Hi.

Here are some brief updates of everything that’s gone on for the last 2 months. Life flies!!

New Years Celebration:

(Peek-a-boo!)
(Maddy patting my head to get me to go to sleep, when really it was her that needed to go to sleep)
(When 1 drink just isn’t enough)
(The final results of Phase 10. The point is to get the LOWEST score. I obviously lost. Big time.)

Lots of weddings:

Shopping:
The bag on the left side of the picture (in Danielle’s right hand) was really heavy…
(HA! There is no bag, in case you’re wondering. She’s carrying the handle of what used to be a bag.)

3D Movies:

Food:
(A friend fixed this and had a girls night—it was so yummy!! Pork roast, rice asparagus, DELICIOUSNESS!)
(Roast, loaded mashed potatoes, asparagus, homemade rolls)
(Project night – we had a salad bar, rolls, and hummus)

Project Night:
(I made this little dress)

Internship – I’m interning in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a Children’s hospital in the area. It’s not extremely close, so I take the train most days.

Record snow for the area. 12 ½ inches fell in one day, which has never happened in my city’s history.


Lots of Maddy time:


Life is still great! 2 ½ months until graduation!!!

Christmas.

This Christmas has been incredible. Monday before Christmas my dad landed himself in the hospital. Based on what the doctor told him, he would not be home in time for Christmas. It was a time of real introspection for me—about the meaning of Christmas, and of family, life…you name it. All of the sudden Christmas took on a new meaning to me, and for the first time in my life (late coming I know, and I’m sorry for that but glad that it did finally come) I realized that the greatest gift in my mortal life is the family I have been given. That for the first time I really did not want anything else than to be able to be with my family. For those of you in my family that are far away, you have been in my thoughts and my heart through this celebration of Christmas.

Through the grace of blessings, Dad was able to come home on Christmas Eve, though he still has a road ahead of him to reach full recovery. So those of the family that were able to be here celebrated together, and honored those who were unable to be here. Our biggest family tradition is to be non-traditional. Now I don’t mean without tradition, because we have plenty of traditions. They just aren’t what most people would think of as the typical traditions. One of those for Christmas is that we have our family celebration on Christmas Eve. So Dad coming home on Christmas Eve was the greatest gift at the perfect time.
Another of our traditions is to eat, but not a typical ham or turkey Christmas meal. We’ve tried different things over the years, and this year we decided to do a pizza bar. We made pizza dough and had individual pie pans so everyone could top their own pizzas, and then we baked and ate them. They were so yummy and fun!

The yeast in the pizza dough was crazy active, so we ended up with a bunch of leftover dough. We decided to make it into dessert breadsticks. Kind of like a cinnamon roll, we topped them with a cinnamon and sugar mix and baked them, and then we topped them with a cream cheese icing. They were SO GOOD!
This one was mammoth—we called it the “Yule Log.” It tried to jump overboard in the oven:
For the first time in my whole entire life, we had a white Christmas here in Texas!
As siblings, we always draw names to determine who we will exchange gifts with. Michael drew me, and gave me a digital picture frame with a flash drive full of awesome pictures!!! It made me so happy! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Michael. The pictures you chose are so perfect, and mean so much! You couldn't have chosen a more perfect gift for me!

I drew Danielle, and decided to try my hand at these “Mommy & Me” aprons. Danielle and Maddy are such cute twins! And look how cute Danielle is with her adorable little pregnant belly!
Maddy was so much fun, helping with the cinnamon sticks, opening presents, and just being a love. I am so grateful for my family—ALL of you. For the depth and meaning you each add to my life. Thank you for your support and for the fun that you all are! I love you all, and I hope this next year is the year of rockingness for everyone!

Merry Christmas!

I was really tired and grouchy tonight, so I went to bed at 8:30. I fell asleep right away. Then I woke up at midnight to use the restroom, and almost 3 hours later I still haven't been able to fall back to sleep. Hmph. So instead of returning to grouchy by laying down being frustrated that I can't sleep, I decided to go ahead and use this time productively. :)

I just finished another semester of grad school! This was my last semester of actual coursework. Next semester I just have my practicum and research paper, then May is graduation!! This semester was...well, by far not my favorite. It was pretty much a butt kicker, and I am SOOOO grateful to be on the other side of it now! :) I even managed to maintain grades I like, which I am so grateful for. I have definitely felt the Lord's hand blessing my life and helping me to make it through. It's getting through experiences like this that help reassure me that I really can make it; that I am a SURVIVOR! :) And that, above all, the Lord is there to help me so that it is possible to be that survivor.

