Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Joyce for today's hodgepodge post. I'll jump right in!
1. When you think of autumn, what sounds come to mind? I love this question! The crackling of a fire comes to mind. I love nothing more than sitting around a firepit in the cool season of the year; even when it's more than cool, it's still so much fun to drag blankets outside and sit by a fire. We don't have a regular firepit this season; ours was pretty warped, and when Drew moved in with Mallory, he brought his gas powered one here. It's not the same! I want a firepit back.
2. Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? Wholeheartedly, YES! I cannot wait to get up into the Colorado Rockies in a couple of weeks. I can't wait! I think they're my favorite to date.
I love it in Colorado.
3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but now is just a molehill? I once felt like it was a mountain trying to navigate life on my own, one in which I don't have a husband. Now? It's way less of a mountain and more of a molehill. I'm grateful for this! My life exudes peace; I don't have to ever worry about someone else's bad mood, bad attitude, or bad day. I don't ever have to experience a marital fight or disagreement; I don't have to care about what someone else wants for dinner. It almost feels selfish to say and think these things, but I'm too happy to care what that makes me sound like.
This night was an ultimate example of that peace.
4. Let's play this or that, fall foods edition. Yes, you have to choose.
- pumpkin spice latte or chai latte
- apple cider or hot chocolate
- stew or chili
- sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole
- butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup
- cranberry sauce or gravy
5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. I don't know if I can do this in just a sentence or two, but here goes. September has been a month of learning how to hold grief and gratitude in the same hands. I've missed someone I loved, while also discovering that there are little pockets of joy waiting for me—in my sons, my friends, my family, my faith, the Lord, my writing, my cozy evenings, and the ordinary moments that make up a life. I'm not the woman I was before this season, but I'm beginning to see that I don't have to be. I'm simply learning how to keep going, keep loving, and keep becoming who I am meant to be.
6. Insert your own random thought here. I love this Chat GPT trend! Ask it to make an image out of your life and turn it into a movie poster. She nailed it, y'all!
I shared this on socials last night, and I used the song Keep On by Emily Ann Roberts as the background music. This is a great song! It's about persevering when life hurts and you're hurting enough to want to give up...but also that as long as you're still here, your story isn't finished. The central them is to keep moving forward. Here's a video to it, if you want to listen!
Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! Love to all.
Jen
..."I'm too happy to care what that makes me sound like" is so good! I'm glad you're finding peace and joy while still in a season of grief. I almost included some Garden of the Gods pics in my post but I didn't. Colorado is an amazing place!
ReplyDeleteThanks, friend. I am too. Some days feel so good, while other still feel so heavy, but I'm taking it a day at a time...sometimes even hour by hour. There's no other place quite like Garden of the Gods! It's beautiful there.
DeleteThe Rockies look beautiful. I'd have a hard time picking a favorite mountain range. I loved the Great Smoky mountains, I loved the portion of the Rockies we saw in Glacier, I love the Appalachian mountains found all throughout New England (even though they look a different in Maine than they do in Massachusetts).
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the Appalachian mountains, but you're right! I love all mountains.
DeleteGreat answers today! You have had to go through so many new chapters in the past couple of years. I have an idea - for your big birthday, ask your mom or your boys or all of them to go in on a Solo Stove or other type of firepit for you and get wood ready to go so it will be easy and accessible for you! I love bringing a blanket outside and it extends the time you can be outside into the winter for sure.
ReplyDeleteI am admiring all of your cute fall clothes in these pictures like the Boo sweatshirt and your more fall colored sneakers, too.
Thanks, friend! I've thought about that. Jonah and I were actually talking about this the other night, because he misses it as well. We have this thing out there now with a propane tank, but when they were outside the other night, it blew threw a whole tank! We cannot do that. We have to go back to a wood burning one! I love all the fall outfits, too! I need to pull out those darker colored sneakers again soon. It needs to get cooler again!
DeleteOh this post brought me so much joy- love reading about your peace and contentment. Love the fall pics too and so excited you are going to the mountains-can't wait to follow along!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of sitting around a firepit! My fella made one from an old washing machine drum but we never sit around it, he just uses it to burn cardboard.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos of the mountains.
I like what you wrote for question 5 and I love your movie poster, what fun!
Yes to the mountains in the fall especially. I love them in every season though. We have two fire tables on our porches but we have a 'real' fire pit in our yard. We honestly don't use the real one a lot but this time of year it will happen. I love a real fire. That Boo sweatshirt is cute!
ReplyDelete