Friday Favorites

Friday Faves: Weekly Report

Posted on March 27, 2026March 28, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

All I have to say is TGIF! We’ve had a busy week with many late nights, and while school has been fine, my students were definitely acting like this is the last week before spring break (which is usually the case), but unfortunately for all of us, we still have one more week left before break!

Anyway, as always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites…

…to share my…

I’ve seen this “Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T” on Tik Tok and Insta, and thought it would be a fun blog idea. I think usually it stands for…reading, eating, prioritizing, obsessing, recommending, and treating.

I’m going to put my own “spin” on it, and for this report, I’m going to focus on…reading, enjoying, purchasing, obsessing, resolving, teaching.

Reading:

I’m listening to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and I’m flying through it. I downloaded it last Saturday, and I only have about an hour left in the book. It’s so good…and I love the Kentucky/Lexington references.

It’s a rarity, but at the moment, I don’t have anything downloaded on my Kindle to read. I’m hoping to download a few books this weekend!

Enjoying:

I’ve been enjoying the sunshine and fresh air this week. This past weekend truly felt like summer, and this week, we’ve had more springlike temps. We’ve opened the windows, and I’ve driven with the sunroof open as much as possible. Of course, all good things must come to an end (or at least be paused), as today’s weather is chilly and gloomy!

Purchasing:

Just this week, I realized I needed to get my act together and purchase a few things for the kids’ Easter baskets.

Hayden is getting a t-shirt and baseball cards, and I’ve already purchased this tank for Hadley.

The rest of these items are in my cart (and some are on sale thanks to the Amazon spring sale)

Flip 7 – I always try to add a game to one of their baskets (or something for them to share) that we can play as a family, and I’ve heard this game is fun.
Beef sticks- I still don’t know who Mr. Beast is but teens talk about him, and apparently there are some Jack Links beef sticks with his name on them!
Car items are fun now that the kids have a car….Car putty looks like something they could use based on the times I’ve been in their car. haha
Air fresheners – Hadley just mentioned that the ones they have in their car are now basically scentless, so these will come at a good time.
Medicube– Anything skincare is a good bet for Hadley, and we’ve talked about trying these Medicube toner pads. Maybe she’ll let me try them too!
Fidget balls– These magnetic fidget balls are perfect for Hayden’s basket…and like Hadley’s Medicube toner pads, I’m interested in trying them too!

Obsessing:

Ummm…how cute are my new hats? They are from Moink Custom on Etsy. For quite a while, I’ve wanted a neutral smiley face hat, and even Amazon was no help. I like to wear hats, but sometimes I don’t want to were a hat with sports logo. The “I need a minute” hat is from an idea I saw off another hat that was sold out on a website. I thought it would be a good one for vacation…or really any day. haha

The color and puff paint are perfect on both.

Resolving:

This week, I made a resolution to walk 20 min every day. I’ve kind of been in a funk, and I figured if I could commit to 20 minutes of fresh air every day, that would certainly help!

I made a “reminder” note on my phone, and I went ahead and typed out the rest of the days in March, and I’ve checked the box after my walk each day. Now, some days, I’ve also had time for an actual workout, but mostly this week, I’ve committed to walking. And…most days, I’ve walked longer than 20 minutes.

This week really was hectic, so some days committing to walking meant that as soon as I got home, I walked rather than having downtime before one of the kids’ activities. Other days, I was walking at 8PM to get the walk in. Anyway, I’ve looked forward to these daily walks, and it’s how I’ve listened to so much of my book this week!

Teaching:

This week, my English 2 students finished up unit 3 which means it’s time for them to write their end of unit paper. We’re focusing on elements of argument as they are writing a persuasive letter. Before they began their brainstorm, I put them into groups to read five sample letters. One of my “teaching tricks” is to assign groups based on the playing card I give them. I needed five groups, so students were in groups based on hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades and then aces/jokers were a group.

They read through five different sample letters, and the last letter they were given, they had to use the rubric I will use to grade their letters in order to assign that letter a grade. One of my pet peeves that they hear all about every time they write a paper is when they tell me they’ve lost the rubric I gave them…and I tell them I won’t grade their paper without a rubric.

So, now they’ve seen the rubric, used the rubric to score another paper, and have it to guide them as they write their essay.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Yep. (Although, I will say that TikTok videos taught them how to parallel park! ha!)

