girl's weekend getaway birthday trip

That's a mouthful, but it's accurate.  My sister Trish had a milestone birthday this weekend, and like we did with Lisa when she turned 50, we made plans for a girl's trip.  Originally my mom and I were the only two going, because my nephew is getting married in less than two weeks, and we didn't think Lisa and Debi would be able to come twice, so close together.  But Debi was able to make it work right away, and Lisa decided she could too, but we didn't tell Trish.  The original plan was to stay one night, but with them, we stayed THREE. 

Mom, Trish and I left around four and headed that way.  Lisa and Debi flew into Nashville and we were meeting them at the hotel.  They ended up going to dinner, though, and instead of meeting them at the hotel, we picked them up from Puckett's Boat House, where they had just eaten.  (We ate on the way, at a yummy country cooking type place, and ran into my pastor, his wife, and another friend from our old church and her family.)  Debi got in the car, and right when we were all buckling back up, Lisa started banging on the window.  Trish jumped out and started bawling.  It was an awesome surprise. 

We went night swimming right away, until all the bugs kept landing in our hair, then we went back to our room and showered, and fell asleep (at a semi normal time).  The next morning we got up and had breakfast, then we headed into the downtown Nashville area.  We were going on a bus tour, and it was called The Music City Rolling Jamboree.  The bus picked us up at the bottom of the CMT building.

It was HILARIOUS and slightly scandalous, but we all had a blast.  Poor Trish was called up to the front for karaoke, on a song that nobody knew, except for the chorus. 

There's this building in Nashville that everyone calls the Batman building, and we were right across the street from it.  You can't see that it looks like something straight out of Gotham City, but oh well. 

On the bus tour, we learned all kinds of cool things about Music City, and it was really interesting.  We saw some pretty buildings, too, but I don't have pictures.

After the tour, we went to a nearby restaurant and had lunch.  It was so good.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a bit, before our evening plans.  We had made plans to go to a play while we were there, but without really knowing much about it.  The play was Steel Magnolia's, which is one of our favorite movies of all time, and I thought it just sounded really fun.  There was dinner you could attend beforehand, so we thought that sounded good too, and bought the tickets.  Imagine our surprise, when we pulled up to a senior citizen's center.  Which was fitting, I guess, since it was a 50th birthday celebration, but STILL.  The dinner was pretty good, and the play was really good, just not like we had expected.  I know we will laugh about it for years to come.  I wish I had pictures of all of us as we pulled in.

We MIGHT have been slightly overdressed, but we just owned it and had fun. 

We went back to the hotel after the dinner and dug in to this cake.

It was AMAZING.  Lisa found this place that caters to CMT's events, and ordered this cake last week.  The place was called Ivey Cakes.

I love this picture of Lisa!  The place was adorable.

The next morning, we got up and went back downtown for brunch.

It was called Louie's Wine Dive, but their brunch food was really good.

Debi took this picture, and it cracks me up!  This bottle was filled with cold water.

We went to a cute little shop that is run by one of Debi's best friend's daughter, called Nashville Roots, and it's in the old house that Randy Travis lived in.  I love things like that.  I took a picture, but it's not great.

Then we went to Franklin for some shopping.

For dinner that night, we splurged and went to Shogun.  We all love Japanese food.

And then, because we needed to walk off some of that food, we went to Walmart and just walked around.

Some of us behaved, some of us, not so much. 

We were going to swim again, but the pool was full of children, so we decided to just hang out in our room, instead.  We started packing so we could get out the door at a decent time the next morning.  We checked out and had breakfast, then took Lisa and Debi to the airport.  Then Trish, Mom, and I started heading back home. 

It was a great weekend, and one we will talk about for a long time to come.  I'm so glad all of us were able to be there to help celebrate Trish.  Our goal was to make her feel like a queen and I am pretty sure we all accomplished that goal.  She is dearly loved and treasured, and our time together was a blast.  I am so glad we had that time, because when everyone is here again in two weeks, it's going to be crazy busy and a whirlwind of a time because of the wedding.  It was good to have all the quality time together this weekend...we don't get that much at all! 

