Friday Favorites! 5.23.2025.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm writing this post on Wednesday afternoon before I leave home to go spend time with J, so this will be short and sweet. I'll jump in!

I say this every single year, but my favorite tree is in full bloom right now in my church parking lot! This is a Golden Rain tree. Have you seen these in person? Their blooms remind me of fireworks falling from the sky; they don't last long, only about until the end of June, then they fall off and the tree just turns green again.

When I got my hair done last Friday, I left my favorite earrings at the salon! I haven't seen my friend to pick them up, so I had to call and audible and scramble to find some that were everyday. These gold squares just might be my new favorites! They were an Amazon purchase from years ago, I just never wore them much.

Seeing a son unexpectedly will always and forever be a favorite! Graham stopped by Tuesday night.

Neon nails in the summer are a favorite! This dip powder color is called Good Kisser. That made me laugh. 

These two images from social media were a favorite from the week.

This Greek bowl was my favorite night of dinner this week! 

How I spent Sunday was a favorite from this week! I spent the whole afternoon/evening at J's house; he cooked out a bunch of meat, and his sons hung around with us for a while. I enjoyed meeting them and talking to them some.

Pool days will always be a favorite! I'm so grateful for friends who let me use theirs. 

Have you heard of this viral perfume from social media? I scored some from Amazon for $10 last week, and it smells divine. It's my new favorite! 

What was a favorite of yours from this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! It's been ages since I've done one of these posts, so I felt like this one is overdue. I'll jump right in with my list of things I'm thankful for this week. 

• God's infinite grace and mercy toward me
• my family who always show up to support me
• my friends that I couldn't live without
• long phone conversations
• quality time with people
• work conversations
• opportunities to travel
• being able to figure things out on my own
• gaining independence
• hugs and kisses (TMI?)
• being able to do little things that feel like I'm loving myself well 
• God's perfect timing
• being able to use the pool at my neighbor's and a friend of mine last weekend
• sunshine!
• slow progress in weight loss...surely that means it'll stay off, right?
• my church family
• being able to get away for part of the weekend and having plans for when I get back

I met up with my friend Dedee for coffee on Monday; she had me come to her house first to meet her pup. I saw this piece of art that literally stopped me in my tracks and asked if I could take a picture of it to show Marilyn. Since this doesn't really relate to what I'm sharing today, I will say that I am always thankful for beautiful things that stop me in my tracks. This could be art, a sunset/sunrise, a pretty building, nature, flowers growing wild in a field, or something else. I think life is all about appreciating the small things, right? 

I could keep going, honestly, but I'll stop there. What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! As you're reading this, I'm getting ready to leave town for two nights; I cannot wait to hug my Noah! I'm excited to travel with Marilyn again, and that we are meeting up with Tanya tomorrow. I can't wait to see her again! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn ❤️

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! It's Hodgepodge day, AND it's the day before I get to wrap my arms around my Noah. I am beyond excited for the weekend! I'm liking up with Joyce for today's weekly Hodgepodge. I can't wait to read your posts! I'll jump in.

1. May 20th is World Bee Day...what's something that has kept you busy as a bee lately? I feel like my life has been keeping me as busy as a bee lately. I'm not complaining, I promise! I try to get out of my house as often as possible, as most of you know. Between work and seeing friends at game nights or at their homes, I am usually able to accomplish this pretty easily. I'm always grateful for the things that make me have an excuse to leave my house for whatever reason. 

On Monday night of this week, Marilyn came to my house for a while. I usually offer to go to her, but my part of town was more on her way home from what she'd been doing earlier that day. I "made" us dinner and then we sat an talked and caught up again. It's astounding how we always have a lot of catching up to do even though not much time passes between our visits. We laughed on that night because it had been about 30 hours since the last time I saw her. This dear soul is more than just a best friend; she is a soul sister at this point! We have trauma bonded for life. 