Weekly Recap:

I had a fun week of blogging:

Monday memes

Day in the Life: Weekend

What’s Up Wednesday

Monthly Musings

Have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#295}

Posted on March 20, 2026March 19, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

What a week! We had all kinds of weather from rain to high winds to ice to snow! Throw St. Patrick’s Day in there with school and sports, and it was just a full week!

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

Last weekend, Hadley had a volleyball tournament, but thankfully it was here in town. Bonus – her team didn’t play until the afternoon wave on Saturday, so we were able to ease into our weekend. The team went 3-0 which meant they played in the gold bracket on Sunday. They ended up coming in 4th overall, so it was a great weekend of volleyball…and even better because we didn’t have to travel!

Saturday night, Travis and I went to the baseball fundraiser. It’s a little weird being back in this baseball world, but it was nice reconnecting with friends and many of my school friends were at the event as well.

Sunday morning started early with volleyball but also with me putting our corned beef meal in the slow cooker!

After Hadley’s games on Sunday, I had a couple of hours at home, so I made two loaves of the Irish soda bread while the cabbage cooked.

My brother and his family came over for dinner, so it was a nice way to end the weekend.

Tuesday started off in an odd way. I actually hit snooze a few times, and by the time I got my coffee and got situated on the couch, I saw a few texts from friends saying how bad the roads were. I noticed that my street looked icy, and then around that time, we received a text that we were going to have a two hour delay. Then, it started to snow heavily for about an hour, so we ended up having an online learning day. The initial two hour delay call was so late that many elementary teachers and some students were already at school. Even a few high school teachers were at school, and they had texted to say how slick it was outside. Anyway, what a random start to St. Patrick’s Day, but I wasn’t mad about being at home.

This is the breakfast I provided my kids on their Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, NTI day:

I had placed a pick up order on Monday, and I wasn’t sure what to make for dinner this week. Well, once I saw that colder temps for Tuesday, I decided to make potato soup, and then I made another loaf of the Irish soda bread. It was the perfect St. Patrick’s Day dinner given how cold it was outside!

I made brownies, and Hadley iced them and decorated them with rainbow sprinkles. This was a nice dessert to have for the week.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Teens, am I right?!

Weekly Recap:

I had a couple of posts this week:

Wednesday HodgePodge

Throwback Thursday

I hope you have a great weekend. For once, we don’t have much on the books, so I’m guessing we’ll watch a lot of basketball this weekend!

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#294}

Posted on March 13, 2026March 13, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday (the 13th!)

How was your week? Overall, ours was good. Spring has sprung which means allergies are kicking up too. I felt like most everyone in our house was sneezing.

The kids were busy with volleyball, track, and baseball. Tuesday was the statewide testing day, so my kids, as sophomores, took the PSAT. It’s crazy to think we’re in this part of their high school era.

Anyway, I’m definitely feeling TGIF. I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week…

Last weekend, Hadley had a volleyball tournament in Louisville. This is her third year playing club volleyball, and through the years, we’ve had lots of tournaments. This one wasn’t like any other we’d experienced. It was at the Expo center, and there were thousands and thousands of people there. It was hosted by Under Armour, and there were hundreds of courts, music playing, lots of merch, food trucks, a bar!, and more. To say I was overstimulated by the end of each day is an understatement. haha!

Anyway, Hadley’s team is small but mighty and they hung in there on Saturday.

…and then on Sunday, they won their bracket. They played much better on Sunday, so I’m glad they were able to end the weekend on a high note.

I shared in a Target post a few weeks ago that I saw the Slice version of a Shirley Temple. Well, recently I found the Olipop version at Target. I bought a couple, and it tastes really good. Target has been out of the Poppi verison that’s so popular, but I hope to try it when I can find it.

I don’t put out St. Patrick’s Day decor, but a couple of weekends ago, I did update my front porch door hanger and door mat to the ones I use to kick start spring. Last weekend, when I went to switch up my garden flag, I remembered that I have this St. Pat’s Day one courtesy of my mom. Last spring, she was cleaning out her flags, and I got this one. It’s a nice festive touch.

I’m also back drinking an iced coffee most mornings, and I pulled out my Daisy flower icon glass that I got a couple of months ago at World Market. It’s the little things!

