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. The winter Olympics kicks off Friday, February 6...on a scale of one to ten (one being the least), how excited are you? What's your favorite winter Olympic sporting event? I love the Olympics, and the winter version is my favorite. I have plans to watch the opening ceremonies this Friday night! Chris already planned to come over after work; we'll order a pizza for dinner and watch together. I can't wait! I love the figure skating, the ice skating relays, and the skiing/snowboarding.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Alex, my bonus son, doing what he loved to do. I always forget that basketball is a part of the Winter Olympics. Speaking of that and the media coverage there, have you hear about Savannah Guthrie's (NBC The Today Show host) mom has been missing/possibly abducted? I was watching The Today Show yesterday and heard more to the story. How sad and scary for Savannah and her sibling(s). I heard that she pulled out of covering the opening ceremonies (possibly all of the Olympics) because of this.

2. In other sporting news, the Super Bowl (American football's championship game) will be played on Sunday February 8th. So tell us...what's your superpower? First off, this question didn't go the way I thought it would! I was prepared to say that I'm not a fan of the Super Bowl, but that I'm a big fan of the snacks. My superpower has to do with OPI nail polish; I can remember the names of the polishes I use, because their names are amazing. When my sons were teenagers, their girl friends would come over and test me regularly. I always blew their mind! 

Proof of this; when I know the name, I remember the color. 

These colors above are a couple of my favorites: Vampsterdam and Shorts Story. I'd love to be the one who gives polishes their names!

3. Are you a romantic? I used to say that I wasn't, but guess what? I am. Here's my idea of a romantic date: a picnic filled with things that we love, eaten on a back country road in the middle of nowhere, sitting in the bed of his truck lined with blankets/pillows so that we can be comfy as we watch the sunset, then slow dancing to our favorite country songs (the acoustic version of Spin You Round by Morgan Wallen) in the glow cast from his headlights. 

 

I love it when he stands behind me and hugs me. He's so tall that he makes me feel tiny (I'm not🤣). I also love that he dances; we've definitely shared some kitchen dancing as dinner was cooking. He's mentioned us taking lessons together, which sounds like fun. I'm not a big dancer, though I can sway and keep up with a beat. I'm not a ballroom dancer, and that's what he'd love to learn.   

4. Bleu cheese...yay or nay? How about feta? If you said yes to one or both, what's a dish you like that calls for one of these? I love bleu cheese, but I'm not a big fan of feta. The dish I can think of that calls for bleu cheese is hot wings with bleu cheese for the carrot and celery sticks to be dipped in. I guess I should specify that I prefer bleu cheese dressing over actual hunks of bleu cheese. I like that too, though, and will eat it on salads or baked potatoes.

5. What's more important: doing what you love or loving what you do? Can I say both? I've often heard it said that if you have a job that you love, you'll never work a day in your life. My dad loved his job, and I love mine. What a blessing this is to be able to say! I do think it's more important to love what you do; I say this to my sons all the time regarding their jobs. 

I love it when Drew has a job nearby; he'll often stop by to see me while he's in town. Speaking of doing something you love: Drew works his rear end off in the HVAC industry; it's hard work, but he loves what he does and he's good at what he does. I'm so proud of all my sons! Three out of four of them love what they do; the fourth one is looking for a job as I write this.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Like I always do, I'm going to share a song I recently came across. We sang this in church on Sunday, and I thought then that I'd like to share it here with you today. This is Trust in God by Elevation Worship. I needed to hear this song again yesterday; it goes along with where I read in Scripture yesterday (Exodus chapters 13,14,15) and I kind of tied it all together. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! 

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

p.s. Keep reading after this post to see this month's Currently link-up!

Jenn 🩷

Currently: February 2026

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Amy for this month's edition of Currently. I'll be talking about what I'm loving, baking/cooking, watching/reading, planning, and savoring. I'll jump right in! 

I'm currently loving these things pictured below...

...also known as the skincare products I found and am using that came from The Dollar Tree! The lip oil is amazing, and I cannot talk about it enough. If you take my word for anything, let it be about Jesus and this lip oil. Run and get you some ASAP! I almost prefer it to lipstick/gloss nowadays. 

