Five on Friday - March 13, 2026

Hello!  Man, am I ready for the weekend to get here!  My son and I flew back home from vacation on Tuesday night and went back to work on Wednesday morning.  Since then, I've been on autopilot!  This weekend I'm hoping to get caught up on laundry and other things around the house!  Let's kick the weekend off with this week's Five on Friday ~

1.  Reminders of Him   

I’ve been seeing the trailers for Reminders of Him for quite a while now, so I’m excited that it’s finally making its way into theaters! Every time a preview popped up, it made me even more curious to see how the story would come to life on the big screen.  If the title sounds familiar, it may be because it’s based on the popular novel by Colleen Hoover. The book captured the attention of so many readers, and now fans have the chance to experience the emotional story in a whole new way. Whether you loved the novel or are just discovering it for the first time, it’s always fun to see a favorite story transition from the page to the screen.

After a perfect outing with her boyfriend, Kenna (Maika Monroe; The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Longlegs) makes an unbearable mistake that sends her to prison. Seven years later, Kenna returns to her hometown in Wyoming, hoping to rebuild her life and earn the chance to reunite with her young daughter, Diem, whom she has never known. When Diem’s custodial grandparents adamantly refuse Kenna’s attempts to see her daughter, Kenna discovers unexpected compassion, and then something truer and deeper, with former NFL player and local bar owner Ledger (Tyriq Withers; HIM, I Know What You Did Last Summer). As their secret romance develops, so do the dangers for both of them, leading Kenna toward heartbreak and, ultimately, the hope for a second chance.

2.  Judge Stone

James Patterson teamed up with Viola Davis for his newest book release.  Judge Stone hit the stands on Tuesday and immediately went on my TBR list.  The reviews are great!  Here's the summary ~

The most respected citizen in Union Springs, Alabama (population 3,314), is Judge Mary Stone. She holds two responsibilities sacred: running her family farm and presiding over her courtroom. It's there she draws the most controversial case in the history of the South.

Criminally, it’s open-and-shut.

Ethically, there is no middle ground. Essentially, it’s a choice between life and death.

No judge can satisfy everyone. It would be dangerous to try. But Judge Stone is willing to fight to bring justice to the people and place she loves.

Available HERE

3.  Rainbow Scratch Art Notebook Paper

Pick up a set of these for the kids’ Easter baskets, birthday party favors, or just to have on hand for those moments when the kiddos say they’re bored! I’ve kept these at my house for when my niece and nephews come to visit, and they always get so excited to play with them. It’s a simple little activity that keeps them entertained and having fun for quite a while.

Available HERE

4.  Shamrock Earrings

You know what’s right around the corner—St. Patrick’s Day! It’s the perfect time to bring out a little green and celebrate the fun of the season. One easy way to show your festive spirit is with these adorable shamrock earrings. They add just the right pop of holiday charm to any outfit, whether you’re heading to a party, meeting friends, or simply wanting to get in the St. Patrick’s Day mood. Cute, festive, and easy to wear, they’re a fun accessory that helps you celebrate the day in style!

Available HERE

5.  Prices...

Enjoy your weekend! We have a few fun things planned over the next couple of days. Tomorrow we’re heading out to pick up a set of china I found on Facebook Marketplace, which I’m really excited about. Then on Sunday we’ll be visiting a new church where our friends’ son will be preaching.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I also need to buckle down and finish 170 wedding invitations I'm making for a wedding I’m helping with at the beginning of June! It’s definitely a full schedule, but all good and fun things.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week! 

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - March 12, 2026

Hello and welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  This is the time when I share a few thoughts on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same. I just got home last night after a wonderful week away with my son. We spent several days exploring Belgium and even hopped over to Paris for a day. I can’t wait to share all the fun details from the trip—but that will have to wait for another day!

I didn't want to miss giving you a chance to link up, so please link up and share what you're thinking about today!  I'll be back soon with a full post on our amazing trip!

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Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - March 10, 2026

 

Welcome to the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!  We are so glad that you stopped by.

Here you will find inspiration from dozens of bloggers, including recipes, home DIY, gardening, decor, family fun, traveling, fitness, and so much more.

A friendly reminder to our guests that, as a courtesy to the hosts, we ask that you follow every host on at least one social media channel.

