Monthly Musings, January 2026

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm joining in today for the Monthly Musings blog post with Patty. I'll jump right in! 

1. Describe your winter so far in one word. Long. 

2. What winter activities have you never tried but want to? I would love to try going down a snowy mountain in an innertube! 

My sister Debi did this last year with some family who came to visit them in Colorado. I would love to give this a whirl someday! I will say that I got on a four wheeler this week for the first time in 35 years. It was so much fun! 

3. Favorite winter beverage? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Iced coffee? All of the above. 

4. Least favorite winter chore? I don't necessarily have "winter" chores. I will say that I shoveled in front of my garage for a solid hour on Sunday. I had a mountain of snow outside the garage, and I was trying to make it flat enough to be able to drive out easily.

5. Soup or chili? Share a recipe if you'd like. I am team soup all the way! 

My favorite soup is chicken tortilla. Here's an old blog post where I shared the recipe. (This post dates back to 2011; I've been blogging for twenty years!) The other soups pictured are taco soup, potato soup, and clam chowder. I love them all! 

6. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate...both or neither? I love milk chocolate the most, but I don't discriminate, either. 

Of these pictures above, my favorites are the frozen yogurt and that cookie you see from Chick Fil A.

7. Share your Galentine's or Valentine's day plans. I have both! For Galentine's me and Kendra are going over to Marilyn's house for dinner, dancing, and a craft we've been talking about. I'm excited! For Valentine's day, I'll be with Chris, but I don't know what we're doing yet. 

8. Do you dress festive for Valentine's day? Is the air breathable? Is January long? Does my hair always look like a rat's nest? (The answer to all of these is yes.) I love to dress up for a theme! Here are a few samples. 

I love to wear pink and red any day of the year!

9. Do you make any sweet treats for Valentine's day? I don't now, but I used to when my sons were little! I used to have a "we love our kids" night each year on that day. I'd make their favorite meal, and then I'd make little individual mini molten lava cakes.

10. What is your love language? My love language is physical touch and quality time. They're equally tied for first place. Chris is great at both of these! I also love others in the way I need to be loved. 

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

Jenn ❤️

P.S. Don't forget that it's almost time for Share 4 Somethings! Each month on the last Saturday of the month, we will meet back here to talk about something we loved, something that sustained us, something we're carrying forward, and something we're making space for. I hope you make plans now to join me Saturday!

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. I live in the south, so we're only talking about the weather right now. Give a weather report from where you live. Does the kind of weather you're having today affect your mood in some way? I laughed at this question, because so far this week it's basically all I've talked about on my own blog. In case you've missed those posts, just know that it's icy here. I had very little snow, but mostly ice since it was a wintry mix that fell for more than 24 hours. 

Jonah hasn't stopped! He's helped so many people around town; he helped at least six stranded vehicle/motorists on Monday alone. At one point, he stopped to help a police officer who was stuck; Jonah asked that they remember who he was at that moment in case they bust him for driving too fast again. This made me laugh.

The other image is the view from my front porch. I think I took that on Sunday? I can't remember, the days are all running together!

The weather is greatly affecting me; school was closed Monday and Tuesday so far (I'm writing this on Tuesday morning), but if we go at all this week, it'll be a miracle. There is so much ice on every surface, friends! We just aren't equipped to handle it like the northern states.

2. Avocados, kale, and cottage cheese have all had their moment to shine. This year, 2026, brings us the year of cabbage. Is this a vegetable you like? If so, share a favorite dish that has cabbage as an ingredient. I like cabbage, but it's not something I make regularly. My complaint with this vegetable is the smell that emits from it as you cook. I grew up eating something called cabbage soup; it's basically a vegetable stew with more cabbage in it than anything else. It's a tomato based soup. In my early years of marriage, I made something called "cabbage and big dogs" that my ex-husband loved. It was basically just cabbage cooked in a chicken broth based soup with big chunks of smoked sausage in it as well. It really was/is delicious; I'd make cornbread to go along with it as a side. 

These aren't soups that contain cabbage, but they're both delicious and beautiful.

3. Was a Cabbage Patch Doll a part of your childhood? Or maybe your children's childhood? What's a toy trend from your childhood you remember wanting for your own? I loved my Cabbage Patch doll(s)! I can look at a picture and remember how the dolls smelled. I think they're creepy looking now that I'm an adult, but I sure did love them when I was a little girl. I loved Care Bears as a little girl; imagine my delight when they became popular again when Jonah and Noah were little! 

I love these pictures of the boys when they were little; Jonah and Noah enjoyed playing with their stuffed Care Bears from ages 1-3. They were 4 in this pic directly above; the one of the four of them was taken in Nashville. They would have been ages 5, 8, and 9. Time flies, friends.

4. Something you've spent a lot of time doing lately? I've spent a lot of time talking on the phone! As I write this, I'm talking to Amy on the phone. I've talked to my Mom a lot, my sisters, Marilyn, Missy, Amy (as I mentioned), and my sons. Well, that's not entirely true; I've texted with them and I've seen Graham twice. 

I made bread recently, and that took a while.

5. Somehow it's the last week of January...sum up your month in just three sentences. 

— 1. This month brought about some unexpected things (a new puppy for Chris, flu A, and a ton of ice).

— 2. This month I remembered how much I love young people!