In that same Target post, I’d shared that I’d gone to Target looking for this berry bowl, but it ended up being too big for my coffee table tray. (I was never going to put berries in it…I just liked the color). Anyway, this berry bowl is smaller, so I got it, I’m liking this new addition to the coffee table tray. As you can see, I have one of my favorite jarred candles, and the matches are my latest Hearth and Home find at Target.

Obviously, I light candles often, but I usually use a lighter. During Christmastime, when I picked up a cute box of Santa matches at a local boutique, I liked the practicality/functionality as well as the cuteness of the box of matches. When I saw these, I picked them up and they are a nice little addition/option for when I don’t want to go find the lighter. (I can’t link them, but they were in the Hearth and Home section of Target).

I went to Trader Joe’s a couple of weeks ago, and these cinnamon cashews jumped into my cart…and they will do so again next time I go. They’re so good.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Well, this is a favorite mom meme at dad’s expense….This is the running joke at our house with Hadley and Trav…even I have to roll my eyes at him sometimes. haha

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:

Look at my little leprechauns in March 2011.

Not long after this, Hayden got his first haircut!

Weekly Recap:

Share Our Lives

10 on the 10th

LEt’s Look/HodgePodge

This weekend, we’re having our traditional corned beef, cabbage, and Irish soda bread meal. We can’t wait!

Friday Favorites, Kids

Friday Favorites {#293}

Posted on March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

How was your week? The first full week in March was certainly a good one, and I truly appreciated the warmer temps and extra daylight. I’m definitely ready for spring.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

Saturday morning was so lovely. I went and picked up donuts for the kids to have for breakfast, and then I decided to sit outside on the front porch and read for a bit while enjoying my iced coffee.

Saturday night, Hadley went to the Sadie Hawkins dance, and had a great time. I’m very happy that we’re in the phase where all the girls just share dresses! It was nice not having to worry about finding time to find just the right dress.

Pretty in pink….

Saturday had such beautiful weather, so we spent a few minutes outside for pictures.

One of Hadley’s friends was also going to the same dance, so Hadley was extra happy about that too.

Hadley had a busy week…the dance on Saturday and then the indoor state track meet on Wednesday. Her team qualified for the 4×200 relay. Hadley ran the anchor leg…

(She only ran past me once, and I was busy encouraging her to not slow down…there was a girl right on her heels…so this is the best pic I got…)

…They won their heat and the team placed in the top 8 overall which meant they earned a medal. The girls had only run together one other time, so they were so happy to make the podium and run a 5 second PR!

My newest lunch obsession is this bowl…I was inspired by an Insta post, and it’s just Jasmine rice, edamame, ground turkey and soy sauce. I was able to get a few lunches out of this meal prep.

Book Trackers:

On Sunday, I shared my March trackers.

I still love making (and using) these. I save them in a highlight on Instagram, so feel free to use them and tag me!

Fave Spring Amazon:

With the warmer weather and sunshine, I got to thinking about a couple of my favorite Amazon tops.

I have this short sleeve top in two colors. It’s such an easy fit, and one that I wear often.

Prettygarden button down (affiliate link)

This puff short sleeved sweater is another one that I have in a couple of colors. The lightweight fabric is soft and is the perfect transitional piece for spring. This sweater is the perfect wardrobe staple.

WIHOLL short sleeve sweater (affiliate link)

Favorite Mom Meme:

Honestly, this isn’t really an issue at our house, but it did make me laugh!

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from the week:

Share Our Lives:

We have our monthly Share Our Lives link up on Monday. This month’s topic is…grocery list frequent buys.

We’d love to have you join us.

It’s Daylight Saving time this weekend. Honestly, I was surprised when I realized that. I know we’ve been gaining sunlight, but I didn’t know it was time to set the clocks forward an hour until the weatherman had it on the seven day forecast.

What was a favorite from your week? Have a great weekend!

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Monthly Moments

Friday Favorites/Monthly Moments: February 2026

Posted on February 27, 2026March 30, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

How was your week? I feel like this week flew by! It was a good week of school, and we were busy in the evenings too. I will say that my evenings did feel a bit different without watching Olympic coverage.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites…

…to take a look back on February…

I feel like I just shared this:

…for being a shorter month, it did feel like a long one!

We started February how we ended January…with lots of snow and ice.

Homer loves the snow.

We tried a new restaurant, and we’ll definitely go back.

Valentine’s Day was a little different since Hadley and I were in Knoxville for volleyball. We gave the kids a couple of gifts the night before.

