My So Called Life

More Adventures With Dan and Jenny

2009-08-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dan and I visited the nation's capital this weekend. It was lovely until the rain came. We spent a few hours at the the Natural History Museum and then made our way over to the American History Museum. In order to do so we had to buy poncho's that cost more than my first born child; however, it was worth it to be a little bit more dry than had we not. Ironically, we have a plethora of rain coats and umbrellas at home getting no use.

Some of the highlights of our trip were Julia Child's Kitchen as well as the Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz (saw them a few months back but this time I got a picture)

And a very funny story, albeit not quite as funny as the last time we went and Dan "talked" with the squirrel that attacked him, happened as follows:

A random mother and son were walking through the exhibits:

Boy: What's this?

Mom: I dunno, what does it say?

Boy: I dunno, I can't read! (With his cute speech impediment, it came out more like "I dunno, I can't weed")

So funny!

Also, we ate at the Good Stuff Eatery (http://www.goodstuffeatery.com/). Chef Spike from Season 4 of Top Chef's very own burger joint!

It was yummy and the atmosphere was what you would expect from a TV icon. I highly recommend it.

Also, we became a walking advertisement for the Smithsonian since our ponchos had it written all over it. We had about 10 or so people ask us where we got them. I am no kidding, almost everyone who past us while we were wearing them inquired. That was pretty funny.

All in all, a great time and I am so gosh darn proud I actually blogged about it!

Until next time.

Alice in Wonderland

2009-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

This looks very cool. I am always so intrigued when Johnny Depp is in a new release because quite frankly, he always does a stellar job. So, enjoy this wicked awesome trailer from the new movie Alice in Wonderland:

Doppleganger

2009-08-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading "The Time Traveler's Wife". It's a good read. A long read. But a fast read. That's neither here nor there. The point of all this is to say I came across a word I had never heard or read before.

Doppleganger.

I, of course, had to look up the definition.

Any double or look alike person.

The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection.

Now normally I would not care one bit about this. But it came a day or so after I had my own doppleganger experience.

I was at work, the girls were napping. I was naturally put-zing around on the internet and glanced out the window, to see a girl loading up her Jeep. And the longer I stared at her, the more I was like, "She looks like me. That could quite possibly BE me!! Is it?"

It was a strange out of body experience. As I watched her shift various items in her Jeep, I was sitting there thinking of how this must be what I look like to other people.

I mean we are talking about the same hair color, body type, nose, side profile, paleness, and shoulders.

I had to get over the fact that she was sorta dressed like Princess Leia...I figured she must be dressing for some convention or something along those lines (something I would never do) but besides that, she was me!

Crazy.

Jon and Kate.

2009-07-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

So, I swore I would not make another comment on the whole Jon and Kate fiasco of 2009; however, this recent video I found was so hilarious, I had to share it. And then this got me to thinking...so I had to share my thoughts.

I was so upset when I heard things were going awry with their marriage. It bothered me for so long and now, frankly, it's just a waste of my time. I just felt like we, as viewers, were betrayed by them. I mean, it's not like the show was scripted and some writer decided to end the 10 year marriage during May Sweeps to increase viewership. What's worse is that this marriage is (was) real. And now it's over. Just like that, it's dissolved. I feel like they made poor choices. They let fame and money get in the way. They became self-centered. They put their children FIRST in their marriage, where children do not belong (it should go God, spouse, children in that order). They made themselves, their kids and their lives out to be idols. They pretty much destroyed themselves and got paid for us to watch. I feel so gross having even given them much of my time in the first place. What a waste of my time!

However, I must say that at the onset of this show, I was excited to see a couple who talked about how important God is in their family and even carried on about church events and throwing up Bible verses on the kitchen cabinets. It was refreshing and I actually admired them for their willingness to show that they loved God. But then, it turned into this dirty mess. I am ashamed for them. I realize that we all make mistakes and I shouldn't judge too harshly; I guess I am just so incredibly disappointed. Anywho, that said....ENJOY THIS VIDEO:

Top Ten Time

2009-07-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

I know I always say this, but I can't believe how much time I have let pass before updating. This used to be something I looked forward to doing in my day and now it feels a little like school work. I think it is in large part to the fact that I have two children in my care as opposed to just one. When I finally have down time, I find myself wanting to read or nap instead. Actually, yesterday I took a little nap in Evie's toddler bed with her. Yep, all 5' 6" of me in her 3' bed. Best sleep ever.

So, allow me to catch up over the past month or so:

1. Went to Wisconsin to visit with Dan's family. (We also drove all 13 hours)

2. Went to Summerfest in Milwaukee and saw Guster play. They rocked!

3. Dan and I celebrated 8 months of togetherness fun.

4. Came down with a wicked sickness...ended up being just some virus, but one that caused a high fever, chills, headaches, body aches, sore throat. Oh and chest pain. A looooot of chest pain, I could barely breathe. So, yeah that was fun.

5. Super excited to see Harry Potter, hopefully in the next week or so.

6. Working as a "stay at home mom" has it's advantages including, going to the gym, pool privileges, and free cable/internet access.

7. Being a "single parent" is also a ton of long, hard, laborious work. It get to the point where I

pass out when i finally sit down for a break.

8. Checking off my summer reading list with books like Salem Falls, Plain Truth, and The Host.

9. It's hot outside.

10. I love that since the DTV change we have new cable stations with all my favorite shows!!

REALLY???

2009-06-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided to take Evie and Suzanne (now 3 months) to the pool (ie. the parental summer social scene). And by "decided" I mean I was "guilted" into it by their mother. She has this way of making me feel like I should do something because she thinks it should be done. Well, that's another blog entirely. This one is dedicated to the fact that the neighbor Heather seems to think I am incapable of remembering my charges.

Allow me to explain.

One time Evie was playing out in the backyard, er, alley. No yards in the city. Just concrete. Heather was out as well watching her three children (although I am reminded of how she mysteriously disappears for a few minutes every so often, leaving me alone with all her kids and my own). When she walks outside she will inevitably panic and ask me,

"Where's Suzanne???"

This usually causes me to freak out for .2 seconds as I try to remember, where in fact Suzanne is. Usually I have her strapped into the stroller, bouncy seat, or car seat nicely displayed in the shade so she is out of the way, but visible.

So, today when we were at the pool she once again started up some general conversation. She interrupted her own dialogue with, "WHERE'S SUZANNE???"

Um, over here under the umbrella.

Now I am unsure of the reason why she seems to need to ask me this EVERY time. And I am also unsure as to why it bothers me so.

There are several reasons for this. Possibly, she herself always freaks out when she realizes one of her children is missing, running into the street after a ball, climbing the very TALL fence, or hanging out of the open third story window (all of which I have seen with my own eyes). Possibly, it's because she believes I am incompetent at my job. It's hard to be sure.

Sweatin' To the Oldies

2009-06-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

We just experienced the most amazing weekend. I really don't know how Dan and I do it, but often times I sit back in amazement of how each weekend is more enjoyable than the last. It started out with a nice, lazy Friday. The kind of evening you love to share with someone close. We had some dinner out and then a movie at home. It was the perfect end to a very long week.

Saturday we had a birthday party to go to and a wedding. We basically barely made it to Chris' 30th birthday party (due to some Bay Bridge beach traffic) before we had to turn around and go to Ben and Halley's wedding. Luckily, the wedding was not too far from Katie and Chris' house, so we were able to crash there after a long night of partying and visit with them in the morning.

The wedding was on this beautiful plantation that was pretty enormous. We had to be shuttled from the parking lot to the ceremony site!

The wedding was wonderful, but the sun was BLAZING. Even under a tent. The bride and groom provided all the guests with a bottle of water and a fan. Even so, it was still so stinkin' hot. And the sweat only had just started to pour.

While we waited for the wedding party, we enjoyed some amazing appetizers and spirited drinks. My friends and I had a great time laughing and getting extremly silly. Largely due to the buzz I am sure we were all feeling.

Dinner was also great. Good company and a lovely vegetarian entree (everyone else had the filet) made my evening just perfect.

Then came some dancing. Probably a full 3 hours of dancing. And sweating. If any of you know what I look like when I come home from a nice 7 mile run at the gym, then you will know how much I can sweat. I was probably even MORE sweaty by the end of this evening. I had sweat in my eyes! I know attractive, right?? Good thing that Dan was also dripping in perspiration and our friends were glowing as well.

There's something about sharing unique experiences with friends that totally bonds you. And memories like this are just the start of long, beautiful friendships. I thoguht that my life was pretty much over when college ended. It felt like I could not even imagine moving on and finding a new way of life, especially without my good friends right alongside of me. I feel blessed to know I have found some new friends here in Baltimore, but it also makes me love and appreciate the friendships I have with my lovely college friends.

Zombie Kid

2009-06-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

Found this today, thought it was too funny:

What's New With You?

2009-05-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

It's interesting. I was going to blog today in a list format because there is so much to catch up on, but before I gathered my thoughts I was scrolling through some of my friends' blogs and lo' and behold Steven has also used a "list"!! So, I swear I'm not stealing your idea Lammy...just continuing the new trend!

Here goes:

-For some reason I am currently obsessed with catching the Tyra Banks Show (sometimes we cut our walks short so I can come back to watch it, I'm not proud of this)

- I L-O-V-E coupons!!! I have become a coupon junky. Even cutting out coupons for other people who may use the ones I won't. Does this make me like, old?

-Most days I am covered with spit up and poop (not mine) by the time I get home. Ah, life with a baby...

-I get to see my college girls this weekend. WOOT! Nothing like chick flicks, croqueting, Taco Ring, and gabbing to spend a weekend.

-Dan and I are celebrating our 7 month anniversary today. Yay us!

-I learned about freezing grapes from Dan's roommate Aaron. They are the BOMB DOT COM! Try it. I find they are more filling in the frozen form and they make great ice cubes.

-The entire Inner Harbor reeks of dead, rotting fish. Literally even Federal Hill stinks. And I thought the gross chicken crap was bad in Salisbury.

-Eliza's maternity leave is over in TWO WEEKS. FREEEEEDOOOOOOOOM!!!

-I'm excited for summer. Even though I will be working throughout the summer months, I am looking forward to some pool action and warm weather. Also, there will be weddings, trips, family visits and the like!

-Last weekend, we went to a wedding that had a catered chocolate bar. It was so yum-double-o, I actually hit it up like three times (shhh).

-I might (might) have a small tan. Although most would still consider me "fish belly white", I don't care because I see some color!

-Now I don't feel so silly asking for an iced coffee and Dunkin Donuts as the weather is finally warm enough for one.

-I FINALLY HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!

13.1

2009-05-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

WOW! Has it really been 19 days since my last post?? Sheesh. Apologies to all five of you who read this blog. I also apologize to the random person from Belgium or Ireland who checks my site because they were google searching things like "spit in my eye" (lyrics to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody) or "riverdance".

So, to update...I have decided just today that I am going to run the Balitmore 1/2 Marathon. There are many reasons for this decision, not including the "I-must-be-crazy" reason. Some of my thoughts on this are as follows:

-plenty of other people have run one and not died

-if the people on the Biggest Loser can do it, so can I

-it's time for a challenge

-free food? where?

-it's four months away so it's easy to think it's a good idea (on race day, I may be wearing the "it sounded like a good idea at the time" shirt from onemoremilerunning.com)

-gives me an excuse to eat my heart out at Thanksgiving (pay no mind to the fact that the holiday falls a full month and a half AFTER the race)

-because I am, in fact, crazy

So there you have it. My stupid reasons. Will I make it? We will see come race day.

Wanna join in on the fun? go to thebaltimoremarathon.com

...what have I gotten myself into?

Updates

2009-05-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today's highlight friends?

My sweet Evelyn asked me to put her breakfast bar back together. As in a Nutri-grain bar type of food (this one was the Whole Foods variety).

She also exploded when I ate one of her strawberries. As in one out of the seven in her bowl.

After the fun little game of "I want to eat a chip", I was ready for a nap as much as she. Because you see, when Jenny would give her a chip, she would scream "no chip". She would then move on to another food. I wised up after about three go's at this.

I am exhausted. Wiped. Raising two children is hard work.

In other news, Dan and I just celebrated our 6 month anniversary. I know, right? I feel like it's been a lot longer than that, but I also feel like in the grand scheme of life, we have barely scratched the surface.

It's May and my allergies are here FULL FORCE! How I loathe pollen.

The randomness continues as I share one quick story from last weekend. We decided to stop by my brother's house last Sunday after we ate some Pei Wei (yummers). We helped the kids wash the car and played around outside for a bit (it was gorgeous out). When we all went inside, the adults were hanging out in the living room while my brother's boys were out on the deck. We hear some dramatic noises and some screaming ensued as apparently Lucas had hit Reid.

Reid is never as innocent as his cute little face seems. He had antagonized Lucas outside. I know, I witnessed it. Anywho, Lucas gets sent to his room and Reid is outside leaning against the screen yelling in the deepest voice possible:

"I hate Lucas. Let's throw him in the dump. I hate Lucas. I'm hungry."

There you have it, the making of an ADHD child.

Am I Ready For This?

2009-04-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hello blogger friends!! Look at me blogging so quickly after my last blog. It's like old times, eh?

**Darn you Dan for introducing the "eh" into my v

ocabulary**

The reason for such a quick update is because I am finally free from Evie's mom. Well, only for a day or two. She is still on maternity leave until the end of forever, she just had to fly to Florida for a wedding. This means...I have Evie until grandma (Oma) comes to watch her tomorrow. Until then, Evie and I will be hanging out for 32 hours. Mostly catching up on episodes of The Office and 30 Rock.

I'm kidding.

It's almost like the old proverbial "when the cat's away, the mouse will play" type of scenario. I feel like with mom out of town I can go crazy! I can blog. I can bake. I can make a mess! I can be out of control!

However, if this morning's outing was any indication of the time to come, I may want to crawl in a hole and cry.

Today I took Evie to the library. A normal day. A normal outing. A normal Evie. Until she turned into a crazy person. In a nutshell, I told her "no" and that we had to go home. She screamed. She cried. She yelled for her mommy.

Her new trick is to lay herself out on the floor, ever so gently. She goes boneless. When I go to pick her up and set her on her feet, she lays back down.

There is one way to get me all sorts of angry and this is it. Children have been pulling this kind of junk for years. I dealt with them a lot when I was a preschool teacher. Heck, I was still dealing with them when I was the director of the preschool.

No matter.

Needless to say, I carried her to the bathroom where I gave her a little encouragement and out we went.

Let's not mention that the express checkout was giving me a lot of extra trouble and I forgot my sunglasses at the counter.

Don't worry Dan, I remembered about the time we had already walked to the car and turned around to go get them. :(

Pictured above:How I felt upon arriving home today. (From Mo Willems Knuffle Bunny book)

Heather Oberle=Supermom

2009-04-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Has it felt like 8 Forevers since I last blogged? It has to me. Sorry for being MIA, but between two kids at work, nice weather, busy weekends, and practically living with my boss...things have gotten a bit crazy.

It's not for lack of things to blog about. For sure, I am always finding something I would like to share with you all, it's just lack of time anymore! What I would give to have no life again...

Ok, totally kidding on that.

Anywho, so I am now here to ask you to vote for my sister in Richmond's "Supermom Contest"!!! She was nominated by a neighbor friend and my brother-in-law has asked that I "work the internet like it's my job" to solicit votes.

All I can say is she really is a great mom and I hope I can be just as good some day. Between all the class projects, library time, driving to soccer practice, cheering on the sidelines, being her children's advocate, wiping noses, making the best homemade applesauce this side of the Nile, and even teaching her children about Jesus, she is a hard working woman!!

So, if you know her but at all, I implore you to send in a quick vote to richmondmom.com

Not sure what she wins, but I am sure it's great and much needed.

Thanks!!

A Conversation With Evie

2009-04-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Evie had a huge blowout in her diaper (I will spare you gross details) and this was the conversation that ensued:

Me: What did you eat last night???? EEEWW!!

Evie: I had mexican.

Nuf said!

Top Five Worst Babysitting Experiences

2009-04-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

As I was thinking back on how long I have been a nanny (pretty much straight out of college, I know I had lofty ambitions), I was remembering some of the better times. And while I was reminiscing, I was trying to keep the worst memories out of my brain. And then it struck me, how many awful/awkward experiences there have been. So without further ado, I give you:

My Top Five Worst Babysitting Experiences

*Before we begin, you must know that I was employed by an agency that would often times send me to a family's home only once or twice (it was on an as needed basis). I knew the families were safe and vice versa as we all have to go through a bunch of applications and such.

1) One time I was at the home of a kid who was the biggest bully ever. I was literally scared of him. He as older kid and wanted to be home alone on his Saturday, rather than stuck with me. I actually let him watch TV all day (I know, how wrong of me, but if you saw this kid you wouldn't want any altercations with him either). Some of the highlights from this day include him stapling his finger, throwing rocks at squirrels, and watching his dog throw up blue play dough.

