Category: Uncategorized

Choosing a name for anything is so very personal, whether for a child, a business, a pet, and last year for me, a blog. When my friend and I were starting a cleaning business, seems like a lifetime ago, we worried over the name more than anything in the beginning. We tried following a couple “rules” for choosing it. The one that sticks out the most was to find a name that’s first letter was in the beginning to middle of the alphabet. The reasoning behind this was that people stopped scrolling the phone book after too long. Yep, it was that far back in time! Obviously that isn’t an issue any longer. But still finding the right name is important.

The name tells people what you are about, what is your ‘brand’, your niche, as is the buzz word lately. I really struggled with it for my blog. I was trying to have a name that represented who I am now. I wanted to reach women in this stage of life, as well as those who are past it and following behind. I think as women we have so much that we can share. No matter what, I am always gonna be Momma. That has been my focus since our children born. It was what Danny and I poured our hearts into. So it for sure had to be centered around that.

I chose ‘Momma’s Second Act’ because that is what this is. Maybe if broken down even more it could be a third or fourth, but the way I see it, it is second. Everything before was Act I. Finding the love of my life, establishing a wonderful career, having our precious children and moving to the country. Raising them to be well rounded, independent, good humans. Check, check and check. Now what?

Now its time for the Second Act. Watching my children succeed in their marriages, raising their beautiful families. Getting to be part of all they are doing. It’s not easy learning my roll in this one, stepping back and letting go. I’m working on it. I also still have a lot to learn about this blogging life. I’m working on that too. Consistency, for one, is going to be at the top of the list. I also want to hear from ya’ll! You can reach me at [email protected]. Don’t be strangers! Much Love, Jenni

It’s September 1, 2021. We are still about 20 days away from it officially being fall. Please don’t get me wrong, I love the fall, all aspects as a matter of fact! BUT, I’m not done with the summer. Not just yet.

I hate the idea of closing up our pool. I never feel like I have had enough time, no matter how much time I have had. This year has had some rather interesting temperatures and for a while it was too chilly for our night swims. I love a good night swim. And now they are calling for a cool down for the Labor Day weekend. I feel like Charlie Brown, GOOD GRIEF!!!

I think I am holding on to this summer because of my grandbabies. They have been so much fun! They have loved the pool and I have loved spending time with them in it. In the middle of raising children you don’t always realize how fast and fleeting those moments are. You are in the middle of the hustle from sun up to sun down and all in between. But I, as Grandmomma, know that I won’t get this summer back. The precious smiles of this summer won’t be the same ones I get next summer. Always changing and growing. I just want to soak it all in.

Now please don’t get me wrong. I love a good pumpkin spice anything! However, I don’t think it should come out til at least September 1st. I think it’s written somewhere that it’s sacrilege or something. And although I will welcome it in with wide open arms, I just need a couple more fun pool days. A couple more family cook outs, although we actually do that all year. But you know what I mean. Maybe even one more day at the beach. So even though fall is drawing near, it is technically a few days away. And with life passing by so quickly, please forgive me for not wishing these days away.

And since it is September 1st, I think I will at least have that pumpkin spice latte now!

Much Love, Jenni

I wasn’t exactly a planned baby, actually quite the opposite! I was born in 1971, not the time period when an unwed, teenage mother was accepted very well. My parents got married like they were suppose to, Mom went to college and my Daddy work up to three jobs. I mostly lived with my grandparents, having my own room at both homes. Holly Hobby decorated both if my faint memory is correct. I was incredibly loved!!

My Grandpa and Grandma were very supportive of my parents. It was never a problem caring for me. I spent quite a bit of time with them in the Outer Banks, at our trailer, back in the woods. Yep, there were alot of woods there back in the day. One of my Grandpa’s and my past times, down there, was catching dragonflies. He taught me that if you caught one you had to let it go immediately because they would disconnect their tail and eventually die. I have never Googled that so I don’t know if that’s true , but he was the smartest man in the world so I’m sure it was! He was a master at it. I remember catching them and freaking out because of how they would react, all buzzy and crazy like, trying to escape.