This is one of Jonah's best friends; Olivia came over on Saturday. She and I spent a good bit catching up on all of life, since I don't see her often enough. 

—3.  This was the month that I started to love to read again! Stay tuned for a bookish blog post next week. 

A bonus to being stuck at home while I was recovering from flu A was being able to clean out/organize my closet. I'm still loving and enjoying this space daily! I go in there to get dressed and undressed each day; doing this makes me hang things up immediately.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Since it's all things snow/ice around here this week, here's an old favorite song that I always share this time of year. This is Snow, by Audrey Assad.

Here's another song I stumbled upon yesterday in the early morning hours. This one is called The Lord Will Provide, by Passion and Landon Wolfe. I love the lyrics, so maybe read them as you listen to this song or pay attention. I really love it when songs are taken straight from Scripture; this song contains a few of my favorite passages from the New Testament. The song is reminding me that everything I need, the Lord has it in His hands and He will continue to be my Provider. I needed this reminder myself yesterday, maybe someone else needs it as well. 

What say you? I can't wait to read your answers! Thanks for being here to read my blog, friends. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jenn (and Stella & Chloe, who are loving this white stuff)

inspired writing Tuesday

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! Since we're all iced/snowed in around here, I thought I'd talk about it again today, and why I love it so much...well, that's not quite true. I love to look at it for a few days, and then I'm ready for summer. Anyway, here goes. 

...............................................................................................

There's a special kind of beauty in snow when you're at home. If quiets the whole world, pressing pause on everything loud and hurried outside your windows. The flakes drifted down like little blessings, quiet and unhurried, stitching a whole quilt over rooftops and branches. From inside, wrapped in warmth and cozied up by a fire, you can watch the whole scene unfold as if the earth is exhaling and settling into stillness.

There's a magic in how snow transforms the familiar~streetlights glowing like halos, trees wearing delicate lace, the yard turning into a clean, untouched canvas. Even the air feels different, hushed and holy, like the world is whispering instead of speaking.

And somehow, being home makes that beauty feel even sweeter. The contrast of cold outside and warmth inside reminds you of everything good~soft blankets, the scent of something brewing in the kitchen, the quiet comfort of being exactly where you belong. Snow doesn't just fall; it invites you to slow down, breathe deeper, and notice the peace you usually walk right past.

On days like this, you don't need anything extraordinary. Just a window, a warm room, and the gentle reminder that beauty can appear out of nowhere~falling from the sky, covering everything in grace.

...............................................................................................

How do you feel about snow/ice? What about when you're forced to stay home? I love it for a day or two, but I start going stir crazy after too long. I do think seeing people helps! I've talked on the phone a lot, Marilyn is probably coming over today, and Jonah's friends have been in and out. I played cards yesterday! That was fun, and I'll probably do that today once Marilyn arrives. We'll eat together, we'll listen to music, and we'll laugh as we get all caught up once again. I'd love to hear you, so chime in! Thanks for reading today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

Hello, Monday: the Snowed in Version (January 26,2026)

 

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! 

First off, I wrote a bonus blog post on Saturday. Here's a link if you'd like to check it out! And because I'm iced/snowed in, I wrote another post for Sunday. Here's that link for your reading pleasure. Truthfully, I don't have a lot to add, but here's how the weekend started before the weather hit. 

The kiddos were crazy on Friday, y'all. I don't blame them, honestly, but I was so ready for that day to be over. 

It was "snowman" day at school, so this was as close as I could get to that. I wanted to be cozy, so I word this sweatshirt because it's one of the warmest/thickest that I own. 

It was FREEZING outside that morning! I literally almost froze half to death while getting students out of the car. I had on my long, thick puffer coat that is giant, this warm scarf you see pictured above (a gift from my sister Trish), thick gloves, and I had the hood pulled up on my coat. Even with gloves and with my hands in my pockets, it took twenty minutes for my fingers to stop tingling once I got back inside. I wore this scarf all morning, because I was still so cold. 

With the day being so crazy, my friends and I (we call ourselves the Lunch Bunch) ordered lunch from McAlister's. I ordered a baked potato with bacon.

It hit the spot! I ate this entire thing. We all survived the day and were thrilled when 3:50 got there; that's when we start dismissal. 

I had told Chris he could come stay with me for the weekend, because I knew that I was far less likely to lose power here than he is where he lives. I told him to bring his dogs, and that I'd figured out a plan for them to all sleep separately. Knowing that he would be driving here after he got home from work, he took his time getting to me. Kendra was eating out with her friend Jess, so she invited me to tag along. We went to a place here in town called Tony's Trophy Room.

Chris got to my house around ten, but he only stayed an hour before he realized his dogs weren't going to work being with Jonah's dogs (his older two dogs, not the puppy). I legit cried when he left, because I hated the thought of him going home and losing power, but I get why he left and even appreciate that he didn't want to risk Jonah's dogs safety. You can read what I did on Saturday in yesterday's blog post that I linked above. Chris ended up going to stay with his friend since he lost power and didn't want to freeze half to death with his dogs. I'm glad they're all warm and safe at his friend's house. 

We have at least eighteen inches of nothing but ice; this last picture above is the barn that was on Chris' property that was about to collapse. It collapsed under the weight of all the ice. Yikes! I'm so glad he went to stay with his friend.

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

Jenn