2) One time I was sent to a hotel room. YES. A hotel room. To watch a toddler for an evening while his parents were at meetings and parties down in the lobby of said hotel. He was a cute little guy. I wasn't expecting too much of an issue (besides where to put him down to sleep as they did not have a pack-n-play). I was told to feed him Teddy Grahams if he was feeling sad. He also liked warm milk. His mom had just finished feeding him rice pudding when I arrived. With a tummy full and fresh diaper he was ready to go. It only took the kid 1/10th of a second to realize his parents had abandoned him. The wailing begins. So. I feed him Teddy Grahams. Doesn't seem to do the trick because now he is wailing AND has a mouth full of food. He chokes. And then proceeds to projectile vomit all over himself, the bed, and the floor. What's worse is we are in a hotel and there are no paper towels or cleaning supplies around. He kept wanting to walk towards me and scream, and I (like any self respecting sitter would do) hid myself on top of the dresser for two hours so he wouldn't throw up on me.

3) One family I sat for were regulars. They had three boys (ages 4, 2, and a few months). I enjoyed working with them. Most of the time I would be there for a lot of hours. Both parents worked as ER nurses. One day, the baby was in his bouncer seat and the older two were off playing. I went to the next room to put a toy away and when I came back, I saw the baby was choking. His older brother (the two year old) decided to feed him a goldfish cracker. Since the baby was not on solid foods, he choked. I had to flip over the baby and the entire bouncer seat since he was strapped into it. He was fine after I removed the foreign food from his esophagus.

4) Evie fell once and clocked her head against the bottom step at the perfect angle to create a golf ball sized bump on her head. The worst part was watching it swell up in a matter of seconds and then fill with blood. Oh, she never actually bled...or cried for that matter. But I was a mess.

5) Once I watched these two kids for about 11 hours. I had never watched them before and their mom had a normal sitter, but needed me just for the day. The younger of the two kids literally (literally) screamed the whole day. I was so done by the end of that day, I came home and cried. I remember thinking if this was what motherhood was all about then I didn't want to have any part of it. I couldn't even go near him without it making him cry harder.

Pet Peeves

2009-04-08T06:21:00.001-07:00

I realized today when the cleaning lady said "you's going out today?" that this not only disturbs me to hear, but just makes me cringe! So, here are some more pet peeves...

PET PEEVES:

1) Making up words, not for coolness but because you actually think it is correct grammar

(examples include: "whole n'other" and "supposebedly")

2) When parents linger before leaving you with their child...JUST GO PEOPLE!!

3) When people call you and inquire: "Who's this?" You called me!

4) Eye crust

Is That Chicken???

2009-03-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

One would think having a week off would supply me with more than enough time to write a blog; however, I do try to only write about things that seem worth my time and yours. I have been sitting on a good one for the past week, but have not found the time to sit down and blog.

Side Note: I found it much easier to blog while at work. You know, when I am supposed to be working and stuff. And, recently since Evie's mom is home I feel slightly weird blogging while we are sitting around waiting for the kids to wake up. Yes, this has been my life for the past few weeks. Maternity leave can not end soon enough.

So, here I was last weekend in VA Beach. Tori, Katie, and I went down for a race on Saturday. The Shamrock 8K. We got in late Friday night and because we had to pick up our race packets, we weren't ready to eat dinner until about 9:00. I was starving. Beyond starving actually. We decided to eat at this cute little bar type place. I will refrain from telling you the name, as I have found anytime I mention actual places, those places look at my blog (I know because I have a tracker on my blog and can see who is looking).

Anywho, hands down it was the worse dining experience I ever.
Long story short...

We ordered drinks (like most normal people) and the waitress came back to get our order, but had no drinks in her hands.

When she did finally come back with drinks, mine was completely wrong. I ordered a diet cream soda, and got a diet pepsi.

Then I had asked what was in the tossed salad before ordering it. I don't eat bacon, so I needed to make sure there weren't things in my salad I would not eat. All the salads on the menu had a list of ingredients, except that one. Probably because most normal people know what comes in a tossed salad. I know I do, but again...had to check to make sure they weren't adding things I refuse to eat.

The waitress responded with this: "spring mix, sprouts, and some other things"

Some other things? Other things? What if I have an allergy concern woman!? Know your menu!!!

Jenny: "Some other things? Well, do the other things include bacon?"

Waitress: "No."

Fine then, great. I then asked to add chicken to it too (this comes up later). So we wait and wait for our food. We barely see the waitress so I suck it up and drink my diet pepsi instead of what I really wanted.

Our food arrives. Tori seems to be complaining that she wanted a hot sandwhich and that she asked for a certain type of bread, etc. So, her order seemed off. Then I look at my salad. Friends, if this was a "tossed salad" then spin me around and paint me stupid.

Here is what was in it:

spring mix
sprouts
asparagus
artichoke hearts
heart of palm (a vegetable-like artichoke)
italian seaoning
a lot of oil
cherry tomatoes
NO CHICKEN

I am first ticked that there is no chicken. Then I am thinking, this is not what I ordered. This does not look like a regular tossed salad. She must have gotten it mixed up with something else. In fact, I remember seeing a salad with these ingredients on the menu and deciding that while it looked good, it was just not what I wanted.

So, I am in a pickle. I am beyond hunger at this point. Our waitress is never around. Do I suck it up and eat it? Or do I just wait to send it back.

I decided that I wanted my real salad.

So we track the waitress down. Tori tells her about her sandwhich. Then I say, "there's no chicken on this salad, plus I just don't know if this is what I ordered. Are you sure you grabbed the right salad?" (Nicely of course)

I wish I could tell you this was not the response I got from her:

"Well, did you dig down deep? Sometimes the chicken is at the bottom."
I dig up everything for her...still no chicken.

"Well, is it shredded??" She asks.
Nope. I don't see shredded chicken anywhere.

"Well, is that chicken?" She points to the heart of palm.
NO, CLEARLY NOT CHICKEN.

By "points", I mean she is basically touching my salad. And by "chicken", she meant the noodle like vegetable (the heart of palm) that is also NOT CHICKEN.

You probably had to be there to fully appreciate this story, but who doesn't know what chicken looks like?

She came back a minute later with my actual salad. It was a regular, tossed salad WITH chicken that you could see and didn't have to dig for. Praise God. Now let's eat!

Detention!

2009-03-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we *(Dan and I) went to see the play that Tori was helping to direct. It was a high school production of "Once Upon A Mattress".

Anywho, the fun began that day for me when I could not find my keys before work. In a panic, I literally tossed junk all over my room. It wasn't until after I trashed my room like a rockstar, that I realized my keys were in my roommate's car!! I had left them there the night before and she had already left for work! I couldn't find my spare keys. How was I going to get to work?

I rememebered my friend Val also works in the city, so I called her to see if she had left yet. She hadn't, so I caught a ride in with her.

Later that day, Dan had to pick me up...

Anyways, we were on the go heading to Annapolis, so we had to get dinner somewhere. We decided to wait until we got to the high school to pick up Subway (it's across the street). So, we brought it back to the school since the Subway is really just a kiosk at the gas station.

We searched around the school briefly for somewhere to sit. There was none to be found so we ended up eating on/near a teacher's desk shoved in the hallway. I repeat. No chairs in sight. At all.

While Dan stood next to it, I perched myself happily on top.

Haha. Halfway through, this petite blonde lady, with way too many words came up to us. She asked where were were from, who we were supporting, bantered about the Baltimore area, and so on. One of the better conversations with a stranger I have had.

Come to find out, she was the principal of the school. We figured this out when her sweet demeanor morphed into..."Can I get you a chair??" Disguised as her wanting to provide for my needs, her real intention was: Get off my desk before you break it, you hoodlum.

So, she goes back into this dark, forbidden hallway. She retrieves this leather chair on wheels.

Too funny.

When I was finished with it, she came back promptly to return it to the office from whence it came.

Never, never throughout my four years of high school did I ever get in trouble, or get a detention, or anything. I go back for ONE night and get into trouble. Sheesh.

*Dan thinks it's funny I use the word "we" in my blog now without even stating who the "we" is. I assume, dear reader, you now know that the "we" generally will always come to mean "Dan and I" unless otherwise noted. Thank you.*

PS. My keys were in my room on the floor where I normally throw them

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!! (A JIB JAB)

2009-03-16T18:36:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

River Dance (We'd Like to Remind You That There's No Flash Photography In The Theater And That Smoking Is Strictly Prohibited, And Now. Riverdance.)

2009-03-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call the other day from my sister's mother-in-law, Mary Kay. She and I both have this obsession with Ireland. She actually has a lot of Irish blood in her, while I...well, I have a smidgen. BUT IT ONLY TAKES A SMIDGEN PEOPLE!!!

Anywho, she called to ask if I would like a ticket to see Riverdance, since they were at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore.

WOULD I EVER????

I mean, so very awesome.

It was a wonderful evening. Very inspiring. Super lovely.

And I braved this night, after another root canal! Go me.

My tooth was ok, but while my face was numbed up on drugs, I bit almost straight through my lip! Yowzers.

Here, a taste:

Sidewalk Chalk and Cheerios: And I Am Not A Mom...

2009-03-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Evie and I took a walk around the neighborhood and then went to the grocery store. It was such a fantastic day! The weather was perfect. I had to take advantage, because I know all too well that the cold weather will return after a short-lived warm front.

Upon coming home, we found Connor, his mother Emily, and baby Sarah outside enjoying the nice day. We stopped to play for a little while.

Emily and I usually talk about everything under the sun. When I come over to her house on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she will generally run my ear off for a good half hour. Most of the stories are about how Connor refused a nap the other day, or how he decided to draw on the bottom side of the table with his crayons, or even more humorously...how his hand gets stuck in the collar of his shirt when he tried to remove his clothes while lying in his crib.

It was because of this woman that I finally realized how Evie's neighbors have become my own community. I mean, I am here so often, that her neighbors are my neighbors. One day, I was in and out of about three people's houses. I stop in to say "hi", pass mom's I have seen at the library "reading time", play out in the back with other moms, stop to talk to people I know from the MAC, and so on.

I really feel like this is my network. My ministry. It used to be more focused on the kids, but now I realize how much time I spend with these stay at home mom's, that I realized the other day how much life I could speak into them just by spending time at the playground, or following after the kids at the park.

Especially Emily. I don't know what it is about this woman that makes my heart hurt for her. She seems so put together on the outside, and yet the more I talk to her, the more I see how she is just so all over the place.

One time, I was listening to her talk for close to 20 minutes and I was enjoying the conversation, but thinking to myself, "Ok, how do I bow out gracefully and tactfully?". That's when the Holy Spirit convicted me to just shut up and listen. This woman needed me to hear her. She just needed someone to hear her. She needed someone to rescue her from the monotony of motherhood. From the noisy silence, as I like to call it. It's not that it's quiet when you have children running around the house. It is so not quiet. But, it's just. So. Lonely.

A loneliness that I can understand all too well, really.

Sometimes, this makes me yearn for motherhood, but also (smartly) want to run in the opposite direction. I feel like a stay at home mom, but am not. I feel like I got the best of both worlds...but then why do I feel so out of place?

Anywho, here I was yesterday afternoon, hearing this woman go on and on about cheerios, and sidewalk chalk. Again, enjoying the conversation. It finally turns to the topic of faith. Her daughter, having been baptized into the Catholic Church on Saturday, was the perfect opening for me to tell her a small piece of my story. That was just. So. Awesome.

Then we got to talking about how she gave up sweets for Lent (I have as well, so it was cool to talk to her about how it was going) because she finds that, "Easter is such a boring holiday, I like to jazz it up by being able to eat sweets again". I am not kidding you. This is what she told me.

My first thought, as sad as it is to admit this, was "yeah, it is". Then I was like whoa, wait a minute here!! Easter is the very definition of excitement! Hello. Jesus just rose from the dead! Are you even serious?!? There couldn't be anything more exciting in life.

Let's just hope that I can communicate this to her in the near future.

Pet Store Fun (This Is Disturbing...)

2009-03-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

I forgot to tell you all about one of the highlights from this past weekend...

We were in my old neighborhood visiting my old house that my family lived in from the time I was 6 to about the age of 10.We also saw my old elementary school, William S. James Elementary (or as I pronounced it in 1st grade, Willmer S. James) School. Afterwards, we went to IKEA and White Marsh Mall. It was there that we decided to go look in the pet store.

No, we are not currently looking at buying a cat together (like Ross and Julie from Season 2 of Friends), we were just looking people!!

Anywho, we were looking at some of the cutest puppies this side of the Chesepeake, when we saw probably one of the grossest sights I have encountered in the whole of my life.

One of the cuter puppies (with a "sold" sign on his cage) pooped. Turned around. Sniffed his poop. Then proceeded to eat the poop. All of it. Then, he licked up the remnants, much like an old man who enjoyed his dinner so much, he just needs a little smacker-el to finish it off.

I didn't believe Dan when he said, "He's eating his poop". I thought for sure he was being silly! But, no. Not so.

I talked with my friend who is a vet and she said it is not uncommon for animals who are caged to do this. Especially dogs, since they have a highly developed sense of smell and can actually smell their food inside of their excrement.

Still. Gross.

Bathroom Mishap.

2009-03-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Today, I hit up Shopper's Food Warehouse. Before I schlep my way to Evie's home, I usually go to the store to pick up a few items for the day.

This day was no different. However, I had to pee so badly that I found myself in the nasty bathroom in the back dungeon.

I have never really ventured into this bathroom before (maybe once or twice), I try to avoid it at all costs.

Side Note: Dan, you can pick your jaw off the floor, I know it's shocking to think I have not used this bathroom much in the past. But. I really haven't.

Anywho, I was using said bathroom when I hear someone come in and all of a sudden my door is flying open and I am staring into the face of a middle aged employee.

"Girl" she says to me, "You gotta learn to lock the door!!"

"I did!" I say. (Who forgets to lock the bathroom door?)

She responds with, "That happened to me before in here".

Ok then. So it's possible these doors don't lock properly then?? And it's not a user error?

The add insult to injury, I frequent this grocery store so often that I see her face every morning as she check s out my food...

Stellar.

Conversation With A Nephew:

2009-03-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

Reid: Aunt Jenny

Jenny: Yes, nephew?

Reid: I hate girls.

Jenny: How come?

Reid: Cause they're pretty.

I'd Rather Have a Root Canal?

2009-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

You know the old saying "I'd rather have a root canal?"I have never actually been able to say that legitimately. Now friends, I can.

I have indeed undergone my first of two root canals as of 1:30 yesterday afternoon. And the killer...they only got 2/3 of the tooth done. So, that one needs to get finished and then we need to start on the other.

There is nothing worse than having to sit there for an hour and a half and hold your mouth open for them to drill, poke, pull, grab, clamp, squeeze, and do basically everything they need to do while in your mouth.

So, in honor of all that I have created a list, cause you know how I like lists:

Things I would rather do than have a root canal:

be with Dan
hang out with friends
stand in a line
go to the MVA
watch a movie (even one I particularly dislike, such as "The Visitor"
shop
eat
shop
be creative
bake
sing
drive

You get the idea...

I would rather have a root canal than do these things:

clean up vomit (my own or someone else's)
sit in commuter traffic
get mugged
eat tuna
try to sleep with the mouth pain before the root canal
run more than 6 miles
watch someone's child when they are at home and more than capable of watching said child
my taxes

Top 12 Valentine's Day Moments

2009-02-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Valentine's Day all!!

Mine was a happy one, thank you for asking. In fact, this whole weekend pretty much rocked my world so...

Here are some of the highlights, Top 12 Style (Because 10 is not enough and I like random):

1) Dan got stuck in a car at the Auto Show

He got in. Closed the door. When he went to get out, the car would not let him out. He unlocked. Locked. Pushed. Pulled. You name it, we tried it. But the car door was not opening. HAHA, THE BEST!!!

2) I slipped AND fell on cut up, gross, dead hair on the floor at Bubbles Salon

On my way to the restroom in the back of the Salon, I slipped on someone else's hair. Onto my wrist. Yick. Lawsuit?

3) The gay guys we sat next to at Pei Wei

Clearly both gay. Clearly on a Valentine's Day date. And get this, the more "feminine" of the two had on a wedding ring, the other did not. Scandal!

4)I tripped up the stairs at my apartment.

Yes, UP the stairs. Keys actually flew out of my hands on that one too! Those who know me best will not be shocked at this at all. Dan, if you can still like me after watching that kind of nonsense, not only does that make you Boyfriend of the Year, but so awesome!

5) Trying to figure out which was cheaper to buy, one 5lb bar of Hershey's Chocolate (The World's Largest) or the 23 regular sized bars (adding up to 5lbs)

After much calculation, we figured the best option is the 23 bars of chocolate. Don't let them fool you!

6) My father called to ask me if Dan was taking me out to a fancy place for dinner

And I quote: "Is he taking you to Taco Bell?"

7) I walked into AND USED the men's bathroom in Walmart

Need I explain it? In my defense, they normally put the women's bathroom on the left at Walmart...

8) Sarah called to ask how our day was going

She also asked if there was "any rain?". A little confused as to why she cared if it were raining or not, I replied with "a little". Immediate giggling in-sued on her end, as she then clarified what she actually said (that I misunderstood) "Jenny, I asked if there was a RING!"

9) Dan asked for the time

My response? "It's 20 almost to 6". Apparently, this was funny.

10) Racing home from the Cracker Barrel at an extremely fast pace ;)

I will leave the details of this one to Dan and I.

