Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: September 2026

Posted on October 5, 2026October 4, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Monday!

Well, all good things must come to an end. We had a great and pretty relaxing fall break, and now it’s time to head back to school.

I didn’t get to it last week, but today I’m taking a look back to recap what we were up to in September.

In September, we were thankfully in a back to school routine. I think one of the reasons I dislike August so much is it’s just hard to switch from summer mode to school mode, but by September we’re in a groove.

Newsflash…it’s still hot in September, so we definitely soaked up some pool time.

The kids had fun at school events like football and soccer games.

Thankfully, September evenings are pretty perfect for sitting outside. A few nights, Trav and I sat out there to watch TV and relax…Homer too!

September means football, and while I’ve yet to make it to a UK game, the kids have. That being said, I watched two of my nephew’s games in September.

I kept it pretty minimal, but I did decorate for fall. The only new thing I bought was this garden flag (oh, and one for Halloween too!)

‘Tis the season for a splash of pumpkin in my coffee, and some seasonal mugs.

While Dolly passed away in August, people everywhere remembered all she did for the weeks after…including making September 25th “nine two (to) five” day which was such a lovely sentiment.

Junior year school photos came in! Time is flying by…that’s for sure.

Hadley and friends had lots of fun at Homecoming.

We wrapped up September on fall break. We continued our fall break tradition in Florida while Hayden flew to Arizona to visit cousins.

I’ll recap both trips later, but we had fabulous weather in Florida, and Hayden had a great time hiking in Sedona and at the Grand Canyon. We’ve spent the weekend recovering from our travels, but we are grateful for those opportunities.

Looking back, we sure were busy! Now, I’m ready for my favorite month of the year…October!

Have a great Monday.

Monthly Moments: August 2026

Posted on August 31, 2026August 30, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Monday!

Why do the weekends seem to fly by? I feel like I’m really thrown off since Labor Day Monday isn’t until next Monday…I have another five day week ahead!

Today I’m sharing the highlights of August…but first here’s the link to Friday’s post. I didn’t realize until later that I set it to post later than usual.

In August, we said “goodbye” to summer break and “hello” to back to school. There were a few other things in between too.

My mom visited at the end of July/beginning of August. She took the grand kids out to lunch a time or two.

Hayden wrapped up his coaching debut with his 5th grade basketball team. I think they all had fun and learned a lot. Hayden got the red plate for his coaching endeavors.

Hadley and friends went to Cincinnati to see Chris Stapleton in concert. They had to sit through a rain delay, but they had a great time.

We did all the back to school prep including buying some school supplies, clothes, and of course I set up my classroom.

Hadley had other fun times with her friends…she spent a weekend at the lake celebrating her friend’s birthday.

Then, it was officially back to school time for my two juniors, and I started my 25th year as a teacher.

At the end of that week, we went to “First Friday” ice cream with friends.

Homer is adjusting to our back to school routine…and I think he misses Hadley when she’s gone.

We’ve definitely been squeezing in pool time in between school and other responsibilities. While we still belong to our club, we’ve spent some days at my sister-in-law’s mom’s backyard pool…it’s just a bit more serene and relaxing 😉

Surprisingly, I’ve had some time for my favorite hobbies like reading and coloring.

Travis and I squeezed in a date night a couple of weeks ago. Sushi hit the spot.

Honestly, we’ve had cooler temps for August, but they are on the rise this week. We savored open sunroof weather and crisp mornings while we had them. Hopefully, it will feel more like fall soon.

We finished our last outside project…we got the front porch steps fixed and purchased new railings.

Hayden started fall baseball last week. It’s very low-key, and they get to play at Kentucky Proud Park…UK baseball’s stadium.

Sadly, we lost a national treasure last week. Dolly Parton was something, wasn’t she? What a legacy she leaves behind. We should all strive to be a bit more like Dolly!

Big update around here…Since I shared my August books, I finished reading and listening to two more books which means I completed my Goodreads reading challenge!

