It's Official!!

I am now an Uppercase Living Demonstrator! Oh the excitement! I really am excited about the prospect of this new chapter in my life. I've never done anything like this before, so I'm a little nervous and excited! Here's a link to my personal web page. Feel free to look around, browse the catalog (a new catalog will be released after the first of the year), and let me know if you see something you like! Online ordering is not available yet. That is something that may come in time, but right now... I'm being a little more cautious than ambitious. :)

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you. If you are interested in hosting an open house or a book party, please let me know!
~jen

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad. I hope you have a wonderful day. I wish we could be there to celebrate today with you. I love you and miss you very much. Sending you a great big {{hug}}.

Love always~
jen

PS... Merry Christmas, too. :)

Merry Christmas Eve

It's quiet in my house now.

We've had a great Christmas Eve together. We attended a candlelight service at our church. It was probably one of the most beautiful events I've ever attended. The church we attend has several hundred members and the auditorium was packed this evening. Towards the end of the service, the lights were turned completely off. The only light in the auditorium came from several candles burning from the pulpit. Displayed above us on the ceiling were special effect lights that resembled a star-filled sky. Slowly, one by one, we all lit our candles and sang Silent Night. It was beautiful. What a blessing it was to attend this service. What a reminder of what Christmas is all about.

Right now is probably one of my favorite moments of the evening. It's quiet. Everyone is asleep. It took well over an hour to get Caden to bed and asleep. He's one excited little boy.

Everything has been prepared. Everything is laying in it's proper, planned out place... just waiting for 2 special boys to wake up in the morning and enter the living room. What excitement awaits. I almost want to sleep on the couch so I can catch their first reactions.

I hope they will be excited.

Merry Christmas Eve to you all...
~jen

Random Thoughts

I've let too many days go by without cleaning. Today's the day it all gets done. But... as you can see I am on my computer not getting much done right now! The computer could be my problem with cleaning!

I've had this product for several months now and I love it! I would totally recommend it! It has made cleaning this afternoon a little easier.

I'm ready for this week to be over. This has not been the best Christmas season for me. I'm ready for it to be behind me. I'm ready for the New Year. There is something exciting about the prospect of starting over. Bring on the resolutions.

I spent the day yesterday posting old photos of friends from high school to our youth group alumni page on Facebook. So many memories. Here's two of my most favorite senior year pictures (I may have posted these before):

What I'd give to (1) go back and relive this night again, (2) have that hair again, (3) be able to fit into that dress again. I still have it hanging in my closet. Every once in a while I'll take it out and dream of yesterday. Such wonderful memories. What's scary (and quickly bringing me back to reality) is that Cody is 3 years away from being where I was when this picture was taken.

We've had an opportunity to experience a "pay-it-forward" moment this past week. It helped to turn a sad moment into a feel-good moment for Mike and I.

I've spent the last couple nights playing with Cody's Christmas gift. It's going to be hard to turn this one over to Cody. :) (To be safe, I'd better keep it a secret until after Christmas. You know... just in case he gets on my blog and reads it between now and Christmas. I hope you are catching the sarcasm.)

I can't believe that the school year is half-way over. I'm half a year away from being a mom to a sophomore and first grader.

I have one more Christmas present to buy and then I'm done. Stick-a-fork-in-me done. Thank goodness.

Tomorrow is baking day. Lots planned to do. Fudge, mom's toffee bars, this cookie recipe, and a cake or two. Maybe even a decorated sugar cookie or two or twenty. I'm trying to skip this yearly tradition. Not sure that will go over well with Caden. :)

It is bitter cold here today. My thoughts... if it's going to be this cold, then it at least should be snowing. I've never been more ready for spring than I am now. I am ready to be able to open my front door and windows. I'm ready to feel the warmth of the sun on my face. It's amazing how a little sunshine can brighten your mood. I seriously believe there is a link between winter and depression.

Even though Caden is six and Cody is 14, I still can't seem to go the bathroom by myself. There must be a signal that goes off and causes one or both boys to need me at the very moment I step into my bathroom.

Cody will start driving in 98 days (give or take a few days). Mercy me. :)

I'd better get off this computer and get back to the cleaning. Hope your day is fabulous.

~jen

Yucky Strep

We caught the strep bug. Caden woke up this morning complaining of a sore throat and his tummy hurting. My thought was ding, ding, ding... we have a winner for strep! Off we went to the clinic I work at (nursing at a clinic has it's advantages!), in through the back door and straight to a room. I swabbed his throat (he wasn't too happy to have me do that to him) and sure enough it was positive. 3 prescriptions later (one for me (my strep was negative, but I've got the same symptoms as Caden), one for Cody (just in case), and one for Caden... again... another advantage to working in a clinic!) Caden and Mike were on their way home. I stayed and worked a few hours and now I am at home with Caden so Mike could go to work. We are juggling the stay-at-home-with-our-sick-child duties today.