Knoxville, Tennessee was a fun town to visit!

Hadley had two volleyball tournaments this month…one in Knoxville and one in Ohio.

She’s having a lot of fun with her team, and they’ve made it to the silver and gold brackets after pool play.

I’m getting used to the kids driving. They’ve done a good job sharing their car. We just have to have a game plan most days with four drivers sharing three cars.

Of course, we watched as much Olympic coverage as possible…at least I did!

Hadley is excited for the upcoming Sadie Hawkins dance, and the sign she made was so cute.

We packed a lot into February…even with the start of it feeling like Groundhog Day with snow, ice, cold temps and no school!

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from the week:

I hope you have a happy Friday!

Friday Favorites, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids, Travel

Friday Favorites {#292}

Posted on February 20, 2026February 19, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

How was your week? Ours was good overall, but I think being out of town last weekend made me extra tired this week. We had warmer temps and lots of sunshine…proof that spring is around the corner.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites.

Here are a few favorites from the week.

Since Hadley and I were going to be out of town for volleyball, I gave the kids their Valentine’s Day presents on Friday after school.

I got both kids and Trav some candy, and then for Hayden, he always suggests baseball cards as a gift, so I bought him a box at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Also, I bought him a Chiefs keychain for the car, so he didn’t have to use the dealer one anymore. I actually got him an air tag too, so he can keep up with the keys.

Hadley has completely hijacked one of our new living room blankets, so I got her one of her own. After we went to Hadley’s first tournament, we realized she didn’t really have an overnight bag. She often uses a spare backpack, but we purged what she had when we cleaned out her closet. Anyway, some of her friends have this Free People Carryall bag, and when I searched for it, I realized DSG has them…and some colors were on sale. So, on one of our snow days, I went to our local store and bought her one in the “petal” color. When she opened it, she was surprised and said, “Oh…it’s the real thing!” She knows I love a dupe! haha (I love a sale too, apparently!)

Anyway, they kids were surprised and appreciative.

Travis gave me a gift card for a massage, and of course my card had bubble letters.

Saturday was Valentine’s Day, and we were up and out the door to drive to Knoxville. Hadley’s team played in the afternoon wave, and wore their pink shirts for Valentine’s Day.

They played well on Saturday! Hadley’s been working on a little jump serve, and she’s getting there!

That evening, we walked around downtown we saw lots of festive touches.

How cute are these hearts and the red and white lights?

I swear Hadley is going to turn into a taco! She requested Mexican food once she saw that restaurant option, so that’s what we had…and then we went for ice cream. I was full, but she got the red velvet, and it was delish.

We walked back to the hotel which was around the corner from the Tennessee Theater. I’d seen this lit up sign in photos, so it was as surprise to walk right past it.

Sunday, they didn’t play until the afternoon, so we had some time on our hands. It was a really rainy morning, so it was nice to start off slowly. We met friends and had lunch at Tupelo Honey. We’d been to one in Asheville before, and the biscuits were as good as I remembered them to be.

Loved the Bless Your Heart glasses.

The girls dodged the rain to shop a bit, and then we headed to the convention center. They played some tough teams, but overall played well on Sunday too.

Sunday was a very late night that ended with us eating Chipolte (for Hadley – I told you…she’s going to turn into a taco!) and Cava for me…in our hotel room at 9:30 at night. We were so tired!

This was a three day tournament…I’m not sure why (LOL!). The girls made it to the silver bracket on Monday morning. We were down a hitter, so Hadley played all around on Monday. I laugh when my 5’3″ daughter playing front row, but she had some good hits AND a couple of blocks. She was so happy!

We were home by Monday afternoon, so at least I had some time at home on my Monday day off. I unpacked, took a nap, and placed a Kroger order. Overall, it was a good but busy weekend.

Yesterday, I sat in the backseat while Hadley drove us home from school. Her friend was in the front seat, and I was like, “Wow! Times have changed!” haha

Y’all, the Toms ads are targeting me! In the winter, I purchased two pairs of booties (to replace two that I’d had for years) that were on sale, and then, I saw an ad for these mules that were on sale. I ordered the metallic linen color, and they arrived this week. I can’t wait for spring! (Some colors appear to be out of stock, but there is limited sizing on some others…I did size up from a 9 to 9.5)

Yesterday, I didn’t feel like working out, but I decided to do a quick workout. Well, I got a notification that I’d completed my 400th workout! I believe this is my 400th since I started tracking about three years ago. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise of an accomplishment.

