Grateful in Any Circumstance

 Over the weekend we received news that my aunt Shari had lost her battle with cancer. She was a dear, sweet lady that I enjoyed getting to know over the years.

This past week my heart has been full of gratitude for the knowledge I have that families can be together forever, and that this life is just the beginning. Today I was reading through Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk from April's conference and these words were of great comfort: 

"True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will. 

In any circumstance, our sense of gratitude is nourished by the many and sacred truths we do know: that our Father has given His children the great plan of happiness; that through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, we can live forever with our loved ones; that in the end, we will have glorious, perfect, and immortal bodies, unburdened by sickness or disability; and that our tears of sadness and loss will be replaced with an abundance of happiness and joy."

I love my family so very much, and am SO very grateful that there will be 

no endings in our future.

Thankful

These pictures pretty much sum up all that I have to be grateful for. I'm so blessed to me a mom, wife, daughter, sister, and auntie to some pretty amazing people. 

Life is pretty good around here. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

10 Things.

I've been having so much fun lately reading all of the statuses people are posting on Facebook with fun facts about themselves. Its always great learning new things about your friends, especially things they don't normally share. 

So I thought I would do a post of 10 things you might not know about me. 

1. I'm a very picky eater, and I don't like to eat cooked vegetables (other than corn and green bean casserole) or 90% of breakfast foods.

2. I take great pleasure in deleting things from my DVR once I've watched them. I just like to clear it out. Also, when we used to go to my in-laws' to do laundry and they weren't home, I would secretly clean out their DVR. It would say they had only 2 hours of recording time left, and the stuff was over a year old!

3. I cannot stand when people have long toe nails. It's gross. 

4. I put lotion on my hands about 20 times a day. I keep it in my purse, the diaper bag, by my bed, and in the living room. I just can't handle having dry skin.

5. Sushi is my absolute favorite food. Which is surprising because I'm such a picky eater. I don't think I ever would have tried it if I hadn't met Jason. I tried it while we were dating to be polite, and realized it was DELICIOUS!

6. I have 23 cousins on my mom's side of the family (I am #6), and 1 on my dad's. 

And they are all awesome.

7. I am a reality TV junky. I admit I watch all of the "Real Housewives" shows, Keeping Up with the Kardashians and any other reality shows on E! or Bravo. I do draw the line at dumb shows on MTV like Jersey Shore though. 

8. I have Netflix A.D.D. By that I mean that I have started watching like 10 different shows and moved on to something new without finishing. I'm in the middle of Drop Dead Diva, Revenge, Last Man Standing, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, How I met Your Mother, Alias, Hart of Dixie, Parenthood, and much more!

9. I am VERY OCD about having clutter around my house. People who come to visit probably think that I cleaned up just for them, but my house is always that clean. I also pick up all of Marlene's toys every time she goes down for a nap so that I can have a 

break from "baby land."

10. I consider my brother and sisters to be my best friends. I'm so grateful that we all get along and enjoy spending time together. 

There you have it! Did you know any of these already?

Thirteen Years

Today marks 13 years since I had my back surgery. 

And I just realized that I was 13 years old at the time. Freaky! 

For those of you who don't know, back in 2000 I had surgery to correct an insane curve in my spine caused by Scoliosis. My spine was shaped almost like a "C" and was starting to twist my ribcage so an operation was necessary. 

They did some crazy stuff that I can't really explain, but as a result I grew 2 inches in 8 hours, am missing a rib (it was fused into my spine), have two rods in my back to keep it straight, and have a total of 4 scars.

I'm kicking myself for telling my mom I did NOT want any pictures taken to document my surgery (after all I was a teenager), because it was a big event in my life. Oh well! 

One other "bonus" from my surgery, that I didn't find out until last year, is that because of the rods I will never be able to have an epidural during labor. That was hard to accept, especially since I didn't find that out until I was already pregnant!

I was extremely lucky that Marlene's birth went as quickly as it did, and I know Heavenly Father was looking out for me. I was also blessed with an extremely fast recovery thirteen years ago that I am so grateful for.

Its so interesting to look back on trials and realize how much they really help you grow. 

This quote says it all:

"The Divine Shepherd has a message of hope, strength, and deliverance for all. If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they 

purge, they purify, and thus they bless."

James E. Faust

Postal Pix

I don't know about you, but I have a MILLION pictures on my phone. In my unbiased opinion, I have the cutest baby in the world so I am constantly taking pictures of her. 

I've been looking for a way to get them printed, and I stumbled upon this awesome app called Postal Pix. Its FREE for iPhone or Android, and they'll print your phone pictures for as little as $0.29!

I paid using PayPal and was able to also get some of my Instagrams printed as well. The shipping was like a dollar, and I'm very happy with the finished product. 

 Also, I had some problems with my photos uploading at first and they were VERY helpful. They even gave me 5 free pictures because of the trouble. 

I'll be using this app A LOT, and now I can clear some memory on my phone! 

Now You Know...

I have a few things I need to get off my chest about what you shouldn't do around a baby or that babies mom...

