Sharing My Jennarocity

I've had some of the most trying few weeks. Honestly, it's been just an exercise in patience. Mainly at work, and not really anyone or anything in particular, just an exercise in patience. I was put in this position to streamline processes, and we all know that is not the easiest thing in the world to do, nor is it the popular thing to do. So, it's been tough. Not only that, but I've been incredibly busy at work, from the second I get there to the second I leave and even through lunch, most days. Not a fan of that, at all, but it's only temporary while we are going through some growing pains.   I have found myself with a nasty taste in my mouth lately. It's not that I cuss or say hateful or mean things, at all, it just feels like I am allowing my frustrations and aggravation get the best of my mouth. AKA complaining. I don't like being a complainer all the time. I really don't. Under alot of circumstances, you won't hear or see me complaining. S

It appears I've gotten a little off track with my Inspire Us Tuesdays series - but I promised myself I would finish to the end! So today's topic is:   Becoming a New Church Member: Tell us about joining your church and the beginning days of your time there. Was it easy or hard to get to know other women?   Becoming a new church member, or even visiting a new church for the first time, is always daunting. Jason and I tried a few churches in both cities we lived before finding one we would stick with, and I remember walking in to an unfamiliar place, wondering if I was going to like the sermon, the music, the kids area. But the part that always made me most uncomfortable was having to shake hands with a bunch of people I didn't know. I know why we do this in Baptist churches, but as someone who had no idea who these people were, I always hated it!   Anyway, I have become a member of a very large church and an average size church. Larger churches are incredibly d

So, I am a little depressed.   I haven't really thought about weight loss in a very long time. We've just had so many things going on, that adding one more thing onto our very busy plate just had my head spinning. I weighed myself this morning and had a huge shock.   190. 190 pounds. I am 20 pounds away from my heaviest pregnancy weight. Last year, when I was my heaviest, I was 177. This year, I am 190. My goal is 150 and now, instead of 27 pounds to lose, I have 40.   Nope. This is enough. I've had it. I have a beach trip in August. I am starting to not fit in my clothes, in a bad way. I have gained 13 pounds this last year and I've had enough.   Please don't message me about any weight loss products, no shakes, no cleanses. I don't want to do any of that. I want something easy, something affordable, something I can stick to. I can't do Weight Watchers, I hate counting calories and keeping track of everything. I need ease, smaller portions

We spent last year in Roswell for Memorial Day too! How funny. We drove down to spend a good, yet short, weekend with Jason's parents.       We finally got wise to the notion of purchasing a portable DVD player and boy, was it worth the $50. Avery literally watched it the entire time down and back. These headphones are deceiving, she only wore them for a few minutes. Luckily, I have a cord that attaches to my auxillery portal in my car, so she got to watch her movies in surround sound. We only brought the movies we as the adults liked, so we enjoyed listening to them.     Isn't my hubby the cutest?       Robert and Shari have lots of land. It's a bit dusty, but Robert always has at least a few animals and fun things for kids to do. He has dogs and chickens right now, so Avery got to get the eggs when we got there. She had no interest in me taking her picture, but I did anyway.       Those boots got some great use. Perfect shoes for

I got a card at the store today, just for me to keep. This is what it said...   “When the time was right, the sea parted, the walls fell down, the lions went hungry, the sun stood still, the waves were calm, the stone was rolled away, the clouds were parted, the Lord ascended…and when the time is right, the King of Kings will return. God is never early and He’s never late – He’s always right on time. His plan for you is GOOD.” “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE.” Jeremiah 29:11 I just loved this card because it is so very true.   I really, really have enjoyed reading the Old Testament lately, mainly because alot of it that I've studied so far has ALL to do with waiting on God's timing. The Israelites had to wait for a long time, on several occasions, sometimes for generations at a time. Yet God always pulled through and was there for them, right in the

I just realized something and it knocked the wind out of me.   Today, my daughter is officially two and a half. After today, Avery will be closer to 3 years old than 2 years old. Oh. My. Goodness.   Avery loves dresses. Like, LOVES them. She wants to wear them 24 hours a day. It's so great, I just love it.   She has finally realized that this "stool" thing is pretty awesome. It makes you be able to reach things, like light switches. On. Off. On. Off.   Last night, they had end of the year for Awanas and Avery is in Cubbies. They did a slide show of the kids in her group and here she is. Foot up, lounging, at church. Greatness.   I can't believe it. I still can't believe she is getting so big.     

