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. It's officially spring in the northern hemisphere. Does it feel like spring in your part of the world? If you're in the southern hemisphere, it's officially autumn where you live. Does the weather say autumn? Which do you prefer: spring or autumn? It does feel like spring in my part of the world! While I love looking out the window and seeing green after the dreary winter, I prefer autumn over spring. I love every part of that season, but spring isn't too shabby.

All of these pictures were taken in the spring season; some are from Mom's house, and some are from the first annual blogger's retreat I went on two years ago with Marilyn, Tanya, and Joanne. This was a fun trip! We have our third annual trip together coming up in a few weeks, and I am beyond excited! 

2. What's your favorite thing about spring? When I went to answer this question, I thought about the students that I see each day. We always have a greeting with the different grade levels; we say hello, we ask them a question of the day, and then we move onto the joke of the day. When they answer the question of the day, we ask them to please PQA ("put question into answer"). So in light of that, I will tell you that my favorite thing about spring is looking out my windows and seeing color. The winter season is dark and dreary, and while I don't mind it, it's lovely seeing color again in the world around me. Every year my town has the most stunning tulips along the medians in the roadways. They're beautiful! And I love the tulip trees, the dogwoods, the buttercups growing along the side of the road...I could go on. 

These were taken last year when I visited the Memphis Botanic Gardens during tulip season. I would love to visit Holland someday to see their tulips! I think we have a tulip farm somewhere in Tennessee, as well. These are things on my travel bucket list. 

3. Spring into action, a spring in your step, spring to life, spring to one's feet...which spring idiom currently applies to your life in some way? Explain. I feel like there's a spring in my step right now. I forgot to tell you that I closed on my house last week! I am officially the legal owner of my own home, for the first time in my life. It's never too late, right? I had a whole idea for a post on social media, but then I decided that I didn't want to broadcast it there. 

Once again, after the closing, I had a weird reaction; I cried! I think part of it was relief, but part of it was also grief. There are still times that I grieve the loss of my ex-husband. I know that sounds weird to the average person, but it's possible. Though I would never wish any harm upon anyone, do you know how many times I've thought to myself how much easier it would have been if he had just died? The levels of betrayal are many, and they are deep. I have a friend at church whose husband passed away before the holidays; I was talking to her about this one time and she said one reason I'm grieving is because I never got to finish life with the person I thought I would finish life with. For her, she said it was easier, because they had enjoyed a long lasting marriage. She's one of the few people who get what it's actually like; there are even less of them that understand what it's like to grieve someone who is still living.  

That being said, I felt all the feelings, then I picked myself up by my big girl britches, and made plans to go to dinner with Marilyn that night to celebrate. We went to a Mexican restaurant, and I drank a very large margarita. In spite of all those feelings from the day, this is a huge relief, and I feel like my dad's last gift to me was the ability to be able to stay put. My plan is to move in three to five years, and when I do, it will be to downsize. I will be ready for a downstairs bedroom and less room. As far as equity in my home goes, I'm in a great position since I've been here for 23 years. 

4. Which spring food from this list is your favorite? What's a dish you like that includes your favorite spring ingredient? 

asparagus, strawberries, salad greens, artichokes, spinach, eggs, peas, spring onions

I underlined my favorite spring foods. My first thought was a salad with spring salad greens and strawberries...maybe with walnuts, cranberries, and feta cheese as well? I also thought about a spinach lasagna...and I think that might be something I make sometime soon. I've been craving lasagna! Ree Drummond's is my favorite. 

5. What's one task on your spring cleaning list? Do you actually have a list? I don't really have a spring cleaning list because I prefer to clean all year long as I go about life. One thing I'm thinking of doing is taking the blinds off of all my windows and replacing them with blackout curtains in each of the rooms. This would be for my bedroom, my living room, and my "dining" room. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I was thinking about how much fun it is to work in a school environment. All of the schools in my town are incredible, but my school specifically is above and beyond the rest. This stems from the amazing admin team that we have! Kristie, Sherrie, and Jamie are among some of my favorite people on earth, and I love that they attend our Reset devotional times when we have them. One day a few weeks ago, Sherrie and I were walking down the hall singing a worship song together. I had the thought then, about how fortunate I am to be able to work in such a loving environment! 

I also love that we have fun things to look forward to each week. These are a few things we have coming up soon! I love that we get things like Sonic drinks, teacher treats, and food truck Friday. Add to that a good comfy cozy day, and well, you get my drift. I love my job and my co-workers so much; the students are the icing on the cake. I know I sound redundant by talking about work again, but for someone who didn't think she'd have to go back to full time work at this phase of life, but not a day goes by that I don't feel grateful to God for giving me the perfect job. He has been so, so good to me! 

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

Jenn