Currently: the June 2024 edition

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! Welcome to this month's edition of Currently. We'll be talking about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, enjoying, seeing, and lounging around in. (In July we'll be talking about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, savoring, celebrating, and remembering.)

Loving: There are so many things to love in the summer time! Here are a few of my top favorites.

I've been loving that I can just walk across the street to swim! This has been such a blessing to us for several reasons: one, it's kept Jonah busy in the sense that he needed to be busy when his twin brother moved to Dallas. Two, it's been so wonderful to have a place right here to swim on those really hot, icky days. Three, it's been nice to work on my tan for an hour at a time, here and there. I've been doing that since mid May! I'm thankful that I don't burn; I am diligent with sunscreen, and I reapply often.

This felt amazing on Sunday, when it was so hot. I've been loving exercising in it a lot recently! 

I've been loving my summer scented candles from Walmart! Did I mention that I joined Walmart+? I did; it's been worth every penny, and it's been saving my sanity for over a month now. Life has been busy, and I've been having to adjust my cooking quantities and the frequency in which I make full meals during the week. (Noah moved away, Graham and Jonah are rarely home for dinner, Drew comes around only every couple of weeks, and Todd has a new job that has him working four week nights in a row.)

I've been loving my neon nails! Go big or go home, right? 

Looking forward to: Honestly, I've just been savoring this stage in life, and I've been looking forward to waking up each and everyday. I am still getting the best sleep of my life, and I'm up everyday almost in the four o'clock hour; Monday I slept in until 5:30 (I did the same last Saturday), but I love being up and at 'em so early every morning! I credit the Lord with all of this, because I love spending extra time in His word on those mornings when I'm up before the birds. Also, you should come back on Saturday and read the second installment of my new series, The Cozy Chronicles. I'll be talking about my morning routine and why/how I've started waking up so early each day. 

Enjoying: I've been enjoying the quality time I've had with my husband lately, and the one on one conversations I've been having with my sons. I've been enjoying that they like to text me about things regarding how they're feeling, or that they Snapchat me funny pictures and videos. I've been enjoying that a couple of them like to call me as they drive somewhere, and I drop whatever I'm doing and take the call, no matter what it is that I'm in the middle of. Family always trumps everything! 

I love them the most.

Seeing: I've been seeing some beautiful sights around town and our home! 

Lounging around in: I'm currently lounging around in my comfy clothes that I only wear when I'm at home. Because people are in and our of our home so often (my favorite!), I wear leggings and t-shirts as my "pajamas", which they're really not, so I call them my comfy clothes. 

Here's the proof of this: I come home and change, and I immediately put my hair up like this, because it's been so hot. 

I can't wait to read your posts today! Don't forget to leave some comment love on one or a few of the others that are joining in with us. 

Did you know that I host or co-host several other link parties? Every week, I host a link-up called Thankful Thursday, where I share from my gratitude journal. Every last Saturday of the month, I host Share 4 Somethings; in 2024, we talk about the things we loved/disliked, accomplished, improved upon/needs improvement, and noticed. The prompts stay the same all year long, unlike this Currently series, when they change from month to month. And on the first Thursday of each month, I co-host a series with Joanne, Marilyn and Tanya called Share Your Shelf, where we talk about the books we've read lately. I'd love to have you join in with us for one of those or all of those! Here are the graphics for each one, in the order I listed them.

I'll keep this open for two weeks, for anyone who wants to join in a little late. I'm so glad you joined us today! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 🖤

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

what's in my (pool) bag

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! It's that time of year when I talk about all things having to do with summer and doing my favorite summer thing—going to the pool (or beach). Whether it's the pool that you see below that belongs to my neighbors across the street that they're letting us use as we dog sit for them...

... or whether it's this beautiful neighborhood pool that I go to with my mom-in-love, it doesn't matter. I love all pools equally! 