Y’all, 40 books has been my goal ever since I started doing the reading challenge, and I usually come in at 40 books for the year or just under….and now I still I have four more months of reading left in 2026!

One more August thing – not pictured, but Hadley has her first real job. Of course, the past two summers she’s worked a bit at the pool, and she babysits from time to time…but now…she has her first regular two to three times a week job; she just earned her first paycheck. It was only for her first two shifts, but she was excited! It’s a job with good hours, so I’m happy she can earn a little money and have some regular responsibilities, but she still will have time for school and extra-curricular activities.

While August tends to be my least favorite month, we squeezed a lot of goodness in.

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: July 2026

Posted on July 31, 2026July 30, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

Well, it’s my last official Friday of summer break. How did we get here so soon?

I will say that after a lengthy school year and a busy June, July did provide some reprieve which I appreciate.

Today, I’m recapping some of our favorite moments in July.

The kids had pool time and cousin time in July. They were able to hang out with their out of town cousins a couple different times this month.

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, and we had a good one. We spent it with some pool time, grilling out, and then watching fireworks to cap off our night.

Of course we celebrated Trav’s birthday. We went out to dinner, and then my brother and his family came over for ice cream cake.

We enjoyed some beautiful sunsets in July.

We also tackled some home updates. I purchased a new rug for under the kitchen table as well as some new dishes…all from Walmart.

While the dishes weren’t on my initial summer “to do” list, I couldn’t resist the cuteness…or the price.

We also got new bar stools from World Market, and they are perfect.

We’ve been enjoying fresh fruit this month. Is there anything better? Peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe are our faves.

Slow mornings have been the best part of my summer. I’ve enjoyed easy breakfasts and coffee most mornings.

Iced coffee is a fave in the summer. Most of the time, I have coffee at home, but sometimes I treat myself to a Dunkin coffee.

While it’s hard to “face the music” in regards to the reality of summer break ending, at least back to school haircuts and cute school supplies help.

I will look back on the month of July as one of my favorite months of reading to date. I read so many great books, and I appreciated having the time to read.

While I did spend a lot of time reading, I also watched some great movies. As a family, we went and saw The Odyssey, and we all loved it. I also read People We Meet on Vacation, and I thought the movie was great too.

Hayden has had a lot of fun coaching a 5th grade basketball team this summer, and I made it to a few of the games.

Fresh flowers are one of my favorite parts of spring and summer. That being said, late July is when the limelights bloom in our yard, and I love snipping a few for the coffee table centerpiece.

Of course, we had pool and lake time too. Hadley went to the lake with friends a couple of weeks ago. I went to the pool quite a bit this summer, and the past two days have been lovely with no humidity.

Wednesday night, the kids went to the UK Alumni game; they played KU alumni, and they had a great time. I know it’s been quite a few months since they’ve gotten their licenses, but it’s still crazy to me the things they do independently. Both kids and a friend drove, went out to dinner before the game, parked, watched the game and got themselves home. This still blows my mind. haha

Anyway, Hayden was extra happy because they sat near some former and current players, and he got some autographs.

I really should be thinking more about school, but I’m going to enjoy the couple days I have left before reality really hits.

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts this week in case you missed one:

Monday Memes

July Books

Monthly Musings

I hope you have a lovely summer weekend.

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: June 2026

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

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I love writing these monthly posts, but I’m oh so bummed that June is already over. June is one of my favorite months, and I hate to see it come to an end because that means in a few weeks, I’m really going to have to start thinking about school!

Anyway, we had a lot going on in June…here’s a look back.

Well, we started June finally getting out of school. I think I’ve been in school in June only one other time, and while it was a good school year, it just felt like the school year would never end.

I made my summer reading list, and I’ve already crossed a few books off the list!

Thankfully, the June temps were pretty mild, so I had quite a few pool days.

There’s nothing better than reading by the pool!

Hadley went to Railbird Festival with her friends. Trav went with his brother one night too.

I did a little seasonal shopping… and it’s Trader Joe’s peony season!