So the last couple of months being as heinous as they were, I have not taken the time to upload pictures here. These start back at the beginning of November, on my dad's birthday. We got together and had potato chip chicken, salad, fruit, and homemade sourdough rolls.

We had the aforementioned AMAZING apple crisp for dessert again.

Realizing there were no candles, and being a Sunday, Michael and I got creative. Note: toothpicks work wonders as candles in a pinch. :) Just sing the birthday song and have the birthday person blow them out quickly--they burn fast.


We got a little silly hanging out after dinner. Full bellies will do that to a person. :)


I have not yet read the Twilight books, but I went and saw New Moon twice. The first time I went, the skies opened up and there was a major deluge when we left the theater. It was opening night, so there were I don't even know how ridiculoulsy many people leaving the theater, and we all got SOAKED.

The second time. How many people can YOU fit into an elevator?! :)

The group the second time:

Thanksgiving. Is there a tastier meal?? I don't think so! I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner!!! And this year was definitely no exception! With my mom's recent poultry allergy reversal, we were able to use more chicken broth, etc in the different dishes this year. Um, DELISH is the word I think best describes the experience this year. Thinking about it now makes me want it again! :)

Turkey

Gravy

Stuffing

Green Beans

Mashed Potatoes (notice the perfect peaks) :)

Sweet Potatoes

Rolls

The night of my last day of class, my mom, my sister, our friend Erin, and I went to see Handel's Messiah. It was absolutely amazing! And a fabulous way to celebrate the end of the semester!


Now I'm mostly being really lazy. :) I have been going to the gym again regularly, but that's been about the extent of my productivity since school ended. I also laid on the couch and read a book of my choice today. Um, amazing! It's been a while since I've done that, since I've been reading mostly textbooks since I started back to school in January. I have about a month off now before my next (and final!) semester, so I'm catching up on the good things--sleep, books, and leisurely activities. :)

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, and that this season is happy and bright!

Updates. Again.

Seriously, that should be my tag line. I'm always having to do mass updates, because life continues to do its deed and goes by way too quickly! And so I find myself behind in blog posting. Again. Oh well—thus is my life. :)

First of all, Maddy (my niece) turned 2 at the beginning of October. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing!! She is so much fun, and I relish the time I’ve been able to spend with her this semester after class every Thursday. I’m sad for the inevitable end to that luxury. She can brighten up the day instantly!

Celebrating her birthday was a blast. Mike & Danielle had a great party—with my faves: MEXICAN FOOD. I. Have. A. Problem. I swear I bleed salsa…

Here are some pictures from the party:

Me with the birthday girl—see what I mean about brightening things up?!

Kirsten getting her share of cheer from the birthday girl:

This picture is a little blurry, but I have to include it anyway! It tells so much…what do YOU think is going through her head??

(My interpretation: “Seriously Mom, I don’t have time for this—I have guests to entertain!”)

“Just take this picture, and you can have a pony.”

"You better not be lying about that pony..."

Such a sweet family!!

I tried my hand at cake decorating for the first time for her party. It was fun! The party was a “letters” theme, because Maddy loves letters!

Top of the cake:

View from the side:

Maddy eating her cake:

Next on the catch-up agenda: Halloween. So fun!! I went to a super fun party with F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C treats! Food, friends, and fun—who could ask for more, really?!

Brian and Kirsten – Dr. E. Vil Genius & Dr. Kay Razy:

Michael and Danielle – Gigolo Joe and Dig-It D:

Danielle's whole rockin' outfit:

Me – A Murder Victim:

I came back to life – now “The Living Dead”

Scary, I know. :)

In the midst of having so much fun, school this semester has been I-N-S-A-N-E. Seriously. This about sums up how I’ve felt about it:

I interviewed for an internship last week. Completing an internship is actually a required part of my degree—it’s not a paid job, but a “if you successfully complete this, we’ll let you graduate” kind of thing. So no pressure, right?! And the ultimate hope is that the internship you do will not only give you really valuable experience while you have someone supervising you, but also hopefully open doors for you to get a job when you graduate. I interviewed last Tuesday at a children’s hospital, and found out this Tuesday that I got a position!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! It will be my “coursework” for next semester—January through May. That and my final paper, and then I’ll graduate in May! I think I just may make it after all…

So there it is—another look into the life of Jenny. Crazy? Yes. Would I trade it? Never.