I remember when my sons were all little, what an ordeal it was to get us all out the door in our suits, sunscreen-ed, and get all the paraphernalia that we had to take with us. It was a chore, but it was well worth the trouble! These days, life is quite a bit simpler, and it's nothing at all for me to throw some things in my big pool bag and to take off. 

This is a bag that I bought at Marshall's a few years ago when I started volunteering at our church a few days a week. I love the size, the color, the straps, and how it stands open when you set it down; it makes the perfect pool bag! It wasn't expensive, less than $15 if I remember correctly, and I love that you can just wash it out when it gets dirty. 

These are the things that I always have with me when I go to the pool or to the beach. I always have one of the larger beach towels that we have, I have spray on sunscreen for easy reapplication, I always take some reading glasses along with the sunglasses that I wear there (only at the beach, not at the pool), and I always have my Kindle with me. I also have a huge insulated cup for my water, and if I'm going to be there for a long time (again, I'm thinking of the beach more), I have snacks in a small cooler that sits down inside of this bag. 

I don't really take too much, and I don't take sunscreen for my face, because I wear tinted moisturizer that has SPF 50, or sometimes I'll even wear makeup, like I did on Sunday when I went swimming after church.

Even if I don't wear makeup, I wear lipstick, because even if it doesn't have SPF in it, it'll protect your lips from the sun if the color is dark enough. I learned this several years ago when my lips got sunburned. And no, I don't always wear jewelry to the pool, but I'd just gotten home, was hot, and forgot to take off my necklaces before I left my house. Thankfully these are inexpensive ones from Amazon!

Other things I keep with me sometimes:

• wipes for my hands or antibacterial hand gel
• sunscreen for my face (lotion, not spray)
• a wipe for my phone screen and glasses
• Bluetooth ear buds (I love to keep one in so that I can still hear someone talking to me)
• ice packs
• wash cloth that's been wet and inside a plastic baggie (this feels great when I'm at the beach and it's really hot and I'm not in the ocean)
• small Bluetooth speaker if I want to listen to music
• small towel for my hands if I want to read my Kindle while poolside

What do you put in your beach or pool bag? I'd love to know! I'm joining in with Joanne today for her Talk About It Tuesday link party. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.

Prime Purchases, the summer edition

 

Happy bonus blog post day! I'm linking with my friend Tanya for this bonus blog post today. I hope you're inspired and that you enjoy reading what I've been buying on Amazon lately! 

You read about this cover-up that I purchased last month, but it bears repeating for this month! Summer has arrived and it's officially pool season; I decided to treat myself to a new swimsuit this year and a new cover-up, and when this hot pink one came in and I loved it as much as I did, I immediately ordered another one to wear as a shirt with leggings or fitted white pants, like you see above. Click here to see this on Amazon; for TODAY ONLY, it's on sale for 40% off! I'm debating with myself on whether or not I should get another one, in the "cyan" color. These cover-ups are magical! They're thin, flowy, quick drying, and super cute. 

Here is the first swimsuit I bought myself; once again, I was so impressed that I bought a second one a few days later so that I can alternate them. I love everything about this adorable swimsuit! You can click here to see this one above. There are lots of color options! I love that the cups are removeable. 

This will be the third summer I've used this Hawaiian Tropic body butter. I don't know why it's so expensive; it's normally $11, so I don't know if I would spend that much money on a tub of lotion. I will say that it does last for a long time, and the smell is one of the best I've ever used. 

This is the third summer I've used this cuticle oil, but I actually use it all year long. One bottle lasted a year and a half! I bought a second one to keep downstairs, but I love to use this to keep my pedicure looking great and to soften any rough skin brought about by pools. 

Would it even be summer without a Kindle to read on? While you're at it, don't forget a cover with a stand for easy poolside reading! 

I actually did some of that myself yesterday after church! 

Lastly, I bought these sandals that Tanya talked about today! They'll be here tomorrow and I can't wait. The price is excellent! I'll share more about them on Friday. so stay tuned!

