Friday Favorites - September 2026 in review!

Gosh, I can't believe it's Friday again (and then there are those of you that are like, "FINALLY, it's Friday!" - I get it). . .two weeks in of unemployment and I haven't found a rhythm but I'm not trying too hard either because I do want to work. I have been interviewing with a local firm that I like. Don't worry - I am savoring all the "extra time", especially this time of the year when there is a lot of weekend fun to look forward to. Hence the reason I put that quote up there to start this post - I'm (still) incredibly disappointed that the job that I thought was "perfect for me" didn't work out but know, not just in my head but in my heart, that I am His and He wasn't surprised and can't wait for me to discover His plan for me. Stay tuned. . . :)

I'm going to link up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites - hope you have a chance to check out their blogs as well as others that are linking up today too :)

Did you hear???? This is a BIG weekend in East Tennessee!!! We have had this weekend marked on our calendar for MONTHS because it's Susie's birthday - woohoo!! Since it's Texas (the "other" UT) she had wanted to go to the game for her birthday but tickets are crazy - always, not just this weekend - and we knew it was going to be a noon game so the decision was made to find a place to celebrate together with a large television and cheer the Vols on without the crowds. And then. . .and THEN. . .Game Day said they were going to come to Knoxville (because so many Peytons are going to be here????) and that's always fun. And THEN we found out that the President and his people are coming - wow!!!  So. . .getting out of town this weekend is one of the smartest decisions we've made together in a long time I think :) Can't wait to cheer this big game on together - and, as last weekend in college football showed us, anything can happen!!

This was us at our tailgate last year (the birthday girl is in the middle) - hopefully we'll get on campus for another game this year but for this weekend, I think hanging together at an AirBnB is our best choice :) 

One thing that almost always opens up on my calendar when I'm not working is MORE tennis and pickleball!!  Although both of these pictures were taken during evening play, I did get to join in as a sub for some tennis Wednesday afternoon and I get to play in a match this morning. The picture on the left is what life is like during SEC football season - we're all repping our schools!! Although our Swigs show we wear clashing colors on Saturdays, we are on the same team!! And then Monday night I got to teach a friend how to play pickleball. She was a standout HS tennis school player "back in the day" so PB was not a heavy lift for her ;) She doesn't live here but works here 1-2 weeks a month so I hope she'll come out again, although we said we might try to hit the tennis ball together next time.

We *finally* celebrated Tom's birthday last weekend. 

Everyone was "pictured out" from our trip but most everyone was here - three of the kids, the Bells, the Maxwells. . .even Erin's new guy came to celebrate! Somehow Tom got stuck grilling his own meal but Barbara made that beautiful - and DELICIOUS - carrot cake for him. It was gone by Tuesday :/ This kids' gift was fun - it's a salt gun for hitting insects. He was able to take a fly out pretty quickly!

Another advantage to not having anywhere to be in morning is taking Radar to the park and enjoying the morning sky :)

I love our dog parks around here - it's hit-or-miss if he finds friends to play with, but a few times around equals a mile and it's close to our house :) The darker mornings make it harder to get out earlier, but people just put lights on the dogs and it's fun to start the day this way!

 Yep, even got some fun "to go" cups to take with me!

We had a September Birthday Friends dinner! 

These were the birthday girls this month!! The one on the left makes all of our cakes for these dinners - she is a FABULOUS baker!!

This night happened to be ON Tom's actual birthday so I had gone to dinner with him, his parents, Laura  and Stephen first. . .then hopped over there for gifts and cake!!

I've read a couple of good books this month. . .currently I'm reading a couple of old John Grisham books that I somehow missed along the way while waiting for his newest book to be released next week. 

I loved Dolly All the Time

The setting, the characters. . .the story was funny in parts - I know it was popular this summer, rightly so!

I finally finished The Burning Side - I would highly recommend BUT it's heavy. 

I took a long break from it right in the middle because it is heavy and hard. This author's other book is The Bright Years - I think I've cried in the ending in both - they are both just so HUMAN.

Here's an idea of how I "roll" - I haven't started the Story Keeper yet (and not sure now that Shay gave it such a poor review).  And I just can't get "into" Mad Mabel - I've had it since Mother's Day weekend. I know, I know, everyone loves it. I'm wondering if this is one I would have enjoyed more if I had a physical copy of the book to read. We'll see. . .it's not that I'm lacking in listening options - ha! And I saw that Elin Hilderbrand's new Tiffin Academy book is out so that is on my radar too!

That's a wrap for this week. The weather is perfection right now in East Tennessee (for those who like cooler temperatures) and life continues to move forward :) Hope everyone reading has something they are looking forward to this weekend also. Feel free to talk about it in the comments!

Love,

Jenni