Sharing My Jennarocity

Ok, so I just went online shopping and didn't actually buy anything.   But here is what I bought in my head, from West Elm.   Isn't this Reclaimed Pine Media Console to die for? (It should be, for $2,200!)   What about this arm chair...     These floating shelves with the awesome antler brackets are fantastic...     And what about these great dining chairs with nailhead trim...   $330 each, man!   Great bar stools...     This braided quilt makes me want to crawl into bed!!     These striped curtains are fantastic.     Can you believe that I just remodeled my whole house in my head???  

Who ARE these kids? These big kids??     No seriously. Where did these kids go...     And these...     Time flies by, doesn't it.   I am sure you all notice Jordan's hat - it's not a secret that Jordan certainly has very specific ideas of what he likes to wear. He loves hat and specifically, he loves fedoras. Not sure where that came from (probably Indiana Jones...) but we kind of are going through this growing pain stage where it's like, "While we know you love hats, let's find some that are more your age, that don't just look like you are playing dress up all the time?" We want him to wear hats wherever he wants, and when we found this plaid cute hat we all just thought he looked adorable in. It's a hat he could wear to church, to dinner, everywhere. We try to encourage all of the kids to dress how they want to dress, but also dress in appropriate things for your age. We don't want to surpress their individuality.

I've stayed hovering at that "9 pounds lost" point for a week now. As I normally have done in my past, once I start to do well, working out as I should and dieting, my progress actually starts leading to going back to bad habits. This last weekend was not a good one for me. I have started not being as strict on my diet, despite starting to walk and exercise this past week.   I am not really sure what happens mentally, I guess I just feel like I've earned the right to eat the treats daily because I've worked hard for a few weeks. I allowed myself to eat bad for several days in a row this weekend. I am definitely going walking tonight with a vengeance and back on my strict diet first thing in the morning.   I've noticed several good changes in my body when I look in the mirror. My tummy is definitely looking much tighter (not at all like a 6 pack or anything, just not as big). I am not as bloated-looking in the chin and neck as I normally feel I am. So

I recently read an article, in which Candace Cameron Bure had posted the following picture on her Instagram account ...     Ah, the good old days. Remember TGIF??     Ha ha, Balki.   Does every generation think the decade(s) of their youth were the best ones to live in? Does everyone have that nostalgia of carefree days of their teen years being the best ones in history?   I really think we all do. I think when you hit 30's, it's almost like it's your right to start feeling sorry for the "kids of today..." who will never understand what it's like to have to use a pay phone (at least they know what one is, thank you Adam Levine!) or what life was like with 3-way calling on a landline (you mean, phones used to have, gulp , cords??)   Of course, we all know the 80's and 90's were not all sunshine and gum drops. There was plenty of teen aingst, drama, and scary things going on in society. But just for grins, let's go over s

Here is the space right after we moved in.     Here is the space now! It's definitely coming along!    

We have a really great thrift store by my house. I have put myself on a spending freeze with garage and thrift sales until I complete the several projects I have waiting in my queue. As you can see with the multiple posts this week, I am getting closer to being done with all of them. I am ready to move on to the next things!   I saw this coffee table for $15 at her shop and I thought it looked really good. At first, I wanted to paint it, but then I decided I wanted to keep it brown as a grounding color with all of the white and turqoise in the room, so opted to just stain it instead. It was in good shape, just a little worn in a couple areas.       I did a light sanding, then used Minwax, Early American 230 for the stain, just a small container at Home Depot is really cheap. It was really easy to put on. I have to say, I would have used this instead of the gel stain I used for the dining table . I didn't get any streaks and it was alot cheaper.      

This one really isn't all that spectular, but it was cheap and cute, so I thought I'd show you!   I liked this because it kind of had a "beachy" vibe, which kind of matched the rest of the room.   It was just a little plain. But, after a coat of Rustoleum Aqua...   It adds a little "sumpin.'" Now, to get a new shade.    

I've only done one gallery wall in my life and it was a horrible process.     There were all kinds of holes in the wall after I was done, it took me forever, and I really didn't end up liking the end product. Not to mention, I had no color scheme. I think this was my first attempt at decorating. This was probably the reason this has taking me so long. I've been putting off hanging up these pictures cause I hated doing this wall so much.   Well, this isn't new, I am sure there are a million sites that explain this on Pinterest besides mine. But I just hung a gallery wall, from start to finish, in a couple of hours and I love it.   First a foremost, I took a roll of wallpaper from last Christmas and got to work. This wallpaper was great because it had the grids on one side, so it really helped to cut straight lines.       I basically traced the outside of each picture or piece of decor and then labeled it so I would know which place to hang whic

I've had a chance in the last couple of months to allow my mind to wander about what I want to do with my life, career-wise. It's always been a question of mine - what was I born to do? What is my true passion? I've been good at alot of things but haven't truly loved them. How do you even figure out what your dream job is?   The truth of it is that when I dream and fantasize about what I would like for my life to look like, I really have always known what I love to do. Writing. I just have never known what type of writing I'd like to do as a career. But when I think about watching movies or TV shows, and what I see them do that makes me say, "I wish my life was like that..." it always goes back to people who write or who are in the literary field. Intellectuals. I think about Carrie Bradshaw, who gets to write a column for a living. I would even love to be a college professor (maybe I just love the idea of that more than I would actually love it.) I j

This weekend was certainly a flurry of activity and we got resolution on Jason's new job - he was officially offered the position on Friday and will start at the beginning of July! I am so proud of him. He has really worked so hard for a long time to get here and is just ecstatic about the opportunity.   He even gets his very own home corner office to spend his time in. Pretty jealous!!     He is going to be traveling quite a bit in this position, so it's still up in the air how this is going to affect me and my job. I certainly don't want to leave my daughter at daycare from 7 to 6 everyday, and as of now, he is able to get her early every afternoon, so it works well. But he has flown a couple days during this interview process, and even him flying for the day, he isn't home until after 5, which leaves me to drop her off and pick her up by myself. I am sure God has all of these plans in His hands, so we will see how all of this pans out!   We spent tim