I'm currently loving the game Uzzle that my third grade friend likes to play on Fun Fridays.

I'm currently loving school dress up days; this was our blue out day for our first basketball game of the season!

And I'm currently loving playing cards while I have downtime at home, whether day or night.

I'm currently baking/cooking all the food in my fridge/pantry. I'm snowed/iced in at the moment that I'm writing this, and it's forcing me to cook. This isn't a bad thing! 

Chris made dinner for us over the weekend. This was delicious! It was blackened chicken with Alfredo, in which the sauce was from scratch. 

Other than this sourdough bread, I don't do much baking. But I've baked twice in as many weeks! I keep one loaf and I give the other loaf away; each time I bake bread, it makes two loaves. One went to Jonah's friend Nick, and the other went to my son Graham.

I'm currently watching/reading Landman on Paramount +. I'm also watching movies a lot right now. I watched His & Hers on Netflix; have you seen it yet? It's scary! I watched it while I was iced/snowed in last week since there were only seven episodes. I watched it only in the daytime hours since I'm alone all the time. I'm watching When Calls the Heart on Hallmark +; I'm always watching old shows I love on Netflix like The Gilmore Girls and Younger, and I started watching Love is Blind (the US version, starting with season 9) thanks to our lovely host, Amy. Do you have any recs for me? I can't do scary/suspenseful. I prefer reality or sweet/funny.

I'm currently reading an older Melanie Shankle book called, Nobody's Cuter Than You; the book is about the beauty of women friendship. I can attest to both the book and to the beauty that comes from having friendship like she talks about. I'm also currently enjoying reading the cookbooks I have at home that I've never read; I have one by Reba McEntyre, Ree Drummond, Joanna Gaines, and The Crockpot Girls.

I'm currently planning and working on two upcoming trips, one in March and the other in April. I had a trip to Dallas planned to go see Noah in February, but I've had to cancel. 

In March I'm traveling back to Colorado; my niece Erika is pregnant with her fifth daughter, who will be born in May. My sister Debi is hosting a "sprinkle" for her in lieu of a baby shower. Mom, Trish, and I are flying to Denver on Wednesday of my spring break and will be flying back home on Sunday so that I can return to work on Monday. 

The trip in March is to a new location for me! I've been to South Carolina, but only once, and to Myrtle Beach. It's crazy to think that this trip will be our third annual blogger's retreat! Our first trip was Tanya, Joanne, Marilyn, and me. Maria was supposed to come, but she had an injury that involved surgery, so she was forced to cancel. That first trip was in 2024; we traveled to Franklin, Tennessee, which is close to Nashville. Joanne and Tanya flew in; we picked them up at the airport and then finished the drive to our Air BNB. 

Last year in April of 2025, Maria and Amy joined us! This year it's Tanya, Joanne, Maria, Marilyn, and me. I don't think Amy can join us, but we're hoping to have her back next year. Joyce from the Hodgepodge posts will be joining us for part of the time that we're in SC! Marilyn has met her once, but the rest of us have not. 

It's crazy to think about how much of life has changed for me since that first blog trip in April of 2024. Graham and Noah still lived at home; I was still happily married, Dad was still alive. Now none of those statements are true. Noah moved to Dallas in May of 2024; Todd told me he didn't want to be married anymore on June 22 of 2024, Dad died on July 2 of 2024, his funeral was on July 11 of 2024, I found out Todd was cheating on me on July 13 of 2024 and that was the day he moved out. Graham bought his house in August of 2024 and moved out in the middle of September of 2024. I filed for divorce on September 11 of that same month, and by March 26 of 2025, we were divorced; by this time, it was just Jonah and me living in my home. It's still that way today! 

I'm a dates girl; are you like this? I can never forget all of these dates and their close proximity.

I'm currently savoring each and everyday. 