-If you are a complete stranger to someone...DON'T TOUCH THEIR CHILD! Today the woman mopping the floor at McDonald's felt the need to play with my baby...SERIOUSLY?!

-When a baby is playing on the floor on a blanket...DON'T STEP ON THAT BLANKET! The whole reason I have my child on a blanket is because people walk all over the floor with dirty shoes. 

-Think before you offer someone advice on how to take care of their child. A lot of mom's think they are experts, but what they really are is experts on how to take care of THEIR child. Every kid is different!!! 

-If you see a mom pushing a stroller walking towards a non-automatic door, you should open it for her!! It is extremely awkward trying to do that on your own. 

-If you wake up my sleeping baby, I have license to hate you for as long as it takes her to fall back asleep...and maybe longer! Our upstairs neighbors don't know it, but I hate/curse them on a daily basis.

-Use your common sense and don't think a baby dressed in pink, being pushed in a pink stroller, wearing a pink headband, is a boy!! I've had this happen more than you would think. (Face-palm!!)

That is all. Sorry for the mommy rant, but it had to be done!

Projects. Parties, and Pregnancy

So far we've hit the ground running in 2013!

My goal of finishing the baby quilt before the new year failed miserably, but at least I'm making progress. If I could go back in time, I probably wouldn't have chosen such an insane project for my first quilt.

Even though its been hard, I know I'll be grateful when I see the finished product. (Whenever that happens!) All I have left to do is sew all the rows together, add a ruffle, and the back. 

In other news, this Saturday my two awesome sisters threw me one amazing baby shower. It was "Owl Themed" and they made everything SUPER cute.

 It was such a fun day and the food was DELICIOUS!! I'm so grateful to everyone who came,
despite the stupid snow.

Now for a pregnancy update. Tomorrow I hit 37 weeks and that makes my baby "full term!" Crazy how time flies. Now I spend my days trying to get everything organized and ready. 

The fact that the baby could literally come any day now is a bit scary, because we are SO not ready! As long as she waits out this week we'll be fine. We have a breastfeeding class Tuesday night, our car seat/stroller combo is supposed to come in the mail Thursday, and an all-day birthing class to go to on Saturday!

At my appointment last week I found out that I'm dilated to a 2, but that could last for weeks. I have another appointment Wednesday so we'll see if there's been any change. Other than that, and the new development of swollen ankles, things are pretty much the same around here.

Now we wait...

I wish...

...I had more than one pair of pants that fit.

 

...I could eat sushi.

 

...I could sleep on my back.

 

...I could take pepcid AC for my heartburn like

I used to.

 

...this child didn't treat my bladder like a trampoline.

 

...I could eat without worrying about

massive heartburn.

 

...I could wear all my favorite fall clothes.

 

...And that these next 3 months would go by faster!

 

 

Thats all.

 

 

 

Good Eats.

We've officially booked our plane tickets, and we're headed back home to Fairfield on October 9th. We haven't been back there since August of last year, so this is SUPER exciting!!

 

I was talking with my dad on Sunday and he asked what food places we want to eat at while we're there. Holy cow, I didn't even know where to begin!

 

The Fairfield area has some dang good places to eat, here are our top 5 stops during the trip:

 

1. Joe's Buffet

This place is the definition of a "hole in the wall" restaurant, but don't let the look deceive you. Once you've eaten here, all other beef dip sandwiches you encounter will be put to shame.

 

2. BJ's

(Not technically in Fairfield)

If you've never had a pizookie from BJ's, stop what you're doing and go there now. Jason and I share a LOVE for sweets and this is the best place for dessert you will ever find.

 

3. Round Table Pizza

We've been to a lot of pizza places in our day, but NO place has a pizza like this one. We go to Round Table for one reason, and that is to have a Maui Zaui. It has this yummy sauce that is like a mix between sweet and sour sauce and polynesian sauce from Chic Fila.

 

4. Bay Sushi

(No picture)

If you're looking for a good sushi place in Fairfield, this is my ABSOLUTE favorite. Its two doors down from Michael's over by the mall, and super delicious. I'm excited that I can still get my favorite roll (The Golden Gate) because its made with cooked crab meat. And the fact that its deep fried doesn't hurt either!

 

5. Sandy's 101 Omelettes

Gotta make a breakfast stop here while in town! (I've heard they moved, and better be open while we're there.) I ate here a MILLION times during my high school years, and have YET to find a place that serves better biscuits and gravy.

 

Those are my top 5 places, I'm proud that aside from BJ's that none of them are big chain stores. Also gotta give a shout out to Mary's Pizza shack, while the food is delicious its not high on the priority list.

 

Also, don't laugh but I'm also really excited

to eat at Popeye's.

Super yummy!    

 

 

 

Best Idea Ever...

Um, whoever decided to create this is a genius!!

Buy your own here at: Chicago Metallic Bakeware

They come in sets of 2 for about $18 with shipping.

Its a boy!

Its official, my sister is having a boy! Now I get to really go crazy planning one awesome baby shower. I'm super excited to plan things with my oldest sister, Nellie.