Favorite Mom Meme:

This one depends on the day, but I can certainly relate.

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from the week:

We have lots going on this weekend, but I hope to get caught up on some much needed rest. I also need to take down my (limited) Valentine’s Day decor, I hope to finish a book and watch what’s left of the Olympics.

Friday Favorites, Holidays

Friday Favorites {#291}

Posted on February 13, 2026February 12, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

It’s been a good week once we got back into a routine. I know we just had two (unexpected) weeks off of school, but I’m not mad about the upcoming three day weekend.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some faves from the week:

The Olympics!

I’ve planned my evenings around watching the Prime Time coverage, and that means I’ve also been going to bed later than I should. I’ve enjoyed watching as many events as possible, and I always love learning more about the athletes.

I almost missed out on my (half off) birthday discount, but on one of the final days of January, I ordered a Kendra Scott ring that I’d had my eye on. My local store didn’t have it, so I just ordered it online. It arrived this week, and I love it.

Hadley’s club volleyball photos came in, and they turned out so cute.

I’m not sure what took me so long to do so, but I finally bought a couple of bags at Trader Joe’s to haul my groceries in. We do like using the paper bags because we’ll use them for our recycling, but I do like having these bags, and they’ve come in handy for carrying my Kroger and Aldi groceries too.

I went to Walmart on Monday to make a return, and of course I had to look around. How cute are these (salad and dinner) plates? They are the Pioneer Woman brand, so of course they’re cute! I was so tempted to buy them, but I showed restraint. I guess I can always go back!

I’ve shared these Threshold brand candles a couple of times. I have the pink one, and I was placing a Target pick up order, so I thought I’d go ahead and snag a white one. Well, how could I resist the green one?!…and Target had a buy one get one half off sale. These are already reasonably priced, especially for the quality, so I just couldn’t say no.

With the Chiefs not being in the Super Bowl, our Super Bowl traditions were all out of whack. We did still go to my brother’s house, but instead of ordering a cookie cake, I made Valentine’s Day(ish) brownies. They were a hit.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, my mom gave me these little heart tea lights via my Gma. So festive and cute.

We have a lot going on this weekend, so I went ahead and made our “Valentine’s Day” family dinner last night. Heart shaped chicken nuggets for the win!

Both kids love nuggets, and Hadley loves mac and cheese, so this was an easy meal to make. On a whim, I added some of the Sister Schubert rolls to my Kroger order, and we made little chicken minis!

The Valentine’s Day card for our family tradition continues! I snapped a pic of the kids on one of our snow days, and then I ordered the cards from Shutterfly. I love sending these to family every year.

The way to my heart…

Favorite Mom Meme:

I feel seen! Why is it like this? haha

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:

I’m sure I share this every year, but I loved dressing the kids up for Valentine’s Day when they were younger. This pic is from 2011…their second Valentine’s Day. Pinchy cheek cute.

Weekly Recap:

I’ve still been a busy blogger….

It’s Friday the 13th. Let’s hope it’s a low-key day at school. haha!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#290}

Posted on February 6, 2026February 5, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

Well, it’s official…we haven’t been to school in two weeks. “Winter break 2.0” has been very unexpected. I guess our only shot at normalcy will be the fact that we’re supposed to be in the 50’s next week!

While I appreciate the downtime, we all need to get back into a routine!

Speaking of routine…as I do every Friday, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Buckle up, y’all…I have lots of faves and lots of randomness…

I saw this on Instagram, and my Type A personality loved it:

As I shared in my post on Tuesday, I’ve been out and about to a few faves stores. I saw this cherry icon glass at Home Goods and just couldn’t say no. I’ve already used it a few times, but I was thinking it would be a good spring/summer glass.

Hadley went to a birthday party last weekend, and they made pretty bouquets of flowers. Her bedside table has a lovely pop of color(s).

Speaking of Hadley…she got some Lego flowers for her birthday, and she’s been working on them with her friend over the past couple of months. Her bouquet is finally finished…so she has lots of flowers in her room.

