Best of 2023: My Favorite Posts

As we approach the end of 2023, I thought it would be fun to compile some of the "Best of" things from the year. 

Today we are looking at My Favorite Posts. 

WGJ is a labor of love and I am so happy to publish posts each week and I am even happier to know when you stop by my slice of the internet. THANK YOU! 

My Favorite Posts are as follows:

2022 Family Photos
Thoughts on Thirty Five
Twelve Year Blogger
Penelope's Birthday
Show & Tell: Backgrounds
Lucky Girl Syndrome
Happy 5th Birthday Eleanor
Chase Rice at Starland Ballroom
Shutterbug: Landscape Photography
Notes on Life
Prayer Journal
Screen Free Activity: Word Search Books
Well Timed Break
Hot Takes
Wake Up Call

and because I love to see what my readers LOVE, here are the top viewed posts YOU read the most:

1.    Thoughts on Thirty Five                           98 Views
2.    WGJ Travels: What's In My Suitcase       77 Views
3.    2022 Family Photos                                  72 Views
4.    Random # 15                                             54 Views
5.    Wild & THREE                                         53 Views
6.    Weekend Rewind                                       51 Views
7.    Random #17*                                            50 Views
       A Well Timed Break*
8.    12 in 12: March                                         47 Views
9.    January Work #OOTD*                             46 Views
       Diary #41*                                                    
       Summer Wishlist*                                        
10.  12 in 12: February*                                   43 Views
       May Work #OOTD*
11.  Random #12                                              42 Views
12.  Happy 5th Birthday Eleanor*                   40 Views
       WGJ Travels: YAY!*
       March Work #OOTD *   

*A Tie

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I love how some of my favorite posts were reader favorite posts too! I love how nosey all my readers are and one of the top 5 posts is WGJ Travels: What's In my suitcase; which totally made me laugh. My three of my Random posts having high views made me laugh too. These posts have no rhyme or reason, but Y'all are nosey and I wouldn't have it any other way!  

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THANK YOU so much for reading along. I know I've said this multiple times at this point but I truly do appreciate it! ❤️

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12 in 12: What I got from this

 

Til You Can't

In 2021, Cody Johnson came out with a song called "Til You Can't."  

It not only stuck a chord with Johnson, (you can read why in this article) it struck a chord with listeners too; urging them to 'go do life because you never know when you will get the chance again.'

Today, Grandma has been in heaven for 21 years. Over the past 21 years, there has been so many things I wished she (and Grandpa, too) were here to witness. So many everyday moments and special moments where I've caught myself saying "gosh, I wish Grandma (and Grandpa) were here to see."  

I would have loved to see her reaction to the mess we have been in for the past 4 years- I know she would have had some sassy remarks!

If you are reading this and you still have your grandparents earthside, PLEASE call them or visit them. You do not know how much you will miss them when they aren't here, I know from experience. 

Last year, I wrote a really heartfelt post about Missing Grandma for 20 years, you can read it here; You can find year 18 and 13 memorials along with some sweet photographs. 

Lastly, to listen to Til You Can't by Cody Johnson, click the play button below.

[['Cause you never know how bad you wanna 'til you can't someday; Don't wait on tomorrow, 'cause tomorrow may not show- Cody Johnson]]

Friday's Joy

Hi friends!

I'm linking up with Erica and Andrea this week for Friday Favorites! I can't wait to read your posts:

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Isn't this the prettiest thing ever?! 
Found on tumblr

Week in Review 

Santa came around on the firetruck last Friday night and to my surprise, others commented that Santa comes around on a firetruck in their areas too! I was pleasantly surprised! 

THe weekend was relaxing and I was really happy to get somethings around the house done. 

This week flew by! I felt like I had something extra to do each day plus getting all the holiday goodies together, which made me a happy elf.

I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday evening that I wasn't super excited but it went better than I expected. I had a nice surprise driving home too (read about it in the This and That section ) 

I'm excited that I am training a co-worker to know the basics of what I do at work. I am very passionate about my job and to be able to share it makes me so happy. Also no one knows the processes of my job, so having a backup is even better. 

I had dinner on Wednesday night with a teacher I had back in high school who has turned into a close friend. We honestly couldn't think of thr last time we saw eachother for dinner. It was great to catch up with her.   

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This and That 

I drove down a street I normally don't drive down to get home from the dentist on Tuesday night and I was so excited to find almost all the houses were decorated foe Christmas. It was so JOYFUL! I wanted to drive up and down this street multiple times to make sure I saw everything. 

Early morning gym sessions are still a favorite of mine. I love seeing the same people each morning. I also feel great during the day when I get to the gym before work. 

We got our photos back from the photographer for our Christmas card!!! We were so excited to see them! We love our photographer and he always delivers. These yearly photos have been one of my favorite things that came out of the pandemic. 

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Looking Ahead 

I have today off 🎉 

Today is filled with errands and appointments. 

Im hoping for some holiday fun over the weekeend.

Next week is filled with so much holiday fun! Girls dinner and trader joes, holiday parties, getting last minute things together for Christmas and a doctors appointment. 

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Links

Hermes heir to Adopt gardener/// anytime adoption is mentioned in the news, I always read it. This is an amazing story- can you imagine doing your job and then find out this news?!

Pecan tree shines bright/// This is brilliant! 65,000 lights on a Pecan tree in the middle of a field? 

Slow living > Fast Living/// I am all for taking things slow and easy. This is an interesting read. 

Walmart Self- Checkout Christmas Party turns Viral/// of all the wacky things that come out of my town, this has to be the best! Did you see this invite on Facebook? Are you "coming?" 

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Posts 

Did you miss any of my posts from this week? Find them below:

Spotify Wrapped | Wake Up Call | Note to self: Look for Glimmers |

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[[ the joy you give to others is the joy that comes back to you]]

12 in 12: December

 

Note to Self: Look for GLIMMERS

In case you are struggling this holiday season, have you heard of GLIMMERS?

It seems that there is finally a word for what I do each day- looking for joyful things in everyday ordinary life. I know life can be hard and we all have those days where nothing goes right. If you try to look for one good thing, a small glimmer in your evey day life, maybe it can provide joy for a split second. 

Note to self: take time to find things that bring you joy- even the smallest things can make the biggest difference. 

My glimmers:

Christmas lights
Seeing someone be themselves when they think no one is looking 
Getting excited when you see your food coming
Dancing in your car
Hearing your favorite song on the radio
Genuinely enjoying time with a friend without distractions
An unexpected compliment
Finding a penny on the ground

BRB, going to go hunt for glimmers. I am positive life would become better incorporating this into my life even more. 

[[seek out joy]]

Wake Up Call

As we approach the end of the year, like most of you, I am taking inventory in the past year and doing some reflecting on what happened this year. This is the first of many posts where I reflect on 2023 as a whole and explore what went on, what my favorite parts were, what my take aways were and what I hope for 2024. 
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I feel that A LOT of what happened in 2023, I wasn't expecting and I've had a lot of wake up calls  that I didn't answer. It wasn't until November when I had a really SERIOUS wake up call, that I finally took them seriously and started thinking "Wait! Maybe these are all connected and something is trying to show me something important" These wake up calls shook me to the core, made me re-evaluate what I've been doing and forced me to make some changes. 

My wake up calls this year, listed in no particular order:

"I'm disappointed in you"

Heart rate of 28 

Realization that my fairytale is NOT what I wanted

People not understanding what my family means to me

Being stood up/ghosted in dating

Hitting a deer 

"I honestly didn't think you would actually leave"

I entered 2023 so hopeful and so ready for good things to happen after a weird 2022. While good things did happen, other things happened too that in hindsight, were pivotal.  These wake up calls on their own were BIG things; when you group them all together, you realize, they were all trying to tell you something.

I think for me, my biggest wake up call was last month, when I was in the hospital and my heart rate dropped to 28 beats per minute. Normally my heart rate is on average between 75-85, to have my heart rate drop to 28 due to Sepsis was eye opening. 

After I started feeling better, I started thinking about life and what has transpired over the past year or so and the above wake up calls kept coming to the forefront of my mind and I started to connect the dots, maybe I need to change somethings in my life. My life wasn't terrible but these seemingly small, unconnected things that happened made me think and when I grouped them all together, I knew something had to change. 

Going forward, I am making small changes to my life and I am hoping for the best. I am so thankful for these wake up calls and getting myself back on track. Who knows where I would be if these things never happened. 

Having a wake up call can be eye opening (pun intended) and I am thankful for these wake up calls. While I am looking forward to 2024, I am going to promise myself to be more vigilant when random things happen, perhaps they are not so random and someone is trying to get my attention.  

Have you ever had seemingly random things happen and then you realize "Oh, these things ARE connected?" 

[[Big change come from hundreds of tiny steps and they all matter]]

Spotify Wrapped

 

It's what we waited for all year- Spotify Wrapped!!!

I've been a loyal listener of Spotify since 2016. I have curated my playlists and liked songs; I've found new genres and listened to so many hours of music. 

I love how excited we all get when this is coming out and how we think we have to explain why we listened to whatever 500x in a day. 

This year, I squealed loudly when I realized it had been released! I sat through all the slides not knowing who my top artist would be or what my top song would be. 

This year, I was surprised when my top song was not by my top artist. But looking back at screenshots from prior years, it seems like that's the case, at least in my book. 

The amount of time that I spend listening to music is insane. I will preface this by saying, I listen to music for at least 8 hours a day at work; I listen to music when I am getting ready in the morning; on my drives to and from work and when I am doing things around the house. I don't watch that much TV. 

Without further ado......

See, I told you I listen to A LOT of music. As of recently, when I am at work I have Background Jazz playing to keep me somewhat focused. 

I love going back to previous years to see what my top songs were and who I was listening to. 

My top 5 songs this year were:

1. Way Down Yonder- Chase Rice
2. Amen To That- Dylan Scott
3. Key West & Colorado- Chase Rice
4. Walk That Easy- Chase Rice
5. All I Need Is You- Chris Janson

I agree with these song being most played....I definitely listened to Chase Rice's new album over and over and over again.  All I Need Is You has a line about 30A in it and I was so GIDDY when I heard that! Dylan Scott will always be a favorite of mine, he's one of my OG country 

To wrap this up, its fascinating to see, especially prior years, where you were in life, based on what you were listening to and how your musical tastes improve (or get worse) over the years. 

If you want to get a glimpse of my top songs of 2023, click HERE. 

To find previous years: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |2016

[[Spotify is the only company that makes tracking their clients, fun!]]

Friday's Joy

Hi friends!

I'm linking up with Erica and Andrea this week for Friday Favorites! I can't wait to read your posts:

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Week in Review

What a wacky and weird and good week this has been! We had a beautiful sunset for family photos on Saturday and I am so eager to get the photos back. I am totally okay with it being almost mid-December and we still haven't sent out our Christmas cards yet. Life gets in the way.

I had two celebrations this week- Surprise Retirement Breakfast Party and a Holiday Dinner with an office I work closely with. Both were LOTS of fun, had delicious food and drink and lots of laughter. What a great way to kick off December.  

Busy with holiday prep and gift buying which makes me SO happy. 

I had a follow up with the heart doctor from the hospital this week. I got a pretty good report; things seem to be working as expected and that makes me happy.  

Feeling extra festive lately- I want to wear all the Christmassy things, sing all the Christmas songs and go looking at ALL the Christmas lights. I think I'm secretly Buddy the Elf. 

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This and That 

Holiday decorations make my drive home so much joyful! 

Why is December so busy?! I feel like so many things are packed into 31 days. Can we take a breather?

All or Nothing- why does someone have to be the best at something and know everything there is about it. Why can't you just like it, be average at it and not know everything? 

Hot take: I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift anymore. There just something about her that doesn't sit right with me and I can't figure out why. (I know this will cause chaos because I said it but I said what I said!)

Pantone color of the year for 2024: Peach Fuzz -LOVE this color choice. 

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Looking Ahead 

Santa is coming around the neighborhood tonight on the fire truck. I love this tradition and apparently it must be a Jersey thing to bring Santa around on a Firetruck/with the local fire department. 

Christmas stuff- decorating the tree, Santa, wrapping shopping, dinner with friends, more doctor appointments 

Still in complete disbelief that its December.

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Links

Christmas Tree Cake Dip///I made this for a retirement breakfast party this week and it was a big hit!

Chevy Chase, Christmas lights and South Jersey/// YAY! YAY! YAY!

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Posts 

Did you miss any of my posts from this week?

Find them below:

Random #23 

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[[My favorite color in December is Christmas Lights ]]

Hot takes

Hot takes.... What are they? Why are they so popular? What are my hot takes?
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HOT TAKE: (noun) A quickly produced, strongly worded and often deliberately provocative or sensational opinion or reaction [from Merriam-Webster Dictionary]
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Hot takes have been making their way around social media lately and I thought it would be fun to share my hot takes especially since I usually keep my comments to myself BUT this is fun and I would love to know your HOT TAKES in the comments below!
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Gabrielle's Hot Takes:

*Taylor Swift is not THAT great /// Okay, I know she is a billionaire and Time's person of the year BUT there is something about her that doesn't sit right with me. I'm proud she's inspiring a whole generation of little girls BUT the fact that she seems money hungry (Eras Tour, Eras Tour Film in Theaters PLUS Eras Tour Film Streaming) and then re-recording her music and releasing multiple covers with the same music?!  I like sparkly dress Taylor more...  I said what I said.

*Being the best at everything /// People who have this innate sense of having to master something to actually enjoy it, annoys me. Why can't you do something for the pure fun/joy of it? I enjoy bouldering but I am not the best at it; I do it because its a good workout and its fun. I don't want to know the history of it, I'm not going to be competing in it; I just want to do it. 

*Collecting EVERY piece in a collection /// I see on Instagram people showing off their collection of Loungefly bags/Mickey Ears/Disney Collectables/ Squishmallow etc and all I can think about is HOW MUCH MONEY did you spend on these and do you really think these will be popular in a year or so?! Do you think you could have used that money for something better?!

*Keeping up with the joneses /// People who consistently have to have the newest and best things that come out. That new iPhone isn't worth the $$$ because it has the same features as the one you already have. You don't need a new car because your friends have a new one. 

*Name dropping /// The people who have to consistently remind others who they know is annoying. We get it, you know so and so BUT you don't have to remind others in every.single.conversation.

and probably the most season specific ones I have:

*Christmas gift guides /// I get it, you're trying to help others with ideas and you link your LTK account so you can get a commission if someone buys something off your list BUT for goodness sake, make things more affordable and not put things on the list that a realistic. NOT everyone can spend $$$ on gifts. 

*Mixing warm white and cool white Christmas lights /// This might just be me, but if you mix different color white lights when decorating for Christmas, I will judge you. They don't match even though they are both white lights. 
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Whew! So glad to get those off my chest! 

[[Filled with Holiday Cheer]]