If you are a blogger, then be sure to link up below. You may be our next feature! 

Before we get this party started, let’s meet the hosts and check out this week’s featured favorites.

MEET THE HOSTS

Save

1. Bev – ECLECTIC RED BARN | FB | IG | PINTEREST
2. Penny – PENNY’S PASSION | FB | IG | PINTEREST
3. Sinea – DUCKS ‘N A ROW | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X
4. Tammy – MY LIFE ABUNDANT | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
5. Denise – THIS IS MY EVERYBODY | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
6. Angie – SALT PRAIRIE | IG | PINTEREST 

HIGHLIGHT LINKS

St. Patrick's Day Cupcake with Mint Oreo Icing

The Spring Self-Care Checklist

Emerald Lady Cocktail

Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Please follow all hosts on AT LEAST 1 of their social channels.

Add as many family-friendly posts as you would like to. NO Etsy shops, adult sites, or blog parties please.  Visit others. Caring is sharing. Like, comment, and pin posts.

Party entries appear in REVERSE. This way, your entries will be seen no matter when you arrive. Please TWEET our party and invite others to join.

Let’s Party! 

Five on Friday - March 6, 2026

Hello!  I'm coming to you today from my vacation with my son!  We are in Belgium exploring all the fun places.  I can't wait to share them with you when I get home.  Until then, please enjoy today's Five on Friday ~

1.  Rooster

Have you caught the trailers for Steve Carell’s new series, Rooster? It starts streaming on HBO on March 8. I’m really looking forward to it—feels like it’s been a while since I’ve had a genuinely funny show to dive into!

2.  Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns

Jenna's newest book club book was released this week - Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns.  It sounds pretty interesting ~

Young folk singer Elle Harlow reaches the height of her prowess in 1973, with two wildly beloved albums to her name and a hidden history of impossible heartbreak. When she sets foot on the famed Grand Ole Opry stage, a far cry from the mountain that raised her, Elle gives the biggest performance of her life. Then, to the dismay of shocked fans, her producer, and the man who still loves her, she vanishes.

Almost two decades later, eighteen-year-old Marijohn Shaw is spending her summer pumping gas, writing songs on her broken mandolin, and longing for a mother. Her father, Abe, has always sworn he was the last person to see Elle Harlow alive, but when a meteor strikes the woods of their sleepy Pennsylvania town and a piece of Elle’s past emerges from the wreckage, the truth of her disappearance sets fire to everything Marijohn believes about herself, her music, and her ability to love with abandon.

Wait for Me exalts the lush hills of Appalachia and the bright lights of Nashville as it reveals the legacy of Elle Harlow, the bold voice that defined her, the intimate betrayal that undid her, and the unexpected faith of another young woman determined to resurrect her.

Available HERE

3.  Little Debbie's Strawberry Delights

Spring is in the air, and Little Debbie is joining the celebration with a brand-new treat hitting store shelves: Strawberry Delights. These soft, delicious cookies are filled with a sweet strawberry-flavored filling that brings a bright taste of spring in every bite. Adding to the fun, each cookie features an adorable cutout smiley face—sure to make you smile right along with it.

 

4.  Wide Leg Yoga Pants

Before heading out on vacation, I wanted to pick up a couple of pairs of comfortable pants to take along. I found exactly what I was looking for with these wide-leg yoga pants. One of my favorite things about them is that they come in several different lengths, so I was able to choose a pair that works with my shorter legs without dragging on the ground. They’re also available in a ton of colors, which makes them even more fun to shop for. Best of all, the fabric isn’t bulky, so they packed easily in my suitcase.

Available HERE

5.  Yep...

Okay, it's back to vacation for me!  Have a great weekend!

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - March 3, 2026

Welcome to the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!  We are so glad that you stopped by.

Here you will find inspiration from dozens of bloggers, including recipes, home DIY, gardening, decor, family fun, traveling, fitness, and so much more.

A friendly reminder to our guests that, as a courtesy to the hosts, we ask that you follow every host on at least one social media channel.

If you are a blogger, then be sure to link up below. You may be our next feature! 

Before we get this party started, let’s meet the hosts and check out this week’s featured favorites.

