weekly happies

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm talking about my weekly happies again today, because I need more intentional gratitude in my life. I'll jump right in!

• I am so grateful for this life that I get to live; I love what this graphic said in a quote by Emily Dickinson. It's true! Forever is composed of right nows. 

I loved this one, as well and agree; life should be lived and enjoyed. I have to remind myself of this all the time: someday I will look back on today and miss the time I was living in. My floor won't always be covered in dog hair; I won't always have Jonah and Noah at home with me. But for now, instead of focusing on how dirty things are, I should be grateful for today and embrace this current moment/phase in life. 

• I know I always say this and will risk sounding like a broken record, but I am so grateful for how my life has turned out. I say it so often because everyday I wake up thanking God for today, a day in my life that I get to live and love.

• I am grateful that I get to go to a job that I love everyday.

• I am grateful for my people! Chris, my sons, my parents, my siblings, and all of their kiddos, and my friends...these are my people. 

• I am grateful to live in a home that I love. I won't be here forever, and I'm okay with that, but I'm grateful that I was able to stay here after my life changed. By staying here, I had time to get my bearings, so to speak and to allow time for my head to stop spinning. I still love my home today, but it's because I've made it mine. I have memories here, lots of old ones that are good. I will be ready to move on from this home to another smaller one in the next couple of years, though. I would love a smaller one story home for my next one.

• I am grateful for my friends at work; without them, work wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. You should see our text thread!

• I'm grateful for this being a short week for me; Tuesday was a day I spent at home, and it was glorious. I don't say that lightly because it seems like I don't get them all that often anymore.

• I'm grateful for the outlets I have to relieve stress or to stop my mind from working too much; I write here and I draw/doodle a lot at work when I don't have anything else going on. 

• I'm grateful for the years that I got to do exactly what this picture above says. I love having sons the age they all are and I'm excited to think about their futures and what that might look like as they marry and have kids, if that's what the Lord has planned for them. I talk about this a lot with Chris, believe it or not. 

Other happies from this week include: 

• sunshine
• having something to look forward to at night
• phone conversations catching up with friends that I love
• having a clean house
• being able to stay caught up on things at home
• grocery delivery from Walmart+
• happy music
• being off on a random Tuesday
• conversations with each of my sons

What about you? What are some happies that you've had throughout your week? I'd love to hear about them! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends; I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jen ❤️

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

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

1. What's something you enjoy now that your younger self never would have appreciated? The first thing that came to mind was a memory from being a young girl; every time I went anywhere with my dad for fun, the first thing he had to do was eat. As an adult now, I can appreciate that so much more than ever before, and I understand now why he had to do that. If I don't eat first before spending an afternoon doing something, I will get tired and end up being grumpy. 

2. What was peaceful about today? I starting writing this blog post on Sunday afternoon; as I write, it's 2:49 p.m., and the house is quiet. Jonah's and Noah's dogs aren't here yet; their dad kept them all for the weekend since I was gone and because they were way out at a friend's house all of Saturday. I have the fan on, and I'm listening to my favorite playlist on Spotify. It's cool inside, my home is clean, and I can hear the clothes drying in the background. All of these things make for a very peaceful afternoon! 

I'd just gotten back home on this day from dog sitting at my friend's house all weekend in a neighboring town about thirty minutes down the road. I was so thankful to be at home in this moment to unpack, start laundry, and clean. I don't know if I've shared this portion of my kitchen with the piece of furniture I added last year. I cleaned off this cabinet and decluttered it while doing that; I love how it turned out! I also repurposed that wall basket you see hanging on my door; I had the greenery, but I added the flowers and moved it from my bedroom to this door in the kitchen that leads to the garage. Also, isn't my "love you, bye" sign adorable? This sign reminds me of Marilyn; we say this to each other nearly everyday of our lives. 

3. It's National Blueberry Day (July 8th). Will you celebrate? You can have one of the following right now—a slice of blueberry pie, a warm blueberry muffin, or a stack of blueberry pancakes—which do you choose? Without a question or a doubt, I would choose a warm blueberry muffin. That being said, as much as I love those, I won't be celebrating that holiday this week. 