In mid-June, we celebrated my brother’s birthday with a cookie cake!

Hayden had his end of the year baseball banquet, and he received the “Most Improved Player” award for the JV team.

Hayden’s also been coaching a 5th grade basketball team this summer. I haven’t caught a game yet, but I hope to make it to the next one.

Trav has finished up the front yard landscaping, and we got a new driveway poured last week. Adulting is so fun!

I’ll do a full recap but last week, we went to one of our favorite places… Siesta Key, Florida.

The house we rented had a pool on the canal, and I love the morning coffee views.

We celebrated Trav for Father’s Day with dinner out and then some family time.

I saw three sunsets for the three nights we were there. One night was from the house’s backyard, and then we went to the beach the other two nights.

Then, we headed to Orlando for Hadley’s final tournament of club season. This was the AAU tournament with hundreds of teams. We had four long days, but it was such a fun tournament!

We “celebrated” our 21st wedding anniversary by getting up at 5 am, driving two hours to Orlando and then watching three volleyball games. We did get some “anniversary” ice cream that night.

We also were able to have some fun at our resort.

Trav and Hayden went to the KC Royals vs. Tampa Bay game. The Royals lost, but they still had a great time.

We’re home now, so we’re trying to get back in the groove…I’ve been unpacking, doing laundry, meal planning, grocery shopping, and I started my yearly closet purge yesterday. I will be happy to have that marked off my list!

We’ve also spent quite a bit of time watching World Cup soccer and now I’m enjoying watching the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

I’m sure we’ll make the most of July too!

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: May 2026

Posted on May 31, 2026May 31, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Sunday!

How has your weekend been? This weekend sure has felt more like summer Memorial Day weekend. The sun has been shining and the temps are warm. It’s truly almost summer.

Since today’s the last day of May, I’m taking a look back on all we did this month.

The first of May started with the Derby…and Golden Tempo being the first female trained horse to win! We watched from home, but it was an exciting race as he came from the back to win.

Major came to visit for a few days. He was able to see one of Hayden’s baseball games as well as a couple of my nephew’s baseball games. We took the traditional front porch pic…

Travis decided to ask Chat GPT for help with some front yard inspo and got started on that project…

Mother’s Day Sunday Hadley had a volleyball tournament in town, so we had a busy day, but Travis planted flowers, Hadley bought me some flowers, and I got front porch ferns from the kids. Oh, and bonus–I didn’t have to cook dinner!

I felt the love during Teacher Appreciation Week…I received a few sweets (and sours) as well as a few cards and notes from students.

Hayden had lots of baseball games in May, and the season wrapped up on a high note. He was the starting pitcher for the last JV game of the season; he pitched four the the five innings, and they won!

His development over the season was really good considering he hadn’t played in four years. His coaches and teammates were so supportive of him. As parents, we appreciated the he got many opportunities to pitch in both high and low stakes situations. Also, he went from pitching one to two to three and then even four innings as he got better and better with each pitching opportunity. He had two starts which was also an accomplishment. He’s not playing summer baseball, but he’ll keep working out and working on those fundamentals. I wasn’t sure what this season would hold for him, but it really was just what he needed.

Hadley’s club volleyball continued this month. She had three tournaments overall in Lexington, Indianapolis and Louisville. Club season is a lot…and her goal was to play with some different girls and grow as a player…and she’s been doing just that…

….while juggling track as well. Hadley has been going to track at least three days a week since November and then going to volleyball two days a week since December. I don’t think there’s really been a day where she’s just come home from school and stayed home. Time management is still a skill she’s working on, but juggling two sports for over six months will help you figure out time management.

