Hello Monday ~ September 7, 2026/Labor Day

 Good morning and Happy Labor Day 2026!  Today I am doing a re-cap of last week and the weekend with a little life lately.

Last Monday on a spur of the moment, Jen called and asked if I wanted to join her for dinner and a drink. I finally tried a soft serve margarita, which was pretty good. Time spent with Jen is always fun!

Tuesday night last week, I made dinner for Brook, Wade and I.  I bought these Congrats Grad plates back in May and yes, I am just using them.  We ate off them Tuesday night, even though Brook graduated from university the end of May.  It seemed like a good time to use them since we also were celebrating she will start a new job soon.

Wednesday night I had dinner with one of my dear friends, but no photo was taken.  This is the friend whose daughter got married this summer.  

Thursday after work, I drove to my sister's house for family dinner and saw 11 of her 12 grandchildren.  Needless to say, my heart was full of hugs and smiles from my greats!

Friday, I met a friend from church at Salad Station and had missed eating here! This is where Jen and I have shared many a meals together. 

Jen dropped by Friday night and we ate at my place. She brought some food and I had a salad.  I bought lettuce for the first time in a while last week.  I also had fun toppings, so it encouraged me to eat more salads last week.  My toppings for the salad were avocado, pecans, feta cheese, broccoli and bacon bits.

After eating, we walked around Costco where I spotted a snowman and a skeleton on the same aisle!

Saturday I did a few household things, went to the grocery store and then went to a few museums in Memphis with a friend.  It was hot, but I loved getting out to the museums and bonus, they were both free this day! One is an art museum and the other is a metal museum, which was having a grand opening in a new location.

Jen and I talked on the phone Saturday evening and then she said she was coming over.  I am so thankful we live close (about 9-10 minutes, based on red lights if you're wondering)!

Sunday, I went to church with Jen, got a pedicure, met Jen and some friends at a pool, and then went on a walk.  It was a fun weekend!

How was yours?

Friday Thoughts ~ April 3, 2026

 Happy Friday! Today, I am sharing a few highlights of my week and some things on my heart on this Good Friday.

Monday, I was able to babysit for a new friend and it was a lovely day to take a walk and see all the azaleas in bloom.

Tuesday was work and I got a massage afterwards.  This is a monthly self care activity I do for myself!

I worked Wednesday morning from home then took one of my greats on her birthday lunch/shopping date.  She turns 4 on Saturday and is such a joy!  The store clerk referred to me a few times as her grandmother :).  

Thursday, I worked and went to a church dinner/Maundy Thursday service.  This is a service that remembers the Last Supper. 

Today, I want to share a few things on my heart.  

March was a month of some reflections for me. Like I mentioned this week, lonely sums up my month. It sums up 2026.  The ice storm was really hard on me going so many days without seeing people.  Readjusting to not having friends to hang out with on the weekends has been hard.  Eating 99% of my meals alone is a reality.  Going to bed alone and waking up alone is a reality.  Supporting myself is a reality.  I don't get any financial support.  Divorce is hard and there are so many layers of grief.  

As I say all of these things are true, I also want to share that in my alone times, I am not always sad.  Yes, often I am sad because I long to have a partner.  I feel complete and whole without someone, but I do miss having someone to share life. I wanted to share here that when I state I am lonely, that is a true feeling, however, it is not always a sad lonely.  Sometimes, it is just truly being alone & being okay with that.

I am so grateful for all your support, encouragement and prayers over the last 3 years on this blog.  I still need them going forward, but I want to also share here I have hope.  Even though my dreams with my former spouse won't happen, I can still have those dreams on my own or with someone new.  Sometimes, I may skip over relationship posts, because I honestly just can't relate to that anymore.  Maybe one day I will and maybe not, I don't know, but I do know that I am okay in my loneliness.  I am okay to feel sad with it at times and I am okay to be content with it.  Sometimes, it is really nice to not have to consider anyone else.  I often enjoy the time at home and other times, I need a change of scenery and need to take a drive, go get yogurt, or just run errands.  Winter is hard, so I am glad it is spring.  With spring, I have so many exciting things happening!  Would I rather still be married? Yes.  Would I rather still be able to stay in my house or buy a new house? Yes.  But, I am trying each day to face life with excitement for what is to come. Thanks for being on this journey with me as my friends.  

It seemed like Good Friday was a time to share about my lonely feelings in a week where Jesus experienced so many feelings of suffering, loneliness and betrayal.  The past 3 years, I have gone out of town for Easter to get away.  This year, I will stay at home and go to church by myself, as I do each Sunday, however, I am so thankful for my church family.  I hope that you can find a place to worship this weekend and reflect on the hope that the resurrection of Jesus brings us on this side of Heaven.

Life Lately ~ July 20, 2021

 

Today's post is a random assortment of pictures from this summer.  