…and speaking of her room, I left to run errands on Tuesday and came home to her room rearranged. She’d told me she wanted to move things around, but I was surprised she did so on her own. Honestly, I was a smidge annoyed because I knew I was going to help get everything put away/purged/organized/thrown out, but I guess we did have time…and that’s how we spent most of Wednesday. I do remember moving my room around a lot as a kid, so I guess she gets that from me!

*Sigh* I was so bummed to hear about Catherine O’Hara passing away (obviously, not a favorite)….I spent most of Saturday morning watching Schitt’s Creek (a favorite show of mine). My dad told me to watch it a few years ago, and I chipped away at it that summer. Anyway, it’s such a great show…and she will be missed!

I found more Dizzilicious…this time at Target. This variety pack was with the Valentine’s Day candy, cards, etc…so I snagged it right up. I think it’s mostly at Sam’s Club or Costco, and we don’t have memberships to either. I hope Target always has this. The birthday cake flavor is my fave.

Trav picked up Crumbl cookies on Friday, but he left them in his car overnight! He found them on Saturday morning…haha!

Still, it was a very sweet thought to pick some up, and we enjoyed those last weekend.

Speaking of sweet treats, I went to fill the kids’ car up with gas yesterday morning, and I decided to pick up some donuts too. They appreciated having something different for breakfast…I thought the one with strawberry icing was delish!

I went to Michael’s last week, and I spotted so many cute “book club” paper goods.

How funny, right?!

This serving tray was so precious, and they had so many cute napkins: library book check out card, “My wine club has a book problem,” and “So many books, so little time!” I didn’t get any of these, but I was tempted!

Tuesday night, we went out to dinner. You all, when I tell you that we never eat out during the week, I mean it. I really always try to make dinner, and occasionally we will pick up carry out, but we literally never go out to eat on a Tuesday night. Anyway, I told Trav we needed to get out of the house and do something, and we hadn’t tried this new(ish) restaurant. (Also, while planning the dinner out, I really did think we were going back to school on Wednesday, so I this would be a nice was to wrap up “Winter break 2.0”)

The food was really good. Trav got a BBQ sandwich, I ordered a burger salad, Hadley got a chicken bowl, and look at Hayden’s burger…so good!

We’ll definitely go back! (And as we exited the restaurant and made our way to the car, it started to snow just as we received the text that we didn’t have school the next day.)

My mom gave me this mug for my birthday. Maybe I should sit it on my desk once we get back to school. ha!

You know who loves the snow? (Well, once he “braves” the back steps?) Part-Husky Homer can be seen zooming around the backyard!

I heard the kids in the kitchen chatting and came in to see them making their own “dirty sodas.” The Cream Soda Dr. Pepper is a new find, and I like it. They added some creamer to make it “dirty,” and I guess it was a hit.

One of the things I always embrace about time at home is eating whatever I want for lunch…and often times I make a “snack plates.” This isn’t a snack plate, but it was my breakfast, brunch, or lunch often the past two weeks. I love the Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Swirl bread…and I’ve been scrambling two eggs (using Amy’s microwave method)…and I’ve added some cheese and avocado when I have those things on hand).

Favorite Mom Meme:

Like, why does it have to be like this? haha

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:

Oh…Valentine’s Day is only about a week away, and this is one of my fave photos. Hayden’s “bachelor” shirt makes me LOL every time.

Weekly Recap:

Today is my 40th blog post in a row! While my goal was to blog every day in January, I had some posts at the end of the December and then I’ve posted every day this week to start February…

Valentine’s Day Decor

Will the streak continue? I don’t know. Nothing is really popping in my head to write about tomorrow, so we’ll see. It was a good run…and I still have lots of posts planned for February.

Share Our Lives:

Monday, we have our second Share Our Lives link up of the year. This month’s topic is…binge worthy shows. I do watch TV, and I definitely have some fave shows to share, but I don’t really binge watch a lot of TV, so I can’t wait to see what others share.

Have a great weekend!

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Monthly Moments

Friday Favorites/Monthly Moments: January 2026

Posted on January 30, 2026January 29, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

This has been an unusual week with online learning days, and today we have a snow day. The roads are improving and the sunshine has been helping, but the mess tends to refreeze overnight and we’ve even had some snow showers too.

Next week will be quite the reality check!

I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for to share a few faves…

…but I’m also taking a look back on the month of January…

I’ve already shared most of these faves in various posts throughout the week. We’ve had lots of time at home thanks to the weather. Trav worked from home on Monday, we made dinners with whatever we had on hand, we’ve played games, read books, watched shows, slept in, done school work, and the list goes on.