The state track meet was last weekend in Lexington. While it rained for most of the weekend, there were a few breaks in the rain. Unfortunately, two minutes before her 4×200 race, it started to downpour. The first two heats didn’t have to deal with the elements, and the third heat, the fastest did. Of course, the girls did their best, and they placed 9th overall. It was a bummer as they were .03 from making the podium, but that’s part of athletics. You win some and you literally lose some…by a raindrop. I’m excited to see what Hadley and the relay team accomplishes junior year.

photo: Brian Simms at Herald Leader

Even though the JV season wrapped up, we still had lots of baseball to watch. Our school had two district games and won the championship, and then they had two regional games. Unfortunately, they lost in the regional semifinal game, but the rainbow was a sight to see.

Memorial Day provided pretty good weather, and Hadley had pool time and a cook out with friends. She made the most of the weekend.

Now, we’re wrapping up the school year…It’s hard to believe that this May post doesn’t include last day of school photos…for the first time ever in my kids’ school years. Honestly, this will only be the second time I’m still in school in June. I know that’s the norm for some areas, but not us…and I’ll head back to school on August 5th, so needless to say, I’m ready for some downtime.

We survived Maycember, y’all.

I hope you have a great Sunday.

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: April 2026

Posted on April 30, 2026May 31, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Thursday!

I’m sure I say this every month, but where did April go?! I will say though, in some respects, April did feel long (hello, end of the school year!), but it certainly went by quickly in some ways too.

Here’s a recap of April:

This month was a doozy…from baseball to track to volleyball to vacation and more, we had a lot going on from start to finish.

One of my favorite parts of April is always Easter…and I literally just put all my bunnies away a couple of days ago.

Easter Sunday was beautiful, and we went to a lovely service at church before heading to Louisville to hang with Trav’s family.

Hadley and I spent a few days in Isle of Palms, SC. While it didn’t go totally according to plan, we still appreciated the sunrises, sunsets, sand and sunshine.

Meanwhile, Trav and Hayden spent some time in Gatlinburg, TN with family.

How cool was Artemis II? From take off to the landing, I loved watching all the coverage.

Sports were in full spring with lots of track meets and baseball games.

I guess this is adulting…when I don’t make it to Keeneland, but Hadley went twice! She had fun with friends both times, and Trav tagged along too.

Last weekend volleyball was back after about six weeks since their last tournament. Trav, Hadley and I headed to Gatlinburg, TN (second time for Trav in a matter of weeks), and they are very serious about the black bears. This was on the counter as we checked into the hotel…

We stayed at Hotel Indigo, and it didn’t disappoint!

Hadley played lots of volleyball games last weekend. We didn’t know what to expect because they hadn’t played a tournament in six weeks, and two of their hitters were out. When Hadley is playing front row, you know they are down a hitter! (ha!) That being said, she played lots of front row in middle school. Anyway, they ended up runners up in the silver bracket which is pretty good considering the circumstances.

In between games on Saturday, Trav wanted to try the Hungry Bear Grill he saw on the side of the road. He got some wings, and I had some BBQ nachos; honestly, it was a great dining experience!

Sunday, in between games, Trav and I went to Flapjacks, and again, the food didn’t disappoint.

Even though Saturday and Sunday were two long days, it was nice having some down time to hang with Trav for a bit.

Also, while G-burg isn’t necessarily my fave place, the Smoky Mountain views are a sight to see.

Last week, Hadley crushed her AP Seminar presentation thanks to lots of preparation and a little practice in my room before the big day.

Yesterday, Hayden’s lunch table had quite the treat. The admin let students do a bracket challenge during March Madness. Hayden’s table won, and they chose Chick-fil-A for lunch!

April was more action packed than I realized. This month definitely had its ups and downs, but it was filled with lots of good stuff too.

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: March 2026

Posted on March 31, 2026March 30, 2026 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Tuesday!

Well, it’s the last day of March. How did that happen so fast? I don’t know about you, but February seemed to drag on, but March flew by! There is something about the calendar turning to March, knowing spring is on the way, and it’s officially the downhill slide to summer.

Here’s a peek at some of the highlights of March:

We started off March with the indoor state meet for Hadley. Her 4×200 team went into the race ranked 13th in the state, and they had a 5 second PR, placing 6th in the state! She was all smiles.