If you've made it to the end, good for you!  I wanted to write this all out so I would have it to look back on.  Love to all!   

some things I've loved on the interwebs this week

I thought I'd share some things I've been watching/listening to this week, that I have either listened to for a while, or that I've recently found that I love.  Two of my favorite things are good messages from teachers/speakers that I respect and admire (when they're talking about Jesus) and some good praise and worship music. 

Here goes.

First up is my current favorite song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir.  We learned this last weekend at our choir rehearsal camp, and I have listened to it on repeat ever since.  Also, I am completely unable to get through this entire song without crying.  The Lord is so good, my friends, and He has been so kind, compassionate, and faithful to my family.  Listen to these words.



Next up is this sermon by Francis Chan.  It has forever changed my prayer life.  No longer do I pray, the old, normal way.  I pray for my friends, my family, and others I know of who are lost this way now.  It's a half hour, so if you have anytime at all to spare, listen to this. 

I've mentioned how much I love Instagram.  It's because I follow people like Dave and Ashley Willis, who post things like this image you see above.  If I'm going to spend time on social media, I want to be encouraged, uplifted, and inspired in my prayer life and in my walk with the Lord.  And y'all.  This is solid marriage advice.

I know this in my heart, this saying above, but life is hard, and when you throw in being exhausted or sick, I get so grumpy.  In times when I'm like that, is when I forget that we're a team.  Todd and I are different people, and we have differing approaches sometimes, but rather than fight, I need to remember this.  Sometimes I forget.  I need to remind myself to pray this every single day.  Being married is not easy, but when I see things like this, it helps me to be a better version of what God intended for me to be as a wife. 

I'll add one more thing about this topic above, and that is that as wives, we must submit both to God and to our husbands.  The Lord intended for the man to be the head of the home, as our protective covering, and the spiritual leader.  God will hold him accountable for this someday.  Wives are not intended to "wear the pants" in the family, and if that is something you struggle with like I do from time to time, pray!  Ask God to help you in this.  I pray that all the time, and I promise, He always helps me.

Moving on. 

Here's my other favorite song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.



Even my son Jonah loves this song.  It's so good!  We've been singing this for a while in church, a couple of months at the least, and every time I sing it, I love it even more.

Switching musical gears, I also walk around singing this song all the time.  The words say, "Fear, he is a liar."  But I take them as satan is a liar.  (Little s on that ugly name intended.  As one of my favorite bible teachers says, he doesn't deserve a capital letter before his name.)



One more: this version of Be Thou My Vision by Audrey Assad.



Well, I have several things to do today, so because of that, I'll stop with these things.  Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all. 

What's Up Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shay (and her friends) from MixAndMatchMama for this blog post.

1. What we're eating this week:

Well, I made a GIANT pot of taco soup for my Mom's birthday dinner last night, so we'll be finishing that off in the coming nights.  We're all about to be gone for several nights in a row, as well, so it'll be a 'you're on your own' type thing, too.

Also, this.

Mom left half her birthday cake here with us.  Praise the Lord, from Whom all blessings flow.  This is ridiculously good.

2.  What I'm reminiscing about:

I spent the first half of yesterday deep cleaning the downstairs, and this hit me like a ton of bricks.  I love (and sometimes hate) then and now pictures.  That first one is just precious to me, and what I felt like were the good old days.  They loved eating meals outside on the deck, and our backyard was THE place to be.

See?  We had all the good stuff in our yard, and all the neighborhood kids were always here.

(By the way, that was the time they made their own zip line in our yard, from the playground fort to the fence, and then talked Noah into trying it out.)

3.  What we've been up to:

I'm still recovering from being sick last week.  Our weather changed again and it hit me all over again on Monday, and I felt like I had an asthma attack coming on.

Also, Drew started his freshman year of college this week.

And Jonah and Noah are in their second week of their sophomore year of high school.

4.  What I'm dreading:

Have you read the Farmer's Almanac prediction of our winter?  It's not looking great, if you're anything like me or Lorelai Gilmore.  They predicted a warmer, wet winter all across the country.