Dinner was delicious, thanks to Amy! She calls this a Greek bowl, and it's super simple. All I did was buy some marinated grilled chicken strips and added them as the base. I diced cucumber, grape tomatoes, and red onion and added that to the top of the bowls, and then topped it all with Kalamata olives, Feta cheese, and taziki sauce. I had Kinders Greek seasoning to sprinkle on top, but I forgot to use any, and it was just as delicious even without. This will be a great summer recipe for me to enjoy this year! 

2. Do you like honey? What's something you make or enjoy that calls for honey? I love honey, but I never use any. There was a while when I would use it in my coffee, or on a peanut butter and honey sandwich, but I don't eat like that anymore. 

3. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (Proverbs 16:24) What's a proverb you love, or one that speaks to you or has helped you in some way? One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Proverbs 16:9. It says this:

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. 

When I pray each day, I thank God for this reminder for me as His daughter. I always tell Him that I trust that He will continue to do this each and everyday of my life, and He does just that. 

4. Tell us about a sweet moment in your life recently that filled you with joy, gratitude, and/or peace. How long do I have to talk about this? I could write on this topic for days on end, friends. My whole life is filled with moments of joy, gratitude, and peace every single day. Even on the hard days, the other things outshine the negative moments, and I am so thankful for this. Here are a few moments lately that have brought me such intense feelings about my joyful life.

Work Bestie and I show up matching at work pretty often. On this day we had lunch together, then we sat and "completed a work project" together while talking about all the things from the week. She makes me laugh like crazy, and I have never cried and laughed with someone more than I have her this last year. This is Mandy from work, also known as Work Bestie. She's been front and center on all the moments of the last year when my life fell apart. This is the case for both of my work besties, honestly; the other one is Amy B., I just don't have pictures of us with her. I need to remedy this ASAP! I'm so grateful for both of these wonderful friends. 

A few weeks ago, I got to go to my best friend's house for the afternoon. There's nothing I love more than cuddling her babies! I was pretty much in Heaven all day long. 

 

5. When you were a child, what did you want to "be" when you grew up? How close did you come to that? If you don't know this about me, let me introduce you to myself. My name is Jenn, and all I ever wanted to be was a wife and mom. I literally thanked God for everyday that He gave me that opportunity; it's not that I don't want to be those things anymore, I do, but life has changed. My sons don't need me in the way they used to, and well, you all know I'm no longer married. I hope to be remarried someday, though! It's time for me to spread my wings and take the opportunity to make an impression on more young people; that's why I'm excited about my upcoming job! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I was going to share a music video again, but I can't really think of one that I like enough to share today. So I'll end this with telling you that I'll be leaving for Dallas tomorrow for a couple of days; I may not have a post on Monday, because I'll have plans on Sunday after church. Well, I'm counting on having plans with J, anyway; we'll see, but I'm sure I won't be at home. Also, I'm kind of at a point in time that I might stop blogging everyday for a bit; I'm not a hundred percent sure about this, obviously, but I wanted to say it in case it ever happens from time to time. I didn't have a post for this past Monday for that reason: I wasn't at home almost the whole weekend, and when I got home, I went straight to bed. So, don't be alarmed if that happens! I'll just be out living and enjoying my life. 

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

Jenn 🩷

summer bucket list

Happy Tuesday, friends! Since this is the last week of school for students here, which will always be the unofficial start of summer, I thought I'd talk about a summer bucket list that I've been thinking on for the last few weeks. Here's what I've come up with so far:

• listen to live music often (I'm looking forward to nights of Summer Concerts on the town square.)
• entertain often
• porch sitting before it's too hot
• play mini golf
• spend time by the pool
• beach reads
• go to farmer's markets
• work on my closet
• go on a weekend trip
• go to the beach (I'm crossing my fingers that I get to go again this summer!)
• enjoy a fireworks show
• put up new outdoor lights
• keep working on maintaining the flower beds
• water the hanging basket I have and buy three more
• spray the weeds going in the driveway cracks
• light more candles
• paint more of the interior spaces
• host a best friends night at my house
• enjoy being outside more on the cooler days
• meal prep more
• clean out and declutter more (hall closet, cabinets in the living room)

I feel like I may be forgetting some of what I'd thought of the last few weeks, but you get the gist! What are some things you'd like to do this summer? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 🩷

 

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Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was really good, and full, which I always love. I was gone so much that I wasn't home enough to write a blog post before this morning. I am definitely not complaining about this! I need my weekends full, and this one was excellent. I don't have many pictures, though...