Even before we knew it was a boy, I was REALLY excited about the possibility of doing a baseball-themed shower. And now its going to happen.

I am so excited to plan a party with PINTEREST! I know I'm not the only person who is bitter there was no Pinterest when I was planning my wedding.

Here are some of the things I want to do:

Painted burlap

 (except spelling Jackson of course!)

 Those lanterns...the baseball cards!

 LOVE the old fashioned decor and little apple pies!

 For the front door...

They have a doorway just like this! 

Love this!

The invitations:

Having them look like real tickets is just the CUTEST idea ever.

The Cake:

Jackson's name would fit perfectly!

Can you tell I'm excited?!

(You can find the original photos & links on my Party 

Food and Craft boards.)

Guilty.

Nothing makes feel more guilty/depressed than taking a nutrition class. Its not a bad thing, if you don't count the fact that reality has slapped me in the face.

I had to do one of those assignments where I keep a journal of all the foods I've eaten for 3 days. I entered them into this website today and I had actual proof that I'm a terrible eater.

So now I've decided to make a change and actually start eating fruits and vegetables, AND do something crazy like start drinking milk.

Baby steps.

I'll keep you posted!  

Seeing Red

I finally caved. After a year of fighting it,

I went back to being a red head.

I surprised Jason when he came home from Utah, and he was very happy. He hasn't been quiet about how much he missed my red hair.

I kind of love it.

I have a problem...

My name is Jennifer, and I have a problem. When I look at the Sunday ads, and see a cute pair of shoes...

I must have them!

I think about them all the time, picture what outfits I can wear them with, and justify to my husband

why I NEED them.

Bless Jason's heart for putting my with this problem.

I decided that instead of an Easter dress,

these will be my easter shoes:

I was mostly obsessed with the brown ones, because I have a denim skirt that I like to wear to school in the summer time (No shorts allowed = me forced to wear skirts) that they will go PERFECTLY with.

See, outfit planning...justifying why I need them...I have a serious problem my friends.

But they were buy one get on half off, AND I had a coupon, so I don't even feel bad.

Shake It Out

At the risk of sounding like an old woman, can I complain about the music kids listen to today? I'm so over a lot of it. I went through the top songs on iTunes yesterday telling myself I could only buy ten songs. Thinking that I would want way way more, I was surprised I only found 6.

But...the song "Shake it Out" by Florence + The Machine is now my FAVORITE!! I love it, and was blasting it in the car today with the

windows rolled down.

Love it!

My favorite line is:

It's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So shake him off

Makes me feel like I can take on the world!

You should buy this song.

Easter Dress

I don't know about you, but when I was little I LOVED getting to pick out an Easter dress. So today I informed Jason that I should be allowed to still pick out an easter dress even though I'm 25, not 5. =)

So I've been looking online at Old Navy

and here are the contenders:

 The two blue ones are my favorites. It might come down to which one isn't too long. I love me a maxi dress, but I'm too short!!

Score!

In my earlier post, I wrote about how easy it was to make a baby blanket out of flannel. Today I ran to Walmart to drop something off for Jason and decided to go in an look at the fabric just for fun.

I visit teach a sister who is having a baby girl in June, so I thought I could pick something out to make for her.

Then I spotted the sign: FLANNEL SALE $2.50 a yard! I was so excited. That comes out to one blanket costing

$5 to make, you can't beat that.

So I might have gone a little cray cray:

They were so cute I couldn't resist. Those little turtles melted my heart. And I LOVE those pink owls.

I almost picked the "boy" version when

I made Bonnie's blanket.

 This ones my favorite:

Isn't this the cutest?!

And I can wash it all at the in-laws for

free this weekend.

Perfect!

Life is good.

It just hit me: I graduate in less than 4 months.

Holy crap. Sometimes I can't sleep I'm so excited.

 This was taken when my parents dropped me off back in August 2008. SO long ago!!

I can't wait to live in Utah so close

to (most of) our families.

We're going to be living with Jason's parents in Cedar Hills, and I'll start working as a substitute teacher while Jason HOPEFULLY

starts school at the University of Utah.

Words cannot express how happy I will be to see Rexburg in my rear view mirror.

Decisions, Decisions...

With our anniversary looming right around the corner, I struck a deal with Jason about what to get each other. We decided that he gets a second XBOX controller and I get a pair of TOM'S.

Now I have to decide from the millions of styles out there!! Here's what I've narrowed it down to:

I think I'm leaning towards the grey ones because they can go with EVERYTHING. I used to have grey slip-on Van's and they were my FAVORITE shoes. But those others are cute too.

Oh, the choices!

photos via

Lately...

Is there anything better than camping out in front of the TV and getting your craft on? Over the last few days I've been working on getting our

Valentines Day "mantle" done:

 Gotta love free printables...

 This heart garland took me less than 20

minutes to make...

Tutorial coming on Tuesday.

I've also been making more flowers for newborn headbands...

 I have more options now with all Grandma's fabric.

Can't wait to see these on my friends' cute little babies!