5.  What I'm working on:

Decluttering this house.  Deep cleaning it, including the wood blinds.  I got a good start on this yesterday.  Also, thank the good Lord for making Jonah the way He did.  Jonah cleaned the tornado closet and the pantry yesterday, which really helped me out, while I went and grocery shopped.

6.  What I'm excited about:

September!  I think it's my favorite month of the year, only second to December.  It seems like every September, the mornings and evenings take a plunge, temperature wise.

7.  What I'm watching/reading:

It's almost fall, so I started over again (for the fourth time) my favorite show of all time: Gilmore Girls.  Also I'm reading two books, My Oxford Year (for pleasure) and The Jerusalem Secret (for book club).

8.  What I'm listening to:

This.  Over and over and over again on Spotify.  I love worship music!

9.  What I'm wearing:

So I have this adorable friend named Melanie at church.  I met her about four years ago, during a day when we volunteered to decorate Christmas trees for church with the music ministry.  She's the next phase in life ahead of me.  All her kids are grown, she has FOUR BOYS, and she  homeschooled them all.  We found all this out about each other that first day we met.  I just love her to pieces, and I've gotten to know her even more since we sing on praise team at church together.

She has worked independently for Premier Design Jewelry for a long time, and while she still sells the jewelry, she has started helping people shop their closets to make a fuller, trendier wardrobe.  She posts these videos on Facebook telling how to do that, and I watch them all the time.  She inspired me to start making more effort in the way I dress.  Though I love t-shirts and still have a bunch, I did not wear one of the old ones even ONE TIME all summer.

Because of all that I said, I try to look cute every time I leave my house, even if it's just to a friend's house for book club.  I bought several shirts over the summer (and will again probably sometime soon) and try to wear them with different pants or shorts and jewelry to make them into more than just one outfit.  While I will never win any fashion award, I try to buy things that are not too trendy or busy in pattern or color.  It's a little tricky to dress nice and still not own too many clothes, but somehow, it works.  (I try to have a wardrobe that borders on minimalism.)  That means I have four pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, a couple of pairs of cropped pants, some dressier pants for church, a bunch of shirts, two dresses (one that I'm saving for my nephew's wedding), and several pieces that can be worn over shirts.  And I just switch them all up to make them different from time to time.  Like I said, somehow it all works.

Here's one example.  I will not wear the shoes in this picture, but some cute rose gold birkenstocks I have, and I'll add a necklace that's short in length.

I will add here that making more of an effort with the way I look has helped me to feel better about myself.  I still have days when I can't stand how I look or what my hair is doing, but mostly, if I am put together outwardly, I feel like I have more confidence.  The spiritual side of me has to also say that none of this matters, accept for my heart.  Jesus only looks at our heart, not our outward appearance.  Balance is key, and I need to also remember to not make anything like the above an idol in my life. 

That was WAY longer than it should have been, but I digress.

10.  What I'm doing this weekend:

Oh my WORD.  I am so excited about this weekend!  One of my sisters is hitting a milestone birthday on September 2, and to celebrate, we're going to Nashville for two nights!  I cannot WAIT!  We will leave early Saturday morning and come home later on Monday.

11.  What I'm looking forward to next month:

I'm going to try to pull out all the fall decorations from the attic.  I love decking it all out for fall!  I'll switch all the candles back to the fall ones, put out pumpkins and front porch stuff and it will stay there until Thanksgiving night.  Like I said, September is my favorite month, only second to December.

12.  What else is new:

I'm pretty sure that about sums up life lately.  I'm still getting used to having only TWO boys at home all day, every day.  We're adjusting.  And having to think about breakfast again is weird.  Since Drew leaves so early for his Monday and Wednesday classes, he needs to eat a really good breakfast.  I bought a whole bunch of stuff for him with this in mind yesterday.

If you made it all the way to the end, way to go.

Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.

my mom

Today is my sweet mom's birthday.  I thought I'd share about her today, since I haven't done that in a long time.  (This post could also be titled, 'Shades of Jen's Hair'.) 

Mom is one of my very best friends.  I talk to her almost everyday, though she won't call me too often because she doesn't want to interrupt our school day.  And even though I tell her that is not at all the case, she still won't overstep.  I think that is the most considerate thing ever. 