This is one of MY memories. Not one told to me, but one that my heart and mind remember. He passed away when I was almost five years old. It was traumatic for me. He was my solid. He was my happy, He was my everything. My memory of my youngest years stopped there. I have a few but not very many at all.

Fast forward twenty-five years when I turned thirty. I had a wonderful birthday party with all of my family and friends the night before my actual birth ‘day’ and Danny had to go to an out of town funeral the next morning. I was spending the day cleaning up and hanging out with my children and one of Victoria’s friends.

I was washing dishes, looking out my kitchen window, day dreaming about how many people I had lost in my life and how much they would have loved celebrating with me the night before. I know, kind of odd thoughts but it is what it is. Feeling very melancholy. A couple very strange things happened. I’m gonna share one.

I see an odd swarm come out of the woods behind our house. I looked even harder to see what it was. DRAGONFLIES!!!!! Thousands! I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but I promise you that I am not! I yelled for the kids to come see this amazing sight, I was so excited I could hardly breath. They came running out of the room to see why I was squealing. They stopped at the sliding door, looked out, looked at me, I looked at them, they looked back outside, then looked back at me. They were less than impressed. I looked back out and realized they had almost disappeared, just like that. They humored me and said “cool” and off they went back to their room. Trevor running behind them in his swishing diaper.

I returned to the sink alittle bummed that it had happened so fast, I regretted not just taking it in in the moment. I went back to the dishes, back to my thoughts, looked up again, and there they were. This time it took my breath away. Grandpa!?

This was for me, just for me. It was my moment. I just stood there with soapy hands, tears streaming down my face, feeling extreme gratitude. “Thank you”, my heart whispered. My mood changed, I finished the dishes and went and played with my children.

We had only lived in our new house in the country for about six months. I now know that we have huge numbers of dragonflies that appear all through the summer. Danny always gets a kick out of them landing on me all of the time. I don’t try to catch them anymore, it still freaks me out. I love them right where they are. And they ALWAYS make my heart smile because I ALWAYS think of my Grandpa and he ALWAYS made everything good for me.

With my heart feeling rather off today, my mind having a hard time concentrating on much of anything, I realize how much I wish it were summer. Because I really could use a dragonfly right now.

Much love and prayers friends!

~Jenni~

Yesterday I read a quote that said, “Tomorrow is the first page of a 365 page book”. That hit me hard! I think I have seen it before but its never resonated quite like it did this time. Obviously 2020 had some very blank pages as many days were full of nothingness, but were they really? Even in that nothingness I could and should have chosen to do something. Maybe what I thought was nothing was actually something after all like rest and healing, a recharge. Who am I kidding, there was a LOT of lazy! No worries, I get a reset! Because those other days were FULL, oh so beautifully full!

I think my book from last year was actually a crazy novel whose empty pages weren’t actually empty. They were the slow parts, maybe just half pages, because in reality the other pages seemed more like chapters. But please let me say that I don’t hate 2020, nope not at all! I might be a little mad about a few things but honestly, it was one of the best years of my whole life. Our 2020 baby blessings were the best!!!!! We grew closer as a family, if that’s even possible. And we relied on each other in more ways than we thought we ever could.

With all of that being said, it’s time to move forward! Time to embrace the new book of 2021, today is my first page. I will be spending today with Danny, running a few errands. We relaxed after breakfast and he is ‘piddlin’ with some honey do’s. We’ll head out to town in a bit. It might not be an exciting intro to the new year but it’s ours. I am okay with a drama free beginning, a slow pace, a comfortable ease into what is going to be another full year for us. Watching these sweet littles grow and being able to be part of that, that’s what my book is going to be about this year. I think it will make for a heartwarming read. We all know though that our best laid plans can make God giggle. I sure hope He and I are on the same page with this year. None the less we’re here, so let’s make it a good one! I pray for abundance in your life, of peace and of joy. May 2021 be a year of great blessings to all y’all!

