August Favorites

What a month August 2026 has been!  And it's not even over. . .but I finally have a minute to sit down. . .this was going to be a Life Lately post but there's A LOT so I'll just pull out the Favorites and then get back this weekend (if I can) for the rest :)

I'll join the gang with Friday Favorites, hosted by Erika and Andrea, for this post.  

I'm going to keep using my "summer" numbers - I know the rest of the world is ready for the "'ber months" but summer can never be too long for me - ha! Yes, it's been hot. . .but it will be COLD in Jan-Feb and that is the worst so I won't ever, ever complain of the heat.  Or sunshine.  Or having to water things. . .I'd rather have things to water than the dead of winter when nothing grows :/ So there - my first favorite - that it's not September yet - ha!  AND the post header picture from August 1, 2026.  Nana turned 84 and Grandpa 87 at the end of July and all the children and grandchildren were here for it!!  I would have hired a photographer and done a whole thing but then it wouldn't have been a "happy birthday" for Grandpa so we'll go with this photo on an iPhone in our front yard :)

The Four Bells 

And then the friends that have become family and "adopted" these five as their own - 

This has been everyone's favorite appetizer this summer.  A friend of mine who has an incredible garden made this for us one night when we went over to "harvest" from her bounty. She used the tomatoes and basil from her garden - in one of these picutres I used her stuff and the other times I've made this I've had to buy the tomatoes. I hosted some friends of Nana & Grandpa's last week (it would be a favorite too but I didn't take a single picture - who am I???), I made this and the ladies wanted the recipe.  I thought I'd post here so I have a reference for it - I took "stages" pictures awhile back. . .

I mix together a block of cream cheese and either Boursin Cheese or Alouette Cheese, depending on what I pick up and what flavor looks good. To that I add a handful of shredded mixed Italian cheese (or just parmesan or mozzarella or whatever) and spread a thin layer in my oven-safe dish.

I either halve the cherry tomatos or leave them whole - I've done it both ways and prefer to halve them - when I keep them whole I've heard people say they like them that way - doesn't seem to matter. Then drizzle with a little olive oil.

I bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes - pull it out and add fresh torn basil leaves and a balsamic glaze.

Here I'm just putting it on a cracker - I've served it with flavored crackers, Crunchmasters, and the best - toasted, sliced baguette pieces. Each time I've had about 1/4 cup leftover and the next day I spread it on a toasted pretzel bagel - yum!!

  On August 2nd we attended this wedding party together.  I have never attended a wedding like this before - the bride and groom got married a few days before with just their attendants (Laura was her Maid of Honor) and immediate family on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The bride and groom had a couple days to themselves, then had this huge party late Sunday afternoon at an outdoor venue here in Knoxville for all their friends and extended family.

I didn't get a great picture of the space, but this was where we ate (her bridesmaids spent hours decorating all the tables so beautifully) and since the wedding had been a couple days prior, their photographer already had a picture of them to display by the guestbook

And the guestbook was cool too - pictures of them together through the year (??) they'd been dating, their engagement party, etc.

Laura made two of their cakes earlier in the day:

Dessert table at the event

This was my favorite, though. . .every one of the people in this picture is/was a part of the ministry that Jess, Henry, and Laura are leaders in. In some way, each of these individuals are connected to the bride and groom's life in Clarksville or Knoxville through Chi Alpha.

Tom and I took off after they cut the cake - that area was next to the pole barn where we ate, as was an open-air dance floor with speakers set up around it.

The photographer and her husband spent the night with us so I got to see some of the video from the later part of the night the next morning :)

(This photographer was GREAT - message me if you want details - she travels!)

And now Jess and Henry are settled in Brooklyn, NY to start a chapter there and Laura is heading that way at the end of the summer to join them :)

Brooklyn College XA staff

One of two days at the lake this month!
 Radar was able to go with us the first time but the second time it was too hot for him (he doesn't like to be in the water).

This Saturday it was just the four of us. . .a spectacular day to be on the water :)

Robert out there skiing

Two weekends later we had bit of a bigger crowd - so glad that Connie (who we met in Greece when we went there in 2023) could join us!! Ellie brought a friends too - Erin has been busy on the weekends and Stephen has had a wedding half the weekends this summer I think! There was lots of tubing this time:

I love that these 20-somethings aren't too old to be out there!!!

The boys and a couple of the girls are heading back out tomorrow but I have tennis (Combo season is here!) and some other things to look after so I'll miss out - fingers crossed there's at least one.more.weekend this summer to enjoy the sunshine and water.

We went to Cades Covein the Great Smoky Mountains another weekend with Laura.

I can't believe we've lived in East Tennessee for 11 years and I've never been!

Since it was weird weather that day (rain on-and-off and super humid) we were able to drive through the area but get out when we wanted to explore some of the old churches and cabins that were built back in the day.

It wa a really fun day together! I always say we never take enough advantage of where we live - there is so much to do!!!

Another favorite from the month - a random Tuesday night vist from our Murfreesboro cousins! This is the family that always hosts Thanksgiving and all four of our girls went to college together. We love spending time with them and were glad when they called to say they were in town and had time to get together for dinner.  I've been terrible about photographing our meals - Tom and I made rice bowls for all of us.  

And no pictures for this one, but if you've stuck around this long then you are invested, right? I started a new job this past Monday.  I've been thinking of leaving my job for a couple of months now and was "lightly" looking. Once we got back from our big summer trip I realized one thing that I was missing in my work life was people. When I started the job in November 2024 I was around people quite a bit, but over time the job itself changed and my team went further and further into remote work, especially when a teammate was replaced with someone in Chattanooga.  I loved my coworkers (one here in Knoxville, one in Chattanooga) but the J.O.B. itself had changed dramatically.  I finally put in my notice on August 10th. I was sad about it but ready to just see "what comes next". I stepped up the job search, had several interviews, even being invited to an on-site interview for a job I really (thought) I wanted. Then, last Friday morning, HR at the bank I was/do work for called and offered me a job in a different department as a Project Coordinator. They said, "we don't know what this looks like but you would answer to so-and-so and move to this location". It was sincerely an EASY "yes". This was Tom's and my text exchange: 

(I'm not trying to be "cagey" with the details - I want to err on the side of not putting too much out there - I'm on LinkedIn ;))

Anyway, as the hours in the day went on, and then through the weekend and certainly this week, I got more and more excited and now I sit here, a week from this exchange, feeling so, so lucky to be in the new role I'm in and with group I am assigned to. I worked with them before but now I'm part of their team and couldn't be more thrilled. And no, still no job description but I'm good with that - I can always find "something to do" - ha! Getting to change as we grow and I learn is a huge plus!!

So, there you have the BIG favorites of August - there was much more (it was a full month!) - I will try to get to another post this weekend if I can.  Looking forward to USTA Combo season, another BIG trip - this time with all the kids - and college football season!  September is going to be another full one!!

Love,

Jenni