I always enjoy writing the yearly recap, but last year I started incorporating the monthly recaps as a fun look back in smaller snapshots. I’m going to continue doing the same this year!

I always want January to be a slow month after the busyness of November and December, and January was overall just what we needed.

Here’s what we were up to in January…

Lots of purging, re-organizing, and refreshing…

In mid-January, we celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner a couple of days beforehand.

Jeff Ruby’s is always a fave…as are bubble letters on my card and a cookie cake.

Hadley had her first volleyball tournament of club season, and they played well overall, making it to the gold bracket on Sunday. She was supposed to have her second tournament last weekend, but it was canceled due to the snow.

We’ve had lots of Homer snuggles…

We finally found a car for the kids. Trav brought it home last Friday night, and they were surprised and appreciative. It arrived just in time for the snow, but they finally were able to drive to their activities yesterday.

January started out with pretty warm weather. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if we’d have any January snow days. Well, joke is on me. As I’ve mentioned we were supposed to get 12 inches of snow last weekend, and instead we got about five…plus some ice. Bitterly cold temps have followed, and many of our roads still haven’t bounced back yet. We had four NTI days, and today is a traditional snow day.

January was good to us.

Weekly Recap:

My blogging streak continued…

Y’all, I’ll be back tomorrow with one more post for January. I did it! I set a goal to blog every day this month, and I made that happen. Thanks for reading!

Friday Favorites, Kids

Friday Favorites {#289}

Posted on January 23, 2026January 22, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

TGIF! I swear, the short weeks feel the longest. No school on Monday is always a fave, but then it threw my week off. Also, we have lots of hype right now about the storm headed our way this weekend, and let’s just say the students have been a little crazy this week.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are five faves from the week….

Volleyball

Hadley and I went to Ohio last weekend for the first volleyball tournament of club season. Since she didn’t play until the afternoon, we were able to leave around lunch time on Saturday to drive two hours to the tournament. It was nice having Saturday morning at home before leaving.

Her team played three games in pool play on Saturday and made it to the gold bracket on Sunday.

We got “lucky” that her Saturday games were over around 7:00, so we had Chipolte for dinner and were in the hotel room by 8:00. Since they made the gold bracket, she didn’t have to be back to the facility until 11:30 on Sunday. It was just nice having some down time, and not being up too late or too early…that doesn’t always happen at a tournament.

Overall, they had a great weekend, and she said it “exceeded her expectations.” We got home around 6:00 on Sunday, and I was very thankful for no school on Monday.

2. New sheets!

My Gma gave me my wrapped birthday present when we went to KC for Thanksgiving. I showed restraint and actually didn’t open it until my birthday. One of my gift ideas for Christmas/birthday were these sheets. I’d forgotten about them, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the gift. I love the gingham print, the ruffle detail is so cute, and they are so soft. Mine are the gray gingham, and they are perfect.

3. Book trackers!

I know January is almost over but I never shared my book trackers. Here are a couple of them.

I’m almost finished with two books, and I’m off to a solid start reading in 2026! (I keep the book trackers in a highlight on my Instagram; if you use them, feel free to tag me. I always love seeing what others are reading!)

4. Bookstore

Speaking of books, I went to one of my favorite bookstores on Monday to look around. I always look at the cute stickers, and I bought this one to add to my Kindle cover….

I didn’t get this one, but it made me laugh. I immediately thought of the movie Teen Witch that I used to watch on repeat as a kid!

5. Homer!

Homer has been extra snuggly on these recent cold mornings. I always think he looks like a little fox when he curls up like this.

Hayden loves saying goodnight to Homer, and Homer loves the extra attention.

Friday Funny:

Monday, I was at Target, and saw this mug. It made me laugh…but I didn’t buy it.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Wow…why do I relate to this one so much?!

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday…

PJ day at school in 2017. So sweet! They don’t seem to participate in pj day in high school like they did in elementary school.

Weekly Recap:

My blogging streak continues!

Well, if you need me, I will be prepping NTI assignments for my students. It seems we could get 10-16 inches of snow, and the ice is just south of us. I can deal with snow, I hope the ice stays south of us (Sorry to my southern readers!).

I hope to blog over the weekend, so I will see you back here then.