Share 4 Somethings (June 2026)

 

Happy Saturday, 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! 

I loved:

This month I loved seeing Beauty and the Beast at The Orpheum with my sister, getting started on summer themed books, date nights spent outside with my guy, and days at the pool. 

What sustained me:

Good food eaten with friends and soft serve margaritas sustained me this month. I'm kidding about the margaritas...but I do enjoy one of these on occasion. I'm not kidding about the time spent with friends, though.

 

What I'm carrying forward from this month to next:

I'm carrying forward reminders like this from now until this time next month.

What I'm making space for: 

I'm making space for doing things I love next month: listening to music, witnessing a sunset, enjoying the brilliant summer colors in nature, doing things I love, drinking delicious iced coffee, Bible study, and being with the people I love most.

I can't wait to read your posts! Thanks for joining me today, friends. I'll see you back here Monday. Love to all!

Jenn 

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Friday Favorites, 6.26.2026

 

Happy Friday, friends! I hope all of you had a great week; I want to hear about it at the end of this post, so stay tuned. Here are some favorite things and moments from this week...

Doodling/drawing is one of my favorite things; my little student at work is in a wheelchair that I push her around in because she can't walk on her own. Because of that, while her classmates are at recess outside, we find other things to do. So far we have read books, walked the halls to visit favorite teachers, we have gone to the gym to toss a soft ball back and forth, we have watched The Magic School Bus, and we have drawn/colored. This was from Wednesday; she asked me to write "beach day" on her paper so that she could color it in her favorite bright colors. While she did that, she told me I should draw a tree and then write some words on it, so that's what I did. When she tells me to do something, I do whatever she says! This was what I came up with: a family tree of sorts. I never finished, but I got a good start and she loved it after I added the apples she suggested I draw. 

Stella's positions are always a favorite.

This is a picture from a few years ago, but doing a Bible study is my favorite; I just bought a new one that will be here tomorrow. I can't wait to start on it this weekend! It's been way too long since I've done a Bible study; I think I got burned out on them, honestly. If you didn't know this already, I used to help write Bible studies for women with a group of ladies from my church; after that I lead small groups for years before my life changed. Because of the job I used to have as the bookstore/coffee shop manager at my church, that prohibited me from doing a lot of extra things like attending classes or studies.

Tuesday night dinner was a favorite! Remember a few weeks ago when I made steamed/pan seared dumplings with Chris? We had leftover wrappers and meat, so I froze it and pulled it out this week to make a dumpling "lasagna" of sorts. I lined the dish with wrappers, then meat, and repeated that once; to the top layer I added some sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot water. I covered it with foil and baked it at 375 for fifty minutes. This was a delicious meal! 

Being with these lovely ladies was a favorite from the weekend! 

Things I bought from my Old Navy shopping trip have continued to be my favorite! I've worn nothing but dresses this week, because I get hot at work, and these are easy to move around a lot in. 

Speaking of work...this is my favorite home away from home. 

These are my my favorite graphics from Instagram this week.

Yesterday's petting zoo was a favorite for most of us at Summer Learning Camp! Who doesn't love a donkey or a Highland cow?! 

And lastly, another favorite is that my blog turns nineteen this year on June 26th; I wrote my very first blog post on that day in 2007 (I included the link in case anyone wanted to go back and read what I was up to way back then). And then in typical fashion, I came back that same day and made a bonus post...here's a link for that one too. As I was looking for something on an  old post Tuesday morning, I noticed that as of right then, I had written 4,060 blog posts over the nineteen year span. I was curious about which post had been the most popular in all of that time, and this is the one that had the most traffic. It's a random day; but it was about a major life update. It had over 25K views, and I have no clue why! Can you believe I've been at this whole blog thing for that long? It doesn't seem possible! 

Just a quick reminder about tomorrow: it's already time for June's Share 4 Somethings! If you don't know what that is, it's a monthly link party that I host where we come together and talk about something we loved, something that sustained us, something we're carrying forward from this month to the next, and something we're making space for. I hope you make plans now to join us tomorrow! I keep the link open for about two weeks each month. 

Tell me something that was a favorite from your week! I would love to hear from you. Thanks for being here to read my blog everyday, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

weekly happies

 

Happy Thursday, friends! It's been a minute since I've done one of these posts; today seems like the perfect day. I'll jump in for the things I'm grateful for this week.