I'll start with my Friday. I started my day off at home; I did laundry, got my closet put back in order again, and cleaned the house. I've noticed this becoming a Friday thing again. I worked at home for a minute to pay some bills, then I left to grab my lunch and make it to my hair appointment at noon. 

I always love hair day! I'm always in Lynda's chair for about four hours on this day. It's an all day event! After this I came home and finished drying my hair some, then chatted with Jonah before he left that afternoon. I didn't see him again until late Sunday night! He took Stella to a friend's mom's house for the weekend, which is something he does frequently on weekends. People love to keep her temporarily, and he and I love the break! I had dinner with my best friend Missy on this night. I picked her up and we went to The Salad Station again...it was only her second time there, and it sounded good to us both. We enjoyed visiting and catching up for a couple of hours. We called it an early night, because storms were supposed to be moving in, but they never happened.

I tried to sleep late on Saturday after falling asleep so late Friday night, but it didn't work out for me like I'd hoped. I watched some episodes of a show, and eventually went to get ready for my day at the pool. I watched my friend's dogs this weekend and she let me use her pool. Marilyn met me there, and for two hours, we sat and talked. It was so hot that I got in the pool after five minutes of sitting in the lounge chair. I've never been one to "lay out", have I mentioned that to you before? I also have a theory that you get more sun on your body when you're in the water, so that's what I do. It worked! I was glad to have the opportunity to get a little bit of a tan this weekend. 

I came home and showered soon after that and then went to J's house for the rest of the day. He was finishing up some things that he'd been working on when I go there, then we left to grab an early dinner and go to Costco. I got a couple of things I needed as well, then we drove to my house to check on my dogs and then to my friend's house to let her dog out. I couldn't help but wonder if any neighbors were watching me while he was here; it's weird to have another man here. After we did all that, we went back to his house again and watched the movie Nonnas on Netflix. Have you seen that? It was so good, and based on a true story. 

Sunday was more of the same: church, after church staff appreciation lunch for all of us, then I came home to take a nap since I didn't fall asleep until after one that morning. I went back to J's house again, this time to just hang out again, and then he smoked a bunch of meat for our dinner and for his week. It was amazing! He made chicken, bologna, pork chops, sausage, and hamburgers. 

While all of that smoked, I rode to the back of his property with him in this old van that he has; it's a 90 something Astro that is in really good condition. He had it full of boxes to burn, so they ended up starting a big bonfire to burn all of this cardboard. He added to it over the next hour, but at one point I sat in his house while he did that, because after walking through the grass with him at one point, I found a stupid tick on me; thankfully it was just on top of my bra and not embedded into my skin. I lost my mind for about thirty minutes and fought the urge to leave so that I could come home and burn my clothes. I ended up having to lock myself in a bathroom for fifteen minutes to check the rest of me, because I was worried I had another one on me. I didn't, thank goodness. After we ate dinner, we watched Crazy Stupid Love on Netflix, then I left to come home around ten thirty. 

See what I mean about being gone all weekend? I really was, and I loved every second. I have a few things to do around town today, and I'm meeting my friend Dedee for coffee this afternoon. I'm excited to see her, since it's been a couple of months since the last time we met. I have to do things for my new job and have an appointment scheduled for some of that this afternoon as well, and then I'm not sure about tonight yet. What did you do this weekend that you loved? I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! Love to all.

Jenn ❤️

Friday Favorites, 5.16.2025.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you've had a great week; mine has been good with one questionable day in the middle. Thankfully Wednesday ended better than it started, which I am grateful for. On that note, and since this post is all about favorites, did you know that singing can actually boost your morale? I would guess that listening to music that you love would do the same; on that night I went to choir practice and walked out at the end with a huge smile on my face. This was our last practice until August, which makes me kind of sad and means I'll have to find something new to do on Wednesday nights since we won't meet on that night in June and it will be the end of my job. 

