Hello Monday ~ October 5, 2026

 Happy Monday friends!  Well, I have been in a blog trend the last few weeks of not blogging on Fridays.  I feel like life has been so busy on Wednesday/Thursdays for me, the blog has taken a back seat to real life.  Here are a few pictures from last week and my weekend.  

Thursday morning at work, I was excited to watch the live launch from Florida of the Space X to the International Space Station.  I am so fascinated by all things space and use to watch all of the launches.

Friday morning, I went on a walk before work and Brook sent me this picture on her way to work of this amazing full rainbow!

After a day of working at home, I decided to go to the local high school football game.  There was a light drizzle the first 15 minutes, but then it stopped and it was a lovely evening to sit outside.  I am so glad I did this as I wanted to go to a football game this fall.  I sat with some friends from my church.  After the game, I stopped by to visit with Jen for about an hour.

Saturday morning, I cooked breakfast and made my first loaf of pumpkin bread this season. I used my new measurement spoons from Alaska.

I used a new recipe and used oat flour.  My original recipe calls for a little orange juice and this one did not.  This one did taste good, but it wasn't as sweet either, even with the chocolate chips.

After eating a full breakfast of bread, bacon and scrambled eggs, I met a friend of mine at a park for a walk.  She and I walked 5 miles and it felt great outside to do this.

I went grocery shopping, had a little time at home, then I walked to dinner to meet up with Jen, Mallory and Meredith.  We love hanging out with these ladies!  The restaurant is close to where I live, but they did bring me home afterwards.

Sunday, I walked to church and kept the nursery.  That afternoon, we turned my bathroom into a makeup counter and my daughter did my makeup and it was fun to try some new products.  

Now for a new week!  Hope you have a great day and thanks for reading!

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.