11) "Hey Jesus"

Dan got to fully appreciate Vintage 21's "Jesus Videos". Funny.

See below.

12) Seeing each other all weekend and parting only to sleep?

Priceless.

I know, I know. Cringe all you want people. But we had a great time!

Dental News

2009-02-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

So friends, I am heading back to the dentist tomorrow. About a year ago, when I moved to Baltimore I found myself in a loooooooooooooot of mouth pain. Wasn't sure what was happening to my face, but figured it had to do with my wisdom teeth. The pain was getting so horrid that I seriously lost sleep at night. So I made an appointment with Evie's parents' dentist.

Dr. Garcia took one look into my mouth and was aghast at what was happening. Lots of cavities, wisdom teeth that required immediate attention, root canals needed, and on top of all of that...an infection that needed some serious antibiotics to heal.

Two days later, I had my wisdom teeth extracted. Most people plan these sorts of things way in advance. Not JB, she waits until there's a decent infection to get her butt in the dentist chair. And, it's not because I hate the dentist. On the contrary, I find it rather fufilling to get my teeth cleaned. However, my bank account wanted to run in fear is all. Anyways.

The best friend Tori came to pick me up the day of my surgery since I couldn't operate heavy machinary afterwards and apparently I was ridiculously funny whilst on the anethesia.

I do remember getting into her car at Target (to get my prescriptions filled) and I saw a banana peel on the ground and pretended to slip on it while ever so gently saying "whoo". I was suuposed to be very careful. I think it was more funny at the time.

Anywho, now it's time to head back to get the root canals. The process was expedited as last night while eating my dinner, my back molar chipped. Yay. I now have a stabbing pain in the back of my tongue from the jagged point my molar has now made.

In honor of my next dental appointment, scheduled for tomorrow (pray that Dr. Skane can smooth down the sharp point and that the root canal procedure is relatively inexpensive), the best friend sent me this video. IT IS HILARIOUS. You have to watch it the whole way through to appreciate it ok? Really. You won't be disappointed, Jenny and Tori give it an enthusiastic thumbs up:

Walter, The Giant Man

2009-02-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday night late, I went to Giant on my way home from Dan's house. As soon as I walk in, there is a man standing at the customer service desk (not an employee). On the counter was a large black duffle bag filled with large manila envelopes, papers, and other random filing nonsense. Next to the duffle bag is a Giant bag filled with his purchases. There is no one behind the desk.

So, why friends is he still in the store if he already bought stuff? Is he waiting for a friend to finish his shopping? Waiting for a ride? Unsure of his current whereabouts? Oblivious to the scene he is causing as he walks a step or two, pauses, turns around, walks back, pauses looks up, then walks somewhere else a step or two, then pauses, etc. On and on this goes. He looked rather sketchy, allow me to explain: a short, balding man of about 45 years of age. Rounded around the middle, eyes that looked tired and droopy, a disgruntled look upon his face. I was intrigued. Scared. Curious.

I go about my business. I literally need two items. I get them rather hastly as I am now creeped out by this man, we shall call him Walter. Walter continues to walk around aimlessly. Neither looking at products or making any sort of progress in the store.

I am now standing in the only available line. Normally, at this time of night there is no line. If there is, it's a short one. As many customers are literally running in for one or two items (as I am), but I am currently standing behind a woman who has literally decided to buy the whole store. I applaud her effort. I realize now is the time to shop for your groceries. I can appreciate that.

As I am watching this man wander aimlessly about. He eventually makes his way over to the line. Apparently, he is making another purchase. Now there is just no comprehension of what this man is doing.

As we stand there and wait for the cashier to ring up about 5 bags of cat litter, Walter sneezes. Doesn't cover his mouth. And now snot is running down his face. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN BOTHER TO REMOVE IT. It sits. And sits. And slides.

Until finally, he takes his arm across his face and wipes it off with his shirt. EEEEEWWWW. I am so disgusted by this display, I can't contain myself. Makes me wonder what other Cretans have touched the credit card machine that I now have to touch. And while I know he was behind me, who knows who came before me. Yick.

Be Ok?

2009-02-06T06:53:00.003-08:00

Maybe I am listening to Ingrid Michaelson a little too much...

I just heard Evie saying

"Be ok. Be ok."

Lyrics from the song entitled "Be Ok."

Conversation with a Toddler

2009-02-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

I am trying to prepare this poor girl for the birth of her new little sister...

Me: Where's your baby sister?
Evie: Mommy.
Me: What's your sister's name?
Evie: Suzie.
Me: When she coming?
Evie: Two weeks.
Me: You want to have a baby?
Evie: Baby. Umm.
Me: Well, I think you're getting a baby, like it or not.
Evie: Like it.

Every Little Thing She Does is Baking Magic...

2009-02-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

As sung to the tune of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". Get it? Haha. Ok, it's been a long week...

So, this morning in all my Betty Crocker/Ace of Cakes wonder, I have created a yummy treat for my small group peeps. I realize I am a far cry from either of these bakers. I am also not the first to come up with this most stellar of all stellar ideas; however, I am always wanting to kick it up a notch when I bake, so check these out...

It's hard to tell, but they have icing on them. They are fairly simple to make. Just make the brownies according to the package. Use cookie cutters of your choice to cut out brownie "cookies". I was going for a Valentine Day theme...however, I lacked any heart shaped cutters.

Side Note:

1) I call myself a baker and I don't even have the fundamental accutraments for baking various holiday themed treats.

2) I suppose that in my previous anti-Valentine Day life, I never thought to buy heart shapes.

Then melt chocolate icing (I just used store bought, but I suppose you could make your own as well) in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir it. The consistency should be smooth and thin. If it's not, put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir. Continue this process until it is all melted. You can either drizzle the chocolate or dip the brownie into it. Whichever you prefer. Then add some spirnkle magic!!

Yummers.

Confession.

2009-02-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

I realized today when I was reading over my friend Ellen's 25 Random Things on Facebook how much of a fraud I really am! Oh friends. I will talk to you about the benefits of using reusable bags when grocery shopping until the cows come home (can we just stop and think about that cliche for a moment, please?), and yet, I will be the last to admit how I barely use them!

It's a sad thought to me.

My name is Jenny and I use plastic bags.

And it doesn't stop there! I talk about the benefits of eating locally grown foods, organic foods, and loading up on lots of fruits and veggies, and still put many gross-preservative-saturated-bad-for-you-unhealthy junk into my body. I guess it's hard to eat completely all natural foods. And the people who do, I tend to make fun of and call them tree huggers. But I do try my best to be earth friendly and eat as naturally as possible.

It's not for lack of trying for sure. I always have the intention of using cloth bags and if they are in my car, but full, I will dump out the contents of said bag just so I can use the bag to avoid getting a plastic bag.

I normally will remember when specifically going to the grocery store for something, but if for some reason, I go on a whim, I will use the plastic bags.

Side note: One time I was at Giant. I ran in to grab something small. So, when I was checking out, I told the cashier that I didn't need a bag...and she responds with (no lie), "well, you're getting one anyways"

I'm sorry. What? Aren't you the ones who tell us to buy your stupid bags and such?

I guess that's not so bad. But, then I think about how all the landfills will be filling with these stupid non bio-degradable bags and how my children's children will still be able to go a visit their grandma's 100 year old bag! "Come on kids, let's go take a walk to the landfill!"

And then I think about how they will still make these plastic bags even if I choose not to use them.

But why do we keep making them then? Why do we make things like styrofoam, if it's bad for the environment?

I suppose it's cheap to make, but still.

When I was in fifth grade, I decided I was going to single handedly save the rainforest.

I even started a club. I forget it's name...aaaaaaaand I think I was the only member? But, I found the list of activities this group was going to do including recycling, car pooling (like we could drive at the age of 10), reducing trash, etc.

I know, I was a nerd.

While we are on the subject of me being the biggest hypocrite ever, let's discuss children and sugar, or children vs. the TV.

I will tell you how important it is for children to get many nutrient rich foods and how they should eat as little sugar as possible, but then when grocery shopping, I get excited to feed Evie things like cupcakes and brownies, cookies and chocolate.

The whole TV thing, just don't get me started, that's another blog entirely.

So, there. You have my confession. I feel a lot better.

25 Random Things

2009-01-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

So, I put this up on my facebook page, but many of my readers don't have facebook, or may not even be my friend on facebook (you should friend me though if you're not because I would love to know who my fan base is, also I don't bite, I promise)

25 Random Things

My reasons for doing this are three-fold:
1) I am bored, an 1.5 hour left at work and my charge is happily playing with her books
2) I enjoy talking about myself :)
3) Gives you insight into my world

So, here goes:

1) I realized the other day while I was showering that I have to use both soap and shower gel. The soap makes me feel clean, the shower gel makes me smell pretty. One without the other is like not even getting a shower at all. And, I realize shower gel does clean one's body, but in my brain it doesn't.

2) I used to live in Asia (Korea) and Europe (Germany). While growing up I sometimes hated being out of the country, but now it makes me feel cultured. In fact, I still sometimes think I AM German.

3) When I was little, I forced my parents to say "Good night, I love you, see you in the morning" about 10 times (for serious) before tucking me in at night. I thought that if they didn't say it, they would die in their sleep. Don't believe me? Just ask the siblings.

4) My dad told me that Jesus was coming back to the earth, for some reason, in my seven year old mind, that meant that he would look the same way coming as he did going (bloody and gross). I also stubbornly believed that he would come when I was in the shower, and I would be the only one who knew of his return. Thus, I showered like any self respecting 2nd grader would shower...with the curtain open.

5) Weight Watchers effectively changed my life around for the better, but has subsequently ruined it as well. By that I mean, I can no longer look at food without thinking of "points". It used to be fun trying to figure out how I was going to fit my meals into my points for the day. Now, it's pretty much sucking my will to live.

6) I cannot wear anything without smudging, tearing, dripping, smearing, or getting something on it...within the first 24 hours. It's a mathmatical improbablity. As hard as I try I will never look as polished as the people in the J Crew catalogue.

7) I get a medium cinnamon iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts every morning before work. I add one tablespoon of sugar-free hazlenut cream to it. It costs $2.01. The workers see me pull up to the store and begin making my drink before I am even in the building. (This would be cool if it weren't for the fact that there are many other customers they do this with).

8) I have a fish I named Dunkin (see Number 7) that has become very important to me. I may cry when he goes belly up.

9) I am addicted to Splenda. I keep a stash in various places. My car, my pocket, my kitchen, my purse, my dresser drawer. When I lived with my brother and his family, my sister-in-law actually had to HIDE her Splenda so that I wouldn't use hers.

10) I went to college secretly to get my MRS degree. I did not get one.

11) My best friend Tori and I share a brain. Quite literally, we have thought the same thought, at the same moment, even when we are hours apart. We normally find out later that we had the same idea at the same moment in time. It is no longer cool. It's just normal.

12) Speaking of Tori, I love to go to Williamsburg with her and her family. Mostly cause I get my own room with my own bathroom. I have never actually had my own bathroom (I have always shared one) so I love that I can wake up and shower without disturbing the rest of the house. It makes me feel like a princess.

13) I desire to live an extraordinary life, but have found that I get stuck in the midst of a mundane existence most days. Therefore, I try to make the most normal of situations, completely fun, random, memorable and out of this world. Just ask anyone close to me.

14) In college, Tori and I would pretend that we were from England and walk around the video store talking in our best British accents.

15) I love popcorn. I eat it every day. 1

16) My boyfriend Dan is the most charming, wonderful, kind man I have ever known.

17) I have a terrible fear of clowns. Because my reaction to them is so dramatic sometimes, people think I am faking.

18) I think I have ADHD, OCD, and various other diseases and disorders.

19) My commute causes me to feel anger like I have never known. Words escape my mouth that I would never think to say in a million years.

20) I learned the importance of flossing and visiting the dentist regularly when my wisdom teeth started breaking in my mouth. Ouch.

21) I missed college and my college friends so much after we graduated, I actually fell into a mild depression afterwards.

22) I love to run. Even if it's raining or 30 degrees outside, I will run. Now that I belong to the gym, the elements don't matter, but I enjoy it. I wish I had more time to committ to it.

23) I love to bake and cook. Decorate and shop. Eat and sleep. Run and veg.

24) I want to own my own bakery called "All About Sprinkles".

25) You think this is random... I have a blog that I created a few months ago that I would like to believe will one day become internationally known. It goes into greater detail about how random my life really is...www.jennybsocalledlife.blogspot.com

Clearly you already knew about the last one, but that's what I wrote on my facebook page, so I kept it as is. Alright. Hope that give you more insight into my head.

Martha vs. Cookie Monster

2009-01-28T05:33:00.000-08:00

Well, my lap top charger died the other day. We're talking sparks, exposed wires, and such. It was getting pretty bad. Needless to say, I have not been able to use my lap top since then. Only me.

It snowed a lot last night and then iced over, so this morning I literally had to chop my car out of it's icicle cocoon. That was fun. I got to work on time which was nice, but now I have the dilemma of what to do with my charge.

I'm thinking it's a baking day. So, we are about to head into the kitchen to see what we can find. However, while I was looking for some fun recipes online, I stumbled on this you tube video. Please watch. And please enjoy. By the way, it's stinkin' hilarious.

I was looking for Martha Stewart's Monster Cookie recipe (how I found this in case you were curious).

Meet the Fockel's

2009-01-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

Well friends, I'm back. Sorry for the hiatus, but I took a little trip all the way to Wisconsin! Dan took me home to meet his family and to visit where he grew up and I must say it was a fantastic trip. It was my very own "Meet the Fockel's". Seriously. And while nothing ridiculous happened to me while I was meeting all the Fockel's and other extended family members, it was just as exciting for other reasons. I mean, I didn't catch any rooms on fire, or clog toliets, or even clumsily hurt any of the furniture (which if you know me but at all, you know I am prone to do such).

Days before we left, Dan kept sending me the weather forecast. It's "-7 degrees back home" or "it's starting to warm up and its now 9 degrees". Sheesh. I was prepared for the bitter cold, but it really wasn't too bad. Honest. Usually the cold only gets to me on work days when I have to leave my house before the sun is up and scrape off my car and am forced to be in the cold. Otherwise it's not too bad. Especially if you are prepared.

Speaking of prepared, I was ready to meet the Fockel's! But nothing could have prepared me to meet some of the warmest people ever. And I am not just saying that because some of them read my blog, either :) Honestly, I didn't realize that people that sweet existed!

We had a great time. Dan got to show me around the city of Milwaukee as well as his schools, where the Milwaukee Brewers play, and various other places he would go when he was younger. I simply love visiting places that have history. Growing up as an Army brat doesn't really afford you a place to have roots really. All my friends growing up are scattered over various parts of the world now. So, it was wonderful to see places that mean a lot to him.

So, yeah. I got to meet the whole family! They even graciously allowed me to catch the Raven's game, even though we lost. Boo.

And Sunday, quite literally, the whole family came over for a look see. They all wanted to meet me I suppose, and it was an honor to be there. Really.

So, all that said. I had a fabulous time and now it's back to the daily grind of life.

Hopefully, I will have something to report on soonish. Until then...

Toasters, Potter, and Yoga...OH MY!

2009-01-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

So, two nights ago I decided to make an egg sandwhich. I go through these phases where I crave certain foods. Currently I am going through the egg sandwhich phase. As well as turkey burgers and Luna bars.

Anywho, so I put my bread in our toaster and leave the kitchen (I already made the eggs and was just waiting for some toast). You would think that one would need not to stand guard over the toaster. It's a pretty self-sufficient electrical appliance...

Not in Jenny's universe.

I hear the "pop" of the toast and go into the kitchen to retrieve the toast and step into a cloud of black, puffy smoke. My toast is charred and on fire!

What happened? I suppose something at the bottom of the toaster caught on fire, but I was not anticipating the scene I walked into.

Then this morning on the way to work, I was behind a car that had a plethora of bumper stickers on the back. Harry Potter stickers were all over and some of my favorites included:

I'd rather be playing quidditch
Expecto Patronum
Harry Potter for President

This last one is the one I would like to discuss. Is it wrong to think that Harry would make a better president than Obama? Or that if Harry were to be listed on the voter's ballot, I would choose a FICTIONAL CHARACTER to run our country!?

Then yesterday I decided to do some power yoga with Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser. As I am doing it, I am thinking that this isn't so hard. I'm not even breaking a sweat. I have done yoga before and I am ridicuously flexible, so this will be a cinch. Friends, this morning...upon exiting my bed, I could feel the pain shooting through every muscle of my body! Oy!

My sister-in-law even warned me that it would feel like you weren't getting a workout but just wait until the next day and you would feel it.

Anywho, randomness usually comes in threes for me. So, that's been my life since the last blog.

German Treadmills

2009-01-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

I went to the MAC yesterday for the first time. For all of you non-Maryland folk, that's the Maryland Athletic Club. It's a gym. Or more accurately, it's a spa.

My employers are members of this gym, so I have heard about it's many perks. I never thought I would ever walk through the entrance for various reasons, including:

1) I do not belong to said gym

2) I do not have enough in my bank account for said gym's monthly rate

3) I do not look like this...