Speaking of Friday and the rest of the week, I hope you come back each day! I have some great blog posts planned this week: things like what's in my pool bag, the Currently link on Wednesday (we'll share what we're currently loving, looking forward to, enjoying, seeing, and lounging around in), the Thankful Thursday weekly link party & the monthly Share Your Shelf link party that I co-host with Joanne, Marilyn, and Tanya, Friday Favorites, and the second edition of The Cozy Chronicles will post on Saturday. I'm glad you're here to read along with me, and if you take the time to comment, will you make sure I know who you are and what your blog address is? I'd love to return the comment love to you! 

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

Jenn 🩵

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was so much fun and I did a few of my very favorite things. I'll share them below!

I started off my Friday in my favorite way: lingering in God's word, praying, and finally getting around to reading my favorite blogs. Speaking of that, I am behind on blog reading! If you haven't seen a comment from me in a while, I'm sorry! I changed my morning routine when I started waking up at four something every morning, and because of the fact that the youngest puppy likes to cuddle and sleep in my lap, I cannot hold both her and the laptop. So, I'm waking up, drinking coffee and reading my book first, then I'm moving onto other things by six. I'm going on week number five of the four a.m. wake up, not that I am complaining, because I love it so much! 

After everyone left for the day, I did laundry, I dusted/vacuumed, I emptied the dishwasher, and after I got dressed for the day, I worked in our (new) office. I hung this map, and some other things, but I'll show you the rest of this room sometime this week. Stay tuned! 

Dad came over, as usual, which was really nice. We ran to Costco so that I could fill up my gas tank, then we had lunch at Subway, picked up an order from Walmart, and came back to my house. I've learned that it's best to get Dad out of the house on the days we're together. If we stay here for too long that day, the time seems to drag on and he gets sleepy. As long as we stay busy, he has lots of energy and he seems to enjoy our visit more. Stay tuned on this topic as well, I've got ideas to keep us busy on Fridays during the summer! He loves to travel, and life isn't conducive to that anymore, so I have big plans to take little half day road trips around our area. I can't wait!

Todd was working with TDOT, and I was home alone, so after I went to feed the neighbors' dogs (and stopped to take a hydrangea picture), I came home to rewatch this movie. 

I love this movie; it's really nostalgic and sweet. Have you watched this? 

I woke up to a picture from Noah; he'd spent part of Friday night at this really cool hangout area near McKinney, Texas. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little envious that he lives in such a cool area! There is so much to do where he lives.

I had a really nice morning; I finished the book I was reading, I lingered once again my quiet time, and then I got dressed and met up with my mom. We went to run some errands together, one of which took place at this beautiful furniture store that you see above, and then we had an amazing lunch at a great local place, Memphis Pizza Cafe. We each had Greek salads and we shared some cheesy bread. 

That night, Todd and I had made plans with our friends Jeremy and Tiffany. We used to hang out with them all the time, and haven't been together with them in ages. Jeremy has a different job now and travels all the time, so that's one reason why it's hard; we had a great time Saturday night, though! We went to our favorite restaurant, Jim's, and then they came back here to play cards. We played a game called Tripoly; it's equal parts poker, hearts, and then the tripoly part is the mat where all the poker chips are that you either win or pass up. It's a fun game; they introduced us to it years ago, and we loved it so much that we bought our own. 

I slept in until five on Sunday morning! I got dressed and came downstairs for coffee, then at six, I walked over to my neighbors' to feed their dogs. I loved my outfit that I had picked out for church, this white dress and strappy black Dansko sandals. 

I came back home and finished my quiet time routine, which includes writing out Scripture in the month of June, then we left for church. 

I shared this on Instagram over the weekend, in case anyone wants to join in with me.

I came home and went swimming immediately after church. The water felt amazing! It was so hot here yesterday. 

For the rest of the day, I either read or watched tv. Todd worked with the sheriff's department that night, so I watched this movie, then switched over to Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. 

