Hodgepodge ~ September 30, 2026

 Hi blog friends!  How are you?  Thanks to Joyce, I am linking up with Hodgepodge this week.

1. When you think of autumn what sounds come to mind? 

I think of crunching leaves and the sound of a crackling fire.  I need to get a woodwick candle!

2.  Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? 

Why, yes it is.  I would take any mountain trip.  After my trip this summer, let's be real, Canadian mountains are my favorite.  But in a world of reality, the mountains in Western NC are some of my favorites.  A little closer to me though would be northern Arkansas, Georgia or Eastern Tennessee.

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but is now just a molehill? 

Raising kids into young adulthood seemed like a challenge, but not sure if I honestly would have described it overall as a mountain.  Don't get me wrong, parenting is forever a learning game, but so worth it.  Unfortunately, divorce still feels like a mountain.  I am just climbing it with more strength!

4. Let's play this or that-fall foods edition. Yes you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte 
• Neither :) I am choosing a hot tea.
• apple cider or hot chocolate  
• Hot chocolate
• stew or chili
• Chili, no beans please
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole 

Sweet potato casserole

• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup 
• Butternut squash soup
• cranberry sauce or gravy 
• Both are traditional for holiday meals in the south, but I pass on both.

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. 

September was stupid hot until last week.  It also felt a little sad.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This are some of my favorite things all in one....a dark chocolate Huckleberry bar, from Alaska.  I brought one of these back for my parents back in August.  I decided I wanted a few more, so a friend of mine from church went to Alaska a few weeks after I went and I had her pick up a few more for me.  Oh my goodness, it is such a treat I have been enjoying little by little!

Have a great day!

Fashion Files ~ September 29, 2026

 Hi.  Due to me wrapping up posts from my epic vacation this summer, I have taken a pause from Fashion Files, but I am back today sharing some outfits from the past few weeks.

I wore some skirts in September to work because it was too hot for anything else.  I wore this flowy skirt I have had for years with a shirt from Loft.

This is the dress I wore to Brook's graduation in May.  It is so comfortable and comes with compliments when you wear it :).

This is a dress I bought for $10 at H&M a few weeks ago.

I wore this to church 2 weeks ago.  I had to work that afternoon, so I went pretty casual. I bought this shirt a few years ago at WalMart and the skort came from Costco.

We had a "Denim and Dots" theme for my work Mahjong event a few weeks ago so I dressed in denim on denim.  The shirt is from Old Navy and these are Democracy jeans.  They can be found on Amazon and are the dupe to Wit and Wisdom jeans from Nordstrom.

I wore this dress to work last week as it was still cool, yet is a fall color.

I subbed last Friday in a P.E. class so I wore an oversized shirt with the school logo and leggings.  Fridays are more casual at the school, plus it was homecoming spirit week and a P.E. class. I was definitely comfy all day.

Thanks for reading today!

Hello Monday ~ Hello Monday/Victoria - September 28, 2026

 Happy Monday!  My weekend was low key, but good.   Today's post is a quick recap and you guessed it, one more last post from my vacation last month.

Friday was a fun day when I subbed with a friend of mine in P.E. at a lower elementary school with ages 3-3rd grade.  It was a fun day!  That night, Jen and I got dinner at Tazikis and then hung out at my place afterwards.

After doing some lounging and cleaning Saturday morning, Jen came over and we went to a cute square in the city where a lot of my family lives.  There was a festival with booths, food and music.  We stopped by my favorite sourdough place there and then went to see a lot of my greats.  It was so fun for Jen to meet them since clearly they are a huge part of my life. Speaking of greats, I had a new great niece born on Saturday!  Yep, this is number 14 in total.  My sister has 12 grandchildren and now my brother has 2.  The newest one lives in Richmond, Virginia so I have been getting pictures and they are precious.

I cooked dinner and we watched the movie "Breadwinner" on Netflix. 