Alright, onto some favorites from this week!

favorite memes/words

This made me laugh! I don't necessarily want more tattoos, but there are people in my life who do love them and would agree with this statement. Why do I love tattoos on men so much? My friend J has a bunch: one arm is fully sleeved, and the other is half done from his elbow up to his shoulder. I clearly have a "type" of man that I find attractive: facial hair and tattoos a must. 🤣 

Yes! I'm like this with certain items in my closet! 

This is such a true statement! 

favorite moments

This day for Marilyn might not have been a favorite of hers, per se, but I am glad that it turned out that we were able to see each other on this particular day! I'll explain what we did in a second.

Did I mention that I bought a second pair of readers? They came in last week, and are more neutral in color since my other ones are bright turquoise and don't match everything I wear. I like having a second option, and these are by Peepers. I spent a little more money on new readers this time to go with some that didn't have the blue light blocking technology, which I think messed with my eyesight.

Dress season is my favorite season! This dress will always be Dad's funeral dress; do you name/associate your clothes with certain life events? I now have my divorce dress, and this is my Dad's funeral dress. I'm weird, I know. 

Marilyn had her final private dance lesson this week, and I got to see her "recital". I'm so glad she asked me to come to this; seeing her do something she loves so much brought a huge smile to my face, and she's a beautifully graceful dancer! I took videos of her dancing with her instructor Dennis, and enjoyed every second of the 45 minutes that we were at the studio. Afterward we went to eat frozen yogurt! 

Other favorite moments from the week include the following:

• seeing my stepdad at work yesterday morning while he waited on Mom to finish her hair appt
• the onboarding process I had to go through yesterday for my new job
• attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for the school I'll be working at
• seeing old friends on that same afternoon and being made to feel welcomed
• work moments with work besties
• keeping all the baby dogs this weekend (I have my Crash and Oakley at home)
• building excitement over the weekend and its possibilities

What was a favorite moment for you this week? I'd love to hear a from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn ❤️

ageless style

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm joining in with the lovely ladies who came up with this link party, Ageless Style. I'm glad you're here today, and I'm also happy that I remembered to participate this month. Insert emoji with the girl holding her hand over her eyes. Life is rough sometimes, friends.  🤣 We're talking about black and white today; I hope you walk away inspired! 

I love the combination of black and white, or either color with a neutral base or top. Also, thanks to the days I've spent performing with choirs, when I can't decide on what to wear, I go with all black. It's sleek, it's slenderizing, and it's classic. I like to add a fun pop of color somewhere when I do this, either with my glasses, or brightly colored jewelry or shoes. I loved doing this at Christmas with red flats! 

I'm starting with an outfit I never wore. I wanted some wide legged pants, and when I saw these on Amazon, I knew that I loved them. I hope to wear them soon! I love the combination with the white tank and the black blazer. The blazer is one by The Loft that I found on Thread Up for $10! I've worn it a couple of times this spring, but I anticipate wearing it more in the fall. 

This is an old favorite black dress; see what I mean with the pop of color somewhere? I'm still loving the new readers I bought while I was in Louisville a couple of weeks ago!

This was the night of Good Friday; it's hard to tell, but I've got on that black blazer with a black tank underneath. We had to wear all black that night, which seemed appropriate. 

As you can see, I wear black pretty often and am always on the hunt for a new dress or top. I wear it so much that the pieces I have tend to become faded from wear; I love wearing black with jeans or with a different colored bottom. I recently learned that black is one of three power colors; the other two are red and white. Black symbolizes power, red symbolizes being flirty, and white symbolizes being angelic. Interesting, right? I also heard on the same video that wearing a favorite color helps boost confidence, and I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

What do you think of the black and white combo? Do you have a uniform like I do, when you can't decide on what to wear? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today and linking up with us! I'll see you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites. Love to all! 

Jenn 🖤

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