4 Years Ago

4 years ago today I married my Grant.

It was also the same day that I happened to have a horrible 24 hour stomach virus.

The virus was not fun.

But Grant made everything better.

He is one of God's greatest gifts to me and I am beyond blessed.

Happy Anniversary, love.

Thanks for always making everything better.

This Is Gonna Be a Long One, Folks

Buckle up people.

I haven't blogged in a really really REALLY long time. It's the longest I've ever gone. But I don't want to drag this puppy out into 2011 so I'm just gonna do one really big blog to explain myself and my absenteeism.

Continue reading if you dare. We may be here awhile.

The first reason that I haven't blogged is this: The day after my last post, I got sicky sicky sicky sick. I had an upper respiratory infection and a sinus infection and 48 hours of a very high fever. I went to the doctor and got antibiotics but I was drugged up and in bed for days and missed alot of work. The fevers were not very fun. I lost my voice and I was oh-so-attractive.

But I had to press on because I had to get ready for the trip of the century. Grant and I were gone for ten days. We flew to New Orleans, drove to Alabama so Grant could be a groomsman in a wedding, drove to Orlando to spend FIVE DAYS in Disney, drove back to New Orleans (10 HOURS) for Christmas Eve and Christmas, and then flew back to Houston. I AM OVER THE TRAVELING.

Seriously though, we had a GREAT trip!!

See, look at my pictures :)

The twins, Evan and Emily, will be 2 in February. THEY ARE A DELIGHT!!

And this is Miss Olivia Claire. She and I did alot of bonding on this trip. And snuggling. And I kissed her cheeks alot. She almost came home with me because I almost stole her.


Hooray for the Magic Kingdom!! This is Grant's mom and dad in front of the beautiful castle. Thanks for the great trip!!


Grant's cousins were with us as well. This is Grant and 3 year old Sofia. This picture was making my heart ache.

Look at that smile!!


Okay and one more of Evan just cause he's such a punkin.

And here's our Emily. Or Emmy. Or Ema-lily. She is FULL of personality and spunk!

This castle just mesmerized me. I love when Tinkerbell flies!

It was a great trip, but after ten days of traveling we were ready to be home in our comfy bed and get our dog from the kennel. Poor Moxie, he didn't do so well at the kennel. They had to give him valium because they said he was in such a panic.

So when we finally got home, we came home to a little home maintenance issue called WE HAD NO WATER IN OUR HOUSE. Unfortunately, while we were gone a pipe broke in the front yard. Thankfully, one of our awesome awesome neighbors called the water company who came out and turned off our water. And then to make things even better, anothing AMAZING neighbor came over and helped Grant fix the broken pipe. We have a large hole in our front yard now but we can use the shower! Poor Grant came home from a big trip and then had to spend hours in the front yard digging a hole! But we could've come home to a much bigger problem if we weren't surrounded by such great neighbors!

Then we spent Sunday and Monday over at my mom's house having quality Christmas time with my family. I have some girly girly little girl nieces and a spunky little nephew too. They warm my heart.

I LOVE quality family time. Good food, good presents, good kids.

And then I came home and went to bed and had to go back to work today :( I have SO MUCH catching up to do at the office after missing almost two weeks but I made a large dent today!

I feel like there is so much more to tell but I can't think straight. I hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!

Here are a few photos that my sweet friend Sarah Shalley from Sarah Shalley Photography took for us in November.

I'm glad to be back!

Well, It's Over

The big Christmas-thing is over.

I'm sad.

And happy.

And sad.

And happy.

And my voice is gone.

And it was so much fun.

And I am SO TIRED.

It was a HUGE success.

We sold out FIVE shows.

(That's over 15,000 people, folks).

And then I came and cleaned my kitchen.

And then I went grocery shopping.

And then I cooked my first homemade meal in over a week.

And then I ate my first homemade meal in over a week.

And then I cuddled up on the couch with my husband.

And I haven't seen him in a week, pretty much.

And I decided that it's now time for me to start enjoying the Christmas season.

And now this blog is over.

The Christmas Thing

Jen the Newlywed is sleepy.

And while we're on the subject, Jen and Grant will celebrate their 4th Anniversary on December 30 so I feel like Jen the Newlywed may become "Just Jen".

Why am I talking in the third person?

THE EXHAUSTION.

Tonight is Opening Night of our Christmas-thing. I call it the Christmas-thing because it really is a Christmas PAGEANT but they don't like us to call it that anymore but that is totally what it is.

I am singing in the choir and then I am also singing a little ensemble part. My Kids' Choir is singing a song and there is an elephant in this show. A real, live elephant. And he's a big one too.

There are angels that fly in from the ceiling. It's a big show. I just wanna know if the choir of Angels at Bethlehem ever laid down and took a little nap-nap? Cause if so, can we work that into our show?

I've been at church past 11:00pm for the last two nights.... and last night was a dress rehearsal.

I had to look like this.



Don't I look lovely? They are making me wear red lipstick. Well, it's not actually red. It's "Cinnamon" by Wet n' Wild. That's my friend Liz with me. We are rockin' those tops together. The glitter follows you wherever you go. On bottom we are wearing these long, floor length black skirts. I feel jiggly in the skirt so last night I wore Spanx for the first time ever in my life and after 6 hours I was all HEY THIS IS A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE.

I really am excited and thrilled for the show... I'm so glad it's finally here. But going to bed after midnight and waking up before 6:00am is starting to take its toll. We have 5 performances.... it's gonna be a loooong weekend.

And when I come to work they are expecting me to be all productive and stuff and I just want to say DON'T YOU PEOPLE KNOW I'M SLEEPY!??!

Anyways, that's about all I have to say for today. Cup of coffee #1 has commenced.

A PSA from Jen

I'd like to take a moment to make sure all of my readers and their families have a carbon monoxide detector in their home.

These unobtrusive little gadgets can be purchased at your local Home Depot or Lowe's for under $50.00. You just plug it into an outlet and it will let you know anytime that carbon monoxide levels in your home are at a dangerous level.... like ours were last night a 3:00am. I have to admit, it was a little scary. But, depending on how high the levels were, if it went undetected, that can be a deadly situation.

We are so thankful that we were awoken and able to open windows to let fresh air circulate. It made for a very cold night, but a much safer one as well.

Please make sure your home has one. You won't regret it!

SANTA

Santa exists.

He was outside of my office building today.

Oddly enough, he drives a Coca-Cola truck.

He was kind enough to let me take his photo as proof of his existence.

And then I took it a step further.

Baby It's Cold Inside

So, we don't have a working heater.

It is broken or dead or asleep or something.

It doesn't even try to turn on.

I have been walking around my house in giant fuzzy robes with a thermal shirt underneath it and long underwear and pants and socks and slippers and a hat.

And there are about 4 more blankets on my bed.

You'd think we live in Antarctica.

The temperature inside my house dips below 60 every night and one can only sleep with so much clothing on.

The worse part is waking up in the morning and having to get out of bed to get ready for work. Cause putting your feet on that cold wood floor and walking into a room with tiled floor is super appealing when you're already so cold that you can't feel your nose.

I'm not gonna lie. I've been cuddling with the dog.

Today, a man is coming to our house at 3:00 to look at the heater. Grant keeps warning me that just because he is coming today doesn't mean it is going to be fixed today. There is a chance that he will need to order parts or something. But my response to that is "OR MAYBE NOT!! Maybe he WILL fix it today because maybe it just needed to be smacked around a bit? Or maybe just flip a switch of some kind?! MAYBE IT WILL BE FIXED TODAY!"

Optimism is one of my best qualities. And also one of my most disappointing.