Friday Favorites - 11.07.25

 

My view, right this minute, at 6 a.m. on the first Friday of November 2025.  And this guy, snoring right next to me (note: neither of our other dogs were allowed on the sofa. . .I guess granddogs get different privileges?)

We passed the "month from today" marker for the wedding this week - the countdown is on!  I also blogged Currently because I had a little extra time.   

Linking up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites! 

I left off last week saying that I was going to one of our branches to participate in their Halloween.  The branches have a pretty competitive contest each year - this year this group did Super Mario Bros.  I'm not super-familiar with the movie or video game but they did a good job and were very creative!

As I believe I've mentioned before, I can "do without" Halloween - there is not much I like about the holiday BUT I like any excuse to host a party or be with other people.

This year our neighborhood tried a gathering in our common space with hot dogs and chips before trick-or-treat.  Tom grilledThis kid showed up to see his grandparents - he moved out last week but has been around quite a bit to pick things up and see the dogs and these two :)

And Radar's mom put a chicken costume on him :)

I do love the tradition of sitting at the end of the driveway with our family and framily to hand out candy. . .

And thought our home looked really pretty all lit up later in the evening.  After cleaning up I went inside to see that Erin had sorted all the candy - this is a LOT to have leftover.  

I'm wondering if it was the day of the week (Friday) that made a difference?  We usually don't have this kind of surplus.  Stephen has a fall retreat with his middle school church kids this weekend - maybe he'll take it with him???

Is there such a thing as a FAVORITE favorite on Friday????

This glowing bride is mine!!!

Her sister hosted her bridal shower Sunday and it was beautiful.

Miss Barbara, Nana, and I drove down together. . .Erin and Laura met us there.

The cousins drove over from Nashville. . .

And these honorary aunts were there too!!

This girl is so sweet and special to us - everyone is looking forward to their big day next month!

Sunday was a busy day. . .we went from celebrating the future to celebrating the past - the birth of these two!!

Robert was 23 months old when Laura was born.  We had hoped to have children close together and God made that happen!  They have always been very close and enjoy a lot of the same things.  They are the two that have moved away, but not out of state (yet).  These some friends also joined us:

Nana & Grandpa, Laura's bestie Jess, Tommy & Barbara, Robert's current roommate Noah, and our traveling friends/honorary family.  It was a full house!!!

And, of course, the other siblings too. . .

Fall is a busy time for growing older - Stephen and Tom's birthdays are in September so it's three months of celebrating our people once summer is over :). We went to a chicken place close to Chattanooga, chosen for it's location and ability to host 18 of us rather than the actual food/menu - ha!

Another favorite was celebrating Mei Ling's birthday this week!  The Knoxville Challenger is happening right now and one of our friends had sponsor tickets to share :). Me and the birthday girl and my improvision for her birthday gift - 

I bought my "decide once" (a Lazy Genius principle) of a plant and "something else" from Trader Joe's - in this case it was non-alcoholic "Chardonnay" and a maple snack mix - and decorated a Madewell shopping bag with wrapping paper because it was sturdy and big enough :). I was pretty happy with the result.

Onboarding day at work!  It's sincerely one of my favorite parts of my job.  I like organizing the event, meeting new people, and introducing them to others in our organization!  One year ago *I* was sitting in those seats :)

Last favorite because it's time to start the day - this is where I got to work from yesterday!!

I can't even tell you what a beautiful November day it was!!  I had long pants and a sweatshirt on but, at one point, even took my sweatshirt off!  I generally go into the office on Thursdays but no one is in this week and I had two big Zoom meetings so this was my perch.  Definitely a huge privilege to have a job that allows flexibility like this :)

Started the post with my fall-scape, ended with remnants of summer hanging on. . .and now I'll be browsing blogs with Christmas decor!!!  

Hope it's a good weekend for all :)

Love,

Jenni