Fashion Files, 5.5.2026.

 

Happy Tuesday, friends, and happy bonus blog post day! I'm linking up with Amy and Marsha today for Fashion Files. Since Spring is in full bloom where I live, so that means that it's dress season! Here are a few that I own. 

I wore this yesterday to work! It's my favorite brand: Umgee. I bought this for Easter Sunday, even though I hadn't had plans to buy a new dress...but sometimes love strikes the minute you see something like this and you have to buy it when it fits like a dream. I had lots of compliments on this yesterday! Umgee is a boutique brand. 

I don't know what brand of dress this one is, but I also bought it from a boutique last summer. I hope I still love it when I try it on again this year! I bought this one to wear to an Old Dominion concert I went to last summer and fell in love the second I tried it on. I love the fabric; it's almost like a linen type of fabric, so it's thin and breathable. 

I bought this dress on the blog trip to Louisville in 2025 at an adorable boutique called Darling State of Mind. It's the Entro brand, which is another one I love.

This one is from Walmart, from three years ago. I think I started wearing it as a shirt, but I decided that I like it best as a dress when I'm tan. (I wear biker shorts under all of my short dresses.)

I still love this dress, and this year will be the third summer that I've worn it; that popped collar is everything! I love the white and black buttons that are in contrast to each other. This is a Shein dress, believe it or not! 

I bought this dress in the summer of 2024, I'll forever remember it as the dress I wore the day my ex-husband told me he wanted a divorce. (It's okay to laugh here.) Don't ask why I still have this, except for the fact that I love it so much. This was the first day of school when students started this school year! This is way cuter on than it is online...if you order, consider sizing up. 

This one's another older boutique dress, from about three years ago. I don't know the brand, or anything, but I have this same dress in black.

This dress is from Amazon! It's about two years old, and I still love it as much as when I first bought it. I love the pockets; I also have this in black, but the fit is different.

This dress is a Target find from three years ago. I wore this to church Sunday!

This dress is from Shein! I bought it in three colors: this one, baby blue, and a faded navy blue.

This dress is two years old, from Old Navy.

Lastly, this is another Walmart dress, from several years ago. 

Many of you have been really kind to tell me that you like how I dress and have asked where I shop. These are the places I shop! I do have some tips for shopping for clothes, though, that I'll share before. Before I start, I think it's important to know your body type. Be willing to know what styles make you feel good, and if comfort is a big deal for you like it is me, then factor that in. I'm a curvy girl, and always have been, so I tend to know my sizes and which fits I like the most. So here are my tips...

• know which styles best fit your body type and lean into those
• know the color palette you want and that look you look best in
• consider the season and the fabric
• if you can, try on before buying, or at least make sure it's returnable
• consider the shoes you have
• speaking of shoes, my pro tip (I'm laughing, I am no pro) is to wear neutral over black
• don't forget to accessorize

And that's all I've got for today, friends! I'll post this later on, but there's another one right under it for today as well. I hope you enjoy the day! See you back here tomorrow for the Hodgepodge. Love to all!

Jenn

Hello Monday

 

Hello there, Monday! Ready or not, here you are. I feel like it's going to be a buckle up and get ready kind of next few weeks as I wrap up this first school year I've been back at work. Instead of talking about the weekend, I thought I'd talk about a recent feeling I want to remember and the art of starting over.

I don't know if you remember what I wrote about last Tuesday, but I shared about how I felt conviction over the small shift I'd let happen between me and the Lord. It started slow, and it grew...until I came to recognize it last week. I want to remember that moment of recognizing this, and having a moment with the Lord as I prayed my way through some feelings. 

I've had several more instances of that in the days that have followed. I'm trying to muddle my way through, and I'm trying to get back into the habit of offering up prayers more often, and not the long and drawn out kind. I'm trying to remember that prayers don't have to be lyrical and beautiful; sometimes the most real thing I can pray is for it come out all raw and broken. I feel like it's in those moments that I feel Him near. 

I also came to the conclusion that I was ready to visit other churches last week; this week I attended my first one. It was good, and it felt refreshing to be somewhere new, where I wasn't recognized (though I did recognize two people there and we spoke). It was a beautiful and very different service; I'm excited about going back next week. Starting over can be a wonderful thing! I don't know how long I'll settle at this particular church, but for now, I have a plan. 

That's all I've got for today, friends. I don't know how often I'm going to post here in the next few weeks; I've stepped back from social media a lot as well, and that may spill over into the blog. I'm trying to be off my phone and I'm trying to get back into the habit of reaching for my book. I'm writing this on Sunday night; I have high hopes of finishing the current one I'm on before I go to sleep! 

Tell me something good! I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

Currently: May 2026

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm here with Amy today for Currently...just posted a day early. I'll be sharing what I'm currently digging, weeding, enjoying, eating/drinking, and shopping for this month. I'll jump right in!

I'm currently digging lots of things...mostly that it's May and that we're winding down at school. I keep getting tons of work emails about closing out the school year and what all we're responsible for when school's out. 

I'm digging this poster that I walked into Monday morning. It's teacher appreciation week, baby! 

I'm currently weeding my flower beds.

I did this Sunday after church. 

I'm currently enjoying the amazing weather we've been having. I think that temps in the seventies is perfection. 

I'm also enjoying how beautiful and vibrant all this green is! 

I'm currently eating/drinking easy things...last night I had leftover spaghetti for dinner. Tonight I'm having a Cinco de Mayo celebration with Marilyn. 

I popped this open right before I sat down to write this post and am enjoying it as I type. 

