Wearing Rain Gear and Hoping for Rainbows

I love when I participate in a Stake-wide fast with hundreds of Latter-day Saints, praying for a single purpose. Our Stake President had asked all of us during Stake Conference a few weeks ago to fast for moisture in our drought-ridden San Luis Valley, on the next Fast Sunday, so I went about my day with a prayer in my heart for that specific purpose. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day, and Shane commented on how low the water level was and that we may not even get our "beach" of water next to the house. (Every Spring, it is a tradition for us to host a "Beach Party" with family and friends when the irrigation water approaches our house). While praying I wondered if it was still possible for the water level to increase enough to water the crops and fields that so many of my family and friends need to sustain their livelihood.

The area we live in happens to be home of many faithful Saints, and our fasts do not go unanswered. This morning was no exception, and when I opened the front door to take Emma and Shelton to school, I was greeted with a Spring rain, the first one of this season. "Rain!" the kids yelled excitedly, as they ran outside and looked up towards the sky, letting the faint drops moisten their smiling faces. Shelton immediately remembered that it was FINALLY time to use his Lightning McQueen umbrella that he got last August while we were doing our Back to School shopping. Unfortunately, the unused umbrella was broken, not unlike many umbrellas we have owned that are never actually used to keep rain at bay. This made me think of some pictures I took of Sasha during Winter Break with an umbrella that has also been prematurely broken.

Sasha is so sweet in her Gymboree outfit that Mommy gave her for a Christmas present.

Perhaps today, she will enjoy the rain in her rain boats, and be able to see a rainbow stretch across the sky above our home.

2011- Christmas Cuteness

For Christmas this past year, I splurged and bought my kids adorable Sunday outfits from Janie & Jack. I absolutely adore their clothes, and would love to buy things from there all of the time, but it is just too expensive. This year, as Christmas was on Sunday, I decided that Janie & Jack ensembles were appropriate, and used a 20% of coupon after the clothes were on their first markdown, and felt good about how cute my darlings would be, at the best price possible. They looked amazing! So cute, and so chic.

 So, everything's great, right? Cute kids in adorable clothes that they will wear plenty of times to warrant the cost. Not really. This is the last year for Emma to wear Janie & Jack, as she is growing up, and needs pre-teen clothes now. As for Shelton, I ordered his clothes way too big, and the hasty hem in his pants comes out every time he wear them, so he hasn't worn them very much this year. And then, Sasha, did the unthinkable: she drew on her dry-clean-only silk red dress with a ballpoint pen, and completely ruined it. When I told her that I wouldn't buy her any nice dresses from now on, and that may be they would all be cheap ones from Walmart, she snootily replied, "I like dresses from Walmart." Oh, brother.

2012- New Year's Resolutions

As you may have guessed, most of my New Year's Resolutions had to do with my health and fitness. I started the year off with a bang, and jumped right in to accomplishing amazing things. I was on a roll, and the weight continuously dropped, along with my body fat percentage. I was getting in 5-8 workouts per week, and teaching 14 dance classes per week, as well. My diet was on track, and I felt that I had made lifestyle changes rather than merely trying to "diet".

Ready for Zumba! Just let me enter my day's food selections into the "My Fitness Pal" app on my iPhone.

Everything was great, that is, until April came along. I started running as the weather improved, and really jumped into it, running a 5K distance in as little as 29 minutes. I might want to add that I am not a "runner" and that before April 2012, the furthest I had run was 1.5 miles, since 1995. I guess I pushed it too far one day, because I ended up unable to walk, with plantar fascitis and bursitis in my right foot. I also pulled the muscles going up the back of my right leg, my lower back muscles (on the right) and up to my right shoulder and neck. Why was the right side of my body so beat up, you ask? My left hip has been giving me a lot of trouble for the past 4 1/2 years, and I have been putting a lot of stress on the right side of my body to compensate for the pain.