I'm loving being in a relationship with Chris; he's a wonderful man. My dad would have loved him! He loves to cook for me/us, and that's something I've never had. I think I fell a little bit more in love with him on this night last weekend when he cooked dinner for us! We enjoy being together; I trust him explicitly with anything and everything. We went for a ride on that same afternoon of the night he cooked last weekend; the roads were still icy, but he went slow so that I wouldn't be scared. I cannot say enough how great of a person he is; I think he's incredibly handsome, but it's his heart that is beautiful. 

These pictures made me laugh really hard at the time that I took them. Part of savoring life for me means lots of laughter; I'm thankful that my family and friends afford me lots of those moments. Life feels good and it is; it's not perfect by any means, but I take things a day at a time.

What are you savoring right now? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

inspired writing Tuesday--looking on the bright side of things and an attitude of romanticizing life

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! Have you ever read the book On the Bright Side by Melanie Shankle? It's one of my favorite books of all time, and it's what inspired the idea for today's blog post. I hope this post inspires you in some way! 

I have always been the type of person who looks on the bright side of things in life; I know this characteristic can be annoying in people, so I try not to be overly obnoxious. I know that life is so hard for a lot of us, but I honestly think it's best if we don't dwell on all of the negative. I also don't want to brush someone's pain aside and tell them to just think positively. Life is hard, and often feels debilitating, even for those of us who walk closely with Jesus. I don't ever want to make someone think that I'm negating what they're going through. That being said, I do think it's important to dwell on all that is good. Here's a passage that I love that inspires me to do this: 

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

I'm definitely not saying that life is perfect; it's often the furthest thing from that! We all have our things that keep us awake at night, and mine feels like a mountain. Even so, dwelling on negative things really starts to take a toll on all of us. Things can be hard, but we can focus on what is true. And for my believing friends, what is true is that the Lord loves each and every one of us. What is true is that He will continue to provide for us whatever we need. What is true is that He will take something bad that we've gone through and use it for good in our lives, and for His glory. What is true is that each of us have family members and friends who love and care for us; they're there to help us carry those heavy burdens. It's important to learn to lean on them! 

Focus on things that are lovely. What is lovely? Nature is lovely, because God created it for us to enjoy. When you're feeling yourself go down a dark path, step outside and move your body. Sometimes this can't be done, so if that happens, maybe just go out and breathe in some cold air. It's refreshing and opens up the lungs! Do a few jogs in place, or jumping jacks or whatever else you can think of; it's just important to get outside. 

What is lovely is that each of us have everything that we need and most of what we want. We have homes to live in, vehicles to get us around, jobs (even if you're in retirement) that He provided for us, animals to make us laugh, many of you have spouses who love you, kids to love, grandbabies to dote on. I could go on and on, but you get my drift.

What's something that's worthy of praise? God is worthy of praise. As you pray, consider starting with praising Him for who He is to you. To me He is Savior, Creator, Provider, the God who sees my tears and hears my cries, Guide, Husband, Father, Friend. Who is God to you? That is what you can think on that is praiseworthy! 

Speaking of praise/prayer, it's important to remember to pray about the things that keep us awake at night. I have to tell myself this all the time! If it's bothering me that much, I should stop worrying and start praying. I am reminding myself of this once again as I write this, because all too often, I'll worry about something and not take the time to pray. I am a huge fan of asking people for prayer! I'm of the belief that the more people praying, the better. 

All of these things I've talked about are things that help me to be the type of person who looks on the bright side of things; also, this a part of why I am who I am today. Many of you say kind things to me, but it's not really me that's trying to be that way. I've been the recipient of God's love, grace, and mercy; it's because of Him that I am like this. I give Him all the honor for everything in my life, because it's nothing I could have done on my own.

Additionally, I am of the mindset that it's always good to have things to look forward to; I have said this before and will say it time and again. 

