Friday, December 30, 2011

5 Years


5 years ago today.

I became Jen the Newlywed.

I was finally his wife.

I still can't believe he chose me.

I'm still really, really, REALLY in love with him.

He still makes me laugh.

He still makes really great decisions for our family.

He still impresses me with his wisdom.

He's an amazing man of God.

He is strong. He is smart. He is handsome.

He's beyond anything I ever thought I could have.

I love that man..... that husband of mine. 

Happy Anniversary, love.

You make everything better. 

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmastime Was Here

Well it was Christmas.

And then it ended. WAY. TOO. SOON.

I'm sitting in my living room right now, knowing that I'll have to take the tree down in a few days but I DON'T WANNA! I love the smell and the pretty ornaments and all my Christmas decor. And also I'm lazy.

We had a great Christmas around here. Grant has been home all week and we've been lazy and productive which is the best way to spend our time. On Christmas Eve the two of us went to a late movie and saw the new Mission Impossible. The theater wasn't crowded and there was no line for snacks... it was nice!

Christmas morning we exchanged gifts. I got Grant an effects pedal for his guitar (he asked for it) and he bought me these ADORABLE Tory Burch flats that I loooove. My man is a good gift giver :)

After that we headed over to my parents and exchanged gifts with them and Jaclyn and her husband Jeremy as well as Grace and Dean. I got lots of cute clothes and gift cards and pajamas and shoes and lovely things. The kids were adorable. It's so fun to see them experience all this. Then we had lunch which included cheesy potatoes and I AM ALL ABOUT THAT.

Yesterday my other sister Shannon and her husband Jason and their twin girls Scarlett and Juliet arrived. It's always such a joy to see those girls. They are growing up so fast. We had a great time with them yesterday and then again with some extended family last night.

Today Grant and I have gotten work done around the house. The MAJOR highlight of the day was when we got a little visit from our other 3 kiddos! Yep, Chase and Ronda (Grant's brother and his wife) were driving through Houston on the way to San Antonio and decided to stop at our house for dinner. Although it was a short visit, we were overjoyed to have Evan, Emily, and Olivia here to eat some yummy Taco Cabana and have some quick snuggles and hugs and kisses. What a joy all these babies are!!

I've spent hours today filing and shredding paperwork from the last year. I'm determined to go into 2012 in a more organized fashion!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Well, Hi.

Hello, my name is Jen. Many of you might remember me as "Jen the Newlywed" and I used to write here on the blog fairly frequently. However, as of late I've had what I like to call "a bad case of the lazies" and writing has just not been high on my priority list. Nothing has been all that high, to be honest with you.

Thankfully, I seem to be coming out of this funk and felt like stopping by to let you all know that I am alive and you don't need to send the search and rescue team. (If that ever happens, you know you can bait me with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.)

I can't even begin to recap everything that's happened in the last month or so with any real detail, so I'll just do one of those quicky recaps so I can look back on this years from now and know what was going on in my life.

We had Celebration at our church... the big church Christmas thing. We had six performances. Six glittery, red-lipsticked performances. Everything went off beautifully. There was a minor glitch on Saturday night during my special song when the flying violinist (Flyolinist) got a hitch in her wires and had to float back down, but other than that the show was great. I had an awesome time, got to know a bunch of people even better than I already did, lost my voice, got it back, and have spent the last few weeks recovering!

During Celebration, one of the girls introduced me to the clip-less curling wand and IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. I have never been able to curl my own hair.... and now I can get some lovely curls without being embarrassed about the back of my head!

Grant and I were supposed to leave yesterday to drive to New Orleans to spend a few days with the family before Christmas. (We rotate which family gets Christmas Day every year, but we always see both families during the Christmas season). This year the rotation has us in Houston for Christmas day, but we were planning on spending Wednesday thru Saturday in New Orleans. Sadly, last minute, we all decided to postpone. Between bad weather, busy work schedules, sick grandparents and sick babies... it just was going to be more work than fun and we would have about 5 hours together total. We decided to wait and go in January. We are disappointed but feel like we all made the best decision.

Meanwhile, I've been frantically finishing my Christmas shopping this week. Yes, I am WAY behind and now get to start the joy of wrapping. I love seeing wrapped presents under the tre... it's just getting them wrapped that's the exhausting part. I think my back is hurting just thinking about it....

Well, who knows when I'll be back to write again. If you haven't heard from me by February, go over to Lindsee's blog and ask her where I am.

Love you, people!

 

Sunday, December 4, 2011

And Now It's December

So last month was seriously the worst blogging month I've had on record. I apologize for not being present. November was busier than October, and that's saying something. Plus, the last two weeks of November included the cold that would not end. Coughing and mucus and kleenex - OH MY! Not so much fun.

Today, when we got home from church, I ate lunch on the couch and then fell asleep. After I woke up feeling quite refreshed, I asked Grant how long my nap was. He informed that I had slept for 3 hours, totally snoring, and pretty much in a coma. Oops.

The good news is, I'm getting a head start on my rest for the week. This week is our big Christmas Celebration at church. I'll be at church every night this week, till well after 10:00, and it's super important that I'm getting all the rest I can. After last year's show, I got the sickest I've ever been and I REALLY REALLY do not want a repeat of that this year.

Another accomplishment of today: LAUNDRY. I've ignored the laundry for an embarrassing amount of time. I'm not even gonna tell you how long I've ignored but. But, it's all done, it's all put away. My handsome husband even cleaned the closet today and I am so thankful for his help. I think he realized during my 3 hour coma that I'm not fully functioning!

Now we're watching the Saints while resting and playing with the dog and having a really nice Sunday evening. This is the calm before the storm.

I am so ready for Celebration to get here. We've been working on this since summer time, and I am READY!