MEET THE HOSTS

1. Bev – ECLECTIC RED BARN | FB | IG | PINTEREST
2. Penny – PENNY’S PASSION | FB | IG | PINTEREST
3. Sinea – DUCKS ‘N A ROW | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X
4. Tammy – MY LIFE ABUNDANT | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
5. Denise – THIS IS MY EVERYBODY | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
6. Angie – SALT PRAIRIE | IG | PINTEREST 

HIGHLIGHT LINKS

How to Make Symphony Brownies

Ham and Cheese Sliders

This Is What He Remembers About Me

Easy Faux Floral Centerpiece

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Please follow all hosts on AT LEAST 1 of their social channels.

Add as many family-friendly posts as you would like to. NO Etsy shops, adult sites, or blog parties please.  Visit others. Caring is sharing. Like, comment, and pin posts.

Party entries appear in REVERSE. This way, your entries will be seen no matter when you arrive. Please TWEET our party and invite others to join.

Let’s Party! 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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What I Read in February 2026

Hello and welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  This is a time when I share something on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same.  On the first Thursday of the month, I share the books I read the previous month.  Let's see what I read in February!

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

I absolutely loved this book! In fact, I’ve already added it to my list of titles that would make an excellent book club selection. I don’t believe I’ve read anything else by this author before, but after finishing this one, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of their work. Here’s a quick summary ~

In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for her dignity and those she loves against America’s rising eugenics movement – when widespread support for policies of prejudice drove imprisonment and forced sterilizations based on class, race, disability, education, and country of origin – in this tragic and uplifting novel of social injustice, survival, and hope for readers of Susan Meissner, Kristin Hannah, and Christina Baker Kline.

When Lena Conti—a young, unwed mother—sees immigrant families being forcibly separated on Ellis Island, she vows not to let the officers take her two-year old daughter. But the inspection process is more rigorous than she imagined, and she is separated from her mother and teenage brother, who are labeled burdens to society, denied entry, and deported back to Germany. Now, alone but determined to give her daughter a better life after years of living in poverty and near starvation, she finds herself facing a future unlike anything she had envisioned.

Silas Wolfe, a widowed family relative, reluctantly brings Lena and her daughter to his weathered cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to care for his home and children. Though the hills around Wolfe Hollow remind Lena of her homeland, she struggles to adjust. Worse, she is stunned to learn the children in her care have been taught to hide when the sheriff comes around. As Lena meets their neighbors, she realizes the community is vibrant and tight knit, but also senses growing unease. The State of Virginia is scheming to paint them as ignorant, immoral, and backwards so they can evict them from their land, seize children from parents, and deal with those possessing “inferior genes.”

After a social worker from the Eugenics Office accuses Lena of promiscuity and feeblemindedness, her own worst fears come true. Sent to the Virginia State Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptics, Lena faces impossible choices in hopes of reuniting with her daughter—and protecting the people, and the land, she has grown to love.

Available HERE

Leave It Up To Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey

I picked up this book through one of the Amazon First Reads selections, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve really become a fan of short stories lately. There’s something so satisfying about curling up on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, sipping a cozy cup of hot tea, and finishing an entire story in one sitting. Here’s the summary of this one ~

Ready for her big break after publishing her first novel, Lila Everwood has two fresh book ideas and dreams of quitting her barista job. She’s hopeful about her future—until her writing catches her literary idol’s attention in all the wrong ways.

Elizabeth Lancaster, the queen of regency romance, hasn’t written a word in three years. Her publisher’s solution? A ghostwriter. Specifically, her favorite coffee server. It’s either brilliance or madness—and her literary agent son Grady thinks it’s definitely the latter.

As the ideas begin to fly, so do the sparks—between Lila and Grady. And, as Lila’s and Elizabeth’s worlds collide, the two writers must lean on each other, learning something vital in the process: In life, love, and publishing, sometimes you have to write your own happy ending.

Available HERE

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White

This was our library’s book club pick for February. While I wouldn’t rank it among my all-time favorites, I still found it to be an enjoyable read. It definitely gave us plenty to talk about, with several thought-provoking elements to unpack during our discussion.

In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two people form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris and fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.

Paris, 1940. Ever since the Nazi Party began burning books, German writers exiled for their opinions or heritage have been taking up residence in Paris. There they opened a library meant to celebrate the freedom of ideas and gathered every book on the banned list . . . and even incognito versions of the forbidden books that were smuggled back into Germany.