Well, my wonderful employers signed me up for a week's membership so I could not only check it out, but also because I was working late one night helping out Eliza with Evie (since she's pregnant, she can't do too much at the moment) and she normally goes to the gym after work, so the three of us went.

It was like walking into a world I knew not existed. It was so chic. There was a coffee bar that sold starbucks, and a computer lab. There was a food counter and lush towels. Machine after machine. Rooms for classes. A day care center for Evie. There were pools and hot tubs. There was a gigantic locker room with showers, lots of counter tops and jars filled with cotton balls.

My treadmill, when I got on, yeah...it was digital and was writing things in German. German!! Ok, that was because I accidentally pressed the wrong button. But let's face it, the fact that it was even able to speak German is amazing. Also, each machine had it's own personal TV. That's right, so you can watch cable at your leisure. It just put my gym to shame!

I felt kinda like I was in one of those movies where the small town girl finally makes it to the big city and she's looking around with eyes big as saucers trying to drink in everything around her. And the camera pans around her, circling her from all angles!

Oh well. I do love my gym, a lot. I have no reason to change. But, it was nice to visit, if only for a little while.

All Things Irish

2009-01-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

I attempted to put my pictures of Ireland at the end of this blog, but when you upload them, they automatically get uploaded to the beginning of the blog, so I am too lazy to move them all down. This blog, therefore, will be a bit backwards.

Bono created this small chain resturant called "Nude". It's like the Irish version of Panera Bread. Didn't eat there, but took a picture and thought it looked rather posh.
They call it "child minding" in Ireland, not "babysitting", so I thought this was a neat sign on the back of an Ice Cream Truck.

While I did not get to actually drive this car, I got very excited to be in it. I did however, get to sit in the passenger's seat of a van and it was the absolute oddest driving experience ever.

Me. At the Celli. It's an Irish Dance. We were taught some steps and we had so much fun dancing the night away. I must say I got pretty good. Also, I am wearing a hat someone (forget who) brought with them. It's rather silly, but so fun to wear!

This was a cute little fruit/smoothie/tiny grocery store in Greystone's where we stayed. It is called the "Happy Pear" and you know what? It did make me happy.

I love all things Irish. Did you know?

I have blogged about many things, so how could I have failed to report on my love for the Irish culture and people before now?

It's a shame. I am ashamed of myself. Really.

Anywho, I was listening to some awesome Irish rock bands in my car today and remembered watching a small clip of the Irish step dancers last night on hulu. Then I remembered my trip to Ireland in the summer of 2007 (missions trip through my sister's church). And I just got this sense of excitement! And I had to share it with you.

I don't know when this fascination started for me. Was it in grade school learning about the country's history?

Was it when I realized I am part Irish? (Which I have decided to make a huge deal about...I gotta be proud of my celtic roots!!!)

Was it when I realized I fell in love with an Irishmen?

Tricked you with the last one, I have never been in love with an Irishmen. Ah, except Liam Neeson, actor and Irish.

Was it when I heard some Irish music one day and realized that I liked bagpipes and celtic sounds?

Who can really say.

All I know is that my blood runs green.

When I had the amazing opportunity to visit the beautiful island, I stepped off the plane with my mouth wide open in awe and adoration. I don't think it shut closed until we landed back in DC. We actually flew over sheep grazing in meadows!! Just like you see in the quientessential movie clips or photos.

There were castles and old stone buildings, still standing after centuries of wear. There was lush mountain sides and cute little towns with cottages all in a row. There were even tiny houses built for hobbits! I swear. These houses were so small, you would have to duck to get through the door. And the houses were draped with beautiful flowers and landscape. Your thinking that's rubbish? Maybe I stumbled into a nice neighborhood? No, they just take such good care of themselves and their houses.

While there, I learned many things including:

people are more important than time (it;s the opposite in America), so chances are if you stop by a friend's house to "drop something off", you will be forced in for tea and cookies

driving on the road is interesnting to say the least

they are a very friendly people

their accents are ADORABLE

Until I can go back, I suppose the closest I will get to the country again is visiting Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, VA.

Which I love, by the way...

Mental Note

2009-01-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Note to Self:

Self,

Please remember to use the word innocuous today in a sentence.

Thank you,

Self

Welcome Inside Jenny's Head

2009-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

You know, I was going to write a totally cool blog and I have seemed to have forgotten what I was going to discuss.

I suppose there are many topics I could mention here, as it is my own personal blog, but I find that unless I have some witty story to share, it's just not going to be fun for you to read, my devoted reader.

So, allow me to throw some randomness your way. Once again, this vessel may explode unless I start extracting useless information/memories/thoughts/opinions in your general direction.

I went to a Ravens game about a week ago. They were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars and the win placed us into the NFL Play-offs baby! After last season, it was nice to win some games this year. I would like to consider this the year of "redemption".

Timmy told me that many businesses are keeping their prices and skimping out on their goods. For example, ounces are a smidgen fewer in glasses. You get less food on your plate. How simply scandalous!

Welcome back to the Baltimore commuters. While I despised the fact that I was the only person working last week through the holidays, I did enjoy the lack of cars on the road and the drive home was positively exhilirating! I could actually get my car speeding into the double digits!!!! EEK! I found myself mumbling a bit this morning on my way to work when I saw all the heavy traffic (I was secretly hoping that people just stopped working all together and/or found various forms of travel). Then I brightened at the thought that this means I am now no longer the only person in America working! Wa-hoo.

I am starting to miss all my friends. Ok, not so much starting...as I am just continuing to miss them more and more. Whatever happened to our "let's all live on a cul-da-sac when we're married" idea? Hmm? It could totally work! I think a nice central location such as Baltimore would be perfect--o!

So, how about all the new TV shows starting this week, huh? I get a little ADD at the thought. I find myself needng to pencil it all into my organizer. Then I have to stop and remember that none of this is very important in the grand scheme of life! God is my God, not the bloody TV.

Ok, was that random enough for you? Welcome to my head.

This One's Just For Dan

2009-01-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

But the rest of you might get a chuckle out of it as well, especially Tori! I meant to post this a while ago...

Parking Fiasco

2009-01-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

This was just too funny not to share with you all...

I was driving my brother Timmy and his best friend Brock to the Raven's game on Sunday. Yes, I finally made it to a game!

Side Note: My brother likes to play "cool" with Brock. On a normal day, if Timmy were in my car we would be jamming to the likings of Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears (I'm not proud of that), and Fergie. When we got into my car, Beyonce was playing on my ipod. And my brother, having to play the cool card act goes:

"Jenny, I can't listen to this crap!"

Timmy. Timmy. Timmy.

Anywho, so we finally make it to the parking garage and Timmy tells me to try and back into a spot. I have never backed into anything, unless it was a garbage can or telephone pole, or something rather large that I should have seen and didn't. Therefore, I chose to never back into spots. It scares me. I might hit something. Or gulp. Someone. I have lived my life pretty well not backing into parking spaces up until now.

I digress.

So, I continue to drive and I am passing spot after spot because the garage is tiny, there are too many cars, and Timmy is in my ear saying "Back it in...back it in Jenny!" I'm starting to perspire at the thought. So, finally I can't take the pressure and I say, "Timmy, I can't back it in. You back it in!"

Timmy: "You've never backed your car into a space?"

Me: "Uhhh, no. So, if you want it backed in, you are going to have to do it yourself."

Timmy: "JENNY. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME! You can do this. Now do it!"

AHHHH...so the pressure is on!! Eyes are fixed on my lack of finesse. Timmy breathing down my neck. Cars passing left and right. Pillars on both sides of the space.

But friends. I did it. In one go. Done.

I feel accomplished. Amazed at my ability and Timmy's...er..um...patience.

I Hate Goodbyes, But I Love Hello's!!

2009-01-02T12:05:00.001-08:00

Goodbye 2008. I shall miss you most of all...not.

I am super excited for the new year.

Although personally, I use the month of September as my "new year". I guess it's because I was in school for 22 out of my 27 years of life, I have gotten into the habit of marking my fresh start in early fall.

Speaking of fresh starts, I find it rather ridiculous that people even make New Year's resolutions. And while I can understand the motive behind such a decision, and even applaude and encourage people in their endeavors, I just find it odd that we feel like we have to start "fresh" every year. Does something magical happen between the 11:59:59th minute and 12:00:00?? Besides having to relearn how to time stamp stuff, I just don't see the big fuss behind it all. Help me understand people!

And while I find it rather silly people feel the need to wait for this particular time frame, I find myself jumping in with both feet to the whole goal setting thing!! What can I say, I am a walking contradiction.

I am pretty sure 2009 is going to just be a life changing one for me. I am hoping that my lofty ambitions and crazy plans, not excluding opening my own cupcake cafe, running a half marathon, sailing off to New Zealand, and desiging/selling aprons (that's a new one),
will take effect this year!

So, strap on your seat belts blogging friends, it's going to ba a wild ride!!

2009

2008-12-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

For those interested, my friend said that the year 2009 is the year of prosperity. Look at the previous blog for details!

Party Like It's 19-99... I Mean, 20-08...(As Sung By The Artist Formerly Known As Prince)

2008-12-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

2008...

I remember, like it was yesterday, when I was sitting around in my office at work just a year ago, thinking about how we were on the brink of a new year again so soon! Time certainly flies a little quicker with every passing year (scary).

As I was contemplating the speed at which the year 2007 passed, one of my employees said to me something very prophetic. After talking to her about plans, goals, dreams, and prayers I had for the year 2008, she spoke words I would never forget:

"Jenny, the year 2007 was a year of completion and the year 2008, is a year of new beginnings"

The number 8, apparently, signifies new beginnings in the Bible. As soon as she said it, I believed it to be fully true for me. Mostly because I knew that the year 2007 had been a year of completion for me (I will save that for another blog).

I had no idea the truth behind those words, but I took them with much faith.

I sort of forgot about them until about May/June, when I was looking back on the first third of the year 2008. A lot had begun afresh for me. I had quit my job as the director of the daycare. I had moved to Baltimore. I had begun going to Grace. I had made some new friends. I had a new job as a nanny in Federal Hill (paying me a lot more than I was making as a director in a day care, nonetheless). I had ended some very destructive relationships and repaired some broken ones. I had finally found an apartment, but not just any apartment. One that was a lot less expensive than I had been planning on. I had a roommate who loved Jesus, I also was not fully expecting that to happen (I assumed I would just have to room with some random Towson college girl...I am shuttering at the thought).

As I looked back, I thought about how good God is to not only meet my needs, but blow my mind with surpassing my desires. And he continues to do that today!

Looking back on the rest of the year since June, I have started going to a small group through Grace that I love. Have met some very cool people indeed. I have met a man that I can only describe as the perfect complement to the missing puzzle piece in my life. And friends, this is such a new beginning!

So, yes. Finally. The year is over and we are on the brink of another. I have no clue what the number 9 signifies in God's Word (I will have to ask my friend and get back to you). But, I do know this, I have been truely blessed with one of the most interesting, joyfully rich and painfully hardest years of my entire life.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 1

2008-12-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

Number 1.

Singing Silent Night at the Christmas Eve Service.

Growing up I always looked forward to the Christmas Eve Service, mostly because it was something I had to get through in order to get my presents the next day. However, I also loved the fact that they would let me play with fire!

Walking into the church, kids and adults alike were handed candles and paper circles to put them through to "catch the wax". Or if you were like me, it became a game of seeing how much wax they could hold.

Yes, the song was beautiful as we passed the flame from candle to candle in the dark sanctuary, but also it was a moment of pure joy for the reasons stated above.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 2

2008-12-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well friends, we are nearing the end of Jenny's 25 Days of Christmas. I hope it was enjoyable to read through some of my favorite things of the holiday season.

Number 2.

Snow on Christmas Day.

In my lifetime, I can really only recall a handful of times it has actually snowed on Christmas Day. There is something extra special about the snow coming down on this day. Maybe it's because I am already stuck inside with family and friends and there's nothing to do but be with them. The added snow just makes it seem colder and more wonderful to be lazy and warm inside the house.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

2008-12-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

When I think back on the weekend that just passed, I am thankful that God is so very good and so present in our lives. Let me explain.

First of all, I was able to have a some what relaxing Friday evening. I will forget to mention that it took me 30-45 minutes to decide how to wrap one of Dan's gifts. I didn't want him to know what it was before he opened it, so I had to get creative (I had no boxes or bags, just wrapping paper). Anywho, it was a great night though. Sometimes you just need to be at home on a Friday. Even with all the Christmas parties and gatherings, I had to just say "no" to it all, for my sanity (and yours :)) I kept thinking in my head how it's hard for me to say "no" to people. I hate doing it, but sometimes you have to...I NEED BOUNDARIES HERE PEOPLE!!!!

Lol.

Saturday was probably one of the best days with Dan yet. We had decided to do our Christmas together on that day, as he is heading home to Wisconsin for Christmas.

Our plan was to go to DC and visit some of the museums. The American History Museum (or the National Museum of American History) had re-opened and he has been wanting to see it and I haven't been to DC in ages. So, off we went. After finding some parking, we headed to the American History Museum.

Side note: On our walk there, we met up with a squirrel that Dan proceeded to "speak to". Never in all my days have I seen a squirrel respond to a grown man in such a way! He called himself the "Squirrel Whisperer" and that he is, as I will share a little later on.

The museum was lovely. Lots of parts I had remembered from going in previous years, but there was some new exhibits as well. One of the highlights for me was seeing the Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz. I had grown up wanting a pair. Actually, the pair. Not only that, but my dad got sent to Kansas on business when I was six or so, and I figured "Hey dad, could you bring me the Ruby Slippers back?".

Much to my dismay, he did not succeed. Sigh.

So, seeing them in front of me was absolutely amazing.

Some other highlights were the First Ladies' gowns and jewelry. There is just such amazing history to explore. I know our country isn't all that old, but it's just priceless to see items worn or made by people who came before us, and famous people at that!

After that, we decided to get some lunch, and seeing as the ridiculousness of the pricing in the cafe at the museum, we attempted the food court in the Old Post Office. It was alright.

Then we went on over to the National Museum of Natural History. This was probably the most incredible experience of the day. As we walked through the exhibits, I was simply amazed at how meticulous God is. I am serious. From the tiniest of bugs, to the beautiful crystals, to the gigantic bones of the dinousaurs, to the amazing depth of the ocean, to the history of our nation, there is so much life! And this world is teeming with creativity and detail, as well as brillant colors. And even in the simpliest of creatures, there is so much depth and forethought. How good God is to think of these types of creatures. It's such a wonder.

We walked on over to the photgraphy exhibit. And that was crazy amazing. First of all, the detail and the quality of the pictures was out of control! That was only second to the actual life that those pictures captured. And those photos could only capture the life that God Himself created.

I just wish I had more words for you to describe what we saw. We even sat there watching this video that was just a series of pictures of wildlife and such and thought how people could see this world and believe it all happened by chance!

The whole time I was there, I was thinking about how everything just glorified God!

After all this, we were pretty exhausted. So, we headed back. Our plan was to go to dinner at the Outback in Canton, mostly because I left my cell phone at Evie's house so we had to go that direction to pick it up anyways. On our walk back to the car, we see another squirrel and Dan decides to converse with this one as well...and then proceed to feed it. He had a bit of his overpriced cookie left over from lunch. He fed the animal once and then it kept coming closer and sitting up on it's hind legs until it decided Dan was taking too long to feed it again and takes a flying leap at him! Yes blogging friends, my boyfriend was attacked by a DC squirrel! We were in hysterical laughter for a good ten minutes about it too. Such humor!

So, we finally make it to dinner and it was so sweet. After a long day in and out of the cold and walking around, it was good to sit and take it all in and enjoy the company of each other as well as the food.

Then we headed back to his house to exchange gifts which was fun. We watched Top Chef, one of our weekly dates and then watched the Ravens win against the ruddy Cowboys!!

I ask you friends, could the day have gotten any better?

Here's the thing. The whole day was such a great time for Dan and I to connect, but even better was that I actually felt the presence of God with us. From everything our eyes took in that day that stimulated the senses and created a feast for the eyes, to the laughter we shared about that stupid squirrel, to the amazing food we inhaled at dinner, to the sweet ending of the day with our favorite show, to the fellowship we shared, to the beautifully cold winter day, to the unexpected Ravens' victory, God blessed it all.

Below is a funny commercial I found that sort of gives you an idea of what happened to Dan vs. The Squirrel, except this video still doesn't do it justice. It's much funnier in person. But, enjoy anyways. Hehehe.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 3

2008-12-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

Number 4.

Christmas Eve night.

I love the anticipation. The cozy PJ's. The family in town. The Christmas movies on TV. The knowledge that there is nothing to do the next day!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 4

2008-12-22T06:12:00.000-08:00

Number 4.

Last minute shoppers.

This is really not so much something I enjoy about the holidays as so much it is that I find humorous. Why do men wait until the last minute? You wait and everything is gone off the shelves. You have to fight through more people than if you had gone weeks before. And, the prices are not really all that much better.

I worked at Bath and Body Works through the Christmas season (twice actually, I will save that story for another blog) and you would not believe the numbe ro fmen that would fly through around December 22-24 and ask what we had as far as gift baskets (the bigger the better). They would normally take my first suggestion. Done and done.

