Posts by Jen
She’s a genius!
Ok, not really. I know most parents think this about their children, but it is only because we saw them when they were just little blobs of human, not even able to control their little arm movements. Suddenly, they begin to resemble a real person who can do real person type things. The latest Maisie is a real person things are: 1. Sharing her sippy cup with her baby, rocking and patting her baby to sleep. 2. “Reading” other babies (real live babies) books and patting them on the back as to comfort them in a motherly way (see picture above of Maisie and her boyfriend Eli…she likes the young ones). 3. She now points to different pictures in books that she recognizes and is starting to make animal noises when she spots one she recognizes. Elephants are her favorite. 4. When she sees a circle, she says, “ball!”…
Read MoreLooking to give away some money???
If you are struggling with what to do with all that tax return money, I have a really great solution! Give it away! Or at least some of it!!! Why not help someone in need? Why not give some running water to a school who has no water? Why not help a child (or adult) get an education? Why not help one of our African brothers or sisters? Why not donate money to buy a mosquito net that could SAVE A LIFE? WHY NOT? Justin and I have had the privilege to have a few conversations with Byron and Lisa Borden. They used to work with our organization, but have recently moved back to Africa, where they lived for several years before moving to Europe. Byron and Lisa are the type of people that you meet and you just want to be around them. They are the type of people…
Read MoreFrisbee golf pictures and videos (of Maisie of course!)
We finally got some sun in this rainy Pacific Northwest city! It was glorious! Really, it was. We had the best little quality time as a family together! First we went and hiked to a couple waterfalls. BEAUTIFUL!!! I carried Maisie in the Ergo Baby Carrier (aka: the best baby carrier…IN THE WORLD…forget the Baby Bjorn) and got a good workout! Note to self: don’t go hiking in your Diesel shoes that have no traction with no socks on. Not a good idea. But it all worked out and I didn’t fall! After our hike, we went and played frisbee golf with Nathan. Actually, I didn’t play, but I did push Maisie around in a stroller or follow her around, hoping she didn’t get hit in the head by one of the many stoned and drunk whiskey tango guys out on the course. Good times. Here are a few pictures…
Read MoreGot Europe on my Mind.
The last couple days I haven’t been able to get Europe off my mind. These thoughts come in like rushing waters. For real. I don’t necessarily want these thoughts coming in, but they are, welcome or not. They are here. Justin asked me the other day to say the first word that came to mind after he said a word. He said the name of a European city and I replied so quickly, “LIVE.” What does that mean!?!? I can feel God tearing down ideas and thoughts and dreams that I (!!!) have made. I can feel Him softening my heart again. I think I became quite cynical in my time in Europe and although I experienced a lot of growth, I think that I found TOO MUCH of myself. I am happy to finally feel like I know who I am, know what I like and don’t like, etc,…
Read MoreStuff
Today was the day that Justin picked up all our STUFF from the shipping company. Yes, it arrived! A billion dollars later, it is here! I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. We had just seen the STUFF in Paris a few weeks ago. Some of our STUFF in Paris had been ruined by rats and who knows what else (I talked about that in a previous post). I seriously try not to get attached to STUFF, but it hard. There is memory in STUFF. Pretty much the whole reason Justin and I even decided to ship furniture back to the states is because we wanted Maisie’s crib. We kept talking about how great it will be to have her crib. After all, we had worked very hard on this crib! We LOVED this crib! Little baby goo goo loved this crib too! We all loved…
Read MoreFamily visits and Easter egg decorating
My mom and little sister just left today from a nice little weekend visit. We definitely did not get enough time!!! AND I am so annoyed to say that we only got ONE picture of my mom!!! WHAT THE HECK!?!? It snowed here during their visit, which was crazy weird. Snow!?! I thought it was beginning to warm up! Are we in Paris again??? Here is a picture of my me, my mom, and Maisie looking out at the snow. Here is Kylie. She is a crazy lil’ sis! And while I am at the pictures, here are a couple from our Easter egg decorating extravaganza! Yes, it was more for me than it was Maisie. Justin and Maisie were actually quite bored, but I think they got more into it once they saw how fun it was! 🙂 Or maybe they just faked it for my benefit!
Read MoreNo Regrets
I think I might be a pre-beauty school dropout. I have always wanted to be a hair dresser. I mean, this is the only thing I ever remember wanting when I was a kid. But things happened and I instead went to a little private school in California, not giving anymore thought to this hairdressing. I got a job after college and worked in social work for a few years before stumbling across cutting hair. It all happened one night when Justin’s hair grew out to a disgustingly long molester like look. I couldn’t handle it anymore. YUCK! I could barely kiss him without puking a little in my mouth (ok, just teasing, but needed to go there to get my point across). One night, Justin was brave enough to let me cut his hair. We figured we would just shave it if it was horrible. It wasn’t horrible at…
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