Sharing My Jennarocity

I have had to learn to make things last the last few years. How can I make a pound of beef feed us for 3 days??? So, I have had to be very creative with my cooking. Today, I had to figure out how to make a bag of frozen chicken breasts last until Friday. So, cooking them and adding two sides wasnt an option. My mom had this entree the other day and I thought, thats a good place to start! Here is my tweaked recipe. I wanted to begin by telling you how much this meal cost. And I hate those misleading sites that say, "here is a meal for $5!" But you already have to have 5 of the 7 ingrediants in your pantry. Now, I didn't use all of the potatoes, chicken, and rice, so overall, it cost less than the amounts I am showing you...

I always have a lot to say but today is special! Last night, we said goodbye to a character that I've come to love over all of these years. I remember when The Office came on for the first time. My favorite show, Friends, had gone off the air that spring, and The Office started that fall. I listened to Kidd Kraddick, who was saying this show was a must see. I watched it and couldn't stop laughing the whole time. I told my dad, I told my sister. And from that, 3 Office fanatics were born. When Ricky Gervais played the character on the British version, you see that Michael Scott was the perfect American actor to play the role of manager of Dundler Mifflin. The first couple of seasons, he made people feel SO uncomfortable. You were like, "Did he REALLY just do that?" He was so inappropriate, so rude at times, and just completely unfunny to the people in the office. But the way Carell played him, he was still so likable. You still were rooting for him to find love,...

So, Jordan had his TAKS this week...he called us on Monday night to tell us he was nervous! But he said everything went great! And Sophia got all greens this week (in her class, green is good behavior, then yellow then blue). All in all, they had a good week. I asked Jordan what he wanted to do this weekend and he said "see Hops." No problem. I love it when I have an excuse to see a good kid movie. They both have swimming parties at friends houses this weekend, Jordan on Saturday and Sophia on Sunday. I am SSOOOO glad Jason gets 40 gallons of gas every week through work and he uses our vehicles for work, because that is alot of driving and alot of gas we would have to be paying for! We will be going back and forth from Plano to Flower Mound 8 times this week. Yikes. Avery gets her big girl high chair tonight. I can't believe how big she is getting! It occured to me that I haven't seen the kids in about a month and I had no new pictures of them lately! I looked throu...

Hang in there you guys! Just trying out some new designs.

So, today, I thought I would share some money saving ideas for how we grocery shop. I was a new mom, thrown into grocery shopping for a family of 4 after only shopping for myself for 10 years. Before I met Jason, I swear, I could make a meal out of whatever I had on hand. Cereal, sandwiches, lunchables, chips and sliced cheese. I didn't spend tons on groceries because with one person, I never felt the need to spend that much on food. There were other things I wanted. Like tanning and getting my hair done (And I was a size six, go figure). I had no ideas on what to make for dinner; I will never forget the first time Jason asked me that question, "So, what do you want to do for dinner?" I was like, "Um...no clue?" Then, I had to learn what a 4 year old and 7 year old actually liked to eat. That was hard and took alot of time. I had to be very smart on buying things that weren't complete junk, that lasted and had to compare pricing on everything. For starters, ...

Avery has started to discover that she is not alone in our house. She stares at the dogs, a lot. I put her down on the floor and the dogs lick her to death, which doesn't bother me, but I am sure she is pretty annoyed by it. She will literally just sit and stare at those dogs as long as they are in her line of vision. I can't wait for her to see that they can actually be fun to play with! Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I know I haven't really gone political on this blog before, but this is about my viewpoints on all things, so if you aren't interested, this might be one to skip. I read an article today that scared me a little bit. It is an article showing how China is going to surpass America as the #1 world power by 2016. If you are interested in reading this article, click here . I don't know why this article surprises me; it is really only a matter of time before America stops being #1 as world power. I might be completely unAmerican for saying the things I am about to say, but here I go. The success of the United States is dependant on the notion that the citizens that live within it are to be productive, hard working people. As a whole, more and more to the population no longer fits that mentality and mold. When this country started, it was built on the backs of hard working, inventive people. I am not going to get into other debates about our ancestors and their downfalls, ulti...

I don't have alot to talk about today, it's kind of been a boring couple of days. Just working, exercising, and taking care of cutie-pie. I have lost some inches of my waist, even though I have not lost any pounds yet (I know it's coming). I have been sticking to my diet as much as I can - I am very hungry alot, and there are donuts at work, but I refuse to let myself eat them! Tonight is 31 cent scoops at Baskin Robbins, so we will see how long I last tonight! I found myself getting a little jealous of my husband last night. He picked Avery up from daycare and when I got home, I expected a big smile from Avery's face when she saw me, but nothing. They were playing and she seemed to be fixed on him all night...I have to say, being a mother is hard. I know this is a part of her growing up, to start being more attached to her dad, and I am SO grateful I have a great husband who is a great father. But as she grows and gets more independent, it's constantly a remind...

