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 🖤

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm linking up with Joyce today for the weekly Wednesday hodgepodge. I'll jump right in!

1. What's something you're curious about right now? I feel like I'm curious about lots of things, honestly. I'm curious about what the weather will do this weekend; I have plans to hang out with my friend at her pool. I'm curious about how Stella is going to turn out as she ages; will she remain a punk like she is now? Her latest favorite past time is getting into the dishwasher when I turn my back and swimming in the bowl of water, then tracking it all over my house. I'm curious about my friend J that I'm getting to know, and what will progress between us, Lord willing. I'm curious about why people act like they do sometimes, and wonder if they have regrets with the huge life changes that have happened. I'm curious if I'll ever be able to read a normal book again; why have the circumstances of my life so greatly impacted everything that I love to do? I still can't read or watch movies! Will that love ever return??? 

2. If you could plan the perfect girl's weekend getaway, where would you go and what would be on the agenda? Do you have anything like this on your calendar in the next few months? First off, I'm so fortunate that I have just come off a perfect girl's weekend getaway! Friends are God's gift to me, and I have been blessed with the very best. I am excited about another trip that's coming up in a couple of weekends; Marilyn and I are heading west for the weekend and going to Dallas! This is so that I can see my Noah; we'll leave on Thursday, and arrive that night. Tanya will meet us there on Friday and spend the night with us! I am really excited about this trip for several reasons: I get to see Noah, I get to go on a third road trip with Marilyn, and we get to see Tanya again! 

If I were planning the perfect girl's (long) weekend getaway, and if money were not an issue, it would be a trip to the beach! I think that the beach is so much more fun with friends than it is with kids in tow. Now that I've experienced it both ways, I can attest to the fact that this is a true statement. Destin is the perfect beach! The water is amazingly clear and blue, the sand is white, and the crowds are insane. That last part isn't ideal, but I don't mind it, honestly. I love to people watch and have figured out the eating thing at night while I'm there visiting. 

Wouldn't you love to be right there today? I know I would!

3. What's the most unique item in your refrigerator right now? Meal worms! 🤣 Jonah has a leopard gecko for the fourth time at least in his life, and Dino eats meal worms. 

4. In this season of your life, what do you find most challenging? So many things are things I find challenging at the moment. Here are a few:

• Dating. It's a lot, friends. I feel fortunate to have had several dates now with one man. I appreciate that he is actually who he claims to be. Ask me why I'm skeptical, and I'll tell you about Scary Guy sometime. 🙄 (There was also The Rock, The Wrestler, St. Louis, and The One Who Wanted to Talk But Wouldn't Ask Me Out...of these, I only went on dates with Scary Guy, St. Louis, and The Rock. J doesn't have a nickname because he hasn't earned one...and it's a bad thing if they do.) I could write a book on dating after divorce. 

• Taking care of all the little decisions that have to be made on my own. Again, it's a lot and I'm learning continually. 

• Paying the bills on time each month! Again, I'm a work in progress. I don't love this! i forgot one recently and only remembered yesterday. I was able to pay it and avoid late fees, though. It doesn't matter how many places I have it written down; I'm still going to forget something! 

• I constantly battle loneliness and find it extremely challenging. This is why I hate staying home and need plans most nights. I literally thank God for Marilyn every time we part ways! 

5. Do you collect anything? If so, what? I used to collect crosses, but I don't anymore, though I still have most of the ones I had collected over the years. These days I feel like I'm collecting memories, and I am here for this! Each moment that I laugh, each milestone that I cross off my endless to-do list, every single time I make a repair (no matter how minor), I store it away and remember to be proud of myself for how far I've come. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I've come across this account on TikTok/YouTube/Instagram that I wanted to share with you; this woman is Emily Orta, and I love her "poetry". If you're on TikTok, that's the better place to follow her, but you can also check her out on IG as emily.orta.poetry. Here's one of her poems on healing. For some reason I can't share the video here, but here's a clickable link. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/yvczgKk58n0?si=9UwmljANOVOdtH5S

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

Jenn ❤️

skin care and smelling good

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! This post was inspired by the recent Louisville trip I was on. There was a part of the trip when we spent time talking about things we love and use on a regular basis, and we all had our things. These things that you see pictured below were what I brought to the table, and it's what I want to talk about today. 