I often romanticize my life. What that means is that I look forward to everything, even the smallest of things. Here's what else I look forward to on a regular basis that I'll add to the this list pictured above:

• a new morning and fresh starts
• that first cup of coffee each morning
• a new season (Spring!)
• reading a good book
• the prospect of an afternoon nap
• watching a great show
• making future plans
• time out with friends
• towels fresh from the dryer
• a long, hot shower
• sunshine
• the weekend
• the ice that's still on my driveway and road melting
• seeing Chris after he gets off work some days
• Galentine's day at Mare's
• Valentine's celebrating with my Chris
• getting a new color on my nails
• the next time I'm scheduled to get highlights
• Summer!
• going back to school after six days of snow/ice days
• good food
• planning a date with Chris...something simple like eating dinner at home, and going to chase a sunset in a field
• getting dressed each day

Does any of this resonate with you? Tell me which part and why, because I love hearing from you! Thank you for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 🩷

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! I can't wait to hear from you at the end of today's post. I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. I'll jump right in! 

Chris' work was slow last week because of the ice, so because of that he took Friday off. He came and got me so that I could ride around with him while he ran some errands. We ended up going to his office to grab something he'd forgotten on Thursday, then we went to a couple of different stores that he needed to go to before eating lunch and coming back to my house. We were only here for a couple of hours; we both had a slice of pizza that I'd had the night before, then we left to go to a movie.

We went to the Dollar Tree first for movie candy, then we went to see The Housemaid. I read the book but wanted to see the movie only after a friend told me I needed to. It was freaky! Both of us were creeped out the whole time and midway through the movie he told me I was never allowed to pick movies again. 🤣 I laughed so hard when he said that; he also threatened to make me follow him every time he had to go somewhere alone. 

I started watching Landman again on Paramount +, so I watched an episode of that before calling it a night. I love a lazy Saturday morning!

I love sitting down with my Bible and journal; I don't do it as often as I would like since I've gone back to work. I sure have enjoyed that part of being off this week, though! I like to keep track of where I'm reading in the Bible in my journal; on this day (January 31, I read Exodus 4,5, and 6). I also like to write what day of reading it is; after I do that, I like to journal about moments that I call weekend happies. Sometimes I actually write a prayer or tell about something I'm going through; other days I just keep with things I'm thankful for or happy moments. 

I love posts like this that I see on Instagram! This second one above is from Pippi Post; do you follow them on IG? I love their page, and I've bought a few things from them before. I have a cute Stanley style cup from their shop.

Speaking of cups...I went to Aldi to grocery shop on Saturday when Chris picked me up; look at this cute one that they had for $10! We all know how much of a thing I have for hearts, and I use them in my house for ten out of the twelve months of the year. 

Once Chris got here we went to lunch first, because I cannot grocery shop when I'm even slightly hungry. We ate at Mug Shots; we often split meals because neither of us eat much, and that's what we did Saturday. We ordered a blackened chicken sandwich with fries, which was delicious. We sat at the bar; do you ever do that? I love sitting at a bar and people watching. I rarely actually get a drink at a bar, I just get food and a soft drink or water. I do this pretty often if I'm eating alone. 

After lunch we went to Aldi, Harbor Freight (he loves the hats there and Reese recently ate his), Baskin Robbins for ice cream, then Lowe's. I've had a slow draining sink in my bathroom for the last two months; I fixed it once, but it had started stopping up again. I asked Chris to see if he could get it to drain again while he was here, so I bought the tool he needed at Lowe's and then he fixed it for me. That night we ate here; he cooked some really good pork chops, and I made the sides for us. After that we watched Landman together.

Chris met me at church Sunday morning. Look at the snow pile! They're all over our city. After church we went to lunch, and look who I ran into...

Bestie! I love running into people I know, but what a treat to run into Mare! After lunch we ran his truck through the car wash, then we went to my happy place.

I got a nice stack of books, and Chris checked some out as well!

We came back here to read; I loved Chris' Wilson impersonation. Remember the show Home Improvement with Tim Allen from the 90's and how Wilson the neighbor would never show all of his face? We ate an early dinner and watched a movie, then he said our goodbyes. I was in bed pretty early after a quick shower; I'm trying to get back into the groove of going to bed at nine and waking up at five for when I go back to work tomorrow (hopefully). 

What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! I'll see you back here tomorrow, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 🖤