Thank you again for so much encouragement!

Much love from my family to yours,

Jenni

Christmas Eve!! It is here with all of its magic and wonder. Its lights and colorful decorations, oh yes it’s here. It’s here with all of the presents bought and wrapped, with the Christmas music playing and the Christmas movies we watch. Smells of Christmas baking and Christmas scented candles All of the things that makes Christmas ‘Christmas’ are here.

But oh is it different!

My mother made Christmas magical for our family, as her Mom and Dad did for theirs. Traditions have been made and kept, but altered. I continued many, most, okay, probably all of ours in one way or another. As our families grew we all started to make new ones, while keeping the old in our hearts. And today, Christmas Eve, is when it starts.

But oh is it different!

2020, that’s all I need to say.

For our family it has held some of the greatest joy a year could bring. It has also held challenges of epic proportion. It has been emotional and hard. And it has been beautiful! Truly is has been the longest bipolar rollercoaster ride of a year. For someone who lives with anxiety, as I do, it has been quite. the. year.

Just like everything else in this year we are modifying our traditions. We’ve done this before for issues like surgeries, illnesses, and last year my Grandma spent about 20 days between the hospital and a rehab facility finally coming home on the 23rd. We adapt and find a way to bring the tradition wherever it needs to go. Traditions are important, family is important. But sometimes, they just have to change. A little alter here and a little tweek there, maybe not the whole thing, just a modification. And it’s going to be okay!

But oh is it different!

In just a couple hours Danny and I will head out to meet up with our children. We will be spending our first Christmas Eve with our Grandchildren. Y’all, I can’t even! It looks very different from years before, these babies wont be taken into large family events this year. Their Momma’s and Daddy’s don’t get to show them off to everyone in the family at the traditional dinners and gatherings. Those things truly make my heart sad, but I refuse to dwell on the bad. Today is for sweet fellowship with family, especially my Grandma. She hasn’t seen the babies much this year, these are her great, great grandchildren. She is so proud of them. So today she gets to enjoy them, those precious ones that we continue the traditions for, not just in pictures or on facebook, but for real.

We will end the day in our own homes. Danny and I haven’t even decided what tonight will look like. Dang this second act thing, I’m still getting used to it. As for my children with their children, they get to start feeling those feelings of being Santa, creating the magic however they choose to do it. They get to start their new traditions. Their night will end with putting together toys and perfectly placing things for each other and the babies. They will look into Ella and Tanners rooms, at those perfect little ones and be so excited about the morning. Their Christmas’s have forever been changed, all for the better.

Before I end this very long post today, I have to say how thankful I am to God for all of my blessings. I am so very thankful He sent His son for us. Christmas time always reminds me of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life.” Jesus truly is the reason for the season. And although this world is changing, Jesus never does.

So remember, traditions are great, family is most important, change is okay, and God is good, all the time!

Christmas 2020 is going to be wonderful!

But oh is it different!!

Merry Christmas Friends! Much Love!

Jenni

I have already told y’all how much I love fall. And as usual, it has taken it’s sweet time to feel like it in Virginia. It kind of teased us abit early on but then those higher temperatures came on back in. Finally some temps that feel like November.

So when I started writing this blog, I posted how I wasn’t ready for the season to change. I just wanted to hold summer a little longer. Well no more! 2020 has been an incredible rollercoaster ride for this family and today I can say that I am ready for the next season to come quickly! Yep! CHRISTMAS!!

Danny definitely thinks it should wait til after Thanksgiving, as usual. I said nothing is “usual” this year. Normal got thrown out the window at some point last March and hasn’t found it’s way back since. It’s time to change the season!!