My mom looked at me this weekend and told me how tan my face looked; but it's not! It's a fake glow, achieved with the two middle things you see in this picture. I use a pea sized amount of the L'Oreal and a nickel sized amount of the Sun Bum. I wear sunscreen every single day! It's never too cloudy to wear it, and I love that this one gives a little bit of a glow. After that dries, I use a bronzer/blush from Milani baked blush/bronzer to give off that glowy finish, and this palette of Elf eyeshadow to make my eyes shimmer. I even use the brown in that as eyeliner for the outside corners of my eyes! I set it all with translucent powder, brow gel, and mascara. 

Aside from this, I wash my face with coconut oil each night, and I use Cerave moisturizer. I don't use that as much in the warmer months as I do when it's cold outside, but I do use it some as needed. 

For the smelling good portion of this post, the other two products are what I use, but I want some perfume! Do you have a certain kind that you love and think I should know about? I'd love to hear from you! For now, I use the Sol de Janeiro and the Glow body oil. It works for now, but I feel like it wears off, you know? 

This is my very quick and easy morning makeup routine, and here is the result:

My lipstick is Neutrogena Hydro Boost in a pinky coral color. 

What's your routine? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! Love to all. 

Linking up with: 

A Stroll Thru Life

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? Mine was really good! I started the weekend by cleaning my house; it was in desperate need of some attention! I love it when weekends are a great blend of busy, productive, fun, and chill. 

Marilyn came over to my house around 4:30 on Friday afternoon. We hung out here for a while before we decided we were hungry enough to leave for dinner; we went to our favorite again, The Salad Station. It was so good! If I can let you in on part of our conversations when we're together, here's a scenario that becomes a topic that we talk about for a while. There was a young couple walking by with two kids in tow, and we talked about how young and idealistic they were, or seemed. We do this thing where we "talk" to the men about not being jerks and learning to stay faithful to their wives. That no matter what does or does not happen in marriage, that there's never an excuse to be unfaithful to the wife. 

We did this and gave that man a pep talk through the window, without him even knowing; then we happened to notice that his wedding ring was on the wrong hand. I Googled why men might do this; and I wasn't really satisfied with any of the answers. It was a silicone band, so it's not like it was even a metal with sharp edges; his other hand looked fine, too. Can you explain this to me? Or share your thoughts? I wanted to tell that woman to confront him about this! It doesn't seem right. If you're married, you should always look married! 

I digress. 

After dinner, we ended up at Gracie Bleu yogurt, where I had a combo of triple chocolate and salted caramel pretzel. It was so good! Then we made a quick pass through Marshall's for Mar. We went back to my house after this, and I proceeded to feel sick to my stomach after the yogurt, and then I fell asleep in the chair while she worked on something on her phone. 🤣 She left and I went to bed and fell asleep quickly, but then I randomly woke up at 11:30. My friend texted me as he was driving home from being out to dinner with his guy friends, and we ended up talking on the phone for an hour as he made his way to his house. I can sleep when I'm dead, right? 

I met Mom on Saturday morning; we ran a couple of errands, then we had lunch at this beautiful place that I've been to a few times called Local Lime. 

I love when the restaurant has ambiance!

I had grilled chicken tacos, which were incredible. I could only eat two, then brought the third one home for another meal.

I'm at the stage of life that I will always ask for pictures with Mom when we're together. I learned last year with Dad that life can change in the blink of an eye, and that all the moments need to be seized and lived. I will always do this! I'm glad she's a willing participant. Mom and I parted ways right after lunch; I needed to get home to take headache medicine. 