Wow dude. Such forethought! Such insight into your wife! She has found herself a gem!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 5

2008-12-22T06:09:00.000-08:00

Number 5.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

A holiday classic for all to enjoy. How can you not learn to love the unlovable Grinch, when his heart grows three sizes in one day?

25 Days of Christmas: Number 6

2008-12-22T05:53:00.000-08:00

Oh friends! How do I let so much time pass by these days? I blame Christmas. It's way too busy...with that said, I submit for your approval:

Number 6.

Time-off.

I look forward to Christmas Day. I look forward to family and friends, and even a few nice dinners with people, some presents, and cookie exchanges. But what I secretly long for every year? A string of days off with nothing planned really and nothing to do.

I remember the days of college, when I would finish my last exam with the "I'm so tired, my eyes are glazing over and my brain hurts from all the thinking" type of feelings and take the long journey home with the full expectation of sleeping off the exam stupor.

I would march into the house and instruct my mother..."Do not wake me. I am sleeping until I get up. I will not wake up for any phone calls, random questions, unexpected guests and the like!! Good night and good day!"

Much to my chagrin, my mother would inevitably slip into my oh so quiet and dark room at 6:45 in the morning and whisper sweetly into my ear..."what are you going to want for dinner?"

Couple things here:

Really mom? So early?
Second, how do I know what I want for dinner when it's not even breakfast?
Third, really mom?

Anywho, point being, one of the best parts of the 25 Days of Christmas is having that long stretch of days to sleep.

Amen? Amen. And goodnight.

Now Time For Deep Thoughts By Jenny Baldwin

2008-12-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so much of the time I have random thoughts that flow through my head like wine...or some other liquidy analogy. And normally, I find it rather enjoyable sharing these random thoughts with you, my dear blogger friend. Mostly, I thought I was writing to just share my thoughts on things and that no one really cared if this website even existed. I have come to find that JB has gone international! That's right friends!! People from all over the globe seem to find some worth in this silly blog.

I have also come to find that since I have lacked time to blog uselessly (I blame no one but myself), the thoughts in my head have just been increasingly building and it's as if I am about to explode if I do not release the "beast" so to speak.

Basically, this blog has become quite a compulsion (am I ok with this? I don't really know. Are you ok with this? I hope so.) of sorts. A need. Like, if i don't blog uselessly, then the thoughts continue to swarm around in my head until I do! Ok, before you check me into some sort of mental hospital for my weirdness, you have to admit...you enjoy the useless ramblings of a "self proclaimed hyper hypo". So, here are some thoughts of randomness that have just been needing to get out for the last few weeks that I would have blogged on if time was not an issue, so here they are in no particular order:

Some of my new favorite sites include:

the Urban Dictionary (urbandictionary.com)
To Write Love on Her Arms (twloha.com)

My new favorite singer is Ingrid Michaelson. I have liked her for a while, but have recently listened to all her albums and can't seem to stop. I am actually listening to albums all the way through on my ipod! Dan would be so proud! Normally, I bounce around from artist to artist, while he listens to a complete album before moving on to the next.

I have decided I need to always write down my plans or I will either forget them or double book myself. Actually, I am good at writing things down, it's just making sure I check the calendar before saying yes or no to plans. Learning this the hard way...sorry Dan, sorry girls.

Here is a picture of me and Dan for those of you who keep asking...(I am wearing an ugly Christmas sweater for our Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at church. I swear!!!)

I have eaten my weight in chocolate this month. I will be in need of a cleansing soon.

I started watching some neighbor's kids across the street on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Evie and I go over there in the morning and stay until 1:00. I have never in all my days been more embarrassed every single time I leave this woman's house. Here is a list of the embarrassing moments thus far:

-had to call Emily to tell her I was puking in her kitchen sink and needed a reprieve

-Emily told me to just walk in when Evie and I come over, since she is normally getting ready in her room for work. This morning, I did just that, and happened upon her husband (normally he is already at work) half naked in the living room brushing his teeth :(

-clogged her toliet after she specifically told me that the downstairs toliet will clog at even the littlest bit of tissue...but that's not what got clogged :( after much plunging...I still couldn't get it to all go down and had to leave it for her husband...

double :( :(

-gave her newborn baby Tylenol when she was teething, only to find out Emily had already given it to her and forgot to tell me she had...so not so much my fault, but still...I DRUGGED HER BABY! (she was fine, just a liiiiiiiiiiitle groggy)

I caught Evie and her friend Connor sneaking a snack the other day. After I had specifically told them they could not have one (lunch was just around the corner). I caught them hiding behind the kitchen table with a bowl and a bag of goldfish, just as happy as clams snacking away. First off, they were so cute about it. Second, so quiet. And third, so clean! The bowl guys, really? They had to sneak up onto the counter to get the bowl and the goldfish, so they went to great lengths to make sure I didn't get angry about the mess AND their out of control snacking. I would have snapped a photo if I had the time.

I have been asked to explain the "Self-Proclaimed Hyper Hypo". Basically, if you know me... then hyper doesn't really begin to cover my extensive excitement and zest for life and all things random and silly. The "hypo" is just the word hypochondriac, shortened. Ahhh, something you may not have known about me?? Yes, I have a fear that I am dying of all sorts of crazy diseases. While not clinically diagnosed as such, I have been told that from friends and family since the womb. My neurosis more than likely stems from my brother's hypochondria, as I am told he basically raised me (by the time I came along, my mom had enough of the childrearing). While you will probably just see me researching various diseases on webmd.com, Timmy actually has medical books in his home that he resources when he has a slight fever or rash. I may or may not have gotten better over the years about this. One thing I know is this, I aced my Pathophysiology course (the study of diseases) because of all the research I have done on myself and my various issues!!

Ok, friends. Talk to you never again, now that you know I am legitimately odd. It's been nice blogging with you.. But, if you decided to stick around, I have been doing a lot of catching up on my blogging...so continue to read on. I have added about three more blogs today.

Starbucks Church.

2008-12-18T07:07:00.001-08:00

So, I saw my dad last night. He rolled into Maryland for a day or two, before heading to Virginia to be with my sister and her family. While he was here, he met Dan. So, that was great. Also, he shared this video with us...it's a little more than 5 minutes, but it's worth your time. Promise. Enjoy.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 7

2008-12-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

Number 7.

Mistletoe.

First things first...I can't believe it's Christmas Day in ONE week. Are you ready? Ready for the gifts? Ready for the family (eek)? Ready for Jesus' birth? Good.

I think I am.

Mistletoe. What a wonderous, mysterious tradition we have found in mistletoe. I don't quite understand the story behind it. Let's just discuss what it actually is:

Mistletoe is a poisonous plant that causes acute gatrointestinal problems including stomach pain, and diarrhea along with low pulse

Regardless, I think it's a fun and exciting tradition.

Here's why we kiss under this poisonous plant...

According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The custom is Scandinavian in origin.[12] It was the plant of peace in Scandinavian antiquity. If enemies met by chance beneath it in a forest, they laid down their arms and maintained a truce until the next day." This ancient Scandinavian custom led to the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.

* I found this information at http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistletoe

25 Days of Christmas: Number 8

2008-12-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Number 8.

Christmas chachki.

The Urban Dictionary defines chachki as the following (number 2 is my favorite):

1. chachki

Trinket, useless sentimental stuff filling up your book cases and counter space, miscellaneous items collected and set out to enhance your decor, stuff you should probably box up or sell in a garage sale, things kids take when their parents pass away because it reminds them of good times past.

2. chachki

Some type of knick-knack, but usually a piece of crap; usually a small piece of junk.

I just like saying the word "chachki". It's a fun word I picked up from my sister-in-law. No, she is not uncool, she is tres cool actually. She super urban as well. Lol. She just used that word a lot when I was growing up, so I have since used it a lot as well. But, I digress.

I love little Christmas knick-knacks. The tackier the better. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true, but I have since learned to appreciate having a little Christmas craziness spewed throughout the house. When you fill your house with Christmas stuff, you can't help but smile at the difference the added Christmas chachki adds to your home. Such warmth, such love.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 9

2008-12-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

Number 9.

The Real Meaning of Christmas.

Saw this video this morning and thought it was cool and had an amazing message attatched. Think about it:

25 Days of Christmas: Number 10

2008-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

Number 10.

Baking a birthday cake for Jesus.

I started doing this with my little friends at the day care I worked at a few years ago. I enjoyed making a big deal about the fact that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday. I know I am not the first to do this, but it felt special and different to come from that angle with the kids I had in my class. It was exciting to make a big deal about the fact that we were just having a big birthday party, instead of making it about us, it was now focused on Jesus.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 11

2008-12-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

Number 11.

Singing Christmas Carols in Church.

I love that at Christmas time, we get a whole new set of worship songs to sing. I suppose they are not new or anything, but they have not been sung in a year or so (unless you are like me and every once in while just listen to one or two throughout the year). I love that they are just as special and even more lovely as we approach Christmas.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 12

2008-12-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

Number 12.

Chirstmas lights.

I love white Christmas lights. I do. I like having them on inside the house, with no other light for illumination. I pretty much abhore bright lights of any type. I thank Timmy and Sarah for that weirdness. Anything over 25 watts is too much for me in the evening. Anywho, Christmas lights provide the perfect amount of light. And they are so pretty. I used to dislike the colored ones, thinking that they were totally uncool, but I have since changed my mind. It's really not too bad having cool old fashioned lights to illuminate the indoors or outdoors. I almost want to keep them up year round. I used to do that in college, but since I have been out, I have grown up and realized they are called Christmas lights for a reason.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 13

2008-12-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Again, apologies for this taking a few days. I had a very busy weekend. So, without further ado I give you:

Number 13.

Elf.

"Buddy the Elf, what's your favoite color?"

"We can make snow angels and then we can cuddle."

"I love smiling, smiling's my favorite."

These are just a few of the many quotes that this fun Christmas movie has to offer. And, I dare say that by the time I marry, birth children, and they get all grown-up, this movie will be a classic. One in which they will recall with much delight as they discuss it with their childhood friends, how much they enjoyed watching this "classic". Enjoy this little snack:

25 Days of Christmas: Number 14

2008-12-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

Number 14.

O Holy Night.

I was in my car this morning driving to work and I was listening to "O Holy Night" on my ipod. It was the version sung by Avril Lavigne and Chantal Kreviazuk. It's actually a beautiful version of this song.

This is my favorite Christmas Carol. Absolute favorite. But this morning I was really listening to the lyrics and thinking about them and I just started crying. When I actually went through it line by line, I was just so in awe of God and the simplicity of the gospel. So, I thought I would share the insight I got this morning.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
The star that pointed the Wisemen towards the birthplace of Jesus. It shown clear and bright that night. And Jesus, He still shines like that star. Pointing people towards Him. Yes, the cliche is true. Wisemen still do seek Him.

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
It is Jesus' birth we celebrate. A Savior came. To seek and save what was lost. He came as a baby. So, why has it become about me and what I want?

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Yes, the world needed a Savior. Yes, I need a Savior. I need someone to come and save me everyday from my own wretchedness. I am quite literally pining for someone to rescue me. Just like this world still aches for Someone to come and whisk it away from the pits it has dug.

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
He appeared and now I have been rescued from my sin. The sin that entangles me. For the first time, I have a purpose. I know that I am loved. He has placed a value on me because He created me and then came to save me and give me worth. To finally live my life for a reason and not just for me.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
On that day, there was a new hope! He is finally here! And, on the day that I finally accepted Him into my heart, there was a thrill of hope. Finally. Finally, I had been rescued. Finally, I could start hoping for a new future. Finally, I could rest assuredly that I was loved. His mercies are made new every morning. Praise God that I don't have to go back to my old ways. Praise God that there is always hope!

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!

Repentance. In a nutshell. What is my natural response for when I finally can see the Truth? When I wipe away all the tears of frustration? Wipe away the sin? Wipe away myself? The only thing to do is to fall on my knees in prayer. In repentance and rest is my salvation. And hear the angel's voices glorifying Jesus. Singing songs of joy! Just like we do when we finally get it.

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

It was a divine night indeed. It was set apart. For the Savior had finally entered the world. He was here, the one that had been the desire of the nations. The one that prophets foretold of His coming.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:37-40

His law is love and His gospel is peace.
His gospel is peace. Peace. Oh, the simplicity of it all. He is peace. Peace with each other. Peace within oursleves. Peace in our circumstances. Peace in Him.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
He came to bind up the broken hearted. To release prisoners. To set the captive free. Yes, he came to restore us to a right relationship with Him. And yes, we should look at others as our brother or sister. But He came to preach this good news that there is freedom from the chains of addiction and sin.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
They are so sweet to sing. To worship God for all He has done. We worship Him for who He is, but we remember His gospel, His peace, His freedom, His love.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Forever. And ever. His glory will reign. He is the King. Praise God that He is Sovreign over it all. And for that reason, we have peace. We proclaim this King and His gospel because our souls have finally found worth.

It's the gospel message in the form of a Christmas song. It's the most beautiful message ever. Think about it. I hope it penetrates your heart this year.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 15

2008-12-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

Number 15.

Giving.

I love to give gifts. Normally, the more unexpected the gift is, the more I enjoy it. Sure, I love that my brother-in-law gives me a list of things he wants this year for Christmas after he finds out I pulled his name. I enjoy knowing what people want and then being able to give them well...exactly what they want.

But, I would MUCH rather give you a gift on a random day. When you are least expecting it. When there is no obligation for you to give back. When it is a normal day and there is no expectation for me to give. I love to give.

Giving is good. Always. And, I do love to give on Christmas. I do. It's fun and special. But, hear's a thought...why not give year round?

25 Days of Christmas: Number 16

2008-12-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, I realize I am behind in my postings. My apologies. But, life has a way of sneaking up on you and sucking up all your time...anywho...

Number 16.

Starbucks.

I love Starbucks on a normal day, I do. Even with it's ridiculous prices. I sometimes go out of my way to hit one up. Except, since living in Baltimore, it's hard to "go out of my way to hit one up" because there is one literally every few miles.

I love that Starbucks comes alive around Christmas. The decorations go up, the merchandise changes, the drinks become Christmas themed, and even the cups are decked out in yuletide joy. Love it. Love it.

I'm a Little Lad Who Loves Berries and Creeeeeam...

2008-12-09T13:48:00.001-08:00

Posting this for various reasons:

1) It's hilarious.
2) I want you to enjoy it as well.
3) I always have my reasons.

Enjoy.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 17

2008-12-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

Number 17.

After Christmas Sales. Especially, Crate and Barrel.

I don't like to wake up early for much. Work is about it. Possibly if I have a long drive ahead of me.

But what I will get up early for is the After Christmas Sale at Crate and Barrel. It's so worth it. Quite literally, everything in the store is half off. It's great. And, usually I am blessed with a gift card on Christmas Day.

I can go and spend money I don't have on things I don't need, that will more than likely sit in a box until next Christmas! But I don't really care because it's one of the main events of the Christmas season for me.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 18

2008-12-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Number 18.

Chevy Chases' Christmas Vacation.

Ok, so it's not the Christmas season unless I watch Chevy Chases' Christmas Vacation.

It's just so hilarious.

Cousin Eddie.
The Crazy Grandparents.
The cat wrapped into the box.
Squirrel in the tree.
The lights that don't seem to work.
Aunt Bethany's lack of hearing.
The sled scene.

I mean it's absolutely ridiculous to think all this stuff could happen to this poor family, but it makes for great comedy. And, my family has been watching it for years. I distinctly remember my father laughing sooooo hard at one of the scenes, that we actually had to turn the movie off until he could finally contain himself.

Love it. Love it.

Enjoy the trailer...

25 Days of Christmas: Number 19

2008-12-08T06:04:00.001-08:00

Number 19.

The "Peppermint Song".

One year, Tori and I always seemed to be in the car when we heard these lyrics:

"so leave a peppermint stick
for Old St. Nick
hanging on the Christmas tree
it's the holiday season
and whooped-de-do
and hickory dock
and don't forget
to hang up your sock
cause just exactly
at twelve o'clock
he'll be coming down
the chimney down"

My apologies for not knowing the actual title of the aforementioned song. We just always seemed to hear it. Literally, every stinkin' time. So, we sort of adopted it as our own little Christmas song. Every time I hear it now, I think of her and that specific time in our friendship.

Tori, what a sweet time that was. A real bonding experience for us I should say. You see friends, we were the ones heading up the planning for a huge party for our brothers. Every year we would do an appreciation for the guys in the fall/winter and then they would do one for us in the spring. Tori and I decided to tackle the project because the one the girls did the year before was pretty heinous. We wanted to make sure the guys in our group knew they were loved and appreciated, so as we spent countless hours out purchasing things for the night...our song would play!

Love you Tori!!!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 20

2008-12-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Number 20.

Lottery Tickets.

Every year on Christmas Eve, my mom's mom (Grandma "Pud" as we liked to call her) would purchase a loooooooot of Christmas lottery tickets. She was a reagular Bingo player and would often hit up the local store for lottery tickets throughout the year. If we happened to be with her, she would buy a few for us.

Some grandparents spoil their grandchildren with sweets, others with toys.

Grandma Pud? No, she would hand us her credit card, drop us off at the mall, and tell us to

"buy yourselves something nice".