4. Do you need a break? From what? I do! I need a break from elementary school aged children. I also always need a break from dogs who shed horribly! 🤣

5. What has surprised you most about getting older? I never thought I would get to a point where I just ache a lot. My knees are always aching, or my back is; I don't know if it's from standing a lot at my job or the shoes I'm wearing or the floors I'm walking on, but on any given day, something somewhere on my body is aching. I just automatically take two ibuprofen when I wake up in the mornings. I also never thought sleeping on the wrong type of pillow would hurt my neck, or that I would ever love my bed as much as I do right now. 

All of this made me chuckle, but please don't read this as me complaining. Growing old with aches is a privilege and honor that many are not afforded. I will gladly take all of these little things, because it means that the Lord has given me life at this day and time. I will keep living life and doing things I love, no matter my age or the aches I may (or may not) have. 

I thought of Dad as I wrote this; this was taken in March of 2009 while he was in Israel; he was 76 when he went on this once on a lifetime trip. I want to be just like him when I "grow up"! 

6. Insert your own thought here. This is a song that I came across last week that I love. I made playlist for songs for me and Chris, and I added this one immediately. It's really sweet! I love Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani...I think she is so good for him, and I love how he adores her.

I can't wait to read your answers to these prompts later today! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow; love to all!

Jen 🩷

summery things, fashion files, and how I'm doing with my summer bucket list

 

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

I'll start with some more easy opportunities for me to say 'yes' in my current life:

• easy lunches at work
• simple dinners at home on week nights
• using my free time wisely (creating a balance of "me" time and time with friends)
• date nights with Chris
• watching sunsets from new spots around town
• more reading, less scrolling

I shared a similar post about hard "no's" and easy "yeses" a couple of weeks ago; this is where that idea came from again. The original post I made a couple of weeks ago was inspired by an email I received from Sophie Hudson. What would you add to this list of things if it were your post? 

And now, I'm switching gears for this week's Fashion Files with Amy...

Just like my post from last week, I'm still living in dresses that are either gauze or t-shirt material; it's been ridiculously hot here since last week, and I don't see that pattern breaking anytime soon. I decided to stick with the neon trend that I've been getting on my nails all summer, and went with yellow this time. 

So far this summer, I've had neon pink, followed by neon orange, and now I've got on the yellow. Neon nails in the summer are my favorite! In August, or at the end of July, I'll go back to more natural colors once again.

 

Maybe I'll go with a French manicure next time, or a buff color. I like to go natural in August, then in September, I switch over to my fall colors that I love the most. Are you like this with nails? They're kind of my thing, you know?

For the last portion of today's post, I'm talking about how I've done so far with my summer bucket list. Here are the things I mentioned in the original summer bucket list post back at the beginning of June:

• travel ✔
• time for lots of swimming/floating ✔
• explore new and different places with Chris ✔
• visit a farmer's market ✔
• do the mundane things that I don't have time for during the week when the school year starts (new copy of divorce papers, new Driver's License, a couple of bills switched into my new name, a dental appointment)
• catch up with friends ✔
• see more of Mom and Trish ✔
• plan a fall trip or two ✔
• declutter my house
• more outdoorsy date nights with Chris ✔
• read all the summer books I can ✔
• find a summer show to binge watch

Overall so far, I've done great at most of these!

The things I haven't done yet are things I'm currently working on. With this being my last week of SLC, I will have more time starting this week on Friday. I plan to try my best to use the time I have off wisely before I go back on July 27! I still need to have some paperwork taken care, and I need to spend some time decluttering in the kitchen, my bathroom, and my closet. I'm thankful I'll have the time to do this! I'll be ready for a little break by the end of this week, but even so, I am grateful for the job God gave me this summer. He always provides!

What are your thoughts on any/all of this? I'd love to hear them! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow; love to all!

Jen ❤️