I did that and sat around for a while before my friend (I'll just call him J, since that's the initial of his first name) texted and asked if I wanted to hang out with him. Um, yes please! I left home at 1:30 and went to his house and we stayed outside all afternoon while he did things involving around his work. This is his truck; it's a mobile tool shop on wheels and is super cool. I enjoyed seeing him doing something he loves and just hanging out and getting to know him while he worked. It was a fun afternoon! We ended up going to dinner at some point, then back to his house while he did laundry and we binge watched the second season of Love on the Spectrum. Thanks for that rec, Amy! 

I stayed out way too late again and was so tired that I didn't want to wake up yesterday morning for church. 

I didn't open the bookstore after church like I usually do, so I when I got home, these guys were all here waiting on me! I don't like to go out after church on Mother's Day because of the crowds, so we always come to my house and eat lunch together. Yesterday we had a hodgepodge of things; it wasn't fancy, but it all worked. The point of it all wasn't the food, but the company, you know?

This is the dress I bought in Louisville a couple of weeks ago; I love it so much! I got lots of compliments on it when I wore it yesterday. 

I missed seeing Noah, but I was glad to get this from Jacob yesterday! Jacob is his best friend and roommate. And that's all I did for the rest of the day! I took a nap, I worked on my blog for this week, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I talked on the phone. It was a great day!  

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! 

Friday Favorites, 5.9.2025.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I hope your week has been good; I made spontaneous plans last night and never got around to finishing this post. (It was a really good second date...more about that in a minute.)  I have some favorites from this week...late as this may be. I started this post yesterday morning and ditched it for getting out of my house last night! 

Monday with my favorite local little people was my favorite! I spent the afternoon at one of my best friend's house; I held the newest edition to the family for literal hours, I ate lunch with them that I took over there, I read a long book to the oldest two while I held/fed the littlest one, and I caught up with my bestie. It was my favorite way to spend an afternoon! 

Ignore how dirty this screen is in my car, but this is a current favorite song being played on the radio right now. I found it through that Spotify playlist I mentioned, Release Radar. 

This view off my town square will always be my favorite!

 

Please forgive the curse word that is in this, but I feel like this is me right now! I sent this to Marilyn and I'm pretty sure she agreed. 

I was super excited to go to Marilyn's house Saturday night. I'd eaten an early dinner because I was so hungry, and took my computer to her house while we talked and listened to music/watched Ransom Canyon. Those are my favorite type of nights! 

 

This is a current favorite book that I'm reading at the moment!

I had to run work errands after work on Wednesday, so I grabbed lunch out at Chick Fil A. I ordered a twelve count of grilled nuggets and a large kale salad; thanks to all my rewards points, this was free! Free is always my favorite! 

Choir practice is my favorite! We're learning some new music for the summer; we'll have June and July off from practice, which means that my time as the bookstore manager is dwindling down to not much and will probably pass quickly. 

These were my favorite outfits this week! I really love the top one, with the pink top from Marshall's I got several weeks ago. 

About last night: I had psyched myself up for a night at home, even if it wasn't how I wanted to spend the time. I'd gotten food to cook dinner, but Jonah ended up having plans, so as I was figuring out what to make for me, I decided to go upstairs and take a shower/wash my hair. Right about then I got a text from my friend that I went out with on Sunday asking if I wanted to go to dinner with him. So I took him up on it! I went ahead with my shower and skipped washing my hair, fed the dogs, and then left. I love a spontaneous night of plans! He asked me to go out because he knew I didn't have anything going on and that I don't love staying at home; it was really sweet of him to think of that. 

What was a favorite from your week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I hope you all have a great weekend! Love to all. 

Jenn ❤️

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I love hodgepodge day and am so thankful that Joyce comes up with such amazing prompts from week to week. I don't know how she does it and manages to keep things fresh, but she does! Sometimes blogging is a second part-time job! When you're done reading this one, I have another post for Wednesday right under this one, the Currently link party. You should keep reading and join in with me as well, if you have a post in you! I keep the link open for two weeks each month. I'll jump in with today's fun hodgepodge post.

1. Let's compare to this May to last May. What's changed? What has remained very much the same? Oh, boy. I think a more appropriate prompt for me would be what hasn't changed. 