We would come home with bags of fun stuff. Gobs of clothes and the like (Yes, way to go Grandma for teaching us such healthy spending habits).

She would also tell us to "hide the bags so Grandpa didn't see".

My Grandfather, a local retired sailor and postman, would always be found on his Lazy Boy watching the ball game.

Unbeknownst to him that his grandchildren were frolicking around with his wife's credit cards, would hand us a $5 dollar bill and tell us the same thing before we hit the mall..."buy yourselves something nice" he would say. Lol.

But, I digress.

So, yes. My Grandma was also the type to give us scratch off tickets every Chrismas Eve.

After she died, my mother took on the tradition. It's a fun one that has been passed on to us. Even my brother-in-law and sister-in-law get excited for some lottery action!!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 21

2008-12-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

Number 21.

The 25 Days of Christmas.

Did she just make a typo? Nope. I most certainly did not. One of my favorite parts of this holiday season is ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas". Every night from December 1-December 25, they feature a Christmas movie. Sometimes it's an old one like Home Alone, The Grinch, The Santa Claus, or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Sometimes it's an old made for TV movie about some cute love story between a single mom who meets one of Santa's elves and falls in love ( I realize the cheese factor in such movies, but they make for delightful, light hearted entertainment).

And, sometimes it's a new made for TV movie about some tree vendor who has nothing to offer the woman he is falling in love with for Christmas except his heart, but she can't accept his lack of wealth, and then there is some sort of conflict between the two, but then she comes to her senses and realizes that she has missed out on the Christmas spirit, and they meet under the snowcapped trees in the end and kiss when they finally realize they were meant for each other.

Ok, I guess I have seen one too many of these B-rated films, but whatever. The point, my dear blogging friends, is that nothing brings in the Christmas Cheer than by curling up and watching a fun Christmas movie.

Hide and Seek

2008-12-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

So, cute story I needed to share with you all from this morning.

I happened to be in a good mood when I walked into Evie's house this morning. Not that I am normally not or anything, but I was in an unusually great mood this morning. Maybe it was the caffine? Maybe the amazing time with God this morning? Maybe a combo? Maybe I am 100% back to my healthy self? Who knows. What I do know is that Evie and I were playing a quick game of hide and seek. It was not a normal game though.

As she stood right in front of me, I would simply cover my eyes and inquire:

"Where is Evie?"

She, seeing that my eyes were covered, would run away from me down the hall a little bit and then run back as I continued to ask where she was. When I knew she was close, I would uncover my eyes and shriek with delight and say, "I found her! She's right here!! I thought I lost her!!" I would give her a hug or two, some kisses and then she would say "Evie" which in her language means..."do it again Jenny".

We did this a few times, until I got tired of playing the game.

And then it hit me.

This is just like how God is with me.

When I cover my eyes, I know exactly where Evie is. Be it her clunky shoes hitting the hard wood or the fact that she giggles the whole way away from me, I just know where she is. Even if God "covers" his eyes, He knows where we are at all times. There is no hiding from him. And just like Evie, I run away from him, maybe even giggling with delight over the sin I am running towards. Over and over and over again. Until I remember that it is so good to be found by Him and I run back in absolute delight, giggling now because I am running towards Him knowing He will be happy with my return.

And God, in His mercy, uncovers His eyes and shrieks with delight "There you are!!" and embraces me in absolute adoration.

It doesn't matter how many times I run away. He knows where I am.

It doesn't matter how many times I return. He is delighted everytime I choose to come back to His arms.

And unlike me, God doesn't get tired of the Hide and Seek Game.

25 Days of Christmas: Number 22

2008-12-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Number 22.

Mariah Carey's song "All I Want for Christmas Is You".

Now normally when discussing Mariah Carey, I will deny my admiration for her on a regular day. I will even go as far as to call her Mariah Scarey. Because friends, well, she is...

First things first. What nationality is she? Mexican? African American? A little of both? Not too sure.

But, what I am sure of is this...

I love her Christmas jingle "All I Want For Christmas Is You". It's so money. There is no denying it. You can't get through the holiday season without hearing it played on the radio or in a store. It's become the quintessential (I love it when I can use that word) Christmas song.

It's fabulous.

It's fierce (to quote Christian from Project Runway).

And ironically, I was emailing my wonderful Tori today and she even brought up how much she loved this song without even knowing I was planning on blogging about it already (get out of my head Tori!!!). Just goes to show you, it's quite a cultural phenomenon.

I have even over heard my mom blasting it in her car or singing to it will she cooks. Haha. It's just that great.

I have heard Timmy singing along to it as he neurotically cleans (although that's not quite unusual for him to listen to pop music...or clean for that matter, please see my blog entitled Perfectly Imperfect for details).

I Don't Even Know What To Title This Craziness...

2008-12-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

The last 48 hours of my life were pretty wretched, although it makes for a witty, exciting blog. It started with my commute to work on Monday. On a normal morning, I can cruise on 83 for the first 5 miles or so until I hit the Northern Parkway exit and then we slow down to a turtle's pace for the rest of the journey.

On a day like Monday, it was literally bumper to bumper traffic the moment I got on 83. I have noticed that this phenomenon occurs about once every two weeks on average. It is usually due to some small fender bender...but on Monday what was the issue?

The fender bender was on the OTHER side of the median friends. Yes, traffic on my side of the Jones Fall Expressway was not merging into one lane, or having to go around police cars or flares. Nope. We were all just a bunch of nosey people wanting to see the action on the other side of the road.

Side Note: I will always maintain that if you are not going to get out to help, say a quick prayer, or call 911 then what is the point??? Really. Why my sweet Lord in Heaven, why do we have to rubber neck? There's just NO NEED!

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly until my commute home. I had foolishly decided to drink not one, but two large glasses of water and then top it all off with a diet soda. Good idea, JB?

Wrong-o.

I was stuck in so much traffic that evening. I was almost in tears as I watched us move at a snail's pace. Much like the morning commute, my last few miles on 695 are pretty fast moving on a normal evening. But on this particular night. It literally took me 20 minutes to go about a mile. I am not kidding.

So, here I was. In tears. Clamping. Wiggling. Tempted to pee in the empty Dunkin Donuts cup. Wanting to just take any exit, but 695 was such a parking lot, it would have taken me just as long to scoot off on another exit, especially since there is only one or so before my exit as soon as I merge onto it.

Oh friends. It was awful.

Literally, I parked when I got home, ran upstairs to my apartment and screamed as I passed my roommate on the couch (whom I have not seen in days due to the Thanksgiving holiday)

"CAN'T TALK. GOTTA PEE. CAN'T TALK. GOTTA PEEEEEE!!!"

Believe me, she's used to my silly tactics.

Ok, fast forward to Tuesday morning. Praying that the commute would be easier, I was excited that we were moving quickly, even around the Northern Parkway madness.

But then we get to Lombard Street. My right hand turn into the city. But on Tuesday, there was a police barracade blocking the way. Immediately, I am thinking:

1) Uhhh, I don't know any other way to turn into the city (I'm like a trained seal. A one-trick pony. A creature of habit, so to speak. Teach me to do it one way and that's pretty much how I will do it every time). So, ummm what now?

2) Everyone else is going to have the same idea (do a U-turn so that we can turn into the city on Fayette Street instead)

And friends. That's exactly what we did. Between the lights that last literally 10 seconds and everyone merging into the one and only turn lane, I am not telling a falsehood when I say I inched my way into the city! And, by the time I was approaching Light Street, I am passing Lombard from the other direction and it is now open to traffic.

So, I call my employer to let her know I will be late. I hate being late for anything, especially when I give myself time to get somewhere on time . Plus, I was going to be watching the neighbor's kids too. So, that means I had to call her and disappoint her for my lack of respect on her time. I cringe at the thought. Anywho, I forgot to mention the stomach flu...

Monday night I was finishing dinner and took the last bite and I felt this immediate rush of grossness. Cramping. Nausea. Hot flashes. Oh no.

I went to bed, hoping to sleep it off. No such luck. I tossed and turned all night. And everytime I woke up, the cramping was still there. Not good for JB.

So then I go to wake up. Not only did I pass on my usual 3 M and M's I eat every morning before work, but I didn't even want the chocolate in the advent calendar. I get up and the room is spinning. I am literally dripping in sweat. I am green as all get out. I am feeling like I am going to get sick all over myself. So, like any other moron, I get dressed and head to work.

I get to the house with three screaming children. Running, laughing, playing. I can barely move. I am sitting through these waves of nausea. I am cramping on and off. I am trying to not move. Hard to do with two toddlers and a baby. I am hoping that it will all just soon pass.

Then lunchtime hits and a hot flash the kind I have only heard about from my mother hits me. I am going to be sick. Room spins. I strip down to my t-shirt. Glands are producing way too much saliva. And Evie has decided she wants applesauce.

So, here I am bending over the kitchen sink (No time to hit the bathroom it came on that quick) and I am hearing her behind me:

"Applesauce. Applesauce. APPLESAUCE. APPLEEEESAAAAAAUCE. I WANT APPLESAAAAAAAAAAUUUUCCCCEEEE."

Connor is jumping off the furniture in the living room. And thankfully the baby is sleeping peacefully in her crib.

But Really? Seriously?

Ugh.

Well, needless to say I got ahold of all the parentals. And left for the day to go home and sleep it off. And may I say my commute at 1:00 PM was absolutely delightful!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 23

2008-12-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Number 23.

Holiday Jib Jabs.

I could make a Jib Jab sendable card for every holiday, including the minor holidays such as Arbor Day, Flag Day, and National Talk Like A Pirate Day. I love Jib Jabs. I first found out about them from my brother Timmy, he made one and sent it to me last year around the Christmas season. What's a Jib Jab, you ask? Only the best kind of sendable e-card around. You can cut and paste your own head and the heads of all your distant cousins into a fun little 30 second montage. It's fabulous! And nothing screams the Christmas spirit like a Jib Jab Christmas card. Check them out at jibjab.com Please enjoy the one below:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

25 Days of Christmas: Number 24

2008-12-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Number 24

My Christmas Advent Calendar.

My family and I used to live in Germany because my dad was stationed there for three years with the Army. When we lived there my mom bought us a chocolate advent calendar to count down the days till Christmas. Every day I would get so excited to open up a little window and pull out the piece of German Chocolate nestled in it's little hole. I always tried to guess what it was going to be. You see, each chocolate took on a different Christmas theme. There were candles and presents, dolls and snowflakes, stars and trains. I loved, loved, loved it. I had to share it with my siblings though, so I would only get to open it every third day. My mom wised up after a year or so and bought us each our own calendar.

As I got older, my mom stopped buying the calendars for Timmy and Heather, but I wouldn't let her stop with me. Even in college through today. One year she bought one for my nephew Jacob and not for me! Don't you know she got quite the display of tears.

Side Note: You can find these calendars everywhere, but normally you find the inauthentic "Americanized" version of the European variety. Don't buy it. It's not the same...ever.

You may have to search for it, but it's worth the effort to find the original German Chocolate Advent Calendar.

It's All Over

2008-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over and we are all filled to bursting with lots of warm Thanksgivingy types of home cooked foods, I wanted to share some fun things that happened this weekend while Dan and I were celebrating with my family in Richmond.

I think some of the highlights include shopping and movie watching and general merriment of the season. There was some touch football action (guys vs. girls...yeah we had no hope for victory), and card games. Wizard is our family favorite. We enjoy a little witty banter while we throw down some cards. There was some hide and seek, football/parade watching, and air hockey.

This year, my brother-in-law Michael, decided to start the First Annual Turkey Trot with the family. We ran/walked around the neighborhood lake. Leave it to Michael to create a ridiculous event like this that will actually more than likely become a family tradition.

Our Christmas movie of choice this year was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Heather's kids have never seen it. It was enjoyable, I personally have seen it no less than 25 times, much to the chagrin of everyone else because I can quote the whole comedy.

I got to show Dan some of the craziness of my family as well as the posh West End of Richmond. We did a little shopping with the rest of the world on Black Friday.

There was so much food. So much food. More food than my poor little body is used to devouring. So, I think it went into shock around 8:00Am on Thursday and is just now feeling normal (it is currently Sunday at 4:00PM).

I will close with two things my nephews said this weekend that will live in Baldwin family infamy.

Nathan, age 3 was sitting at dinner on Wednesday and between all the screaming and general noise-making that occurs with four kids in the room, he goes:

"What is everyone's highs and lows?"

Haha. Are we at Bible Study? It was super cute.

And then, a Jacob-ism...

We were playing hide and seek and after he found me hiding in the closet, he pauses and says to me:

"Aunt Jenny, I am thankful I am not locked in a closet this year for Thanksgiving."

Haha. Ok, hope you all had an amazing, filling, fun, exciting, restful, memory filled Thanksgiving! And I hope none of you were locked in a closet either.

25 Days of Christmas

2008-11-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving is over and now we are rushing into the Christmas season! Yikes. I always tell myself I will be more prepared for the upcoming Christmas holiday, and every year I feel like I am doing everything at the last minute! We shall see how it all goes. My lovely friend Tracie and I were hanging out about a month or so ago and she told me she not only had already bought all her Christmas gifts, but had also wrapped them all as well! It's people like you Tracie that make me feel like I am slow on the uptake. You know what I mean? But, I love your crazy Type A personality Tracie...I really do. So, I am going to be ambitous this year and do the "25 Days of Chrismas" Countdown on my blog every day, sharing with you all my favorite things of the season, and giving myself one more thing to do this season. So, I know I am a day early as it is only November 30, but chances are I won't post anything on Christmas Day anyways, so here goes:

Number 25.

Pee-Wee's Christmas Special.

You used to see this played on TV every year, but I suppose there is a lack of Pee-Wee Herman lovers out there anymore. Good thing my brother owns the movie. And also subsequently lost said movie. So, good thing you can You Tube the delightful Christmas Special. Timmy and I grew up watching this show (Heather was a little less thrilled by the humor). And while I am pretty sure our parents did not want us watching this show, Timmy always found a way to watch it when they weren't around..and I with him. So, here is a clip from the opening montage of the movie. Come on, you know you wanna watch.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Well. It's almost Thanksgiving. So, I thought that maybe I should write a blog about what I am thankful for, because well, let's face it...I have a lot to be thankful for. Starting at Number 10, here is:

Jenny's Top Ten Things To Be Thankful For:

Number 10. Target- The one stop shop. Well, usually. I can find anything at Target. Gifts. Clothes. Jewlrey. Food. Tolietries. Purses. Shoes. Home Decor. Car supplies. Storage. M and M's. You name it, I can find it. I love Target. And, I am thankful for it. It makes me happy to shop there. You might be thinking why is she thankful for a store? I just am. It's more than a store to me, it's an experience. And recently, I have been able to experience it with Dan which just adds to the joy. I think I also love that with the changing seasons, I can find all sorts of fun, unnecessary knick-knacks for the upcoming holiday season.

Number 9. Books. I love books. All types. Everything from books on my relationship with God, to children's literature. And, everything in between as I am a huge Twlight fan. Books create a great escape. Also, I have an incredible imagination for an adult. So, reading tends to feed that insatiable desire within me to go to far off lands and meet new and interesting people and creatures (like house elves), as I am also a huge Harry Potter fan.

Number 8. The internet. I got a lap top for Christmas last year and since then many have joked that it is an added appendage of mine. I second that. I realize my addiction is to an unhealthy degree. I don't think this became apparent until I dropped my lap top and the Geek Squad had her in their care for three weeks. Anywho, I love the internet. I love that I have access to people and information 24 hours a day. And, if I were to make a sub list of things I am thankful for it would be:

Facebook
My blog
AIM
itunes
Hulu (online free tv)
Jibjabs (making e cards and sendables with people's faces cut out)

Yes, many of the ways I connect with people is online. I realize it's artifical at best and you can't fully engage in conversation with someone online (nonverbal cues are so essential), I think it's a great way to connect with people you may lose contact with because of distance. I am horrible at maintaining long distance relationships on average, so I enjoy it. Plus, talk about escape!!

Number 7. My Job- I may complain most days about how I have no time to myself. I may even tell you how annoying it is to hear Evie whine all day long. I may even get so frustrated with the fact that I clean up the same toys about 5 times a day, wipe her nose about 3 times as much, and get really bored being alone with a toddler all day long. What you will normally not hear is how thankful I am to have a job like this. It's actually kinda nice. I can go and do as I please (her car seat takes up permanent residence in my car) including getting my groceries, doing my laundry, running to Target, and going out to lunch with friends. Also, I get about a 3 hour break each day while Evie naps to do my Quiet Time or catch up on episodes of 30 Rock and The Office, nap (and God only knows how enjoyable it is to get paid to sleep), blog, and make various phone calls. All in all, I have a really great job and I am thankful that not only am I building into the life of a small child for God (and more recently into the lives of the neighbors' kids as my services are now well known, plus it's like a second job without putting out more hours), but I also get practical application for when I have my own kids. It's a great job, so don't let me fool you when I complain that I have it so hard.

