a day in the life...a normal Wednesday

 

Happy Thursday (again) and bonus blog post day! When Joyce mentioned she was doing a link up for a day in the life post, I couldn't help but join in. I love these types of posts! Here was my Wednesday. Happy reading!

I wake up every morning between 5:30-5:45. The first thing I do is let the dogs out, turn on the lights, and make my coffee. Most mornings I like iced coffee, but when it's cold, I prefer it hot. I've had hot coffee everyday this week. Isn't my mug cute? After I let the dogs in and feed them for Jonah, I sit and read blogs/correspond on my own with the comments. Sometimes when I'm done with that, I'll work on a post for the next day. 

This is what each morning looks like with the pups; they love to play! On this morning, I folded some clothes for both Jonah and myself, then made my lunch and to go drinks (water and protein iced coffee). I took the dogs back to Jonah's room, then went to put up my laundry. I always make my bed while the moisturizer dries on my face, then I start with makeup, hair, and I end with clothes. 

Here's the outfit I chose for yesterday; I was both comfy and cozy, and I'm still getting my money out of this cute Amazon sweater. 

I came downstairs and put on this pretty lipstick and took a picture to send Chris. He asked me to do this a long time ago, and told me it brightens his day. Isn't that sweet? I ended up removing this lipstick when it got darker on me, then replaced it with my usual neutral. This makes me want to find a burgundy lipstick, though! 

I loaded my car and let it warm up, then drove to my church and called Marilyn. I do this every morning! I love this about our relationship. I always call my mom next as I drive to work. Look how pretty the trees are at my church!

I always walk in around 8:15-8:20. I put my stuff away, then kind of chill/talk to co-workers until 8:40 when I walk outside for car line duty. 

Thankfully it wasn't as cold Wednesday! I wore my puffer vest instead of the coat I've worn all week.

I went down to work with my little first grade friend, then made it back to my classroom until I left again at 10:40. I have a huge break in my mornings, so I use this time to do personal things like pay bills, scroll socials, journal, and anything I need to do to help anyone. Actually that's the first thing I look to do, but nobody ever needs anything, so I do all the other things.

Look at these cute fifth graders I saw on IG yesterday! They were dressed up for our Veteran's day program and parade. The one second from left is one that I work with sometimes; he is a doll! 

I work with 4th grade at 10:50, 5th grade at 11:40, then my lunch starts at 12:30. Second grade comes in at 1:00, then third grade at 1:50, then I leave for my 1st grade friends at 2:45. Each class is 45-50 minutes long, so you can see why my day flies. From there I walk a couple of students out at 3:40 and walk out for the day at 4:00. I always, always, always call Chris when I get to my car; we get off work at the same time. I came home yesterday to admire my newly painted garage, then I met Chris for dinner. 

He makes me laugh really hard; we're terrible at selfies, because he's so tall. It works best when he stands behind me, which is my favorite. I think we're cute together! It's been a long time since I've been this happy, friends. We have a deal that when we eat together, we spend half the time across from each other so we can see each other's eyes, then when we're done, he sits next to me so we can be close. That's my preference. 

After dinner I went to choir practice until 7:30, then I came home afterward for the first time since school started. Nobody could do Rotolo's on this night (both of them had great reasons), so I was glad to come home. I've been tired the past couple of nights, so it felt good to be here. I headed upstairs at nine to wash my face and lay down, and I talked to Chris on the phone until I got sleepy. I would much prefer to talk to him than watch TikTok videos. 

So that was my day, in a nutshell! I can't wait to read your posts about your day. Thanks for reading my bonus blog post, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn ❤️

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I love these thankful posts...I've been trying to be more intentional in writing things down everyday that I'm thankful for. Do you do this? Here's my list for the week.

I'm thankful for God's love. Where would I be without Him? I don't like to think about it, honestly, and it makes me pray more diligently for the people I know (and love/care for) who don't know Him. 

I'm thankful for His word! I'm thinking about next year, and what my quiet time will look like. I think I may read random books at a time...maybe some of my favorites, like Esther, Ruth, Exodus, James, Ephesians, Philippians...and journal my way through them. I want to be more intentional and need a break from reading the Bible through in a year. Sometimes that can become ritual, and that's when I know I'm not listening as much as I need to be listening. Does that make sense? It's just time for me to switch it up again. 

I'm thankful for my sons, the relationship we have, and the friendship they have with each other. They'll all be together again this weekend in McKinney! My heart is full knowing this. 

I'm thankful for my family: my parents, my siblings. I can't imagine life without them. I love calling my mom every morning as I drive to work!