Mom ALWAYS put herself last when I was young, and that is still the case.  My favorite thing when my kids were babies and young toddlers, was going to her house for dinner.  It was one night I never had to cook, clean, or take care of my kids.  We would get there, Mom would take the boys and be the one in charge, while Todd and I could actually sit and relax with a good meal.  That, my friends, is heaven to a young mom.

I also remember Mom being insanely gifted with a newborn baby, and crying every time she would walk out my door when they first born.  I always thought to myself what a great pediatric nurse she would have been, and though that didn't work out, I'm glad my sisters and I could provide her with lots of babies to love and nurture. 

When I was young, my friends always wanted to come over to my house, because it was well known around these parts that my mama could cook like nobody's business.  Todd can attest to that as well, because when we started dating, I think he ate dinner with us most nights.  She could get him to try foods he'd never eaten before, and to this day, some of the things he still loves are because of her.  Mom, thanks for passing down to me your love of cooking!  And also, thanks for always giving me great dinner ideas.  (I cannot tell you how many times I've called her from the parking lot of the grocery store, asking for meal ideas, because I was in a cooking rut.) 

Her fried chicken is so good, it will make you cry.  The same is true for her fried okra and fried green tomatoes, her chocolate cake, her cornbread, her DRESSING (my FAVORITE), her fried pies, and my boys will tell you she makes the BEST panini sandwich around.  I could go on and on, but I'll stop myself.  You get the picture.

My favorite thing that we do has transpired in the past few years, and that is that we love running errands together.  My boys have all gotten older, and we see her way less than we used to, so after some time has passed without us seeing each other, she'll call and ask if I want to go to lunch and to run around.  So we'll eat, and then we'll run errands together.  I'm kinda like her chauffeur, because I LOVE to drive her car and she always lets me.  (It reminds me of our old Suburban that I loved and miss!)  We'll eat, and then she may need to run somewhere, then I'll need to go to Costco, or we'll want to get our nails done or something equally as mundane and lovely.  I love those everyday, little, seemingly unimportant moments.  We always have so much to talk about and before we know it, when we part, we will have solved all the world's problems. 

Times like that are my very favorite.  I'm a quality time person, as in, that is my love language.  I never care what we do, I just like being along for the ride.  This rings true in all the relationships in my life, whether  it's with my husband, kids, parents, siblings or friends.  Those moments mean the world to me. 

So, Mom, thank you for giving me quality time.  Thank you for being such a wonderful example of a mom, and for teaching me how to be one to my boys.  Thank you for always showing me humility and selflessness.  I pray that I can be half the mom to my boys that you were/ARE to me.  I love you so much! 

And if you're not my mom reading this, thanks for reading my blog.  Love to all! 

when your morning (or life in general) doesn't go as planned

I had such great intentions for this morning.  It's Drew's first day of his freshman year in college, and I had thought yesterday about the kind of picture I could take of him to post on social media as a proud mom moment.  I'm rolling my eyes at myself as I write that, because even though I did pay attention in church, that was when I had that thought.

All my kids forbid pictures most days now, though, so I knew it would have to be something like a picture of his bedroom after he left, or his backpack and to-go Yeti cup filled with the coffee I had made for him, or something else similar.  I even spent time scrolling through old pictures this morning, of a picture of him from when he was young, so I could write a sentimental post about him.

I'm still rolling my eyes at myself, but now I'm also shaking my head at myself.

Sometimes social media makes me really, really dumb.  And other times it makes me feel like a complete mom failure.

I'll stop here and add a spiritual side to this, because there is a spiritual picture to everything in life.  I believe that the enemy THRIVES in moments like this.  I tend to want to throw a pity party for myself, and I tend to feel like I've screwed up my kids in some horrible way, so much so that they'll need professional counseling someday.  Thankfully, though, the Lord usually gets a hold of me before I sink too far down into that pit.  That was the case today.  I realized the enemy was struggling to gain some footing over how I was feeling about all the things I didn't do with Drew before he left, and I just got up and moved on with my morning.  I am so thankful to God for how He pulls me up out of the pit, and I am so glad that He shows me when the enemy is trying to work.  This would be a good moment to pray on the spiritual armor of God, when things like this happen.  Sometimes I do that, and other times, I forget.