For a little blog "business", I hope you come back each day. I have some great things planned for this week and can't wait to share them with you; on Wednesday, the Currently link party is happening (loving, looking forward to, enjoying, seeing, lounging around in), and on Thursday, the Share Your Shelf link party that I co-host with Joanne, Marilyn, and Tanya is taking place. I hope you join up with us for both!

So, how was your weekend? What did you do that you loved? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

a prayer guide for June

 

Happy Saturday, friends, and happy June! 

I read an excellent article yesterday that is a prayer guide for the month of June. If you want to read it, click here. Also, you should consider following Revive Our Hearts on Instagram. Are you familiar with Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth? She is one of my spiritual mentors (and no, I do not know her in person), and her ministry is solid. If you don't want to read it, I'll give a quick synopsis of how we can pray this month below, and just a reminder that these words were taken from an article that I read and liked to at the top of this post. 

In June we can: 

1. pray for boldness to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)

2. pray for the church to be compassionate (Colossians 3:12)

3. pray for the truth of the gospel to set people free (John 8:31-32)

4. pray for our governing officials; for them to have wisdom, humility, integrity, and honesty (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

5. pray for our pastors to remain true to God's word (1 Peter 5:2-4)

6. pray for believers to walk in wisdom in a dark and sinful world (Proverbs 4:23, James 3:17)

7. pray for opportunities to build relationships with people in the LGBTQ community (Matthew 9:10-12)

8. pray for families that are broken because of sinfulness (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

9. pray for parents of sons or daughters who are practicing homosexuality (Psalm 73:26, 28)

10. pray for transgender men and women who are wanting to change back to the sexual assignment that God gave to them in the wombs of their mothers (Isaiah 9:6)

11. pray for revival in our own hearts, in families, churches, communities, our nation, and the world (Psalm 85:6)

12. pray for believers to stand strong in their faith, that they wouldn't fall into self-righteousness (Luke 18:10-13)

13. praise God for the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16)

14. pray that the church would love the LGBTQ community (1 Corinthians 13:4)

15. pray that the church would stand on the truth and authority of God's word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

16. pray that we would speak with grace to build up others, and not tear them down (Ephesians 4:29)

17. pray that we would practice hospitality with opens hearts and homes (Matthew 25:40)

18. pray that God would raise up godly men to be fathers and actual dads to their children; pray that they would shepherd their family lovingly (and thank God if you're married to a godly man like this) (1 Peter 5:8-9)

19. pray for believers who teach in the public school system (Philippians 1:20-21)

20. pray for the ones trapped in the vices of pornography (1 John 1:7)

21. pray for those who suffered the trauma of abuse (Psalm 91:1-4)

22. pray for protection of marriages for the glory of God (Proverbs 4:23, Ephesians 5:25-27)

23. pray that our culture realizes that we have broken cisterns and that we would turn from idolatry to serve the one true God (Jeremiah 2:13)

24. pray that the church would look different from the world (Matthew 5:14-16)

25. pray for Christians influencers, that they would use the platform that the Lord gave them for His good and glory (2 Timothy 1:12)

26. pray for believers to long for heaven (Colossians 3:1-2)

27. pray for the next generation, that they would know the truth (John 17:17)

28. pray for strength in persecution (John 16:33)

29. pray for the young people to be open in sharing their struggles (Proverbs 11:14)

30. pray this verse: Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Maranatha! (Revelation 22:20)

Will you join me in praying these each month? This is something near to my heart, because several people that I love are either practicing homosexuality, or they battling the temptation of that lifestyle. As a believer and follower of Jesus, my stance on this is the same as what is written in the Bible, and I stand on the true and firm foundation of God's word. If you'd like to read what the Bible has to say about this and never have before, you can read in the book of Genesis, in chapters 2, and 6-9. Bible Gateway is a great resource, if you want to read it now, and I like the CSB translation, so just type in "Genesis 2" and then find the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) version.

Let me know if you're going to be joining me in prayer this month! Love to all. 

Jenn ❤️