Estes Park, Colorado

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I thought I'd share what we did on Monday while I was in Colorado. In all the years I've been going there, which is twelve years, I've never been to Estes Park. Debi and Lisa have only been once, so that's what we did!

I started my day with this cute mug full of coffee, then we were on the road by eight. 

The drive there was stunning! Because of the drought, most of the leaves had already changed colors and fallen off the trees. I was a little sad about this, but it was still beautiful. I love a Colorado mountain town! 

Anyone ever watch The Good Witch series on Hallmark a few years ago?! This made me think of the show. 

You know I love a bookstore! Put it in the mountains like this, and it's even better! I took the picture of the book to show Marilyn. 

It was beautiful! 

We went to The Stanley Hotel while we were there; this is where part of The Shining was filmed. None of us have seen that, so all of that was lost on us, but it was still a cool historical hotel. We ate lunch at their restaurant, The Cascades, and walked around a bit before leaving to look for elk. 

We found lots of them! It's incredible that they just walk around like this in the downtown area. Lisa even spotted and filmed two of them fighting! It's rutting season, so they were also making lots of noise. I was blown away. We learned that Trish had a good eye for spotting them! We let her be the guide from then on. Ha! 

We drove back to Littleton, dropped Lisa at her car, and picked up Chinese takeout to take home to Debi's. This is what I did for the rest of the night. It was nice! It was a great trip; we ended the stay by resting on Tuesday, which was what I needed. I didn't feel my best the whole time I was there, so I enjoyed reading and napping for most of the day. We flew home yesterday and I was glad to be back home! I'm always grateful that I get to travel; many people don't ever get to do this, and I am thankful for what I can do on my own. I'm proud of myself for this, because I do it in a way that I can afford. And I think it's cool that I can do this on my own; one of you mentioned that this week, and I was glad someone said what I'd been feeling. 

Thanks for reading my blog, 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. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. I am definitely driven more by comfort. I have enough curiosity to want to travel, so there is that in me, but mostly I am driven by comfort. I seek this out in the clothing and shoes that I wear and in the things that I like to do. 

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? One non-food item that stays in my refrigerator is aloe vera. It feels so good on a sunburn, and the colder it is the better it feels. 

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need background noise? Do you seek out times or places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence or to be silent? I am comfortable with silence, and the people I can practice that with are my people. If I'm home, I like to have background noise. You've heard me say this, how I find a show I've seen a hundred times and will put it on just to have some noise. The only time I seek out silence is in my car immediately after work. I need to decompress for the five minutes it takes me to drive home; this is the time when I experience the saying that silence can be almost deafening. My favorite place to seek this out is in my bedroom when I lay down at night. 

4. Carpentry, plumbing, electrical, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today? I wish I could do carpentry work; there's no reason why I can't learn! I watch videos of women doing things around their homes to improve the look, and I'm always amazed by them. I watched a video just the other day that my sister showed me of a woman repurposing an old ladder and painting it; she installed it onto the wall where her staircase is, and it was a new handrail! I've also seen a lot of cool things made from wood pallets. 

(I love this picture of Jonah and Noah building the deck in the back of my house!)

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? I lean more towards being too needy, I feel like. I would say this was because of the amount of years I spent being married and having a husband who took care of all the things. I've learned to be more independent over the last couple of years, but even so...I feel like I could still learn to not be so needy. I will say this: I do not like asking for help. I think it's more difficult to deal with people who are too independent! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I will miss this view! It's where I sat and enjoyed quiet time each morning that I was in Colorado. I miss Cowboy already! 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! Love to all. 

Jen 

fashion files and some 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! 

   

These were my outfits from last week; there were some casual days at work for one reason or another, and then I wore more fall like outfits. I went out Thursday night and wore the yellow dress. 

And now for the second part of the post...here are a few random thoughts I've had lately. 

I love Colorado; I could live here. We were talking about the price of houses yesterday as we drove down the mountain to Castle Rock. Mike and Debi are the most hospitable people I've ever met and said if I ever do that, that I could live in their basement for a while until I figure out where I'd want to land. I don't know that I could ever leave my kids, but it's fun to dream, right? 

I'm ready to start venturing out again in the dating world. People have thoughts about this, but I don't want really want to hear them. I have to do what feels right for me, and what I think is best. I think it can be another part of the healing journey. 

Being with my sisters is like literal food for my soul. There's nothing else that feeds me like time with them, and I am beyond grateful for every second of time we have together!

I want a new purse. I don't know what I want yet, but stay tuned! On the same note, I also want some new sneakers. That's a need, though, not a want. 

Alright, well...thanks for reading my blog, friends. See you back here tomorrow for the hodgepodge! Love to all.

Jen 

Hello Monday

 

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

My weekend was epic, because I'm writing from Colorado, so first off, there's that. Here are some things that have made it the very best weekend...

Waking up to these beautiful flowers from a sweet friend made me so happy on Friday morning. I got these on Thursday, but I forgot to mention them in Friday's post. Aren't they lovely?! 

I love writing Scripture! It's getting me back in the word of God consistently, and I love the art of handwriting. I have so many friends who are copying Scripture right now; they're going book by book. One friend just finished writing out the book of Matthew! I think this is amazing and I may do that on my own someday. 

It was a fun day at school, because it was Friday before fall break. We had dance parties, jam sessions in the classrooms, underground dress up days for just the staff, and we played games and colored all day. That night I had dinner with a friend and then relaxed at home before packing early the next morning. 

Here's my stuff all ready to go! My stepdad Bill picked me up and drove Trish and me to the airport. 

We had a great flight coming in and we were happy to be on the tram to get us to our sisters! Lisa picked us up and then we went to her house for the rest of the day. We had dinner over there...a shrimp boil...and the whole family was there. It was amazing. 

I met my newest great niece, Ella Blake! I love, love, LOVE getting to be here with my great nieces! This was a fun night; the image of all of us in one place almost makes me cry. All we needed was Mom, Bill, and the rest of the family in Memphis and it would have been perfect.  

I only have pics of Lisa's house, but both my sisters are incredible decorators. Their styles are completely different, but they're equally as talented and I love both their houses. Please know that I love her Halloween tree and want to do one next year. I started to do one for me this year, but I couldn't pull it together. We left and came back to Debi's house after this, which is where we're staying this time. 

I was so happy to see sweet Cowboy, but it was mutual, trust me. He got SO excited when I got out of their car and came inside! I love him so much. He's eleven now! We sat on the back porch for a couple of hours when we got to Debi's house; the weather was perfect. 

We spent Sunday at a pumpkin patch and at my niece's house. It was a fun and long day; the elevation got me when I walked up a bit hill back to the car and I had an asthma attack. After a few hours I was okay, but it took the wind out of me, quite literally. It was an amazing day and I cannot wait until today! 

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

Jen