For the last six years, Corinne Bastien has been reading those books and making that library a second home. But when the German army takes possession of Paris, she loses access to the library and all the secrets she'd hidden there. Secrets the Allies will need if they have any hope of liberating the city she calls home.

Christian Bauer may be German, but he never wanted anything to do with the Nazi Party—he is a professor, one who's done his best to protect his family as well as the books that were a threat to Nazi ideals. But when Goebbels sends him to Paris to handle the "relocation" of France's libraries, he's forced into an army uniform and given a rank he doesn't want. In Paris, he tries to protect whoever and whatever he can from the madness of the Party and preserve the ideas that Germans will need again when that madness is over, and maybe find a lost piece of his heart.

Available HERE

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

One of my book clubs decided for February we would read any book by Abby Jimenez.  I chose Part of Your World.  It's the first book in a three book series.  Full disclosure - I had already read books 2 and 3, so you definitely don't have to read them in order!  I love Abby's books!  They make my laugh out loud and also touch my heart.  Fun reads!  As a bonus, several of her books are free on Kindle Unlimited.

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

Available HERE

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

This was a re-read for me, but I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.  After reading Part of Your World, I wanted to remember the tie-in with the second book in the series.  

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game ... by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor ... especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

Available HERE

Now it's your turn.  What are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!

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Click here to enter

Five on Friday - February 27, 2026

It's Friday!  I'm ready to get the weekend started.  Let's kick it off with my Five on Friday this this week ~

1.  Bridgerton - Part 2 of Season 4

I can hardly believe we’re down to the final four episodes of Season 4—I’ve been counting the days! I’m so excited to see how everything wraps up. Tomorrow I’m hosting a little Bridgerton-themed tea party for one of my book clubs, and it feels like the perfect excuse to fully immerse ourselves in all the romance, drama, and Regency-era glamour. We’ll be sipping tea, nibbling on sweet treats, and, of course, diving deep into the latest twists and turns of the series. Something tells me that once I press play, I won’t be able to stop—I’m fairly certain all four new episodes will be completely devoured before the weekend is over!

2.  Holloway House Floor Cleaner

Our hardwood floors had started to lose their luster and were looking a bit tired, so we decided to give Holloway House Floor Cleaner a try—and wow, what a difference! Oh. My. Goodness. They’re now gleaming brighter than when they were first installed. You would never guess they’ve endured 20 years of daily wear and tear.  It’s incredibly simple to use, and it leaves behind a protective layer that helps fill in tiny micro-scratches and smooth out the overall appearance of the floor. The finish looks even, refreshed, and beautifully polished. We couldn’t be happier with the results!

Available HERE

3.  Repairing Serum

My daughter-in-law recently gave me a bottle of COSRX Snail Mucin Repairing Serum, and I am beyond impressed! I had a few stubborn dry patches on my face that just wouldn’t seem to go away, but after only a handful of applications, they completely disappeared. My skin feels smoother, softer, and so much more hydrated.  This serum truly works wonders—and the best part is that it’s incredibly affordable. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get amazing results. It’s definitely earned a permanent spot in my skincare routine!

Available HERE

4.  New M&M Flavors

The creative team at Mars has clearly been hard at work dreaming up some fun new twists on a classic favorite. They’ve just rolled out three brand-new M&M’s flavors, and they sound absolutely delicious!  Now hitting shelves are Peanut Butter Cinnamon Roll, which combines that creamy peanut butter center with warm, bakery-inspired cinnamon sweetness; Cherry Chocolate Cupcake, a rich chocolatey treat with a fruity cherry flair; and Lemon Meringue Pie, a bright, zesty option that’s perfect for anyone who loves a citrusy dessert.  It’s always exciting to see what new flavor combinations they come up with next, and these dessert-inspired varieties definitely bring something fresh and playful to the candy aisle!

5.  Good idea...

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! My son and I are heading out on vacation together next week, so I’m planning to have all my packing finished before the weekend wraps up. It’s going to be a busy few days — we have our Bible small group meeting tonight, and tomorrow is the Bridgerton-themed tea party. So many fun things happening all at once! I can’t wait to share all the highlights with you. Be sure to follow along on Instagram for updates and a little behind-the-scenes peek at everything!