I'm thankful for friends that feel like family. 

I'm thankful that I have a brick-and-mortar bank that I love; I've had issues with fraudulent charges recently, so it's nice knowing that I can go in and they'll help me get things taken care of. 

I'm thankful for a fun dinner out this week; Marilyn's friend hosted a birthday dinner for her on Tuesday night, and it was a really fun night getting to see her friends again, and meeting a few others. 

I'm thankful for Christian music artists that put out excellent Christmas music; my current favorites are ones that are sung by Matt Maher and Katy Nichole. 

I'm thankful for my dear friend and co-worker, Karen. She was gone for three days recently, and though the sub was wonderful (an old friend of mine), it was so good to see her back Tuesday. 

I'm thankful for the laughter that Jonah's dogs bring to me; I've had some funny moments with them this week. They've both been kind of naughty recently, but I don't really get upset at them for acting like dogs. The most recent thing is that Stella swiped some chicken I was cutting up for soup from the counter on Monday night. I was so startled to see her standing at the counter doing this, because I've never had a dog to counter surf like that. 

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm here with Joyce again today for the weekly hodgepodge...this is a post that I dearly love; thank you, Joyce, for your inspiring and thought provoking questions each and every week! I'll jump right in. 

1. What does patriotism mean to you? When I think of patriotism, I think of freedom. If not for the brave men and women who fought for our freedom, we wouldn't enjoy all that we get to today. It's because of them that we live in the type of country we do; it's one that is nowhere near perfect, but even on our worst day, we are still so fortunate to have all that we do. I attribute all of this to the soldiers who risked or gave their lives so that we could have ours. I'll forever be grateful. 

We always loved to spend Veteran's day with Dad; we went downtown every year for the annual parade, and this was one such day. They all spontaneously made posters for the veterans and made the local evening news this year! 

2. September-October-November...what's your favorite fall month? Tell us why. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere use these months but sub in the word spring for fall. My favorite fall month is November, because it's finally fully fall, and the leaves are changing for us here in West Tennessee by that time. 

I cannot get enough of the beautiful leaves and colors! 

3. A song you love with the word thanks (or some form of that word) in the title or lyrics? Hands down, my answer to this is the song Gratitude by Brandon Lake. Here's a few of the lyrics:

all my words fall short

I've got nothing new

how could I express

all my gratitude?

4. November is National Peanut Butter month. Are you a fan? What's the last peanut butter bite you had? Fill in the blank: peanut butter and ______________. Oh, and you can't say jelly. I love peanut butter! I sometimes eat it on a spoon when I'm craving something and I don't know what. My favorite combination with peanut butter is chocolate. It's so good! 

5. This week's gratitude question: what event from this past year are you most grateful for? I'm grateful for the event that led me to today...so this sounds weird, but that would mean that I'm grateful for my divorce. I don't know how that's possible when I look back at where I started, but I've healed, and I feel like I'm in a healthy mind space. I don't give a lot of thought to the person or events that took place leading to today anymore, but when I do, I can honestly look back and be thankful for the life that we shared up to that day in June of 2024. I'm so grateful to be here today, on my own for the most part, but also getting to know someone new. I put in the work to be here today, and I feel like I've come a long way. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Guess what, friends? I'm finally to the point where I'm starting to love being at home again. After a year and a half, you have no idea how good this feels! I'm never bored anymore, and I never dread nights that I stay in. It's possible that it has to do with the time of year, or being tired after my work each day. Whatever it is, I'll take what it took to get me here. I loved both of these images I recently found on socials; they remind me of what I'm saying here. The first image above reminds me of what took place Monday night; I came home and made a pot of chicken tortilla soup. It was so much that I texted my friend Kendra and invited her over for dinner. I was thrilled that she took me up on my offer! We ate, then we talked for a couple of hours before she left to go home to grade papers. It was a nice, unexpected night! 

I can't wait to read your posts! Thanks for being here to read mine today. Love to all!

Jenn xoxo

a heart of gratitude--inspired writing Tuesdays

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm doing something new on Tuesdays, starting today. 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. 

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Lately I've been thinking about how easy it is to rush through life—chasing the next thing, fixing the last thing—and miss the soft miracles happening right in front of me. Gratitude slows me down. It's the deep breath before the coffee, the warmth of a hug that lingers, the sound of laughter drifting through a quiet room.

Gratitude isn't loud. It doesn't need grand gestures. It's found in the small ordinary moments that remind me that I'm alive and loved—the way sunlight spills across a floor, the familiar voice that feels like home, the peace that comes from knowing I've weathered storms and still found beauty.

