T minus 1

It's finally here. This is my last day of being 29. I feel like I should do something crazy to send my twenties out with a bang. Maybe I'll eat carbs for lunch. I'm feeling pretty reckless, so really anything could happen!


Thanks for hanging in there with me while I obsess over my soon-to-be-absent twenties. Don't worry. It'll all be over soon.


Hopefully I won't be too decrepit to type tomorrow.

Shoe fetish

The love of shoes must be ingrained in a female's DNA. Hailey is only 20 months old and she already LOVES shoes. She likes to try on my shoes (or even RJ's) and then parade around the house proudly like she's in a fashion show. Seriously, can she get any cuter?



Here she is showing off in RJ's work boots.





And now she's in RJ's sandals! (And, no. I don't dress her in tan & white every day. This is just a strange coincidence.)

Tag - you're it!

I found a great blog called Just Jules. Actually, she found me. She commented on my last blog post. I am always interested in the way strangers find my blog, so I view their profile and read their blog. It's a great way to find new reads.

Anyway, one of Jules' recent posts: Tag. Open your photos folder and post your 4th picture in your 4th folder. Explain the picture - no editing or cropping!

Here is what I came up with:

This is a picture of my daughter's completed nursery. It was taken a few months before she was born.

My husband did most of the work - he painted the room, constructed and installed the chair rail, and made those shelves you see in the picture there. My mom made the curtains. And I....ummm.....okay, so I supervised. But I carried the baby...isn't that enough?!?!

Anyway, this picture brings back fond memories. I remember sitting in the glider and rubbing my belly while anxiously awaiting the birth of my beautiful baby girl.

For anyone who wants to participate, consider yourself tagged! I can't wait to see your picture!

T minus 8

Hello friends. The first anniversary of my 29th birthday is creeping up on me. Yes, that's right...I'm turning 30 soon.

To be exact, it's T minus 8 days 'till I turn 30. Wow....the big THREE-OH. I know some of you older and wiser folks will say that is young. I guess it's all relative.

What is so strange for me about leaving my twenties is I still feel young. And I'm not sure why. I've accomplished everything I thought I would by the this time in my life. I'm married, I have a child, I earned by Bachelor's Degree (better late than never, right?) and I own a home.

All things considered I am okay with saying adios to my twenties. Anyway, it's not like I have a choice, right?

Countdown to Inauguration

The countdown is coming to a close. Barack Obama will be President in just under 25 hours. I am so proud to have taken part in American history by supporting and voting for Obama. And even if you didn't vote for him, just being an American on the day when the first black President is inaugurated is a big deal.

There is no doubt that tomorrow will be a powerful and emotional day for the people of the United States. By electing Obama as the first black President, we've proved we are a nation of one people. We promote equality for all. We care about electing the best candidate for the job, no matter the color of his skin.

Today, more than ever, I am proud to be an American.

Fungus? No thanks, I'll pass.

I'm not knocking anyone who likes mushrooms. I just don't like them. And I will admit it's not the taste of them that turns my nose up. Because, believe it or not, someone who I will not mention slipped me mushrooms that were hidden in ravioli once. And I actually liked it! That is until I knew what I was eating. It went something like this:

Cook: "Do you like the ravioli?"

Jen: "Yes, I do. It's really good. Is it stuffed with meat?"

Cook: "No, they are mushroom stuffed! Good, huh?"

Jen: "Ummm....yeah. They are good. Can I have some more salad, please?"

I should mention that almost everyone who knows me knows I hate mushrooms. A friend will even attest to the fact that I had a pizza re-made because some of the mushrooms on the other half slid over and invaded my cheese-only half.

The thing that turns me off about mushrooms is (1) the smell when they are being cooked. My dad used to cook them at home and the stench filled the whole house for hours. And (2) the idea of where mushrooms come from. They are a fungus! I find just thinking about fungus while I'm eating ruins my appetite. I can only image what eating fungus would do to it!

You may ask "why the sudden mushroom bashing? What did mushrooms do to you lately?"

Last night while sitting around with RJ he tossed a little flyer in my lap and said "This is what I'm getting you for your birthday". I was all excited, thinking he was giving me a little sneak preview of my gift!

Hardly.

It was a kit to grow gourmet mushrooms at home from a company called Fungi Perfecti. And who wouldn't want to grow fungus on a log in their back yard to have anytime they craved it? Yuck!

What do you all think? Would you mushrooms lovers ever eat this fungus growing on a log in their back yard?

Finally...an explanation

Hi friends.

Some of you have kids...some of you don't. A good friend recently sent me this great article that appeared in the Washington Post. It answers the age old question: what does a stay at home mom do all day?

Click here to read it. Whether you're a stay at home mom or not, you won't be disappointed.

Back to reality

This week has been hard for me to get going. I had a lot of vacation time from watching Sergio and from Digital Hive (almost 2 weeks off). In truth, I became quite lazy. I watched my shows during Hailey's naps instead of working or blogging. And now I have a new obsession....Facebook. Ugh! I think I need an intervention. Can you hear the cry for help?

Just kidding. Sort of.

On another note, we got a new car which is pretty exciting! Our lease with GM for our Equinox was scheduled to end in April. Since GM is dying to sell cars, they were willing to let us out early and give us a super-fabulous deal on a new car - we decided to go for it. I've promised some people on Facebook that I would post a picture, so here it is.

It's a 2009 Chevy Traverse. It's brand new this year, but it's a lot like a GMC Acadia or a Chrysler Pacifica. It's got a third row and tons of room for us to grow into. You can't tell from the picture, but the color is called "dark cherry". It looks like the color of a cola-cherry soda.

Besides getting a good deal on the car itself, the Chevy dealer threw in leather heated seats and remote start to seal the deal. Those were two of our sticking points for our new car and they didn't have any cars on the lot that included these features.

Yay! Driving is fun again! At least for a little bit....