I started thinking how about how that applies to the seasons of our lives too. Right now I am in a season of life that I want to S L O W down. I do not want this season to change. I just about want it to stop as I watch these sweet littles grow. I know it won’t, and that’s okay.

And as there are seasons we want to hang onto a little bit longer, there are those that we want to fast forward through. You may be finding yourself in the midst of a health issue or crisis. This year has been financially difficult for many. Maybe it’s the loss of a job or loss of a loved one. So many things can cause us to wish that time move faster. Hoping the next season brings better situations.

Obviously the real seasons come and go on a regular schedule. We know when right down to the date when we change them. They don’t always look or feel like the season, not how we expect them to, but it’s a definite change. We don’t have any control over natures changes. Just as we can’t control the seasons of our lives.

What I can control is how I decorate, and when. How I make my little bubble in this world feel. The Christmas spirit is a season to me. Now I don’t leave out Thanksgiving, I give it its due day. But we don’t refer to it as the Thanksgiving spirit, at least not in my world, it is Thanksgiving day. And yes I do start listening to Christmas music and watching Hallmark Christmas movies in November. And this crazy, out of control year I am going to start decorating my house for MY most wonderful time of the year.

Whatever season you find yourself, know they don’t last. Just like in nature there will be change. So if this year you find some small way to control something in your life, please by all means DO IT!!! Deck those halls when you want! You want peppermint coffee creamer, push right past the pumpkin. You’re tired of news, change that channel to a little town in Vermont where some beautiful, hardworking city girl is falling for that good looking Christmas tree farmer.

How much does a word weigh? You can’t measure it on a scale, it can’t go in a wet or dry measuring tool. But there is weight to words. So how can they be measured?

You know when someone gives you a compliment it makes you feel light, happy, encouraged. Your hair looks so nice! Have you lost weight? You are such a great Mom! You see what I mean? The Bible actually tells us in Proverbs 16:24,”Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones”. Kind and encouraging words are light, they don’t weigh much at all because they lift you up.

There is a flip side to this though. There are some real heavy words, hurtful and discouraging. Not uplifting at all. Heavy words and phrases that just down right weigh us down. I guess that could work but its not how I would do it. You just wait until she’s a teenager and see how that works for you. What were you thinking? No offense but yada yada yada. You never blah blah blah. The heaviest word for Victoria has always been ‘disappointed’, whoooo that was a bad one. I tried to never use that word with either of my children as they grew up but I know it came out and that makes me very disappointed in myself.

I think, especially today, it is so important to be speaking light into each other’s lives. We really need some encouragement. We don’t know what someone might be going through. I want to encourage us to pay attention to the words we speak, the phrases we say. We cant take them back, you know the toothpaste example. Once its out of the tube it’s just about impossible to put it back in. Once that word is out it hits the heart, is it light or is it heavy? Is it going to weigh someone down or lighten them up and give them a spring in their step? Measure words against your own heart, that is the tool right there. How would it make you feel to hear them?

Today I want to leave you with very light words! I want your hearts to be encouraged! I want my words to be sweet like that honeycomb to your heart! Be encouraged today! Choose to be the light for someone, I guarantee it will not only be good for them but it will be for you as well! I’m still finding my way around this blogging journey and all of you have been so encouraging to my heart. Please let me know if there is anyway I can be an encouragement to you. You are an amazing human, made in God’s image and with His light!

Remember that we are all better together!

Much love, Jenni

I recently understood the concept of writers block. Oh no, not that I didn’t have enough to say, I have TOO much that is clogging my mind!! I have also been working on learning more about my computer, taking pictures with a real camera, learning how to get them from said camera to my computer then to my blog. So I froze, insert crazy face emoji! I have asked other bloggers for advice and it is very basic, keep on moving.

