are the pictures: 

I love my little Hallmark town! Chris left after this, and then Marilyn came over! 

Chloe was glad to see her. 

I was glad to see her again, too. 

What did you do that you loved this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

Share 4 Somethings (November 2025)

 

Happy Saturday, friends! I'm glad you're here to link up with me today for Share 4 Somethings, when we talk about some things we loved, some things we learned, some things that went well, and some things we let go of this month. I'll jump right in!

Some things I loved this month are pictured below. 

Quality time with Noah...

Time with Christa...

Having my garage painted black....

Country drives...

Time with Chris...

Celebrating Marilyn on her birthday...

Getting to know little Jack...

The changing colors of the leaves in my area...

One last selfie of us at her old house...

Jonah's tree in the front yard...

The Veteran's day flags down this long hallway at school...

And starting (and ending) the month at a play at The Orpheum!

Some things I learned are listed below:

• early Christmas decor makes me happier this year than ever
• I'm not dreading the holidays this year
• time really does heal everything
• I was able to find love again in these middle years
• relationships are hard, wonderful though they may be
• breaks are nice from work, but I miss the kids and my co-workers after just a few days of being off

Something that went well this month was my weekend trip to see Noah by myself. I loved the drive time that I had alone, and I really loved staying in my hotel room alone for the first time ever in my life. I'd love to do this again! 

Something I let go of is caring what someone thinks of me. I know who I am, my friends and family know who I am, and the negative things that someone thinks or says about me are simply not true. I don't have to defend myself, I don't have to justify myself, I can just simply let that negativity go and not care about getting in the last word. My newest favorite reply for a text message is simple: "okay". Welcome to the we no longer care club; have you seen those videos on social media? They pertain to menopause for us middle aged women, but honestly, I'm using that mentality for a lot more in life. 

I can't wait to read your posts! Sorry this was so late, it completely slipped my mind this week. I'll see you back here Monday, friends. Love to all!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter