The Weekly Ramble – November 7, 2025
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Let’s chat wedding rings, overthinking, and unbirthday celebrations in this week’s ramble.
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Hello! Hi! How are you? We’re already a week into November, with just 55 days left in the year. You know that’s going to go by in the blink of an eye, right?
Can I encourage you to take just a minute and think ahead by 56 days. How do you want to feel in 56 days?
Tired and worn out? Energized and rested? Excited to see what the new year brings?
Spending just a few minutes right now to think this through and write it down can make a big impact on 2026 You. Seriously. Scroll to the bottom right now and leave a comment.
Answer this question: How do you want to feel in 56 days?
If you’ve got 5 minutes, then go read Where Do You Want to Be in 12 Months? The same ideas and questions apply for 55 days from now as they do 12 months.
I know, you’ll think about this later. But your life doesn’t start on January 1. It’s happening today. Giving thought to how you want to grow NOW will jumpstart your growing process!
Once you know your desired outcome, you can work backward.
Here’s my own thought process if it’s not clicking yet.
- On January 1, I want to feel rested, refreshed, and excited for the new year.
- This means that our Christmas celebrations need to be as stress-free as possible. I won’t feel rested or refreshed if I’m wigging out.
- What will help me avoid a stressful Christmas is multi-faceted.
- I want to be done with my business obligations by December 15 so that I can enjoy the season experiences like movies with my girls, Christmas decor, and feasts with the family. This means I’ll need to get cracking with posts and products for the holidays as well as January.
- I need to be clear on what’s most important for our holiday celebrations: family, fitness, finances, and fun. (Yes, I am a sucker for both ceramics and alliteration!) When I know my priorities, I can more easily say NO to things that don’t fit, thereby reducing extras and the stresses that come with it.
- I need to manage my time well now, even though it’s only November 7th, so that all these other dominoes will fall in their places.
I don’t think I can stress this enough, this pre-planning. Time goes quickly, especially when your phone is in your hand.
Close out the apps and get out your calendar, woman!
Now that my PSA is out of the way, shall we ramble? Let’s all give a big cheer for John Shakarian Jewelers in Vista, CA!
If you’re just now tuning into RingGate 2025, you can catch up:
- the one where the jeweler in the Trader Joe’s shopping center makes me cry
- the one where we start a ring bucket
- the one where I learn some things about rings
My wedding set is back! Bryan and I drove over there on Saturday morning, just when the sun was breaking up the clouds. When Mr. Shakarian the Younger brought out my ring, we were practically blinded. Bryan said he didn’t remember it looking that good even when it was new!
The final repairs were $500 after tax, down from the initial estimate of $1222.79 from the TJ’s shopping center guy.
This is higher than Shakarian’s original estimate since I asked them to replace the head, though they said it could last another year. I’d rather not risk losing the diamond and since the money is saved, let’s get it all taken care of. It’s so nice to have it back!
Thank you again to all of you who chimed in and even did some research on my behalf. I appreciate you.
Afterward Bryan and I got lunch at Chipotle and walked along the Vista Village Stream. It turned out to be a great impromptu Saturday date.
While we had weekly date nights for years, the economy has had us adjust our practices. In the spring we switched to Saturday morning dates where we would go for coffee, sometimes packing breakfast, and then get our steps.
A few months ago we found that this ate into our weekend productivity. We revisited date night a few weeks ago and it was so nice.
We’ve yet to find a new rhythm to follow, so we play it by ear each week.
On Sunday we found a church we want to return to (success!). I literally found it on the internet that morning, having done the same search 100x and never getting this result. God is bigger than Google, of course, but it was surprising nonetheless. We are encouraged. Yay!
Sunday afternoon – the dreaded time change Sunday — went by incredibly fast, so I was really glad I’d planned an easy meal for Sunday Dinner: Ravioli Casserole and Caesar Salad as well as Pumpkin Cupcakes for dessert.
This coming Sunday is the un-birthday boy’s birthday. You may remember his secret, but special dinner a few weeks ago.
I’m conflicted as to what exactly to do this week for Sunday Dinner. For the birthday aspect but also for the health aspect.
I started counting macros recently. I’m seeing results but it definitely takes a fair amount of effort. And math.
Since I’m short, somewhere in the vicinity of 5 foot 3 3/4… so the macro calculators are never generous with me. I still want to make Sunday dinners special, I’ll just have to be creative.
Currently, I’m leaning toward a Meat Feast. The kids have always been highly carnivorous — they love when the Sacramento Fishers take them to the Brazilian Steakhouse.
Maybe I’ll load up on a lot of meat to grill and then make a few different veggies? Maybe make Apple Compote for dessert? Thoughts?
In other news, I’m enjoying the CBS study of Psalms and I’ve almost finished my reading of the Bible in a year. I’ve been reading ahead and hope to finish in about a week.
Next I’m going to tackle the ESV Chronological Bible. I think it’s possible I’ve done a chronological reading before, but I actually can’t remember if I finished it or if I liked it. So, here’s to tackling it again.
Christian Book actually has a great sale on Bibles right now in case you’re in the market. I have used the Bible app for at least ten years now, but am going to give analog a go.
I splurged on two Bibles – living large, I guess. I’ve got an NASB coming as well.
I’ve also ordered proofs of the new Meal Plan Advent Calendar for the year. I’m super excited about it!
As usual, it will be available in PDF as well as print-on-demand from Lulu. I haven’t seen the proofs yet, but if you want to take a chance on my tech abilities, you can order a printed copy. Printing is expensive, but it’s fun if you want to give the cookbook as a gift.
Meals are all planned for December! The digital PDF will be FREE to the GCE Club on November 30th, so if you’re a member don’t buy it unless you want a printed copy. 🙂
Alrighty, that is a mighty ramble. Thank you for coming to my ted talk on the perils of overthinking things. Have a great weekend!
And if you haven’t already, leave a comment telling us how you want to feel in 56 days!
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How was your week?
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Your ring is beautiful!!
Thank you!
Good morning, Jessica. As I read about your Bible reading plans, I thought perhaps you’d be a good person to ask something I’ve been wondering. I have a 6th grade daughter who is incredibly bright and a deep thinker. I’d like to get her a one year devotional as a Christmas present. Since your girls were in middle school not so long ago, I wondered if you had any thoughts you could share about what was appropriate and engaging to them as far as Bible or devotional type reading. Thanks!
I asked my girls what they thought and our consensus was to get a pretty Bible and a journal and to encourage daily reading of the Word rather than a devotional. Too often the devotional replaces reading the Bible. You could also include a template of questions or a printed reading plan. I’d be happy to look for some if that would help you. And heck! I’ll make one if I can’t find a cool one. 😉
I definitely want to feel calm and not behind as I start the new year! I also don’t want to regret the busyness of December but be thankful for all of the family times together. Thanks for the reminder to start planning!
Great goals. Have you thought about what “not behind” looks like more specifically? The more details you add to your plans, the easier it will be to schedule things into little minutes.
I want to feel rested and content in 56 days. 😊
Amen.
Hi, Jessica. Happy Saturday!
We had only 11 trick-or-treaters! Way, way down from previous years. And six of them were high schoolers, which I loved! We gave the little packs of Oreos we got from Costco. They were super excited to get those, they said. And I loaded them up!
Unbirthday dinner sounds great. Meat and a bunch of veggies or side dishes he likes and a dessert he likes sounds like the ticket. And his birthday is our anniversary (34 yrs)!
I’m glad that you got your ring back and that you found the kind jeweler and his son who understood how important it is to you. I’m glad you were able to get a little more done and stay under budget too.
My hubby wears a silicone ring as well, mostly because his wedding ring makes the skin underneath it irritated. I love my wedding ring too, but the setting is a little high, and I constantly knocked it. For year 25, he took me shopping and I picked a pretty anniversary band that I wear. My setting was pear-shaped, and my anniversary band is made up of five small pear-shaped ones too, but the setting is not high, and I love it too!
On January 1, I would like to be still losing weight and anticipating whatever God has for us next year. There’s some unknowns right now.
Great plans in store. Thanks for your encouraging words!
Hi again. Jessica, I forgot to ask if you have an app that you’re tracking your macros in. I am using My Net Diary, and I really like it. I compared a few. They have a free version, but I upgraded so I could use the recipe import and get the nutrition. They discounted it a few times in the pop-ups, so I waited a bit. But the free version has good things too and may be all you need. Just thought I’d mention it.
Thank you! I used MyPlate for years and it was wonderful and then they just completely abandoned it. I used Carbon which was great but no free version. I’m using MyMacros now which also has a free and an upgrade. So far, it appears to be good. I’ll keep yours in mind.
How about Cronometer?
We also had very few trick-or-treaters come by, probably because of construction on our street and the closing of the nearby Mars candy factory/offices, which used to draw people from other neighborhoods. So I made good use of your “What to do with leftover Halloween candy” post!
Well done with tailoring the birthday celebration to your son’s actual needs and preferences, still managing to show lots of love in such a thoughtful way.
I appreciate the encouragement to just take the time now to plan. Things are so busy that it feels like I shouldn’t pause; but I know it is time well spent.
I’d like to get to January 1 feeling replete with joy in our celebrations and all the quiet time together, crafts, books, music, singing, church attendance and events, treats and feasting, without excess; and also in having completed a couple of major goals I had for this year. I would like to be happily looking forward to the year to come, and feeling ready for goals and challenges to come.
That sounds like a lovely January 1. I hope you can pause today, Julie, and do some planning. It will pay off!
I would like to feel relaxed and low in stress at the end of the year. I just don’t plan as much stuff as other people and we seem happy to just watch movies or driving around our neighborhood to see lights, etc. I am asking the young adult children to make some items for the holidays. They are in school still but there is some time to cook something so that way it spreads out the burden. Your grilled meat and veggies sounds great. You are counting macros but what is your goal? Are you trying to eat more protein or more carb? Thanks for the reminders about getting ready for the holidays.
Relaxed and low stress sounds good to me!
Re: macros, I am trying to build muscle and lose weight.
Me too but with miserable results! Might you share where you got your info on what works. I have been working with a very expensive nutritionist, I am trying hard and tracking everything and getting nowhere!
I used the macro calculator at Rebellion Body.