If you know me at all, you know I love social media.  Well, Instagram.  I love Instagram.  I somewhat tolerate Facebook and only get on to clear off my notifications.  Just give me all the pictures, and I'm happy.  Anyway, when I opened up Facebook this morning (even though I knew better than to do this, I did it anyway), those thoughts of how I'd failed to take a picture of him for his first day rose to the surface, as I saw picture after picture of college students, or things my friends did with their sons or daughters before they left for school.  I didn't sit and scroll, though, when I saw it, I just got off my phone and came over to the computer to start this blog post.

And even though I literally fell asleep close to midnight and woke up at five this morning praying for Drew, I failed to pray WITH him before he walked out the door.  The morning became weird, because he decided he wanted to leave really early so he could go grab breakfast somewhere and he wanted to get there in plenty of time to find out where he needed to go, because he'd never been to the downtown campus.  Because of that, he was out the door, and instead of calling him back or following him out to his truck, I just stood at the dining room window and watched him until he left, praying over him the whole time.

I guess that's the point of this post.  Even when something doesn't go like we think it will, it's not wasted time.  It's never too late to pray over one of your kids, even if it's not WITH them.  Realistically, that just doesn't usually happen in our house nowadays.  I know of families who are able to get it together enough to do family devotions or prayer each morning, and though I did do those things with my boys when they were younger, it never goes that way now.  I do always ask if they're spending time praying, though, and reading the word of God.  I think it's great if you're able to keep doing those things with your kids.  But I think it's okay if you don't continue on in those things, if you adapt them as they grow in age, or if you forget some or most mornings. 

And if you're anything like me, don't beat yourself up over that fact.  God knew when I woke up at five o'clock this morning, how the morning would already go, and He doesn't hold that against me, praise His holy name.  I think we're hard on ourselves as human beings because of social media.  As much as I love it most of the time, I have to remind myself of these things over and over (and over and over again).  We are never immune to getting stuck in the horrible trap of comparison, and sometimes we just have to put down our phones and walk away.  Trust me when I say that I am saying that for myself.  I get stuck in that pit so often, as I scroll through days like today, or if I see someone's perfectly put together house.  I will keep on reminding myself of this, as long as I stay on social media.

God is so very gracious to me to remind me of these things, and He is always bringing His words and these truths to my mind.  I'm so glad He does that, because I always need it, and will continue to need the constant reminders.  I pray this encourages someone who needs reminding of this today.  As a friend once told me, "Get a hold of yourself and pull it together!"  God knows.  He is sovereign.  And He is the One in control, making all the plans that He has already decided upon.  He is such a good Father to me.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.

(P.s.  If you're one of the ones who posted such things about your student this morning, know that my issue with that was not at all with you!  I love seeing things like that.  The issue is ME and my heart.  I had to work it out with God before I wrote this.  Please keep on posting your sweet pictures!)

a fun night out

I didn't mean to take a blogging break, but that's what happens when you're not quite up to par.  I live near Memphis, for anyone who doesn't know me, and we are known for our notoriously RIDICULOUS weather.  We had a front with rain come through one day, and then we had a cool front move in right after.  That made my sinuses go crazy and I've been dealing with it all week and just trying to get better.  (Medicine does help.)

I've carried on with plans on two days this week, but everything else I had to cancel, including my plans for today.  I do have a haircut in two hours, though, and I am not canceling that!  #mamaneedsahaircut

Last night was the night I've been looking forward to for two weeks.  We got all dressed up and went to dinner and a play.  My husband's (and his dad's) company repairs medical equipment, and one of their customers is the World Cataract Foundation, located here in Memphis.  Any time they need anything done, they donate their services to them at no charge.  Because of that, and as a thank you, we were given tickets to a cocktail hour and a play.  The play was Newsies, and it did not disappoint! 