Last May I was happily married and had five people living in my home. I had three sets of parents, and five dogs. This May I am happily divorced, and it's down to just Jonah and me at home, and we live as roommates and ships passing in the night. My dad died and my stepmom and I no longer speak. I lost my in-law's and am no longer in contact with them, not by my choice. Noah moved to Dallas at the end of last May, and Graham bought his own home last August. He took his dog and my oldest dog Crash with him when he moved, and my ex came to get the other two that belonged to us while we were married. For a while, the only dog in our home was Chloe; now we have two since he added his newest edition Stella. (Who I am ready to pass along to someone else.) 

Throughout the turmoil and trauma of the last year, I can say that what has very much remained the same is that God is always good, He has been faithful to me my whole life, and His word is true. 

2. What's something you may do this month? I may find myself in a swimming pool before month's end! I hope to, at least. 

3. Mother's day is approaching (in the US)...in what way(s) are you like your mother? I've been told I look a lot like Mom, which I'll always take as a compliment. I am like her in that I am particular about things: the upkeep of a home, a made bed, for things to be a certain way. I don't think these things are bad, but I have to keep my head about me my being realistic as well. 

4. Did you have a favorite book as a child? What was it and why was it a favorite? I can't remember a favorite book, per se, but I loved the Ramona series. Remember those? I also loved to read Nancy Drew books, The Babysitter's Club, and Sweet Valley High. I don't know why these books stood out to me the way they do today, but it's obvious that I have always loved a good series of books. The same rings true today.

5. Are you more of a tortoise or a hare? Explain. When I looked at the definition of the two, I decided that I am leaning more towards being a hare, not because I am fast physically, but because I prefer to move along at a swifter pace. I don't like to dally when I know something needs to be done, said, or acted upon. I am one to "rip off the band-aid", so to speak, just to get it over with, which I'm equating this with these two animals.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Ummmm, it's late and I can't think of one, honestly. I never do that, but I need to leave and go back to my house. Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! There's another post under this one, if you missed it, the May edition of Currently. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jenn 

Currently! May 2025

 

Happy Wednesday, friends, and welcome to a bonus blog post day. There will be another post that publishes today after this one goes live at midnight. I hope you read both! I'm glad you're here for Currently this month! Today we're going to talk about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, leaving behind, letting go of, and looking at. I'll get right to the post!

loving

I am currently loving the opportunities to eat outside! April and May are the perfect times of year to do enjoy al fresco dining; I did this Monday night when I met my friend Andrea for dinner. It was lovely! I am also loving reliving the travel recap posts that the six of us are sharing on our blogs from the Louisville trip last weekend. Here's mine that I shared yesterday in case you haven't read it yet. 

looking forward to

I am looking forward to the new job I have! I'm looking forward to the ribbon cutting ceremony that will be happening soon; the elementary school I'll be at added a large edition to the back of the school, and there will be a big event happening for the big reveal of this soon. I'm looking forward to seeing my co-workers again and some of the students. I will be so glad to be back in a school environment! 

leaving behind

I'm always working on leaving behind my past, focusing not so much on what would have been and looking ahead at what is to come. I read a book this winter called God's Got You, and one thing the author said over and over again was that one small shift in wording can make a lot of difference. For instance, instead of saying, "I have to start over again", I can change the wording and my thinking to, "I get to start fresh with my life!" See how that works? One small thing makes a big impact. 

letting go of

I hope to be letting go of some clutter soon! I am waiting on my ex to get his things out of the house, and then I hope to start going through things and reorganizing the spaces to make it more mine again. I need to go through my shoes and some clothes that I haven't worn in a while. I love doing this kind of thing and would like to spend part of my Friday this week working on my closet, at least. 

looking at 

I'm currently looking at Marilyn's walls while I write this post. I didn't want to stay home last night, so I came here to work on blog stuff, catch up (it'd been a whole 48 hours since I last saw her), and watch Ransom Canyon. 

In June we'll talk about what we're currently loving, doing outside, cooking/grilling, excited about, and wearing. I'm so glad you're here today! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!