Keep on moving, even when you don’t think you’re doing it right. There is always something new to learn. Take all of our new homeschooling Momma’s out there! My word, I cant even imagine being thrust into that roll unexpectedly. We homeschooled our children for 12 years. Victoria was finishing up her fourth grade year of public school when we decided to go in a different direction. Trevor was just in kindergarten and I didn’t feel comfortable taking him out of school until he was going into the second grade. Before we finalized our decision to make this change, we researched and prayed, and researched and prayed some more. There were bumps in the road but we pushed forward and kept on moving. These parents have my prayers as they too keep on moving.

Keep on moving, even if no one notices. It doesn’t matter if you always get a pat on the back, just keep pressing on. 2020 is the year for this. There have been so many situations that have made people just want to give up this year. Don’t give in! Change jobs if you need to, learn to cook even if you have to throw some of it away, try a new hobby even if you burn your finger with the glue gun. Bottom line, keep on moving.

So, as I fill up your news feeds with a post here and yet another picture there, please forgive me. I’ve been hesitant to do that but it appears that’s what they suggest. Please hang in there with me, its just a few growing pains that I hope go away as I keep on moving.

Much love, Jenni

As I have shared several times already, I am 49 years old. I’d say that is pretty grown, right? And yet certain things seem to make me feel more ‘adult’ than others. Like today for instance, when my new refrigerator showed up. Let me give you just a quick timeline; married at 20, purchased first home at 22, welcomed our first child at 23. However, my first time really feeling like an adult was when I turned 25. Why in the world was it a number that made me feel this way instead of the milestones?

Flash forward, we moved to our current home at 29 and are still here to this day. This is where we want to retire and live ’til the Lord calls us home! Simple! This past summer we did ALOT of upgrades. We got new appliances, built a new deck, got new windows and doors, whoo that was crazy! We also got that new pool I mentioned a blog or so back, that made this Momma very happy. Well, due to Covid 19 everything took so much longer, everything. We ordered (and paid for) a refrigerator June 5th and it came today October 14th.

I was cleaning up a nasty rotting pumpkin off the porch as that big, beautiful, box truck pulled into my driveway. I was squealing inside! Then gentlemen took the old one out and brought the new one in. We tested the water line, IT WORKED, and then he told me to dump the first full bucket of ice once it filled. That made me sad because we haven’t had a working ice maker in a couple of years, but I can wait.

As I loaded all of the items back into the frig I strangely felt that little feeling of being an adult. I’ve been an adult for a very long time, but standing there looking at that appliance, there it was, I’m really grown. It also probably had something to do with my whole entire body starting to feel all of the bending and lifting and walking that I had done to prep for this wonderful delivery. So as I popped my ibuprophen and applied my special essential oil for pain, I definitely know that adulthood has sunk in, I don’t need to doubt it ever again, and I am actually, really okay with it.

The idea of a blog has been on my heart and in my mind for quite some time now. I love to write and I love to talk. I’ve been told I can talk the red off a stop sign, but I do it anyway. That does not always transfer into a good writer. I am not an English major, so please be kind. I’m learning how to download and upload, how to find my way around
adding pictures and making this look like me. I don’t know how to do it all yet but I’m going to do it.

I’m going to do it afraid.
I’m going to do it with terrible anxiety and insecurity.
I’m going to do it for my family.
I’m going to do it for me.
I’m just going to do it!

I am in my second act of life when things are very different. My children are grown with their own children. Many of my friends are right here with me. We are trying to navigate this new looking life. As I was at lunch today with some girlfriends, we were laughing reminiscing about old times when one said, “I have less years to live on this earth than I have already lived and it has gone too fast”. We are all very close in age. We all looked at each other thinking what an awful thought, at the same time we all agreed to live it to its fullest. We are not old!!! We don’t want to miss anything.

I would love for this to be interactive. I want to share ideas and have you share yours with me. I want to reach out to those of you who are also going through this new chapter. I also want to share my family with you. I want you to meet each one of them and see how our crazy lives are so beautifully wrapped together. We couldn’t do this life without each other, God truly new who to piece together for this great adventure. So come along y’all, we’ve got some fun to have!