the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

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

1. This week's hodgepodge lands on Back to the Future Day...October 21, 2015 waw the date the movie characters Marty, Doc, and Jennifer traveled to in the future in the 1989 film Back to the Future Part 2. Did you see the movie? Tell us something you were doing in the fall of 2015. I did see the movie, but I don't remember much from it, honestly. Those weren't my favorite movies, but I did always love Michael J. Fox! 

When I typed in the year 2015 into my Google photo search bar, this is the picture that popped up. I was enjoying a bonfire with these friends at another friend's house, the mom of my friend Laurie here in the red coat. This was taken at her mom Barbee's house; you've heard me talk about Barbee. I was in the throes of raising teenage boys in the fall of 2015; they would have been 15, 14, and 11. I was a youth leader for teenage girls and attending all the bonfires and pumpkin patch excursions. Graham had his first girlfriend the next year, but he'd had his eye on her for a while. Drew was "dating" this friend Laurie's daughter Emma, and Jonah and Noah were loving being at their ages in middle school and hanging out with friends. Those were the days! 

I'm still friends with these people, fyi. Kim on the left is who rode with me a little over a year ago when I had to take something to my ex-husband...I needed someone with me and she jumped into helping me when I reached out to her. Young Lindsey is still someone I see, too and I just ran into her in Old Navy on Saturday! And then Laurie has been around for ages, though we don't ever hangout. I love these women! 

2. Which b-e-r month is your favorite? Explain why. I would say October is my favorite month ending in b-e-r. It's the month when the weather finally catches up to the calendar; it's fall break month, and the leaves just ever so slightly start to change from green to the brilliant colors we see each year. Leaves begin to fall off the oak trees in my neighborhood, and the air carries with it a sense of change. 

3. Red, yellow, orange, bronze...your favorite fall color to wear? To eat? To see in nature? Of these, my favorite color to wear would be a taupe/bronze color. I have two tops that are this color, and I love them both. To eat? I'll say yellow, because I love squash at this time of year. I think I most love to see red trees in nature. 

4. What do you miss about being 20? I'm not sure I miss being twenty; I knew nothing then, and now I know so many things. I have gained wisdom, discernment, and how to be a better judge of character. I've learned how to say no to things that don't bring me joy. I've learned how to guard what is mine: my peace, my time, and the people I keep close. On a lighter note, does anyone remember what it feels like to not be so achy?! I miss that, for sure! 

5. We're roughly three quarters of the way through the year. What's one goal, habit, or mindset you want to purposely carry into the final weeks of the year? Elaborate. I want to keep writing in my journal. I want to read more. I want to spend time reflecting on what this year has meant to be and hope for all that is to come in 2027. 

I am hopeful, and these verses are some of my favorites right now that I've been leaning on the last couple of months.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I need to make a festive nighttime trip to the square sometime soon. All of this will be gone soon, and replaced with Christmas!

 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all! 

Jen 

fashion files & more random thoughts..

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm talking about more things I'm saying yes to this week. I'm also linking up with Amy for the weekly Fashion Files and Joanne for Tuesday Talk. I'll jump right in!

I didn't take any outfit pics while I was in Colorado last week! This was the first one I took all week, on Saturday, when I met my mom and Trish for lunch and errands. I have had these jeans forever; I think they're the Westbound brand that I loved from Dillard's that are a few years old. I like how they flare out a little at the bottom! It was cold on this day, so I paired these with a sweatshirt. 

 

And this was my outfit from yesterday. I'm loving the fall like weather! 

I will say that I have recently bought a few things; I needed some more jeans, and I needed some more leggings in different colors. Here's what I bought!

I love these leggings! I love the faux leather strip that runs down the outside of each leg, and I love the colors I picked: wine and this taupe color.

Here are the tried and true jeans that I love so much. All of these things are from Halara! I think it's good to size down one size, because most of their pants grow with wear.

I also recently ordered this cardigan! I love it and I'm contemplating ordering it in more colors. I love it with a fitted tank top and leggings! 