Number 6. Grace. Yes, I mean God's grace. But here I am referring to Grace Fellowship Church. It was like a beacon of light for me before I moved. I had this vision that I would move to Baltimore, start attending Grace regularly (I would visit when in town, so I already knew about it), get involved in a small group, join Exit 242 (the college/career group), and make friends and have some fellowship. Sure enough, it happened pretty much in that order. I am thankful to have fellowship again!! I think I was becoming an island while still living in Salisbury, and no man is an island! No woman for that matter, either. It is so good to be known, to have accountablity again, and to grow in fellowship.

Number 5. My friends. So, my friends are obviously super cool. I wouldn't surround myself around the uncool...ever. Hehe. Yes, I am so thankful for them. As we age, their friendship just seems more valuable to me. Mostly because when I think back on the times we have shared, I realize that we have been through a lot together. So much drama. So many times of absolute joy. We have worked, played, sang, shared, loved, cried, eaten, been crafty, laughed, and even gotten frustrated with one another over the years. Through it all, we have built friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime. Without a doubt, I would not be the person I am today without them all.

Number 4. My Family. Where would we be without those who have seen us grow and change into the people we have become today? Where would I be without the love and support my family has shown me? This year, my brother offered me a home for three months while I was getting acquainted with Baltimore (he lives in Towson with his family). Where would I be without my mom's financial support during a rough season of moving? Where would I be without my sister's gentle spiritual guidance and challenges to be more of the woman I need to be (she never lets me settle on being ordinary ever)? Where would I be without the moments of laughter and even the tears? Where would I be without these people who allow me to be me? Living a sad existence for sure. Family is important. And, my family (as weird as we are) is an amazingly, dysfunctionally functional source of love and guidance.

Number 3. My move. Many of you know that I moved to Baltimore in March of 2008. It was an impulsive decision on my part. I decided to quit my job and move in one day. It was crazy. Impulsive for sure, but a decision I had been weighing on for years. I had wanted to move, but never thought it was the right time. Never felt like I had the resources or the energy to follow through with it. For sure, moving is a stressful time. And put on top of that quitting a job and becoming homeless, as well as working through one of the deepest depressions I have ever faced all at the same time and you're looking at a season of hard times and misery. I went from seemingly having it all pieced together so nicely, to not knowing where I would lay my head at night (literally). But it is through our seasons of darkness that I believe God uses for us to trust Him more and lean on Him for understanding. And, you can only move forward in life. Times were hard for sure, but those who sow in tears will reap a harvest of joy. Which leads me to my Number 2...(For the full story ask me about it sometime)

Number 2. Dan. You didn't think I would make a top ten list and forget to include you babe, did you? I am thankful for Dan Fockel and I am not ashamed to admit it. He has been one of the most amazing additions to my life. The more I make room for him, the more I want to make room for him in my life. I enjoy our conversations, our witty banter, our dinner dates, our lazy time, our time serving with each other, our phone conversations. I am thankful that I have someone who is caring and sweet. Someone to share my thoughts with and bounce ideas off of. He is becoming a trusted confidant and friend as well as a man I respect and adore. I look so forward to the times we get to spend together. Dan, your companionship is already something I cherish. I believe fully that God is so good to me for bringing you when He did. :)

Number 1. My Relationship with Christ. Obviously, I am thankful that God has created me, loved me, saved me, disciplined me, sacrificed for me, and given me good gifts. Without Him in my life, I would be leading a bleak existence. Everyday I grow more thankful to be known by Him and it makes me want to use my life to glorify Him in every way. Why wouldn't I? I was bought with a price. I no longer live, but Christ in me. God didn't die to make bad people good, He died to make dead people alive. Think about it.

Confession Time...

2008-11-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

So, as I sit here with my sweet Evelyn watching Elmo in Grouchland (part of our morning routine) for probably the 5th time since we bought it about two weeks ago, I am reminded of two things.

First story:

Evie and I were at Shopper's Food Warehouse around lunch time.

Side Note: It's the worst possible time to go to the grocery store in the city. Everyone else had the same idea we had...grabbing something for lunch real quick. Except "real quick" quickly turned into a "quick eternity". It always seems like when you are the only one in need of a rush, everyone else is taking their sweet time (ie. sauntering down the aisles, purchasing every item in the store, etc.). And, just when you think you are the only one who notices how slowly the cashier is moving, someone else in the cue pipes up with some snide comment that makes you snicker because you were thinking the same thing. But, I digress.

We were in the store. Imagine I am carrying her, mostly to save time as I only needed to buy one or two things. But of course my little friend can't go anwhere without an entourage of stuffed animals, babies, toys, sippy cups, and snacks. In this particular incident, she just had a sippy cup of apple juice (her favorite) because we seriously were going to be in and out. We turn down the aisle I need, and I am secretly thinking how heavy this blasted child has gotten when this old man goes:

"Ah, that's the life."

Yes, he's not the first to comment on how good children have it. I get many comments on how cute she is and how she has it made in the shade. Honestly, I agree on both fronts but again, I digress.

"Yes." I say back.

He then goes on to ask her if she likes her juice, if "mommy" realizes what an angel she has.

Another side note: Often times people assume she is my child. Sometimes I choose to not explain I am just the nanny. One time, this guy swore up and down that she and I looked exactly alike. When I kindly told him there was no relation, he got very indiginant and mumbled something under his breath about how I didn't know what I was talking about (seriously? seriously.).

Back to my story. The old man then goes on to ask, "So, how are you today?"

Assuming he was now directing that question at me, I told him I was,

"Great. thanks for asking".

Ok friends, I kid you not when I say this is the response I got back,

"I wasn't talking to you."

Oooooh well excuse me.

Sheesh.

Second Story...

Then while we were in the store for what turned out to be 30 minutes or more, I heard the song from Dirty Dancing on the radio. The one at the end of the movie "I've Had the Time of My Life". And, I realized how much I abhore that song.

Ok, stop gasping! Geez. I'm sorry people. I just don't get that movie. Never have. It's a cult classic, much like Grease. I am just so over Grease. And, so over Dirty Dancing. People automatically assume that if you are a child of the 80's, that you love this movie. Now, granted in it's day I really did enjoy it. Watched it a gagillion and a half times; however, ugh now I hate just how anything that triggers someone to remember that movie there is so much commotion about it.

Really?

Then there are the sleepover tragedies. You know the ones. All the girls are together hanging out (no, we are NOT pillow fighting gentlemen) and deciding upon what movie to watch and someone ALWAYS suggests it. There are a few breathless gasping noises and it's all over, a done deal.

We are now forced to watch this movie for the 100th time where all the girls in the room not only quote the whole ghastly mess, but can even (EVEN) do the dance at the end. Oh, it's like watching a train wreck.

Ok, that was a hard confession to make. Don't judge me ok?

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (A Jib Jab)

2008-11-19T06:17:00.001-08:00

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Tori, One Blog On You Could Never Be Enough

2008-11-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

Here's some more on my Tori:

Remember the day we were headed to Grace, but got caught in Hershey Worlds' fabulous chocolate factory?

Remember the night we stayed up really late and talked on the stage of Caruther's Auditorium for a long time?

Remember Our Lake?

Remember the weekend of Thanksgiving, Potter, football, and playing video games with Tom, and the boys' dumpster fun and Seth's stitches?

Remember the Abnormal Semi-Formal and then watching Catch Me If You Can?

Remember when we would sit in your room and not want to go to class and watch Moulin Rouge instead?

Remember the time when we would eat in the Common's Bistro and specifically the time when Brad started belting out "O HOLY NIIIIIIIIIGHT"?

Remember the day you and the girls came over to "Aunt Jenny's House" for some lunch and hot chocolate on our day off from school?

Remember our Wednesday lunches?

Remember Mildred and Agnes? (And how no one wanted us to do away with those characters and instead we had to "Fly Them to the Moon")?

Remember your crazy calendars?

Remember how I always seem to be at your parent's house on a major or minor holiday?

Remember our Oscar Parties (Mad Eye Moody, Mad Eye Moody, Mad Eye Moody)?

Remember "I'm leveeeeeeeeeling up!!" or "I am Peter, I am the HIgh King and I have a stick!"?

Remember Snood?

Remember our 80's rock band (and our first song "Jesus, He's everything you nee-heed")?

Remember The Parable of the Lost Son in Masterpiece Theatre? ("Check it, check it...I stole it")

Remember "The Cell and You"?

Remember Death Loving Squirrels?

Remember our running commentary on all the Dance Shows?

Remember the Bake-Off with my mom (yikes) and then our equally as fun one last year with Katie?

Happy Birthday Tori!!!!!

2008-11-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY TORI!!!!!!!!!

My baby is growing up! This blog is dedicated to my beloved Tori. We have been through a lot together and I have loved all the memories we have shared.
Remember the day the gas got a little out of control at the gas station?
Remember the time you fell in a bush on "musical day"?
Remember when I fell out of the car?
Remember when we were driving home from Thanksgiving break and talked on the phone the whole time?
Remember the day we would go to the weight room to lift and were surrounded by some of the biggest men we have ever been in contact with?
Remember..."MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE PEOPLE!!!!" ?(makes me giggle even writing that)
Remember planning for the BAD and trying to get everyone to see the "vision"?
Remember our ER visit very early in the morning?
Remember going to the beach and reading Potter?
Remember family dinner nights?
Remember our Cool Beans visits where you had to cut me off from my Snicker Frappes by 6PM?
Remember our Busch Garden visits and ALWAYS getting pelted with rain on Apollo's Chariot?
Remember when we were chased by the zombie men?
Remember watching Hocus Pocus and making crafts?
Remember going to the Outback every year when we go to the OC Convention Center?
Remember the coloring book that had the picture of David from the Bible, I cut it out and gave it to you with some encouraging words? ;)
Remember our fun roomie reuniouns and getting dressed up to go out to eat?
Remember going to Applebees with our girls?
Remember playing Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter video games? (The best was when your dad caught us in our blanket "fort" trying to beat the troll that was running rampent through Hogwarts)
Remember our Rita's runs (Rita's what?)?
Remember..."Move over mama's tryin' on her boots"?
Remember the Holy Ghost party?
Remember shopping at Michaels and other random stores for crafts and then watching movies, being crafty, and eating some delicious taco ring?
Remember Williamsburg with your dad? ("He actually corrects the tour guide...it's really embarrassing")
Remember playing Quelf?
Remember Tracie's wedding weekend of fun?
Remember the sanity flower?

Tori, I love you. I need someone like you in my life (as in I need you to stay in my life...since you are already here. This comment was for Fockel and our little miscommuncation this morning). You make me smile. You make me laugh. You are always there even when others are not. You always, always support and encourage!! So, have an amazing birthday. You deserve it!!!

Our First Dance

2008-11-13T15:14:00.001-08:00

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My Letter to MARS

2008-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Dear MARS Snackfood,

Thank you so much for sharing with us your holiday M&M's. I enjoy that at Halloween, I see festive black, orange and purple M&M's. And, when Easter rolls around, the pretty pastels. Christmas M&M's are my favorite though. They are not only packaged in beautiful Christmas wrapping, but also very delicious. There is an added measure of yumminess when you eat an M&M that is decked out in holiday colors. Green, red, and white. I especially like the mint flavored ones; however, these aforementioned M&M's bring me cause for great concern as these mint chocolates are only distributed around the Christmas season. Why is that? Do you believe that mint chocolate M&M's can only be used during this time of year? Some of us enjoy a good mint M&M all year round.

And, while we are on the subject, what about the other glossed over holidays including Kwanzaa, Flag Day and Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday? Where are these alleged holiday M&M's? Perhaps I have caused you to rethink your biased advertising and packaging. I would hope that in the coming years you will reconsider your intentions. Good day to you.

A Concerned Customer,

Jenny M. Baldwin

Remember The Day When...Yeah, That Was The Best Day:)

2008-11-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

If you know me but at all, you know I adopted this little phrase from my brother-in-law Michael and use it incessantly, much to the chagrin of friends and family. Many poke fun of the dramatic usage, others think it's just a passing catch phrase, while a select few realize it's just Jenny being Jenny. The reason for the mixed reaction is because I normally say this phrase on the actual day that I am remembering. It's sort of a way to use my wit to sum up the fun day I have just had with friends and family. Like I said, it was totally a Michael-ism that I stole from him.

Anywho, on that note. I was able to share this little catch phrase this weekend with my sweet Dan. We had a rather unexciting, yet spectacular day on Saturday. Allow me to explain.

It started with dropping off my car to get a whole bunch of stuff done. Apparently, it's unsafe to drive your car with tires that have no tread. Who knew?

Well, Dan did.

Hence, we took my car straight away to get her all fixed up.

After some lunch at one of my favorite spots, Panera, we headed over to visit with Timmy and the family. It was great fun. I think the niece and nephews were excited to meet Dan. Well, I know they were. Normally they are all grumpy and crabby, but they were quite literally all over him, especially Phoebe. Hehe, sweet Phoebe. If I am not careful, I may have some competition. Timmy was cleaning and fixing the toliet, you could smell the bleach all the way down the stairs into the living room. Sarah sat and chatted with us, in her usual fashion she has already challenged Dan to a cook-off. Typical Sarah.

After a little bit, we headed over to the mall. Mistake number one. It was ridiculous. You would think it was Christmas, not only because of all the Christmas paraphenalia out and about, but because of the insane amount of people who had the same idea as we did. Parking was an atrocity. And, I am not being dramatic here, it really took a long time. After finding a spot, we finally got a chance to go in and look around.

Towson Town Center has this whole new wing that just opened up. That's where the new Pottery Barn is and the Crate and Barrel, some of Jenny's favorite things (screw Oprah's favorite list...you got mine!!) We decided to visit it, but I was under the impression it was not connected to the mall. So, we go back to the car and head on over. We headed over to another parking garage that took almost as long to find a parking spot, as it was crazy busy. We park and head in, only to find that we were....back in the mall.

Mistake number two. Well, my mistake really. (Hey, I can accept when I am wrong!!)

It was fun nonetheless, right Dan?

Then I had dinner with Michael's parents (Mere and P. Bear), Michael, Heather and the kids, my mom, as well as Stepehen and his new girlfriend. Yes friends...it's true Stephen Oberle has a girlfriend. I was shocked as well. She is nice and also a nanny. That's all I will say about that. After 14 of us crammed into a table in the back corner of this cute little hole in the wall type of place, we enjoyed a night of fun and fellowship.

The culmination of the day ended with a little Apples to Apples action. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long, long time. It was such fun to enjoy my family.

And while though the day is over and done with and my little catch phrase no longer is just a humorous way of remembering the day I am currently living and is now more of an actual "hey remember when" type of moment, I can still say to you blogger friends,

Remember that day Dan and I parked in the Towson parking garage twice? Yeah, that was the best day" :)

Modern Day Ruth

2008-11-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

I just found this in my old blog...I wrote it in April of 2005. Enjoy.

So, I have been reading a lot about Ruth lately. She happens to be one of my favorite women in the Bible. I think that if I could be anyone in the Bible, besides Jesus, it would be Ruth. I have always admired her strength and grace. After Ruth's husband dies, she has a choice of either staying in Moab, or moving with Naomi (her mother-in-law) back to Judah. This took a lot of courage because:
1) Ruth was from Moab, sworn enemies to the people of Judah (Deut 23:3)
2) It was a new country and was unfamiliar
3) The chances of her finding another husband were slime to none if she followed Naomi
4) She was choosing to follow Naomi's God, the God of Israel, over the Moab idols

I admire her courage.

Ok, but here is something new. I always got so confused by the part where Ruth goes to visit Boaz (for the complete story read the book of Ruth). I always wondered how that part plays out in my life. I always thought that as a woman I was supposed to be the responder to a man. He initiates and I respond. That certainly makes sense since the man is supposed to be the leader of the relationship. But, here I am reading this book by John Eldredge and he is giving me insight I never expected. Ruth waits till Boaz is done eating and drinking and is in "good spirits" and approaches him and lays down at his feet, symbolic of asking the man to be her covering in marriage. This was appropriate because he was considered to be her kinsman-redeemer. She chose to follow God and not search for a husband and yet still ended up being blessed.

But here's the thing, she was vulnerable.

She could either cover it up or allow herself to be secluded by the walls she puts up around her heart. I think I fall into the second category of building walls, all the while screaming for someone to rescue me from my own prison. Fear convinces me that I have to protect myself, and that fear makes me a prisoner to being alone. If I were vulnerable, I would not be a prisoner any longer, because someone (Jesus and Boaz) will come and see my need.But Ruth dared to be vulnerable. She is so much braver than I am. She knew she had everything to gain and nothing to lose. I feel like that was me before I went to New Staff Training. I had to become really vulnerable to go and do something that was so outside of myself to be able to do what I really wanted to do (be in full-time ministry) and be on the other side of my question "What would happen if I went?".When it comes to my Boaz, I need to be less prideful. It's about of being vulnerable, open to others, not stand-offish and closed off, but it's about being transparent. I do need to be transparent in times of greatest need, to let someone know of my need for him. He will either say "I can't supply that need" or "I am willing to give to your need". I still leave room for him to be the man and lead, I am just being a little more vulnerable than I thought I was supposed to be. I know that Ruth was praised as a woman who loved God and was open to what he wanted for her life. I too, want to be open and ready for someone to say "I will rescue you". She needed to be rescued financially and emotionally, to be taken care of. I need to be rescued from those same things. But when pride gets in the way, that's all anyone can see and I am only hurting my chances of someone being able to look inside of me to see the real me. So, I will:

Be honest about my needs
Understand I am a dependant being (on God and fellowship)
Realize my pride will rob me of vital relationships
Embrace the concept of community
Allow others to give to me to add value to their lives
Share feelings, needs, fears, victories, and resources

(This has been my response to both John Eldredge's Wild At Heart and Michelle Mckinney Hammond's The Diva Principle, both amazing Christian authors)

Silly Jenny

2008-11-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to walk to Shopper's Food Warehouse with Evie yesterday. I needed to return a DVD to the Redbox.