Today, Kelly's Korner is doing a link up on " Being Confident in Your Choices in Motherhood ." I thought I would add to the conversation.   As much as I hate to admit it, I am both a mom and a stepmom. No matter how much I'd love for it to be different, it's just not. I hardly ever have guilt about Avery or feel wishy washy on the things I want and ask from her. But I feel guilt, constantly, about my stepkids. I have a hard time being a stepmom sometimes. A REAL hard time. In fact, it's probably the thing I struggle with most in my life. What's hard about it is that I don't ask different things of them then I ask of Avery. The difference is that Avery hears my expectation from her, day in and day out, since she was born. My stepkids have two homes with two seperate influences, so I get frustrated at times with behavior and words that are used that are OK at their moms but not OK here. And I know they get frustrated as well. Things are different th

I try really hard not to brag too much on my husband on my blog. But, I felt that he did a few things that deserved at least a little bragging.   Jason is quite literally the most thoughtful person I've ever known. He is most certainly an incredibly thoughtful, giving, and selfless husband and does things for me without being asked and just "because." He does things that he just thinks will either make me happy or make my life easier. It's almost to the point of guilt; at one point in our marriage I'd felt very bad that it didn't come naturally to me to do the same types of things for him that he did for me. But I realized he doesn't do the things he does for me so I will turn around and do things for him in return. He literally does things purely to be thoughtful. He is very perfect, in alot of ways. I, on the other hand, am not. But I will say that it took me a while to get used to this. I always thought in the beginning there was some "alterio

Today is Tuesday, which means it's once again time for "Inspire Us Tuesdays!" Today's topic is this: Your Calling: What do you believe is your true calling in your church? Is there a ministry you would like to become a part of but haven't? Why or why not?   When I was younger, I used to think we all had only one calling in life. I think because I had heard the term "calling" linked up with "ministry" so often, that it's like a calling only referred to people who had been "Called" by God to be in the ministry or missionaries. It wasn't until I got older that not only do I think every person is called to do something, I think every person is called to do many things throughout the course of their life time.   What does "calling" mean, anyway? I think the term "call" began to describe protestants who were being led my Christ in God's work. I don't think this is limited to work for pay, as in

I thought it was interesting that this article popped up on my news feed today. Angelina Jolie, a woman known for her beautiful and perfect body, elected to have a double mastecomy after learning she had an 85% chance to be diagnosed with breast cancer.     Of course, she isn't the first celebrity to have this same surgery in the face of breast cancer. I commend them all for doing such a courageous thing.   A friend of mine recently found a lump in her breast. After visiting the doctor, they decided to proceed with a diagnostic mammogram. On Monday, she went in for it and they discovered a large mass in her breast. At this point, they aren't sure whether it's cancer or not. But Monday morning, before she went in, we were talking about how she felt about things. She and I feel the same way. If it's the choices between breast cancer and losing my breasts, BYE BYE TA-TAS. I have always been prepared to lose my breasts to save my life. I think in my 20s it wou

