Friday Favorites - March 21, 2025

 Happy Friday!  This is the first Friday I have gone to work in four weeks - ha!  First I had Florida, then Chattanooga, then Laura was home for two days (one of them a Friday). . .so this will be a fresh experience, logging into work on a Friday :). 

I'm joining in with lots of other bloggers for our Friday link-up that Andrea and Erika host.  Please head over to their blogs to see what fun they were up to this week - I think they were on Spring Break too :)

Amy has posted a couple of times that she feels like her life is work, home, sleep, repeat.  She even did a Day in the Life to "prove" it - ha!  I've been feeling like that lately, plus tennis or pickleball.  I've been getting my social time at lunch it seems - after today I will have eaten out for business or pleasure 4 out of 5 days this week.  Since I enjoy eating out and most of my family members do not, I do not mind ;). Unfortunately, because of pickleball and tennis, I have missed a couple of family dinners.  I generally only eat 1-2 meals a day (I know, I know. . .I've got to figure out what my body needs, not just what is convenient for me) so it works for me BUT family meals used to be a priority and I'd like to make them that again.  Full-time work, even on a mom with 20-yr-old children, still does interfere with "mothering" and "wife-ing" for sure.

Let's see if there is anything else going on in my camera roll - it's been a few weeks since I've put together a Friday post so I guess anything in March goes, huh?

It is DONE!!!  Rachel got me this for Christmas and although Neyland, the Vols, college football are all my favorites, this puzzle was really, really hard and not so much a favorite.  Laura came home last weekend and finished it (we had 75% done maybe?) and I LOVE it.  There is a piece missing - boo - but you would be hard-pressed to find it so it will get glued together, possibly framed, and definitely hung up.  I already know the space.  One of my love languages is "gifts" - I will think of Rachel every time I see it :)

 I traveled for work this week and one of our stops was that building in the background.  Most of our banks are in small towns so to see a location in the city was a completely new experience!  I loved the staff there and am looking forward to going back.  Chattanooga is really growing (as are many cities and towns in Tennessee) and although there is always the pain of construction and change that accompanies growth, it can be exciting :). Our son loves living there!

Laura was home last weekend and I came home Saturday morning from pickleball (I play from 7-9 a.m. most Saturday mornings) and sat down with these three at the table.  At the end of my life a favorite will be playing or watching my family together playing cards.  It's a "Bell thing" and something I hope will live on in their families someday.

Last Friday night some of our traveling friends came over for dinner and I finally got to open and share my anniversary bottle of wine from last year.  Tom had surprised me and bought it when we were in Italy and had it shipped here.  I can't believe I haven't had a chance to share it before now - our framily/neighbor Barbara even stopped by to have a glass.

It was a total surprise - glad these same friends were there to get these pictures :)

Another favorite - our hiking weekend a couple weekends ago.  I didn't blog about it like I have in the past - it was much more low-key and smaller. . .but still so.much.fun.  This was the last day - Ellie had made other plans Sunday morning. . .this was all of us the day before:

We found a random person in the parking lot to get this picture.  We took a "girls picture"

I know it shocks no one that the boys didn't want a "guys picture" - ha!

Aunt Jodi OUTDID herself on the airbnb - it was amazing.  

View of the sunset and view of the morning.  Just spectacular.

I didn't hike Saturday morning (that's when they take their big long "professional" hike) but they took me back to the place later in the day - 

They all hiked all the way down there and all the way back up!

I think in that second picture I was trying to capture a picture of the bridge down there that they crossed.  Nope, not for me.  I like nice, flat walks where I can look around and not have to pay attention to every step I take!  Here was my one "hike" with Tom (the rest left us in the dust) on Friday:

And these two cute couples getting as close to the edge as we would "let" them :)

And me and my sis on "Jenni's walk" Saturday afternoon.  Maybe three miles?  This weekend is because of her - I love that she made this happen.  She's my favorite.

A friend invited me to a TN game at the beginning of the month and I was happy to say "yes"!  These men are having another great season so far - swept FL in their first SEC series and are in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

This is a late (morning) addition:

Laura stopped in Chattanooga last night on her way to SC and went to dinner with these two :). There really is nothing I love more, that could be more of a favorite than seeing my kids choose to be together when they can.  That they invest in one another with time, support, prayer, and presence.  It makes this mana's heart so incredibly happy :)

That's it!  So far a fairly low-key March with a few blog posts thrown in.  Looking forward to dinner out tonight with some friends, lunch with an old work friend later today, pickleball tomorrow morning, a Pickleball ladder Sunday afternoon AND a pretty good Saturday forecast!  Fingers crossed some friends will want to hit the tennis courts Saturday afternoon too :)

Let me know how your March is going so far!

Love,

Jenni