Same leggings and tank top, and the denim shirt/jacket I bought from Old Navy on Saturday! I love it unbuttoned with this tank, but I could also wear it open with a graphic tee that's fitted underneath. 

Lastly, I ordered this sweatshirt from Shein last year, and I thought I was buying it in black; imagine my surprise when it showed up in hunter's orange. Chris loved this shirt, y'all, and it works out well since Wednesday is kindness day and we're all dressing in orange. His favorite color was orange! I hate this color, but it's fun and bright and says, "happy to see your face". The students love it as well, which is what it's all about! 

I ordered a few more tops from Amazon yesterday, but stay tuned for those on next week's post.

And now for today's random thoughts...

It's hard to write blog posts everyday! This may be the first and last time I challenge myself to one post each day of the month. What are your thoughts on this? Have you enjoyed the extra posts, or do you just feel kind of meh about it all? You can be honest.

Anonymous needs to take a hike. I'm so over the rude comments on my blog and on your blogs. I kind of told her off yesterday, when she piped in on me having a date this weekend. I'm not asking for thoughts and opinions on that, and she was quick to chime in. Imagine that! 🤣

Kind of on that thought...I forgot I'd come up with a word of the year for 2026. I don't remember if I ever talked about it here, honestly, because it wasn't something I'd expected to do since it's been ages since I've done that. I still love the thought of it, I just stopped doing it along the way. I'm adding a link to this blog post, because it turns out that I did write about this. I got chills when I read this! Here's the link if you want to check it out. Back to why I'm sharing this again...my word for the year was allow. I need to remember to be choosy about what I actually allow in my life, and rude comments from someone too chicken to hide behind no name and a computer screen is right up at the top! I don't have to allow meanness, unkindness, or anything less than encouraging. I'm all for blocking certain people on my phone as well, and have one blocked at this moment due to belligerence and argumentativeness. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks on this one. 

On a lighter note, I've been watching the OG Different World on Netflix. I remember watching this as a teenager and still love this show with Lisa Monet. 

Y'all. It's 8:34 and I'm exhausted. Monday was a rough re-entry into reality! I wrote this last night as I watched TV. 

What about you? Do you have any random thoughts you need to share? I'd love to hear them! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

xoxo,

Jen

 

hello, Monday

 

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

I spent Thursday putting my life back together at home! This was wonderful; it felt amazing to sleep in my own bed again. I kind of messed around the house all day, and then I had a date that night! I'm not ready to talk about anything here, though, but it was a great date. 

Friday was more of the same...I ended the day with a view of the sunset and then eating at a new barbecue place we have in Memphis. I had a brisket sandwich and baked potato salad that was to die for. 

I met up with Mom and Trish on Saturday; we had lunch and ran a few errands. I bought myself a new denim shirt from Old Navy!

It's super cute and I can't wait to wear it this week.

I ended Saturday by going to Mallory's parents house for dinner and to sit outside. It was great evening, and I took exactly one picture.

And to wrap up the weekend, I met up with Marilyn. We took a pretty sunset walk around a lake, then hung out at her house for a bit. It was nice way to end the weekend and my fall break!

I'm ready for today! I can't wait to see my girl, and I am ready for the week. What'd you do this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! I wrote two posts over the weekend, just keep scrolling after this one and you'll see them. I'll see you back here tomorrow, friends. Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all.

Jen 

the Sunday scaries

 

Happy Sunday, friends! I'm soaking up my last day of the weekend and fall break, and trying not to get a bad case of the Sunday scaries. I'm going to try to be proactive today and get my stuff together for the work week, starting with figuring out lunches. I have to do better with this and am determined to do that this week. That also got me to thinking about what else I have to do to ensure that the work week gets off to a great start, hence the idea for this blog post.