Sunday, I walked to church, spent the afternoon catching up at home and went back to church Sunday night for a dinner fellowship.

Okay, switch gears with me please to a day at sea!  Our last day on the ship was spent at sea.  We spent some time at a dance lesson, gazing at the water and looking at whales.  

One more lunch at the buffet, which was always good with so many choices

We ate an early dinner and went back to a restaurant we went to on day 4  of the cruise (this was day 6).  Our waiter, Donaldson, was so cute and funny.  We all laughed so much with him and our signature hand signal was "clock it"! I was insistent that we be seated again at his table :).

We got off the ship for a few hours to walk around Victoria, Canada. The bottom picture was taken after we walked back to our ship.  The girls did the chicken dance behind this sign which I have on video and it was hilarious.  It still makes me laugh so much and was such a fun night to wrap up the cruise.  

When you get off the ship in Victoria, you can take a shuttle into the town or walk the 1.5 mile into town.  We chose to walk both ways and so glad we did.  We had plenty of time and was able to see some other areas as we walked the easy walk. Below is the famous Empress Hotel.

The flowers were beautiful.  Do you see the Welcome to Victoria in flowers by the water's edge?

Below is the Parliament building

We all finished up the rest of the night packing and mentally gearing up to return to the real world the next morning. Disembarkation was so easy and we had a driver to take us from the port back to the Seattle airport.  We said our goodbyes there.  Isabella left on different flights and I haven't seen her since that day.  It is hard when your kids don't live close! Brook and I flew on the same flights back home. 

She and I had a 3 hour layover in Los Angeles.  Since we were doing a lot of sitting that day, we decided to walk the entire airport.  We walked for an hour and had been used to doing this on vacation, so it felt good to move in between flights.

This plane was huge!!  It is probably the biggest I had ever seen.  This was headed from Los Angeles to the middle east.

Last sight of an Alaskan Airlines flight for a while probably

We grabbed dinner at CAVA and boarded our flight LA to Memphis.  Thankfully, we had Delta Comfort on our flights and even a seat open between us on this flight.

We arrived into Memphis a little after midnight and was greeted by this sign.  It was Elvis week in Memphis, so this is not a normal welcome sign.  Brook's boyfriend picked us up and took us home that night.

I woke up the next morning and noticed my car in my garage had a flat tire.  Back to real life!

My goal was to finally finish my trip posts prior to October, so this concludes the highlights!  Again, this was a trip that I had booked for over a year, dreamed about for years and planned within the last 2 years.  It was so much more than a trip for me.  It was a life changing, life giving vacation experience.  I am so, so thankful and I will never forget this.  Thank you for following along and below are the post links to have them in one place:

 Day 1 - Traveling/Exploring to Vancouver

Day 2 - Exploring Vancouver

Day 3 - Sea to Sky Highway/"Virgin River"....My Favorite Day!

Day 4 - Whistler

Day 5 - Amtrak: Vancouver to Seattle

Days 6 & 7 - Bainbridge Island/Seattle

Days 8 & 9 - Celebrity Edge

Day 10 - Ketchikan

Day 11 - Juneau

Day 12 - Skagway

Today's post is Days 13 & 14

Thanks for reading and enjoy your day!

Everyday Images ~ September 24, 2026

Happy Thursday!  I am linking up with Everyday Images to share some random photos, all taken within the last month.

 steps

I have been taking walks outside a few mornings a week or in the evenings, with one or two days walking inside.  Either way, I am so thankful to be getting in my steps every day!

from underneath

This is a view under the staircase outside my front door.

morning light

As I left early one morning to be with my mom, I saw this morning light beginning to shine.

at home (monthly)

This is a view from home when Jenn and I watched Sleepless in Seattle a few weeks ago.  My fireplace was on for ambiance.  I have the option to have the heat feature on and hopefully can use it soon when the temperatures get a little cooler.  Thankfully, the temps have FINALLY begun to drop a bit.

beautiful

My daughters

landmark

This is our famous landmark in Memphis...Graceland, which was home to Elvis Presley.

chair

This chair sits in my bedroom and use to belong to my grandparents.  I have thought about having it recovered, but the cost is a little more than I can afford.  However, I do like it in its original fabric and love having it. 