Hadley had two volleyball tournaments in March, and thankfully we didn’t really have to travel for them. She had one in Louisville…

…and one in Lexington.

Here team continues to come together, and they are fun to watch. They came in 4th overall in this last tournament.

I’m still getting used to being a “baseball mom” again, but we went to the team’s auction at Legneds Field. It was nice to see some school friends and reconnect with some of the other baseball families.

One thing about baseball is…there’s some form of baseball every day. From practices to lessons to games, the calendar is full. I’m thankful Hayden can drive himself to most of these things!

I also made it to one of my nephew’s baseball games on a beautiful Saturday a couple of weeks ago. It was fun watching him play as well.

What a random St. Patrick’s Day we had! We woke up to black ice, causing a very late call for a two hour delay. Then, when it switched over to snow, the district called for an online learning day. I was thankful that I could just stay home rather than drive around in this mess.

Per tradition, I made my St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef, cabbage, and Irish soda bread. My brother and his family came for dinner the Sunday before St. Pat’s.

After the random snow on St. Patrick’s Day, we’ve had very springlike temps ever since…so we’re embracing the sunshine with windows and sun roofs open!

…as well as reading and walks outside whenever possible.

Outdoor track season started for Hadley. So far, she’s had two weekday meets, and she’s finding her groove in the 400 and 4×200 relay.

The professional pics came in, and they were so good.

To round out the month, I finally set out my Easter decor on Sunday. Easter kind of snuck up on me this year! I guess you could say that colorful bunnies are my weakness.

What was a highlight of the month for you?

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!

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!

Everyday Life, Monthly Moments

Monthly Moments: November 2025

Posted on November 30, 2025 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Sunday!

How has your weekend been? Yesterday, we spent most of our time in the car traveling back to Kentucky from KC. We had a good Thanksgiving holiday with family. Today, I’ve gotten groceries, unpacked, organized, and done quite a few loads of laundry. I’m trying to get all my ducks in a row before heading into the three week stretch of school between now and winter break!

Today is the last day of November, so I’m taking a look back on a great month of moments for us.

This month, we saw a little bit of snow…my pumpkins weren’t happy!

I decorated for Christmas a little bit at a time.

Since I knew we’d be out of town for Thanksgiving, I wanted everything up for when we returned. I had a couple new purchases this year including a wreath and ribbon from Target, and this set of trees from Amazon. They turned out cuter than I was expecting!

On a Friday night, the whole fam went to the Kentucky basketball game. We had a great time.

We had many lovely days in November, so I tried to walk when I could in order to get some fresh air, add to my step count, and listen to an audio book.

The kids turned 16!!…and we celebrated with family…

…and friends. Hadley had the sweetest sweet 16 party.

….and we have one new licensed driver! She picked up our dinner last night when we got home, and she picked up my Kroger order this morning. This is what mom dreams are made of!!

One thing I learned quickly while being a mom to twins is that they do things are their own pace…one crawled before the other, one walked and talked before the other and so on. We scheduled Hadley’s driving test a few days after her birthday because she’s shown more interest in driving. Hayden’s appointment is soon. Also, y’all — scheduling two appointments at once is harder than you’d think! You have to get online at 8am (on the dot!) to schedule an appointment three weeks out. Now, the driving appointments haven’t been as cut throat as when we tried to get their permits, but it wasn’t much easier getting their two driving test appointments scheduled. Anyway, soon enough, I will have two who can run my errands. haha

We ended the month with a great Thanksgiving in KC. My cousin always outdoes herself with her tablescape, and the personalized chocolate turkeys that she orders are a fun tradition.

The weather was pretty nice, and it was great to see family.

We ended our visit at the Magic Tree which is a fun tradition.

Yesterday, we drove home in mostly rain, and half of the drive was in the dark. It’s always sad leaving family, but we loved being reunited with Homer and sleeping in our own beds last night. Plus, my to-do list is a mile long today.

Now we’re ready for the December hustle and bustle!

Have a great Sunday!