Enduring an ice bath- ouch! On the floor are some new running shoes to replace the ones that were blown-out. That also contributed to my injury.

 I am in a great amount of pain after teaching a ballet class (where my feet are in a turned-out position), after sleeping on my side, driving or sitting for a long period of time, and also after certain workouts. During Zumba, I will sometimes feel that my hip is giving out, and that I have to use odd muscles to lift my leg. I also have the problem of my hip getting "stuck" while I walk, especially when it is cold outside. The pain comes and goes, but it has not changed in severity for these past 4 1/2 years. After my traumatic C-section delivery of little Sasha (4 1/2 years ago), I had to get used to standing and walking without using my stomach muscles. I can remember a few times, feeling my legs give out at the hip, and falling. For a few weeks it felt like my hip needed to "pop" which was pretty normal for my dancer-do-crazy-things-to-be-flexible body, but one night it "popped" in a really loud and painful way, and has been hurting ever since. As I have been unable to exercise and dance of late, I am finally going to see the hip specialist that will most likely perform hip surgery on me for a labral tear in my hip socket. It took me 4 1/2 years to call him, and once I did, it took 2 months to get in to see him. June 13th is the day! Just after I turn 36. Last week, my good friend, Melody Surat, sent me a little card in the mail, as she now lives in Georgia. In it she said, "I was beginning to think you were invincible! Best of luck on your recovery." It made me smile, and also made me realize that it's true, I have been able to go quite a long time, and have accomplished a great deal, before my body finally gave out on me. Time to take a little break and get better, so I can continue doing the things I love as soon as possible.

2012- Happy New Year!!!

It's already May, and I am wondering where 2012 has gone, already? So, I thought I would reminisce about the start of the year, and see how I am doing with my New Year's resolutions.

Here is Emma, welcoming in the New Year wearing her new sweater, and a pair of 2012 glasses that may make you think at first glance that we are celebrating 2002. I don't think that the "1" works very well, but we thought they were fun.

Cute girls are ready to party!!!

Papa & Sally-Mom were visiting, and offered to take the kids out to dinner (McDonald's) and a movie (Chipwrecked) while Shane and I had some friends over for a little New Year's fun.

Sally-Mom was a big help before the party: cleaning and preparing food items.

A few weeks before, my friend, Julie, and I decided it would be fun to have a New Year's Party to get together with friends. I offered our house, and we delivered invitations to 12 couples that we thought would enjoy a night away from the kids. Because so many people where we live usually spend New Year's Eve with family, we planned to have the party on New Year's Eve Eve. On the invitation, we specified that they need only respond with a regret, and by the end of the week, we had heard from most of the couples. A little disappointed that so few could make it, but grateful for our besties who would be there, we went on with our plans.

Julie & Shane McGinnis

Winners of our Newlywed game!

Jenny & Shane

Need to spend a little more time getting to know each other;)

Kent & Melissa Mortensen

I think they may have had a fight after playing The Newlywed game. Oops!

(Not pictured: Ginger & Austin Thomas- had to get home to the baby-sitter).

Spring Break- Hogle Zoo Adventures

For a fun outing, my Dad took the Sowards and Harris families to The Hogle Zoo. It was fun to go back to this little zoo, as I had taken Emma there many times when we lived in Salt Lake City. We took a picture of Emma in the same place as another picture taken when she was 3.

She's got the whole world in her hands.

Now, my Dad is very savvy when it comes to working the annual family passes at amusement parks, museums, and zoos. Earlier that week, he took all of the grand kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point with his Grandparents pass. (They absolutely loved it!) He acquired another Granparents pass (apparently, these are very popular in Utah) at the gate of The Hogle Zoo, which included unlimited rides on the zoo train and carousel, so we immediately started enjoying these attractions. 

 The kids on the Zoo Train.