Sometimes, I still am overcome with emotion when I think about Avery.     She is such a joy, such a light in my life, such a sweet spirit, such a unique personality. I just can not believe how blessed I have been having her as my daughter.   In the picture above, you can see her fingers. She constantly has something she is "rolling" around in her fingers. When she is on the potty, she will grab a little piece of toilet paper and roll it into a ball. She will pick up little bitty rocks, stuff she finds on the floor, pieces of food. Jason hates it, he thinks it's so disgusting. I guess it kind of is. You just wonder, when you look at your kids and their habits and traits, "How did they even get to being like this?" She has always loved to do this. It's a habit of hers. I just think it's something that makes her uniquely Avery and I love it.   She is just growing up so fast. She doesn't have any trace of baby left in her. No chubby baby

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I would share a few life lessons I learned from my mother!   1. My mom taught me to perservere, even when things are really hard.   2. My mom taught me to use my gifts and talents.   3. My mom taught me that people can change.   4. My mom taught me that sometimes, life just isn't fun, sometimes it's hard.   5. My mom taught me that I am not the only person living on this earth and I needed to be respectful of other people, even if they are strangers.   6. My mom taught me to be accountable for my actions.   7. My mom taught me not to feel entitled to anything, that I have to work to get the things I want.   8. My mom taught me that sometimes, the little things in life just aren't worth getting upset over.   9. My mom taught me that parents should always be there for kids, no matter how many mistakes they've made.   10. My mom taught me how I want to be as a grandmother some day.   I lov

"Avery, why won't you get up a take a picture with mommy?"   "Avery, just look at daddy and smile."     "No, look at DADDY and smile."        "No, be still and look at Daddy and smile."     "Oh goodness. One more time?"     "Ok, close...one more time? I will give you M&Ms..."     Works every time.  

Kelly's Korner is doing a "Build Em' Up" Series and today, her topic is what we do when we become unglued.  Considering how unglued I feel at my present time in life, I thought it was fitting I added to the discussion.   I was just telling my husband today that I was feeling very out of control. Our life right now is a series of commitments and activities and I feel like it's just constantly one thing after another thing after another thing. It's all I can do to keep going some days, I mean, keep going in a productive direction while having things together. Not in a "depression" way of ""keeping going," but in a purposeful, forward motion. Between budgets, kids, work, husbands, and a household, it really is just alot for me to handle sometimes and I don't always do a good job of hanging on.   I don't always remember birthdays and sending birthday cards. I don't always remember to call friends or respond to texts.

It's Tuesday again! (Already!! Did it seem like the last seven days have come and gone in hurry, or is it just me?)   That means we will have the next installment on our "Inspire Us Tuesdays" series: Women's Ministry: Tell us about your women's ministry team at your church. Do you have one?   I have to be honest. I haven't really had a whole lot of time for involvement in our women's ministry at church since we joined last spring. This year, I was able to attend the women's retreat and I have been able to be a part of our women's Bible study over the last few weeks, so it's been really nice being around women at my church without the kids around.   I think women's ministry is hard to participate in at any church, especially when there are lots of women with littler kids. It's just hard to find the time and energy to be a part of every thing, you know? I would absolutely love to be a part of a conference, where I was able t

1. The BEST coffee creamer in the world...     I used to be in charge of purchasing kitchen supplies for work, which included coffee and creamer. I found this amazing-ness at Tom Thumb and then had to start buying it for myself. I've had people come to my house and drink coffee and then I will go to their house and see this in their fridge. They say, "I had it at your house and now I am addicted!" I swear, this stuff is just, better than Starbucks. Yeah. I said it.   2. This is how I felt at work...     Busy, busy, busy. I need some more helpers! I don't know how I became so proficient in computer skills, but I guess I am now. It gets hard staring at a computer all day, but I enjoy it!   3. I am getting very tired of this...     I just think I am about to be done with my account forever. I am tired of seeing constant depressing and upsetting links in my feed!   4 . I started doing this Bible study...     And I have really e

I took Avery to breakfast at McDonald's this morning.   How did she get so old so fast?   Just for grins, here is the little stinker at another breakfast with mommy, 1 and a half years ago...     Oh how this makes me sad and happy at the same time.     My big girl. Tear.