Sharing My Jennarocity

I was recently contacted by someone about the posts I wrote regarding a hospital bill I received for $61,000 back in 2013. I have had many others ask me about that and I really feel like my experiences have helped people in a boat where they are having a hard time navigating the waters of excessive medical bills.   Last week, I received a bill from the hospital where I had my hernia repair surgery. I had this surgery last February and just received a bill. It cost me $25 out of pocket the day of the surgery and I haven't seen another bill since. I finally received the bill and it was $2,600, the remaining amount after insurance had paid their portion. I knew that they tried to charge my insurance upwards of $100,000 for my surgery and that the insurance paid more than they should have for this procedure, because I had been discussing the bill with my insurance when I started seeing the Explanation of Benefits come through in the mail. I wasn't happy with this amount. Knowi

Avery's last day of school was yesterday. She's had such a good year!!   Here are some things Miss Avery has learned this year...   -Avery has learned to write her name -Avery recognizes all of her letters -She has started really learning what the letter say. She will say, "Mommy, m-m-mommy. Mommy starts with M!" -She has learned not just her numbers, but she has learned how to count -She is starting to learn some shapes   This school has really put her in a place where she is going to know so much when she goes to kindergarden in a year. I have subbed in a couple preschool classes and they are learning things in her school now that they learn in actual preschool, and she still has a year of preschool to go.       She has made a lot of new friends and has flourished so much!  Now, onto summer. Oh man, onto summer!    

So...this happened!       I've had these jeans for a long time. In January, I couldn't get them up my thighs, much less button them. Yesterday, I did! Now, I am not saying they are comfortable or that I would wear them out yet, but give me a couple more weeks...   In March, I talked about how I lost 22 pounds since Christmas. I am proud to say I am now down 30 pounds and two sizes!   I am very much enjoying this place I am at in my journey of changing my lifestyle. I have struggled with weight loss for almost five years and it's been difficult at times. I am not really sure what made this time different or what gave me renewed motivation. I think finding the right people (a nutritionist and a trainer) that taught me some good things from the beginning made a huge difference. I didn't feel like I was shooting in the dark and they made it very simple. No cleanses, no removal of a certain food group from my diet, no "cheat days," no crazy work

One of the reasons I love my job is that I get to participate in things like this....Breakfast with Mom at Avery's school!     Avery gets so excited when we get to go with her to school. It's so fun to be a part of it.     Here we are last year...     What a year can do!!   I love the craft the had us do...it's one I will keep forever!!!      

I love my house. I really do. But my house, as with most old houses, needs a lot of updating. Don' get me wrong - this house has SO much character. Character that I love. Like these great lights. I love these lights.     Or these black lava rock columns that match the fireplace.   Or what my kids call "the castle dungeon hallway" because of these yellow, pointy lights that shine all eery at night.   But look at this hallway and tell me you've EVER seen a hallway as cool as this one?   My house is full of these old, ornate light fixtures and wall sconces. Most of them aren't worth saving, but these in Avery's room need a good cleaning and are salvageable, just because, what little girls room is really complete without crystals on your mirror?   And a huge pink bathtub? What girl gets that? (It's so retro but I still love it)   This is a chandelier hanging in my bathroom. It gets so dirty so quickly from dust and h

We decided a few months back to go see Newsies - and the day finally came!   Just to brush up on my Newsies facts and to let Sophia get familiar, we watched the movie last night. Not that I needed a brush up, I still had most of the movie - songs and choreography included - memorized, even after 23 years.    First of all, it was at ATT Performing Arts Center, not at Fair Park as we originally thought, This was my first time to watch a show here and it was beautiful. It is an opera house so it is situated a little different than Fair Park. It's very tall and narrow but has such nice sound. I am so blessed to have a child that loves musicals as much as I do. It's so much fun to go to these things with her!!   We started by going out to eat at Pei Wei!! Such a nice treat.   Sophia had a great time and so did we!!         We were able to stay afterwards and have a Q & A with a few of the cast members. It was nice to hear about t