I finished The Hunger Games trilogy. I am glad I am done reading it because it was totally worth it! But, the ending was very tragic and sad. It ended the way it had to, but, well, just read it. I think my next reading set will either be The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or Twilight - any ideas??? I am sad that I have nothing to read, now. Avery is going through this phase where she wakes up in the middle of the night to talk. Last night, she talked all night. At one point, from about 3:00 am to 4:45, she just talked and fussed. Not cried, just talked. And now that she's found her feet, she will sit in her crib and rock back and forth on her back, holding onto her feet. Is this a normal thing she's doing? I am sure it is, but gotta say. I was liking that she was sleeping the whole night up until now! I finally just got up and turned off the monitor. I can hear her from her room if she's loud enough to really cry, but I don't want to be up all night! This morning, she wa...

This is our newest entertainment...Avery is eating cereal! And some of it actually goes in her mouth now!! Sometimes, she just spits and it goes flying (luckily in Daddy's direction)! Just a few more weeks of getting used to eating and we will try some of the good stuff, like ice cream and cookies. Just kidding.

Easter Sunday was very busy! I have been working in the nursery, along with singing in the choir. On Sunday, I worked the first 2 services and sang in the third. Then it was off to my parents! Avery got her Easter outfit from her Gigi and it was adorable! We had lots of pictures, lots of rocking in the chair, and a nap with Aunt Leslie. But most importantly, we celebrated Jesus. Singing in the choir on Easter Sunday was an amazing experience. I am so glad I got to be a part of it!

Dear Avery, Today, you are 5 months old. I can not believe how fast time is flying by! I am trying to take in every minute. You make me so very happy, every day, I can't wait to see your smiling face and I miss you after you go to sleep at night. You are started to love the sound of your voice and so do I! You are coming up with the most sweet sounds these days. I think you are really close to sitting up, you are almost there!! I just can't tell you how cool you are, how beautiful you are, and how much I love you. Love, Mommy

Oh my gosh this has been a LONG time coming..... Our closet and patio have been the itch in our crawl for the year we've lived here. Well, today, we tackled them. Both before pictures look worse in the picture than they did in real life, but they were still pretty bad. Its very frustrating to find space for things in apartments, so I think we both just didn't even bother (I promise, our apt does not look this messy!) So we finally purged. Our closet isn't exactly the most serene thing but it works. And our patio, that turned out awesome. I totally stole the curtain idea from a neighbor. These came from the living room. I cut the fabric to secure the curtains from an old pillow of Jason's and the chairs were already out there, just folded up. They are not the cutest things, but they will work. I am going to hang white Christmas lights out there and bam! A patio that is not an huge eye sore/white trash. Good day!!! Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Good morning everyone! i have been waiting to share this before and after because its the first thing I have ever made with this much of an impact in my house. I got this curtain idea from Thrifty Decor Chick . If you haven't visited her site, you MUST. She has amazing ideas. I have wanted to redo my curtains for a long time but just never had money nor did I find any I liked. But after looking at her blog, I got the idea of making it myself. So, I found some cheap, discounted material, some rods I had but wasn't using, and some Stitch Witch I used to hem my pants. Ready to go! It took me two evenings after work and Avery went to sleep to do the curtains. They weren't hard at all, just a little time consuming. Then, it took another day to find the curtain hooks that were cheap (Big Lots, 14 for $5) so this wasn't something I bought and hung in the same hour. But it was worth it! I wish I had better pictures.....the pictures don't really show how cute they ar...

So, The Nester wrote a post about eBooks...don't know how I feel about eBooks, nor do I know that much about them, but I am intrigued....to Google I go.....

Last night was our first P90X experience. It was awesome! By the time I got home from choir and the grocery store, it was 9:30 and we live on the second floor of an apartment, so I was a little concerned with how much noise we'd be making on the floor. At first, you could modify the moves without having to jump, but after 30 minutes, you just had to jump and run around alot so we had to quit. Jason was dying, he said. I wasn't so much, mainly because I was doing the modified movements just so I could get through the whole thing. He wants to do the movements the way they do it on the tape, I really just want my heart rate to stay up the whole time so I can start losing my weight. Even the modified movements were tough, I had to take alot of 5 second breaks! After the 30 minutes, we put in Ab Ripper. And ripped us, it did! I have no stomach strength anymore, but even if I did, these are HARD moves. It was 16 minutes of intense stomach exercises, but I could only do 13 minutes bef...

My sister did this getting to know you post on her blog , so I thought I would join in, especially since I have some new followers that don't know me that well! 1) What's something you've eaten but didn't think you would? I think oysters would be up there. I am really not an adventerous eater at all, but I did try oysters one day. Not a huge fan, I must say. 2) Plastic surgery, yay or nay? Ask me again in about 10 years. 3) Two things you like about Spring are: The first thing is odd...I like the way the air feels and smells. Crisp, clean, and new. The second thing is restaurant patios!!!! 4) When was the last time you went on a picnic? Picnics are free so all the time??? We just went on a picnic about a month ago, blanket on the ground and all. 5) What is your favorite app? What's an app? Ha ha. Just kidding. I don't have one because I get bored with apps!!!! I guess, Words with Friends because my husband just figured out how to us...

I got the BEST surprise today!!! My friend at work had P90X and I asked her to burn me a copy. So I brought my empty DVDs to her a while back and today, THEY arrived! I cannot wait to get started! I hope Jason will do them with me, it will be a great thing to do together! Now, I am a little bummed choir is tonight, I hope I have time to get around to my exercise! At least I did my yoga this morning!