It's amazing how these words ... we are going to Granny's this weekend... will suddenly bring on an illness! It happens 90% of the time we plan a trip anywhere. It's really quite comical!

Anyways, say a little prayer for little Caden. His tonsils are quite enlarged and yucky. Hopefully he will feel better soon (just in time for his class Christmas party tomorrow!).
~jen

Thank You

To our Secret Angel,

I have no idea who you are. I want to know who you are, but I understand why you have remained anonymous.

I don’t know what words to say right now. I’m basically speechless. I’ve cried. I’ve called Mike and cried some more. I’ve reread your letter to us over and over.

The same questions keep running through my mind… how, why, who. How did you do this? Who are you (because I desperately need to know)? And more importantly why? We are not deserving of this. There are so many more who don’t have the blessings that we have been given. There are so many more who are more deserving of this gift.

Please know that we are shocked, surprised, overwhelmed, but most importantly grateful. The word “thank you” does not seem enough to describe how grateful and humbled I am at this moment.

You have made a difference in our lives that will never be forgotten. I promise that this will be one of those pay-it-forward moments that we will pay to someone else. We will bless someone else’s lives the way you have blessed ours. I don’t know when that moment will come, but I promise you that we will bless someone else the way you have blessed us.

Thank you. To who ever you are, please know that we are very grateful. One day, I hope to know who you are so I can personally thank you for this blessing.

With the upmost sincerity and love,
Michael and Jennifer

(To everyone else reading this, we received an anonymous letter in our mail today revealing an anonymous deposit into our checking account. The only hint I received in the letter is that this person reads my blog. This is my thank you letter to our secret angel.)

My Sandie

Here's a pretty rough video of Cody at today's game. I took this video on my digital camera, so the quality is not the best. Cody is #32. He's the one shooting at the beginning of the video.

~jen

12 days 'til Christmas?!?

Oh me, oh my. Only 12 days left? Where has time gone? So much to do, so much to do! :)

~jen

Weather Report

Here's a weather report for all you non-Texas Panhandle people....
-Current Conditions: Blowing snow
-Current Temperature: 27 degrees
-Wind Speed: 33 mph
-Wind Chill: 10 degrees

I wonder if it is too early to be wishing for spring?

Hope the weather is lovely where you are!
~jen

Latest Pictures

Here's some of our latest pictures:

My new window decal on my Pilot. I was so proud to stand back and see this on my window.

Meet the Basketball Team Night. Cody is under the "A" in the white shirt and khaki pants. Again, another proud moment.

Caden watching The Polar Express and holding Bevo.

Our "homemade" Christmas tree in our den. Caden and I made all the ornaments for this tree.

I loved how Caden's ornaments turned out.

Our living room Christmas tree.

My new Uppercase Living products.

(I will start selling these products in January! Parties, anyone?)

Caden watching the Electric Light Christmas Parade last night.

~jen

A Small Piece of Advice

Last night I decided that I would like a bag of popcorn to munch on while reading some new library books. (FYI... I will finally be updating the "What I'm reading now/finished reading" section of my blog... I know... the suspense... you can't wait to find out, can you!?!)

Anyway... back to the popcorn. For whatever reason I also decided at that very moment I started the microwave that I needed to go look quickly (quickly is the key word) for something to wear for tonight's holiday office parties (we have mine and Mike's this evening!). Apparently, I wasn't quick enough. I should have known that I could have spent a good 20 minutes searching my closet for something to wear and still come out empty handed. I entered the kitchen to find a horrible, back-grey cloud of smoke escaping my microwave. I debated. Open the door, grab the bag of popcorn, run it outside. OR... grab the microwave, run it outside. Well, during these stressful, economic times... it is much cheaper, economical... to replace a bag of burnt popcorn tossed outside, than hurling a smoking microwave outside! And believe me, I was so mad at myself that I really wanted to throw that microwave out the back door! Instead, sanity won. I took a deep breath, opened the microwave door, grabbed the HOT bag of smoking popcorn, tried to seal it up as best as I could... but remember, it was HOT... and then run as quickly as I could to the garage. I come back in to hear both my children and my husband yelling, What's burning? Is there a fire? What's burning? I calmly screamed... I BURNT THE POPCORN! The response from my husband.... "why did you do that... why didn't you just use the "popcorn" button on the microwave, then you wouldn't have burnt the popcorn". He didn't get a reply. He got a look.