It was everything I thought it would be, and more.  The music was incredible and the dancing made me want to get up there and join them.  (That would've been a show!)  I loved seeing the stage my husband performed on when he was about thirteen years old, when he was in A Christmas Carol.  I've heard him talk about it for years, and he liked describing everything to me.  I about died laughing when he leaned over and told me, "I'm pretty sure I thought the stage and theater were a lot bigger than this."  To his little thirteen year old self, I'm sure it was huge. 

Anyway, if you're near me, you should go see for yourself.  The play was at Theatre Memphis, and will be playing for a while.  (I think.) 

Here are some pictures from the night.

Left to right, our oldest son Graham and his girlfriend Rachel, Todd, me, Phyllis and Wiley, my hubby's parents.  They have one other employee that works with them, Ron, but he and his wife were unable to come with us.  Maybe next year we'll get a repeat and join us.

A more close up of Graham and Rachel. 

(I loved the green wall behind them and made them pose there.)

 And Toddley and me. 

I love him and am so glad we got to have a fun night out.  It's been a minute since we've had a date night, and we need another one soon, maybe just the two of us next time. 

I was so thankful to the Lord for how He made me feel better last night!  Every other night this week, I have felt terrible, and that was not the case last night.  I just kept sipping my water and eating all the cough drops my mom-in-love brought for me.  I had two dear and sweet friends praying for me, because I really wanted to enjoy the night and not be miserable. 

Thanks to them both for lifting me up in prayer! 

Happy Friday, friends.  Love to all. 

Thursday things

This week is going by so fast!  I was hoping it wouldn't be that way, because I don't know how ready for Monday we all are around here (when we start school again).  I don't know why this still takes me by surprise, but whatever. 

Because it's Thursday, and the day of all things #throwback, here's a cute picture of my twins when they were about four.

They used to love having picnics on the back porch.  Funny story: they always asked me to buy those little sandwiches in the freezer called Uncrustables, and they were so expensive, so I just always made my own for them.  I invested in one of those Pampered Chef cutting things that was round and cut off the crusts, and that was what they had for lunch almost every single day. 

That was the only time in their life they ever enjoyed sandwiches.

This was my view at the kitchen table Tuesday afternoon.

It's one of my favorite sights, this table full of bible study materials.  It's been a long time since it looked like that, but I had a lot going on that particular day, and all my stuff took up the whole table, almost.  Any day it looks like this is a good day. 

I haven't seen my sweet mom in almost two weeks, so when she asked me to go to lunch yesterday, I jumped at the chance.  Then we ran a couple of errands. 

Yesterday was such a pretty day.  I was in the car waiting for her when I took this picture, and I said on Instagram that my favorite thing is to just share regular life moments together with people I love.  So even though running errands can be so boring, it's way better when I'm with Mom!  I'm just a simple girl and quality time is my love language. 

I ended up staying home from church when I found out nobody was going to be here (this is such an introvert problem and I needed to recharge) and watched a couple of shows before my hubby made his way back home.  We've been ships passing in the night lately, so I'm looking forward to a night at home with all of us here tonight as we say see ya later to one of Drew's friends about to leave for college.

Speaking of my hubby...we get to go to this next Thursday night!  I am so excited, it's kinda ridiculous, and it's a long story, but we get to go for FREE!  That makes it even better.  It's fun to get dressed up and go out every once in a while, so I'm really looking forward to that night. 

I was looking back at the last post I wrote this morning, the one where I talked about homeschooling and the curriculum we use, and I saw that I had a comment...so imagine my surprise when I opened it up to see who had commented and saw that it was the son of the founder of the company that puts out my favorite curriculum...Notgrass.  So thank you, Mr. Notgrass, for your comment on my blog, and if you ever want to send some free stuff my way for me talk about and brag on, feel free.  :)  (But even if you don't do that, your curriculum is still my favorite.)  It's weird that he found my blog post.  I was really surprised. 

Anyway.  Today I HAVE to catch up on all the laundry.  This week has been so busy that I've gotten way behind.  I also need to make a quick grocery store run, and I'm contemplating making a couple of my boys go for me.  I need to clean the house.  I need to do bible study homework.  There's so much.  I am looking forward to a day of not much, though, other than the few things I mentioned. 

Well.  Thanks for reading!  I suppose I need to get started on some of that stuff I just mentioned.  Love to all!