Part of Emma, Kailey, Stratton, Sasha, Shelton, Austin, & Jordan

After riding the train we headed over to the playground to let the kids run around and get out their excess energy before we tried walking around and keeping track of them while looking at the zoo animals. While playing, we began to notice little, intermittent rain drops, but tried to ignore them, and hoped they would subside despite the heavy, gray clouds that hovered over the zoo.

All the kids & Papa

On a giant spider- kind of creepy!

Emma & Kailey

Captured damsels on the giant spider web that is probably where the giant spider is headed towards.

Jenny & Caroline

Hot Mamas enjoying talk time, and still wondering if it was a good choice to leave all of the coats in the cars so that we didn't have to carry them around, as we are no longer in the stroller stage of motherhood.

After what seemed like a very long time, we decided to move on to go explore the other zoo attractions, mostly because the raindrops started getting more concentrated, and we feared that our zoo trip was doomed. Caroline went to get all of the coats out of the car, and we decided to brave it out, hoping for the best. As we walked deeper into the zoo, it seemed like everyone was headed in the opposite direction, towards the zoo exit. You are probably thinking that our day was soon to be over, but alas, remember that Grandparents pass my Dad had bought earlier? Unlimited rides on the zoo carousel, which was completely covered! We probably rode on that carousel 15 times, and just when the kids were growing tired of this, the rain stopped, and we got to enjoy the rest of the zoo. Lucky us!

Shelton rides the elephant with a smile.

Austin & Shelton hanging with the giraffe.



A funny thing: when we were at the giraffe exhibit, I noticed that one of the giraffe's (pictured above) was avoiding me. When I was outside, he went in. When he noticed me inside, he went out, but hovered near the doorway, and would come in briefly to eat. I started to wonder if he didn't like the furry leopard print lining of my coat, and was amused to find that he stayed inside with me after I took it off and hid it in my bag. That is when I took the picture above. Too funny!

What a great day at the zoo!

Emma, Sasha, Stratton, Kailey, Shelton, Jordan, & Austin.



Spring Break- Sushi Date Night

One thing about living in a big city that I truly miss is getting to eat (good) Sushi. So, for our triple-date night, Sushi it was. Dad, Sally-Mom, Jason, Caroline, Shane, and I went to a cool little place and ordered some absolutely incredible food to indulge ourselves with. Thanks to Dad for treating us!

Here are some of the exotic rolls we ate, including The Playboy Roll.

Dad and Sally-Mom

Jason & Caroline

(Jason is wearing a good find from Nordstrom Rack, masterfully selected by all three of us girls,

earlier that day. He had an important job interview, and he got the job!

Shane & Jenny- always up for Sushi!

Spring Break- Shopping With Sally-Mom

I was so excited for Sally-Mom to help me pick out new skinny clothes on this trip. Ecstatic! Even better, she and my Dad wanted to get me some nice basic items for my birthday. We got most of my beautiful clothes from Ann Taylor and Talbots, and I got a few pairs of shoes at Nordstrom. So fun! Trying on clothes in the fitting rooms of these stores with my Mom and daughter, Emma, was a blast, and I loved having them there to confirm my feelings on what looked the best.

Such a great helper!



Why is it so fun to shop with Sally-Mom? I think there are many reasons, from her sparkling personality, to her desire to buy things for other people, to her impeccable taste... but it just might have a lot to do with her shopping angels. What are shopping angels, you ask? Sally-Mom will explain that they are the angels that follow her around, and help her find unique, totally perfect, sometimes a very good deal type items while she shops. Sometimes she will get this feeling, and when she does, she knows that she just has to go to TJ Maxx, Home Goods or The Norstrom Rack. What joy she feels when the perfect item that has been void from life is there, and at a good, discounted price! "Thank you, Shopping Angels," she happily laughs as she finds a few more fantastic deals.

See! Even boys can find deals at TJMaxx. Dad, Shane, & Jason.