I love going to church on Sunday, but I overslept today. Since I overslept, I decided to go ahead and take my shower/wash my hair and make my bed once I finally woke up. I came downstairs to drink coffee and I watched a movie while I did that, and worked on this blog post. I forgot to do this yesterday while I was at home. I started some laundry, talked to Jonah while he was down here after taking care of his friend's dogs, I cleaned a little, and then I got dressed for the day. 

I ordered some groceries and came up with a meal plan for the week! I was inspired to make a shepherd's pie for dinner one night, thanks to TikTok; the other nights will be breakfast, and then bacon wrapped chicken on the grill with some sides. I'm eating out on Wednesday. I'll finish the laundry and hopefully get out at some point. The weather is gorgeous today! I want to sit on a patio...but I don't want to go out to eat. I might just get out on my own if it doesn't work out for me to have anywhere to go today. 

I'd like to spend some time in my closet trying things on for the week, so I might do that. I need to do another clean out sometime soon! 

I'd also love to spend some time reading one of the newer Freida McFadden books I started in Colorado last week. 

What are you up to today? Hopefully the combination of all these things will prevent me from having the Sunday scaries this week. I'll see you back here tomorrow! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jen

my autumn bucket list

 

Happy Saturday, friends! Better late than never, right? I've had a busy back half of the week, so I kind of put the blog on the back burner for the rest of my fall break, but I'm still here writing each day. I thought I'd talk about my autumn bucket list today! I'm starting with something tonight, which is why I had the thought of writing this post today. Here goes!

This autumn, I want to...

• visit a pumpkin patch (Check! I did this in Colorado, but it's always on my list each year.)
• spend lots of evenings sitting around a fire in the fire pit (I'm doing this tonight!)
• do a "come on in" fall decor tour of my home
• sit on the patio at Rotolo's (I'm doing this next week!)
• host my girlfriends for a little fire in the fire pit
• start making some of the soups I love so much
• actually celebrate Halloween (It'll be the first time in two years.)
• spend some cozy nights at home
• read outside
• get into reading more again (I often pick up my phone instead. Ugh.)
• update a few things in my closet and in my home (Stay tuned!)
• find some cozy throws to start replacing what I have
• say yes to more things with friends from work 

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What about you? Do you have a bucket list of things like this that you'd like to do? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jen 

Friday Favorites, 10.16.2026

 

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! 

Receiving flowers will always be listed among one of my favorite things in life. Sure, I can buy them for myself, but when someone else thinks of me and gives them? Even better. 

Once I got home Wednesday, I realized that I didn't want to cook dinner or even go pick something up, so I texted my kids and asked them to meet me for dinner. And guess what? They were all able to come! It made my whole week, honestly. These are my favorite people! I have to say that aside from me loving Mallory for all the obvious reasons, I love it that she makes my sons comply with me when I ask for pictures. She's amazing and I'm so glad she's a part of our family! 

Reading with this view over the week was a favorite.

This porch was also a favorite over the week. It was cool enough in the evenings and mornings that we all needed blankets!

Monday in Estes Park was a favorite, and so were the views we saw on the drive up there. 

I love Debi's home; it's very Southwestern and I love that they embrace that and the mountain theme in their decor.

Cowboy Mountain is my favorite! 

Being reunited with my sisters was my favorite this week! 

And so was meeting my newest little great niece, Ella Blake. I love these sweet girls so much! 

Lisa's Halloween tree was my favorite; I wish I'd done one!

My cute little porch is also a favorite; this was the picture I shared before I left town Saturday. 

Anytime spent with these amazing and beautiful women is my very favorite. How fortunate am I to have such a strong relationship with these sisters of mine? I don't take it for granted. Every time I'm with them, I come back home with a full heart. I remember my friend and I talking about this at work last school year. She told me that spending time with her girls is what fuels her, but I can't say that about my sons, because having sons is different than having daughters. I love spending time with them, don't get me wrong, but having uninterrupted sister time is what fuels me. I can't adequately describe how my heart feels when we're all together. I love it the most when we travel together, so I'm beyond excited about our NYC trip in December. I don't want to wish time away, though...I have a lot to look forward to between now and then.

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!