I opened the kitchen window, grabbed another bag of popcorn, started the microwave, stood firmly in place in front of the microwave, counted seconds between every little pop, filled my bowl, grabbed my library books, and settled into my bed. 45 minutes later, Mike opens the door to our bedroom and yells.... "The whole house stinks like burnt popcorn! If you had only used the popcorn button on the microwave!". No reply... only a look.

12 hours later... my house still smells like burnt popcorn! Ughh.

My advice... use the popcorn button on your microwave!

~jen

Thinking Out Loud

I've thought about changing the title of my blog for a while now. When I first started blogging I couldn't come up with a fun, catchy title. All I could come up with was A Steelers Family. Well... not all of us are huge fans of the Steelers, but you kind-of have to take all the bad with the good when you get married. (The Steelers are not bad... that's not what I'm saying!)

I've used Thinking Out Loud for the title of a couple of posts lately. I've started realizing that this is what this blog is about. I'm thinking out loud. These are my thoughts, my dreams, my sorrows, my worries, my joys, my pictures, my day in the life of, my everything... out loud.

Nothing else has changed. The web address is the same, I've just edited the title section of the blog to Thinking Out Loud.

I hope you are enjoying this blog. It's been a great journal for me. It's just another day in the life of Jennifer.

~jen

A Conversation with Caden

A few days ago, Caden and I had a heart-to-heart. Lately he’s had a terrible case of the “I wants”. As in “ohh… I want that”, “mom, mom… come here… (pointing to the TV)… I want that”. He also has a case of the “Can I have that?” and “Let’s put this on my Christmas list”.

Back to our heart-to-heart… While searching through the plethora of Black Friday ads for Christmas gift ideas, he started the ohhs and ahhs; and before long came the “I want thats”. It had been a long day. I was tired. I was calculating in my mind the bills that were still left to pay, and on top of that, adding up the endless Christmas list that was evolving. I was upset that I wouldn’t be able to go on the black Friday shopping spree that I so desperately wanted to do this year. I was beginning to not like “Santa”. Santa has been all the talk of our home lately. Santa this, Santa that. How many more days until Santa comes? Where will Santa put our gifts? How will Santa come down our chimney? Enough. Enough. Enough.

I was sitting in the floor across from Caden who was creating giant black circles around his “I wants”. I took his hands in mine and said, Caden… you need to know that you will not get everything that you want this year. OK?” His response, “Why?”. I tried to explain as simply as I could that we could not afford to buy everything that he wanted. That daddy and I would try and get a few of his most favorite things. He replied with, “that’s ok… Santa will bring me what I want”. Deep breath, thoughts of “I hate Santa” formed in my mind. I explained that Santa would not be bringing everything that he wanted this year, either.

This is where our heart-to-heart ended with my heart breaking apart. He looked up at me and said, “but, mom… I’ve tried to be so good this year”. (Give me a second because the tears are flowing once again.) How does a parent even begin to respond to that? I just wrapped him up in my arms and hugged and kissed him and told him that he had been a very good boy, that he is always a good boy and that I was sorry.

I tried to explain that Santa was very, very busy this year… making extra special toys for all the good boys and girls, but not everyone would get everything that they wanted. That there were some little boys and girls who did not have Wii’s, or Playstations, or Xbox’s, or a closet full of toys, that there were some little boys and girls who did not have anything… so Santa needed to give them extra special toys and that the little boys and girls who had so many things would get less this year.

His six-year old little mind seemed to grasp what I had just said. He was not upset or mad. He simply said ok.

I am beginning to resent this commercial Christmas. I am beginning to resent the pressure of Santa. In our home, Santa will get 90% of the credit of the boys’ Christmas presents. Cody understands. He knows who Santa is. He understands that Mike’s income fluctuates based on car sales. It always has. It’s just harder this year. I am so fearful that my children will be disappointed Christmas morning. That Mike, myself, and most importantly… Santa... will have let them down. I am not sure they see the blessings that they (and me… I have to remind myself that) have everyday.

I'm trying to have the happy, jolly, holiday spirit. I am trying to be happy for my kids, especially Caden. Like any child, he's been counting down the days 'til Christmas since Halloween. He loves Christmas. He loves the idea of Santa. We watched The Polar Express last week. He wanted to know if everything he saw from that movie was real. I lied and said, of course it is. What else was I supposed to say?

This is one of those "for me" posts. This is one to look back on months from now and know that I survived (at least I hope) another day in the life of Jennifer. Say a prayer for us. If you have suggestions, have been through similar experiences, take a moment and post a comment. Let me know I'm not alone.

~jen