Hodgepodge ~ September 23, 2026

Good morning and happy Hodgepodge Day!  Thank you Joyce for hosting us each week! 

1. Fall arrives this week in the northern hemisphere. Does it look/feel like fall where you live?What's something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel its officially fall? 

After 7 weeks of record temperatures, cooler weather has finally arrived.  By cooler weather, I mean low 80's this week, but that sounds glorious. 

I would love to go to a football game, whether college or high school.

*If you're answering today from the southern hemisphere feel free to sub spring for the word fall. 

2. What's a small daily task or chore that always seems to fall through the cracks when your schedule gets busy?

If I am super tired at night, I will use eye make up remover and a make up wipe remover instead of my normal nightly routine.  I try to wash my face before I get too tired at night to avoid this.

3. What's something you're falling for lately? 

I am falling for Canada, Alaska, & anywhere in the Pacific Northwest!

Locally, I am falling for taking walks outside.  Let's just hope I don't actually fall as I am prone to do!

4.  Pumpkin is a popular flavor this time of year.  Are you a fan? What's your favorite pumpkin flavored food or beverage?  

I began eating pumpkin flavored things about 6-7 years ago.  My favorite is a pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Here is a new recipe I am going to try:

Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 large eggs
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tbsp avocado oil or melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract1 
¾ cups oat flour
¼ cup vanilla protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chocolate chips (plus extra for the top)
Instructions: 
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
 Whisk wet ingredients (pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, oil, vanilla) until smooth, then mix in dry ingredients (oat flour, protein powder, baking soda, spice, salt) until just combined.
 Fold in chocolate chips, pour into the pan, top with extra chips, and bake for 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing

5.What's something you wish would never change? Explain. 

Oh my goodness.  I go back to happy times with my family when my daughters were younger.  I also wish I could have frozen time on my recent trip to Canada & Alaska.  

I also wish prices would never go up anymore!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I am so thankful for where I live, my summer trip, my daughters, my family and friends.  However, life is still comes at me strong with storms.  This was encouraging to me this week to keep working on rebuilding and rebuilding some more.

Skagway ~ September 22, 2026

It's the first day of Fall!!  Perfect timing for a new season and I am embracing change and ready to embrace the cooler temperatures of Alaska.  

 Y'all, I am still working my way through my 2 week vacation :)!  This day was one of our favorites from the Alaskan cruise.  When you wake up to views like this, how can it not be a good day?

Hello Alaska!  We are growing more fond of you with every passing day!

Today's stop was the town of Skagway.

We did some souvenir shopping in each port.

We stopped for lunch at the Skagway Brewing Company.

We then got ready to board our train ride.  This is a popular excursion in Skagway and I recommend it 100%!  The scenery from this train ride is one to be rivaled.

Sharing a few highlights here so I don't share all 100 photos probably taken from this 3 hour train ride! It was such a beautiful day!

We briefly entered Canada on this train ride so you see both flags at the border.

We spent most of our time standing on the platform outside to take pictures & videos.

After the train ride and boarding the ship, we sailed through the inside passage.  My goodness, we took probably another 100 pictures this evening from the ship.  We were walking on the top deck and with every loop, we took more pictures.

We were having a ball.

Then later, Isabella texted to see if we wanted to do something. Brook took this picture of me and texted back, Mom is under a blanket right now :).  It was chilly folks!

A pretty view from our room with flowers that were sent to us from housekeeping.

The views from this day were the most stunning from the cruise. Ending the evening with this view wasn't bad either.

I should wrap up the trip with one more trip post....I think!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!