One of my favorite, amazingly perfect deals on this shopping spree was a pair of Via Spiga shoes from the Nordstrom Rack. I love when I find a pair of gorgeous and completely wonderful shoes there, and then walk over to where Sally-Mom is contemplating a purchase, to hear her excited cheers for my great find. She might say, "Jenny, you HAVE to get these shoes! They are DARLING!" And I am usually pretty easy to convince, because she has validated my opinion. The shoes have a tall black patent platform (so, a Summer shoe) and the toe and heel are in a leopard print fur. Super cute and sexy, and perfect with my new black dress from Talbots (size 4, Baby!) When we were looking them over at home, we were thrilled to find a sticker inside that read: "Real, dyed calf fur from China." Wow! Real calf fur made to look like leopard fur. (wth?) Sally-Mom warned that I should be careful wearing them, because of her experiences wearing real fur coats and expensive genuine leather when those crazy animal lovers are around. I told her not to worry, I live in a place where no one will care about dyed calf fur. ;)

My new ensemble. That gold bracelet was a splurge.

Spring Break- Escalor GNO

GNO! Yeah!!! I was so excited for our planned "Girls Night Out" with my sister, Caroline, and cousin, Kyndra. We are kindred spirits, and don't get to be together nearly enough to warrant how much we enjoy hanging out. Sally-Mom joined us, and we decided to eat at a posh Italian Restaurant (can't remember the name) off of the Fashion Place Mall. Upon arrival there was a 30 minute wait, so we decided to run into the mall for a little window shopping. We were gaga over many of the purses in Nordstrom, but luckily, that is an easy place for me to skip over, especially since I had just bought lots of stuff there 2 days before. Our little shopping excursion was timed perfectly, and we only waited inside of the restaurant a few minutes before being seated.



All of the food was incredibly delicious, from the appetizers to the desserts. I ordered the evening's special: Escalor, cooked to perfection, in a bed of wild rice, with mushrooms, and a delicious sauce. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what Escalor was, but the waitress informed me that it was a type of fish, which I prefer to other meats or chicken, so I thought I would take  chance. I didn't feel too ignorant, asking the waitress what Escalor was, as none of the others knew either!

This reminded me of another night out, many years ago, with my man. We were sharing a meal at our Singles Ward Bishop's home, when I was told that I would be enjoying a pasta sauce made with the meat from an elk that Bishop had shot only a few weeks before. "Ooh! Sounds delicious," I heard Shane say. Say what? I had no idea what they were talking about. What the heck was an elk? Not a fish, that wouldn't have been shot. A bird? California blondie needed a little Zoological lesson before dinner, but I tried the meat, and tolerated it well enough. Later, after moving to Colorado, I was blessed to see many elk, some alive and well, other stuffed and preserved in the homes of friends. While briefly working at The Holiday Inn of Alamosa, I attended a staff meeting in which the other employees were making fun of some tourists that had asked the front desk help, "When did the deer become elk?" See! Not everyone knows what an elk is, or an escalor for that matter.

The next day Sally-Mom and I found ourselves at Nordstrom again, and we bought a few of the purses that we just couldn't get out of our minds overnight. A gold bag for me, and a coral one in the same style for Kyndra. Fun! Steven by Steve Madden: now there is a name I know!

   

Spring Break- Driving to Utah

For Spring Break 2012, we decided to load up the mini-van and head to Utah. My parents moved there Summer 2011, so we wanted to check out their new house, and visit the city where Shane and I fell in love and lived together for the first 4 years of our marriage. Their new house is SO close to where our apartment was: we could see it from their balcony! They live close, but they are off of Highland Dr., so further east, which is considered a good area. You see, as one head up 3300 South, for instance, towards the East bench of the Salt Lake Valley, the area gets more and more desirable and snobby. Our old apartment is in the Ghetto on 900 East (flat land). We took Emma there to see where she used to live, and she was so excited! She wanted to get out and walk around the apartment complex to see the pool and play area, but I wouldn't let he get out of the car in such a rough looking area. (wth???) Shane wasn't as intimidated, so he took all the kids to Iceberg, on the corner of 3300 S & 900 E, where we used to walk and enjoy the famous malts and shakes for FHE (Family Home Evening).