Oh, it was "The Strangers", thanks for asking. Not the worst horror film I've seen this century, but not the best either.

I had a bag of trash on top of the stroller. It was just a Walmart bag filled with randomness from my car.

On top of that are my keys. You see where this is going, don't you?

We stop by a random trash can in the city. I throw away my bag, hear a loud clunking noise and proceed without a moment's hesitation.

We go run our errand and come back to her house. It's locked, so I go to grab my keys.

Missing.

Not in my pocket, not in the stroller, not on Evie, not in my jeans. They are gone.

What's worse is that they could be anywhere.

So, we start the walk back to Shoppers.

Did I mention it hasn't stopped raining since we left her house. Just a drizzle mind you, but it's cold rain nonetheless.

On the way back, I distinctly kept hearing the clunking noise in my mind. I thought...that's strange. nothing in my bag should have made that noise when it hit the bottom of the trash can. So, I decided to investigate. Sure enough my keys are sitting at the bottom of the dirty, city filled waste can.

Ew, ew. Double ew.

Dan's the Man

2008-11-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well friends, my apologies for not blogging over the past few days. I know it's hard to live without my daily ramblings. It's been a very busy weekend/week for me. I am a little out of sorts and my schedule has been off work wise, so again I apologize that my life has gotten in the way of my usual boredem.

I know you enjoy hearing about my Dunkin Donut run-ins, encounters with the strange, and random happenings with Evie, but I have something a little more exciting than that happening in my life.

I have someone I need to introduce you to, friends. One of the many reasons for my lack of blogage. His name is Dan. And he is my man. Yes, it's true. JB has been found by a wonderful man from her church (and I am not sure why I am talking about myself in the third person). Anywho, I figured you would probably start hearing more about him and I didn't want you to be out of the loop.

I hope you hear many thrilling stories of our adventures in the near future.

Crazy, huh?

Yeah, I know it took me a while to settle on the idea too. I'll leave you to ponder the excitement that is my life...

Meanwhile, enjoy this little gift from my heart to yours:

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T06:15:00.001-07:00

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Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti

2008-10-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

So, I have been reading this book recently called Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti, a strange title for an amazing book. I found this particular excerpt to be fascinating and I thought I would share it with you. It's a smidgen lengthy, but a good read. It's the Interpersonal Communications Major rising up within me that gets me excited about this junk. So, see if you agree. Here goes:

Men are like waffles. Men process life in boxes. A waffle is a collection of boxes separated by walls. The boxes are all separate from each other and make convenient holding places. That is typically how a man processes life. A man's thinking is divided up into boxes that have room for only one issue. The first issue of life goes in the first box, the second goes in the second box, and so on. The typical man spends time in only one box at a time. When a man is at work, he is at work. When he is in the garage tinkering around, he is in the garage tinkering. When he is watching TV, he is simply watching TV. Social scientists call this compartmentalizing.

Women are like spaghetti. In contrast to men's wafflelike appraoch, women process life more like a plate of spaghetti, you notice that the individual noodles all touch one another. If you attempted to follow one noodle around the plate, you would intersect a lot of other noodles, and you might even switch to another noodle seamlessly. That is how women face life. Every thought and issue is connected to every other thought and issue in some way. Life is much more of a process for women than it is for men. This is why women are typically better at multitasking than men. A woman can talk on the phone, prepare a meal , make a shopping list, work on the planning for tomorrow's business meeting, give instructions to her children as they are going out to play, and close the door with her foot-all without skipping a beat.

I Prayed For A Blog Worthy Day...Seriously.

2008-10-27T11:23:00.001-07:00

Ok friends. It has happened again. Another random encounter with a fabulously odd person. If I swore, I would swear God is up to something. Either it's because I get such a kick out of people who are strange or He wants me to have something particularly humorous to blog about. Not sure which. So, here is what happened today...

Evie and I were at the Towson Library. We were heading to the check out counter. My arms are burdened down with all our books, CD's, and Elmo DVD's. My bag is strewn over my shoulder and is about to fall down in less than a second. I have Evie by the hand so I can direct her away from her favorite activity..."arranging" the CD's. We pass this woman. Let me explain.

She's very, um shall we say, library-esque. She is maybe mid-40's. Longish hair, tossed in a bun on her head. A cotton turtle neck that I dare say is a bit faded and (gasp) a floor length denim skirt that went out of style circa 1988.

Her face lights up when she see's Evie. I almost think that maybe she knows Evie, from the way she is gawking at her.

But then she opens her mouth and says, "Hi Nina!!" And continues to walk past me speaking Spanish gibberish. I took French.

Ok, whatever. I carry on and don't think too much of it. That's not even the funny part.

After we check out, we are heading towards the exit when Crazy Library Lady comes up to me. She says (and this is a direct quote):

"I didn't mean to weird you out before. I know her name is not Nina. It's the Spanish word for girl."

Oh no! Did my face decieve me and actually show my true emotion towards her?

"You didn't" I say.

Then Evie hands her our book receipt and CLL looks down at it and says in ridiculously fluent Spanish "O, Seasme Street!!" Yeah, I didn't know you could say it with a Spanish accent, as an American. But, I distinctly heard it.

"Do you like Seasme Street?" CLL asks.

Evie normally gets shy around strangers (I've taught her "Stranger Danger!") So, I answer for her..."Yes. She does"

But I say to myself, "Yes. She gusta very much! Now goodbye."

Perfectly Imperfect

2008-10-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

I can't lie to you people. I wish I could, but I can't. I try to pretend my family is on the normal side of average. But no. I try to cover up our dysfunction. It's no use. We are positively abnormal. Except, what family is normal? What is considered normal these days? So, maybe your family is abnormal, making my family look like sweet kittens comparatively. For example, pictured above...my brother wanted to make it look like he was eating our nephew's head. But, I digress.

My weekend started out well enough. I went to visit Tori at her farm for our anuual weekend Halloween Extravaganza. It includes some pumpkin carving, Halloween movie watching, baking, and general merriment. One year while we were still in college, we began this tradition with some of our girlfriends. Our movie of choice? Sleepy Hollow. The one with Johnny Depp. Big mistake. It's awful. No, no. Worse than awful. We thought the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton thing would make it worthy of our time, but we were sadly mistaken. In fact, I had already seen it and I distinctly remember telling Tori that we should choose another movie, but she hadn't seen it...

This year we chose Practical Magic. Instead of carving pumpkins (the pumpkin patch was CLOSED), we baked some cupcakes from scratch. Take note friends...it's the humble beginnings of the cupcake store I plan to own and operate someday called "All About Sprinkles" or "The Cute Cupcake", or something equally as charming.

Anyways, I was telling you about my dysfunctionally functional family. I have 7 nieces and nephews and all of them have birthdays (well, who doesn't?). So that's 7 months out of 12, about 58% of the year, we are having a party. My sister-in-law, whom I love, is a party queen. She has created these elaborate parties since her kids were in the womb. And, it gets worse. She has to out do herself every stinkin' year, which will soon become impossible unless we start shuttling the children to outer space at one of these Baldwin Shingdigs. I fear the years to come.

This was last year's "donut game". It was so last season. My brother-in-law, goin at it.

Every time one of these parties is over, you can hear Sarah say "Yeah, I don't think I am going to do a party like this again." Haha. Just wait. She has placed herself in her very own conundrum. Her own little crazy Catch 22. She can't give one of her children a crazy party and then forget the other two. Except, I think poor Lucas has not had a birthday party in two years (he's the middle child, go figure).

So, I had to get there early to man my "station".

...um yes, I said "station".

There were five stations, each manned by a family member. This was not including the pinata that had to be smacked, presents that had to be opened, and cake that had to be eaten.

The stations were as follows:

1) moonbounce

2) bobbing for apples

3) caramel dipping

4) face painting

5) art project (magnet making)

Oh. Did I mention she invites the entire neighborhood?

Yes. The whole block.

There were about 20 some children.

Then there is my brother, Timmy. Sweet. Wonderful. Compulsively clean Timmy. He abhores messes. He hates loud romping. He loathes chaos in any form. He despises uncleanliness. You can imagine that one of these parties is everything he dreams of...and more.

Yes. In his nightmares.

My brother has a real problem with compulsively cleaning. You think I am kidding? At one time I lived with Timmy and his family. I left my coffee on the counter, walked upstairs to grab something, and came back for my coffee literally 45 seconds later and my coffee had been dumped. Also, I would leave to go somewhere and realizing I forgot to grab something, I would come back to get it, leaving my keys strewn on the counter by the door. Gone in 60 seconds. By the time I went to grab whatever I forgot and came back to my keys, they had already been nicely tucked away into the key box.

All this to say, Tori had fixed a plate of food at the party, placed it on the kitchen counter. Left it for like 30 seconds, only to come back to nothing. She doesn't think Timmy threw it out, but I submit he did. He's like Flash!

Anywho, then we have Sarah's cooking which is rumored to be Food Network worthy in 48 out 50 states. She is an amazing cook. I am blessed to be called her sous chef. She taught me a lot of what I know. The day before the party, she calls me in a frenzy because she didn't think she had made enough food. Now granted, it was far less than she normally makes, but still there was so much food left over she was sending the adults home with a goodie bag of their own. Let me list what was offered:

hot dogs

vegetarian chili

fruit plate (with pomegranate)

veggie plate

spinach and artichoke dip

chips and dip

brownies

cake

potoato skins

pasta salad

Then there were the already crazed, hyped up on sugar children running to and fro. My station was the caramel dipping. After the kids bobbed for apples, they dipped the apple in caramel and then rolled it around in chocolate chips and sprinkles. Perfectly messy. Yummy. But messy. Then I had these two little hoarders that lingered around the table to lick up any of the excess caramel that had dripped off of the apples onto the cookie sheets. And these were the oldest kids at the party!!! We had to cut them off.

Reid eating straight up sprinkles...

Then there was the face painting fiasco. Sarah didn't think through the whole painted faces being dunked into a tub of water at the bobbing for apples station, so we had a bunch of children running around looking like little zombies with smudged faces. Sheesh.

But you know what? I wouldn't trade these memories for anything in the world because it's my family. It's fun. We are unique. We love parties. We love food. We love to laugh. We love to go behind guests and check for ring spots on the wooden funiture with a paper towel. We love the after party when we sit down in the quiet house with a cup of coffee and discuss the details of the day with each other. It makes the day so worth it.

The Finger

2008-10-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

I honestly can't do the situation that happened to me this morning on my commute to work any justice, so I will give it over one more time to my friend Brian Regan. He has captured this quintesstential moment in it's comical entirety.

I am Brian in this situation...

Oh Angel, My Angel...

2008-10-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to one of the most dedicated girls I know. Angel May. She and I taught at the Christian Community Child Care Center in Salisbury. I miss her face! She was one of the best reasons to get up and go to work every day (besides Jesus and the kids). Most days were long, exhausting, and thankless. But the joy that we had working side by side could never be measured. Mostly I miss our long conversations and how she knew absolutely every detail of my existence. Some days she seemed to know me better than I knew myself. I also miss our random outings and ridiculous times. I miss the laughter. I miss the tears (mostly mine). Here are a few pictures of our time together, but it doesn't even scratch the surface.

One of my crazy ideas to bake with the kids. She hates messes and doesn't really bake. But she was always a trooper.

Our 2nd Annual Turkey Bowl. We made the kids actually bowl with turkeys (or rather Purdue cornish hens, but whatever). We also made them wear jerseys and made stations. Each one was represented by a team. Here, she shows her love for our favorite quarterback (Brett Favre, yeah this was last year remember).

This was a booth at the Furniture Land in Delmar. I not only made her come with me late one night to look for bedroom furniture, but also forced her to get out of the car and take a picture of the fake phone booth.

At Sam's Club. It was always an interesting time shopping for the day care's groceries with me. I saw the horse and couldn't resist.

At my nephew's birthday party last October. She came home with me and met my crazy family.

At the Baltimore Aquarium. We had to show the kids what sound the fish make.

Just hanging out on the floor with some of our kids. Most days I hated that I was a human jungle gym, but now I wouldn't trade those memories for anything...

Angel. Wherever you is, call me!!! We need to talk. There is lots to tell you. Miss you.

Gorgon the DESTROYER!!!

2008-10-22T10:21:00.001-07:00

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Funny Family Moment

2008-10-22T10:03:00.001-07:00

So, I was babysitting for Timmy's kids on Saturday and we were playing in the living room. Laura came with me to help out and keep me company after the kids went to bed. Reid (age 4) was playing with a birthday card my mom had sent to my brother. It had Dr. Evil on the front from Austin Powers. When you open it up, Dr. Evil's voice rings out with some funny lines from the movie. Reid decided he wanted to go play with the card upstairs in his room by himself. About a minute or two later, he comes down the steps and says, "I need scissors".

Laura and I gave each other a look that said, "Why the crap does he need scissors?" He goes over to the desk, gets the scissors and then begins to head toward the stairs.

Whoa. Whoa. Wait buddy. "Where are you going with those scissors?", I say.

"Upstairs."

"Why?"

"I need to do something."

Of course I was planning on following him up to his room to figure out his plan. I envisioned leaving him alone in there and then a few minutes later finding him with chunks of hair on the floor, his blanket all cut up and maybe even something more disturbing. But before we go, Laura says, "Hey buddy. You need to carry the scissors right." He had been holding them pointing up towards his face. He didn't seem to pay her much mind, so I think she might have repeated herself. In fact, she went over to him and demonstrated how to hold the scissors, even putting them in the correct position and wrapping his little fingers around them. And then my precious Phoebe goes, "Yeah. He doesn't know how to do that."

I guess Timmy isn't interested in teaching his kids general safety rules.

Next time, we are going to learn how to stick our fingers in the light socket.

(For those interested, when I followed him upstairs, his plan was to cut the battery out of the back of the card because after he sat up there and tore it up, he figured he wanted the battery out as well.)

Brian Regan on Children's Books

2008-10-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Read one of Evie's new toddler books yesterday, and this morning, and probably tomorrow.
So, without further ado, I give you a dramatic reading of "Spooky":

Bats
Ghost
Pumpkin
Treats
Toad
Spider's web
Cat
Witch
Stars
Owl

Reminds me of the Brian Regan comedy bit about children's books...

The synopsis on the back of Evie's "Spooky" book is as follows:

"This first learning book is an ideal introduction to halloween and has exciting textures for your baby to touch and feel. It has first words that will stimulate the senses. For ages zero and up."

Bringing Up Old Skeletons...

2008-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

Hope you are all well. I was online this morning and found my old blog!! How exciting. I was reading it over and it's so amazing to see how far I have come, but also to see how I am so much the same person today. I wrote this blog while I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was 24 and in the middle of raising support for my full-time ministry. As I read over it a little today, I am a little shocked at how insigthful I was!! I almost feel less spiritually mature now then I was during that time. Hopefully not. Haha. Anywho, I thought I would post the link so you could take a gander at what I was going through during that time. Sometimes you don't realize how God is working until after the fact, so this has been eye opening for me and hopefully you can glean something about God from my experiences.

www.rockintheblogger.blogspot.com

Enjoy.

Love,
JB

Zombie Madness

2008-10-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

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MMM...MMM...GOOOOOOD (Michael Phelps, Mika, and Music)

2008-10-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you all know I am random. Let me let you in on how perfectly random I am...

I heart Michael Phelps. So, naturally I was on You Tube looking up some recent videos of things he has been up to lately. Oprah. Saturday Night Live. Jimmy Kimmel. It is the latter I wish to discuss. While on Jimmy Kimmel, he did a short parody of a commercial for Grey's Anatomy. I would feature it on my blog, but due to it's smidgen of vulgarity, I will not post it. This is a family blog!! Haha. But, I know I teased you enough, so if you want to watch it, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NlRmlsmZc

(It's really not that bad, but I didn't want anything offensive on my site)

Ok, so I heard the song in the background and loved it. I looked up the lyrics and found it was written my a Labenese pop singer named Mika (pronounced Meek-a). The song is called "Grace Kelly" and is featured in my blog if you would like to partake in the deliciousness that is Mika. While I was looking up his song on You Tube and then on i tunes, I stumbled upon a gem of a song that is the typical poppy kind of song that lasts a week until fans move onto the next Big Thing. Fickle people. I downloaded said song, written by Mika, and here is the music video of his song called "Lollipop". It is a strange mixture of bubblegum pop and quirky coolness. Don't hate.

Mika's picture again for your viewing pleasure...he looks like Josh Groban, no?

Ok, signing off. JB.

PS. Michael Phelps is on a box of Corn Flakes. I bought a box. I don't eat Corn Flakes. I just bought a superfluous box of Corn Flakes.