I'm about to be shopping for some outdoorsy things for the back patio. I would like to get some hanging baskets and maybe even something for the front porch. 

Maybe something along the lines of this one from a couple of summers ago. 

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

Jenn...may your day be as wonderful as this delicious iced coffee was on Monday morning. 

Friday Favorites, the "it's finally May edition" (5.1.2026)

 

Happy Friday, friends! Happy MAY! I loved turning the calendar at school over to May before I left work yesterday. It feels SURREAL that it's this month. I remember thinking way back in late July that May felt forever away, and now here I am. This might go down in history as my favorite month! How's your week been? Mine has been long with TCAP and some other highs and lows. I was so relieved when we finished the last part of state testing yesterday with the fifth graders. It was intense! And now we're back to our regular schedules. Alright, I'll jump in with some favorites from the week...

These moments with Chris last weekend were my favorite; while I know that isn't technically "the week", I remember this feeling as we took these, and how he was making me laugh. I want to go back and redo part of that trip, but this night? This was wonderful. (Relationships are hard.)

Sweet little happies at work are always my favorite. This hand cream is velvety smooth! My sweet friend Karen knows how dry the skin on my hands get because of all the sanitizer and handwashing that I do on a given day. 

This cake that Karen made for us Monday at work was a favorite! She and I might have enjoyed a piece of it before we cracked open our lunches. 🤣

Chat GPT is my favorite! I asked her to make a headshot for me, and this was what she came up with when I uploaded a picture. Pretty cool, right? 

I came across this quote that I found and fell in love with last year; it's one of my very favorites! 

The changing weather hasn't been my favorite, especially on Thursday, when I came home with a headache. Even so, getting dressed still remains to be one of my favorite parts of the week! I pulled out a couple of things for the cooler weather we had. 

Wednesday night's sunset was a favorite. We had rain this week, which was also a favorite! 

Starting this to-do list was a favorite this week! I have two and a half more weeks of intervention with my kiddos at school, then I'll start packing up our room and maybe redecorating some since we can keep our wall hangings up this time.

I'm hoping some of these beach reads will be my favorite this year! I need a pool to float in ASAP!

These two helping Mar at her place this week was a favorite! I love their banter. 

Other favorites include talking to my sons, seeing Graham last night, having a good cry about something new this popped up this week unrelated to my old life, having something to looking forward to, today being the first of May...I could go on. What was a favorite of yours from the week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!


Jenn 

Monthly Musings...April, 2026

 

Happy bonus blog post day! I thought I'd join in with Patty for this fun little monthly post. I'll jump right in!

1. Favorite spring flower? I love to see daffodils along a roadside! I also love tulips, but the daffodils (or buttercups as I've always referred to them as) are a telling sign of spring. 

2. Do you have flowers planted at your house? I have bushes planted at my house. 

These pictures are a few years old. My hydrangeas no longer look like this. 

3. Any gardening tips? I wish I was a gardener, but I'm not. The one thing I do know is that it's best to weed beds after a rain. I need to do this soon!

4. What is your go-to spring outfit? Without a doubt, my Halara leggings and a button-down boyfriend style shirt.

5. What spring fashion trends are you loving right now? I'm still enjoying the relaxed tailored trend.

6. Best wardrobing tip for when the weather can't make up its mind? Layer, layer, layer! I have a jacket with me at all times, whether a rain or a denim one. 

7. What beverages do you love in the spring? I don't know that this changes any for me; recently I've enjoyed a couple of diet cherry lime-aids from Sonic. I love something sparkling and effervescent. 

8. Spring can be busy; share your easiest spring meals. I don't know that it's any easier, but I'm all about grilling in the spring! It's nothing for Jonah or me to throw some meat on the Blackstone. We've used it twice this week alone! He did burgers on Monday night, and last night we had chicken and really good homemade rice that I made. 

I always love these! Thanks for being here to read again; I'll see you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites. Love to all!

Jenn 

thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! It's been a while since I've shared this kind of a Thursday post, so I thought I'd do that here today. I hope you enjoy and are inspired to do your own version of this! 

I'm thankful for the living, active Word of God. I'll never forget my Pastor saying that what this means is that as a believer reads the Word of God, the Word of God reads the believer. That's why certain verses or passages will jump out sometimes as if you've never seen it before. Have you experienced this? 

I'm thankful for downtime at work! I've had lots of that the last two weeks, thanks to state testing. I have started keeping a gratitude list at work, and I add to it throughout the week. I do this on a sheet of notebook paper, and then I bring it home to add to a binder I have for that kind of thing. 

I'm thankful for morning phone calls with my people: Mom, Marilyn, a sister or two. I have this ridiculous routine of leaving my house at 7:30 even though I don't have to be at work until 8:40. I just figure that if I stay here too long past that time, that it'll be that much harder to leave. It works for me! I'll leave, and then I'll go sit in the parking lot of my church and talk on the phone until about 8:00; I'll walk into the building around 8:15 because I like to have a minute to myself before the day starts to get things organized. 

I'm thankful for after work plans. I was at Marilyn's Tuesday night and I looked forward to it all day long. I love it when I have something to get me out of my house, but I only like one or two nights of that. I need to be out pretty often, still! I had thought that would change with me working full time, but it's remained the same. I do enjoy the nights I'm here, though...I just can't have too many in a row. 

I'm thankful for my friends and co-workers. We really feel more like friends than anything else at this point in the school year, and I'm grateful that they've helped me through the ups and downs of the year. They've made me feel loved, welcomed, competent, and part of a team. 

I'm thankful for the rain we had this week! My yard and flower beds desperately needed 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