• the rain that came on Monday; I love when the Lord waters my yard and flower beds for me
• sunshine after the rain on Tuesday
• the gift of prayer
• that I get to go to work each day and care for a precious little girl with a short future
• my Chris; we've had some great talks this week and he has helped talk through some things with me
• my friends from work that I eat lunch with during the regular school year; our text thread often makes me laugh or shake my head
• having one day during the week off and figuring out how I get to use it
• knowing that I have a pool to swim in all weekend long (my neighbors are going out of town, and we're watching their dogs for them)
• great music...my current favorite are the worship songs that I've loved on Spotify 
• the sweet things that kiddos say at work (On Monday, one little girl said that she loved the rain because it reminded her of blessings.) 
• a long conversation with my dad on Sunday (I didn't see Bill that day, so I was glad to catch up over the phone.)
• weeknight dates with Chris
• sharing a love of food with someone
• easy meal ideas
• a quiet afternoon after work

As I get dressed for work each day, I use that time for my "priority" time (or quiet time); sometimes I listen to the Bible being read to me, sometimes I listen to worship music, other times I use it to talk to Jesus. That's my favorite thing, honestly: just talking to Jesus and pouring my heart out to Him. I've had some big things to pray for lately with some people that I love, and I was reminded of something one day this week as I dressed for the day. 

There's a passage in the New Testament about the Lord caring for the flowers in the field and the birds of the air. I was struck with the thought that if He cares for the flowers and birds so much, how much more does He care for the people He created in His image? A lot more! So I thanked him for this and reminded myself of that over and over again that day as I thought about the heavy things in life that I keep witnessing around me. (The passage is Matthew 6:25-34.)

I included this image because it pretty much sums up that passage for you to read if you want...but there's a typo at the bottom, so please excuse that (I didn't make this, it was already done for me)...it should say, "For your heavenly (not heavening) Father knows...".

Anyway, all that to say, I am so grateful for the fact that God already has my life (and the lives of the ones I love and know) figured out. It will play out according to His perfect plan, and I am grateful that I don't have to be the one in charge! I have enough on my own plate to worry about every tiny thing; it's good to know that I can hand it all over to my Jesus. 

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading 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. Summer's here (in the Northern hemisphere)! If you're in the Southern hemisphere, substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love the most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? My biggest summer pet peeve is when my legs stick to the vinyl or leather booth that I'm sitting on. There isn't much that hurts worse than peeling your sweaty skin off a sticky vinyl seat. 🤣 The thing I love most about the summer is how late the sun sets and that I get to be in the water. I love wearing dresses/skorts in the summer!

Honestly, I just love summer. I don't even mind how hot it is! 

2. What song always reminds you of summer? One song that always reminds me of summer is Cruel Summer. I think it reminds me of summer because I watched The Karate Kid a lot one year, and that was all it took. To this day when I think of summer, I think of this song and my favorite scene from The Karate Kid when Ralph Macchio's and Elizabeth Shue's characters go to a carnival together on a date. 

That video is interesting, to say the least. 🤣

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer as you did when you were a child? Elaborate. One thing I remember about my childhood summers that I loved was spending time on the lake with my dad. I've always been drawn to the water! I loved it whether it was a lake, river, or ocean.

We spent a lot of summer weekends at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I loved it there! The picture above is from when my best friend Stacy and her parents joined us. I was probably the one taking this picture. How great is this photo? Seeing the background of this picture makes me realize the reason why I thought of Dad Saturday on the Ohio River. Dad loved to pull into and swim in coves on a lake; this was a cove we were in for lunch that day last weekend. Please note how similar the backgrounds are in these pictures!

4. We celebrated Father's day on June 21st...do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. I favor my dad in temperament. I don't look anything like him, but we had the same personality and shared the same views on almost everything. Dad loved Jesus, and the letter he wrote for us to read after his death said that his greatest prayer was that his kids would love Jesus with all of their hearts. Dad loved music, musicals, traveling, fruity cocktail drinks (like a pina colada), dressing up in a suit, his work, and his family. He also loved my mom and told me that shortly before he died: that he always loved her because it was with her that he had his two youngest kids (Trish and me). 

Seeing my sweet daddy in these pictures makes my heart ache, so I think I'll stop. 

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that...

flip flops or sandals

beach or pool (Yes to both, please!)

 watermelon or peaches

shorts or sundress

iced coffee or cold lemonade

amusement park or water park

6. Insert your own random thought here. I love my job, friends. I feel like the most fortunate person in the world to be able to do what I do everyday. Here are some pictures that reflect what I do each day. The first one under this is something I saw yesterday on socials that I loved. 

I can't wait to read your answers to the prompts today! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

Jenn