Back in May, we had some teammates we worked with in Bogota' come stay with us.  Of course, coffee was served in our Colombian mugs.  This couple lives in Dallas now, but it was great to have time to re-connect.

Speaking of Colombia, today is Colombia's Independence Day.  We also were able to see some other friends who still live in Bogota'.  They were in the states visiting and it was fun to catch up with them at a gathering.

This picture is a throwback to my childhood.  The lady in this picture taught me elementary school in 5th & 6th grade!!  Another one of my classmates joined us for lunch.  He and I went to elementary, junior high and high school together.  This was such a fun lunch of reminiscing!

On the house front, we had this huge fan installed on our back porch.  It keeps it so cool out there, even in the summertime. Thankfully, most of our summer has been pretty mild.

A few weeks ago, we got dressed up and went to a wedding.

Afterwards, the 4 of us went out to dinner.  It was fun to be with our girls and see them be silly with one another.

Brook spent a week at church camp and we practiced being empty nesters. We started the day with lunch at the Piccadilly :)

We also spent time with friends at their pool, had dinner and watched a movie.

I will be back later in the week.  Enjoy your day and thanks for reading!

Life Lately ~ January 2021

Today I am sharing just a few random pictures of life lately the past few weeks.

When my girls were younger, I would take them to the local mall during the holiday season to look at the decorations.  We rarely go to any mall these days, but made a quick stop the week after Christmas.  They still had some Christmas decorations, so it made me think of old times.

My in-laws were in town for New Year's Eve/Day week.  We grilled steaks on New Year's Eve and had some decor as we greeted in the new year.

I had a 1000 piece puzzle they worked on and I finished it after they left.

A family favorite movie has always been Sound of Music, so we watched this as a family and of course, sang along, during the break.

Our front yard had inches of leaves, so we finally had them cleaned up last week.  I had forgotten what our yard looks like :)!

Most of you know I worked full time as a corporate travel agent until Covid halted travel in the spring.  I haven't worked since then and went last week to clean out my desk.  It was bittersweet.

And saving the best for last, I took a meal to my niece and her husband since they welcomed my newest great niece in December.  She is so little and cute!!

Hope you all have a great day!

 

Life Lately ~ June 2020

June 2020.....This is my first post of the month & just doing a little catch up on life lately.

First, lots of prayers for our hurting nation.  I am thankful for my friends who don't look like me and grew up differently.  May we all continue to learn and love and make a better generation for our kids.  

My oldest is babysitting this summer, so my younger daughter and I spent a morning with my greats last week.  It was the best morning!

I have been a space fan over the last 10 years and it was so cool to watch the launch of Space X 2 weeks ago!

I finally enjoyed some frozen yogurt for the first time in 2 1/2 months!

Over the weekend, we were able to have a video chat with our friends in Australia.  We met Edwin while living in Colombia and consider him like family.  He just got married to the sweetest girl this year.  When talking to someone on another continent, sometimes you have to wait for an internet reconnection :).

I watch shows on Netflix, but I did my first binge and watched "Hart of Dixie".  I loved it and it has more humor in it than "Virgin River".  I am a big fan of that show too and can't wait for season 2!

Last but not least, we are doing some remodeling projects around here so this is our temporary addition.  More to come on these projects soon!

Happy Monday!

Life Lately

Happy Wednesday! Since I am blogging on average once a week this past month, I am going to do a Life Lately post with some highlights from the past month.  

After I returned from my visit to Oklahoma to see where the Pioneer Woman resides, I enjoyed eating my leftovers from her restaurant while watching her show on the Food Network!  We took a cooler with us and any food we had left over from our meals, I brought home in the cooler.

Belgian waffles one Saturday morning

Pioneer Woman's tomato soup with a homemade grilled cheese sandwich for Saturday lunch

My husband and oldest daughter went to South America and brought back my youngest her favorite drink (we lived in Colombia for 3 years).  She was pretty excited. 

They bought this at the airport after security and brought this home. 

We decorated and celebrated St. Patrick's Day. 

 

My husband caught a fish doing some spring fishing at our lake. 

 

My daughter and I made a visit to her future college for a meeting and walked through her dorm building.  Things have come a long way since the 80's! 

 

Speaking of college, first we will get our daughter graduated from high school.  My beautiful niece, Nicole, took her senior pictures.  I am working on a graduation party this weekend, picking up cap and gown, submitting photos for slide shows, and ordering announcements and thank you notes for graduation.  Needless to say, working full time and this is keeping me busy with little time for much else.  I am enjoying the process while trying to just remember everything!

My work load has doubled the past week, so therefore, I have been enjoying these chocolates from Colombia.  This is what I received as a gift :). 

 

Thanks for taking a peek at life lately and I'll be back again next week with some highlights of the graduation party and Easter.  

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends as we reflect on the resurrection of Jesus.  Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.  Amen and thank you Lord.