But I digress. Before we enjoyed our week in Salt Lake City, we endured the drive though rural Colorado and Utah to get there. The morning we left was the day after normal life craziness, so we slept-in a little bit too long, and hurriedly packed up the kids, suitcases, and our little Chihuahua, Chico. No, he didn't get to go to Utah; he had to be dropped off at the boarding kennels in the Alamosa Valley Veterinarian Clinic, where Shane used to work before he had a good job with paid vacation. (Yay!!!) We left our sweet, little guy there with trusted staff, and visited with Dr. Steffens for way too long. Funny, he didn't even recognize me. I had been getting that a lot, so it didn't bother me. I mean, how can one be bothered by lack of recognition due to losing 35 lbs.??? "On to Utah for new (skinny) clothes," I thought to myself happily, as we headed West on the 285.

By the time we got to Saguache, there were full bladders, and requests for treats. That is the point where only 1 public restroom exists for many miles (and hours) so we decided to top of the gas tank and take a beat. As I ushered the kids into the convenience store, Shane noticed a red SUV pull into the parking lot a little too quickly, and the man driving hastily parked in two spaces, threw open his door, and left his wife in the running vehicle as he dashed into the convenience store with a panicked look on his face. At this moment, I was trying to get the kids to stop ogling the slushy machines and get to taking care of their potty business, but the man beat me to the unisex bathroom. Dang it! I was bugged at my lack of focus on the task at hand, so I used my stern voice as I insisted that the kids come form a line outside the bathroom door before any other travelers got in front of us. We stood there a while. We heard noises. Shane and I glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and silently communicated our concerns, which were confirmed when the man opened the bathroom door and let out a stench that could both wake the dead and encourage children to make rude comments, which they did. With no other choice, we plugged our noses and got 5 people in and out of there in record time. Big mistake.

As we drove on to Utah, the kids enjoyed their gas station treats, including a drumstick ice cream cone for Emma, who quickly noticed that the bottom of her cone was broken, and that the ice cream was already melting all over her cupped hands. Now, I don't know what kind of a Mother travels without handy wipes, but this moment found me completely unprepared. I don't remember the dialogue, but somehow Shane and I decided to use a tampon out of my purse (always have those) and wet it with water so that she could clean up the mess on her hands. Shane threw the cone out the window: somehow, we ended up traveling without a trash bag, not even one from the gas station. After that incident, we had smooth sailing for quite some time, and as the kids were behaving well, we decided to forgo stopping for a meal until Grand Junction, since the kids had plenty of snacks and drinks. At the time, we were in Montrose, which is home to the last McD's for quite some time, and we worried that the little ones would see those golden arches and want to stop. At that point, Shane and I decided to calmly and quietly do a McDonald's drive-by, as we referred to it as, and hope they didn't notice. Luckily, we prevailed! The rest of the journey was pretty chill, and we made good time with Shane behind the wheel.

Here I am, with Sally-Mom and Caroline, happily doing the dishes.

When we made it to our destination of Salt Lake City, my parents welcomed us into their (stunning) new home, and directed us to the guest bedrooms, furnished with new bedroom sets. We immediately began to enjoy our vacation and time with Dave and Sally-Mom, and the Harris family. We made plans for the week, and I smiled as I closed my eyes for a stress-free slumber, anticipating a morning to sleep-in. Unfortunately, the next day, the day after, and then still another day after that, we found out why stinky bathroom guy was in such a hurry when he pulled into the gas station parking lot. Stomach bug! All of us had our turn with this nasty virus, including Sally-Mom. And I worried about gaining weight on this trip. Ha!

Jordan & Shelton enjoy sword fighting.  

 Emma & Kailey are SO happy to be together! They got to enjoy 2 cousin sleepovers.