This season, I'm learning that gratitude is not about what I have, but how I see. It's an openness—a soft place in the heart that says, "Thank you for this day, this breath, this love, this chance of a new beginning."

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I hope you enjoyed this today, friends. Thanks for always being around to be my loudest cheerleaders. Your kindness and support means more to me than you'll ever know. I'm grateful for all of you! Love to all. 

Jenn 

 

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! 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'm backing up to Friday; look at the leaves showing off! I have spotty service when I drive to work, so every morning I park here in my church parking lot and talk to Marilyn and then my Mom. I don't like to rush each morning, so I leave my house around 7:35 and then do this; I leave the parking lot at eight and then sit out front of my school in my car until 8:15. I am a creature of habit! This lets me ease into my mornings each day. Are you like this? 

I ran out of protein drinks by Friday, so all I had was iced coffee that morning. Imagine my surprise when I got to work and saw that it was a faculty breakfast! This was delicious. 

As usual, I drove to Chris' immediately after work. Look at the leaves on the drive there! I love a country road, especially in the throes of Fall when the leaves are this pretty. We had a good dinner; well, I had a good dinner, he didn't love what he ordered. We drove around the small town that he lives near since he was late getting home because of really bad traffic. It was a fun night! 

I had a lazy Saturday; I watched movies, I did laundry, I cleaned the house minimally. It was glorious! This was after sleeping late and staying in bed until almost 9:45. He ended up coming to me Saturday night since I was dog sitting for my son Graham. Baby Jack is adorable!

Yes, he got onto my new coffee table to hide from Stella. 🤣 We went to eat dinner and then came back to my house for a fire in the fire pit. It was a fun night.

We got drinks from Dutch Brothers and brought them back to my house. The baby dogs all got in some trouble that night; my deck is about eight inches off the ground, and all three dogs weaseled their way underneath into the mud and muck that lives under there. The more we looked at them, the muddier they appeared to get. It took us at least thirty minutes to get them all clean enough to be brought inside again! I had church on Sunday, lunch after with Graham, Mom, and Bill, then I went to Marilyn's for the afternoon to help her. It was a great weekend, one that went way too quickly. I'm excited about the week, though; my niece, her husband, and my four great nieces will be here visiting! I'll be so glad to see them all, and for the big family dinner that will take place next Sunday night before they leave town again. 

What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow! Love to all. 

Jenn 

Friday Favorites, 11.7.2025.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm so glad it's this day of the week; Mama's tired, except that it's not Mama, it's Ms. Loyal (as most of my students call me) who's beat. I'm going to jump right in with my favorites from the week. Buckle up! 

Back country roads are my favorite! I'll be driving this again later today after work when I go see Chris. It's the prettiest drive to his house! We're going into the next town over tonight for dinner and to do something after, in the (not so) big town of New Albany. 

It's my favorite thing in the world to be like this in public. It's his favorite, too; if I'm in front, he's holding onto me. This feels so good after months of very little affection in my life. 

These were my favorite November related things I saw on socials this week. It definitely does not snow where I live in November, though! 

This was my favorite night last weekend; I went to The Orpheum to see The Notebook with Chris, then later on he asked if we could make us "official". Of course I said yes to that. 

Dressing for church/work each day is still a favorite! Do you have a favorite outfit from my week? 

One thing we do at the school I work it is hand out these Eagle Bucks to each other; it's usually over something worth recognizing. My sweet friend Rachel gave me this a few weeks ago, and I just found it in my box at work this week. How sweet is she? The bucks can be collected and spent on something, but I can't remember exactly what can be "bought".

These little Boo Bites have been a favorite snack at work this week!

Have you ever participated in #onedayhh with Laura Tremaine on Instagram? This is always one of my favorite days of the year on social media; I plan on sharing a bunch of stories that day on Instagram and then I'll probably turn it into a blog post at some point. 

My sweet little first grade friend's hair was my favorite this week! Look at all the tiny little butterflies in her hair. 

Cleerly Stated on Instagram is one of my favorite follows; I love what she said there this week, about gratitude. 

Monday night at Marilyn's was my favorite! We haven't taken a picture together in a while and were overdue. 

I have free time built into all of my mornings at work; my favorite way to spend it is to do this. Sometimes I read the Bible when I'm at work, other times I listen in the mornings. I also write something everyday in my journal! 

I bought a new coffee table last week! It's my newest favorite thing in my living room, and I love decorating its surface. 

What was something that was a favorite from your week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I hope you have a great weekend! I'll see you back here on Monday. Love to all! 

Jenn