Who is Jen?

I thought I would take a little look at myself last night. I am a lot of things:
Wife
Mother
Sister
Daughter
Aunt
Cousin
Co-worker
Friend



I am madly in love with my husband.
My kids are the best!
I am addicted to scrapbooking.
I love to curl up with a good book.
I am not a good housekeeper.
I cry at movies.
I LOVE the Chicago Cubs, although they break my heart every year.
I like Snickers bars.
Broccoli is my favorite vegetable (with cheese, please).
I am a good friend.
I am caring and compassionate.
I love Grey's Anatomy and the dancing "reality" shows.
My favorite all time movies are: Wizard of Oz, Grease, Better Off Dead, The Breakfast Club, 16 Candles.
I am the oldest of 5 kids.
I'm a farm girl who moved to town when I got married.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I come up with at the moment. I'd love to see "who you are". If you post a comment, tag - you're it!

Have a GREAT weekend!

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO thankful this week is over. Work has been SO stressful! I actually have the whole weekend off - woo hoo!!!!! I will be cleaning the house tomorrow - ugh but it SO needs it. Sunday, I am hoping to catch up on some blogs, sew some doll clothes and HOPEFULLY read and/or write.

Speaking of writing, I woke up the other night with an idea for a story. I am outlining it and am really "feeling" this one. I am SO excited about it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Bleeding Cubbie blue

So regular season baseball is almost over. I am sort of sad because I know it's going to be warm while baseball is being played. Ok, MOST of the season.... BUT, let me also say this....after this DISMAL season, I am kind of glad it's going to end. My Cubbies have let me down, yet again! It's been a frustrating season. I am hoping this winter will bring some MAJOR changes for the team - it's needed.

Now, I know my Sox fans friends will have no sympathy but I just had to give off a small vent about my beloved team.

Until February....

A Pretty Good Read

I just finished this book....




It's TOTALLY a chic lit book. It's got a good story and believable, lovable characters. I would recommend it as a quick, chic lit read.

Check it out...

It's Tuesday

Just wanted to say HI and hope you all had a great day!

Random blah blah blahs

Nothing real exciting around here...

1. The weather was wonderful today after a rainy, chilly weekend. Blech! It looks like more rain coming in.
2. I saw my sister yesterday for the first time in MONTHS. It was fun to visit. Will she ever set a wedding date? Who knows.... ;)
3. I am enjoying working at the library. It's a very different environment from Hallmark.
4. I wrote about 5 more pages of my book this weekend. I don't know if it will ever amount to anything, but I'm having fun writing it.
5. DH finished his antibiotics last night and I'm hoping things clear up and he feels better soon!
6. I started working out again yesterday - a little yoga and my back and neck feel SO much better! I've got to make sure I do it more regularly.
7. I have met SO many wonderful friends on-line and always hope to have the chance to meet them in person someday.
8. To my blogging friends - keep bloggin, I keep reading!

I've been tagged!

Thanks, Melissa!

4 Jobs I have had:
1. Clean up at a country club
2. Nursing home laundry
3. Bank teller
4. Retail clerk

4 movies I have watched over and over:
1.Grease
2.Dirty Dancing
3.Better Off Dead
4.The Breakfast Club

4 places I have lived:
1.Shabbona, IL
2.Paw Paw, IL
3.Normal, IL
4.DeKalb, IL

4 TV shows I like to watch:
1.Grey's Anatomy!!
2.Friends
3.Desperate Housewives
4.

4 Places I have been on Vacation:
1.Orlando, FL
2.Anaheim, CA
3.Gatlinburg, TN
4.Ft. Myers, FL

4 of my favorite foods:
1.Chocolate chip cookies
2.Pasta
3.Snickers bars
4.A little bit of Mexican

4 places I rather be right now:
1.At a beach listening to the waves and smelling the salty air..pure bliss
2.Home
3.Sitting next to a mountain lake
4.Disneyland

4 people I am tagging:
1.Alison
2.Carrie
3.Paula
4.Peggie

Weekend pictures

Weekend recap

It's Tuesday and I'm recapping our weekend.

We headed out of town on Friday afternoon. Now, anyone who has tried to cross the IL/IN state line on 80/94 at rush hour knows the aggravation. UGH!!!!!! So, we got to our hotel a little later than planned. The DVD player in the van took a poo on us on the way there so DD was a little ticked about that. Anyway, we went to the drive in theater to see "Wizard of Oz". Our daughter LOVED watching it on the BIG screen. We also saw "Invicible" with it - that was pretty good!

Saturday, we checked out, had breakfast at the Bob Evans next to the hotel and headed to the Festival. The weather was AMAZING!!!!! 80 and sunny. Perfect! Now, it has been 3 years since we went the last time and they have moved it from downtown Chesterton to the fairgrounds there. I was pretty disappointed in the parade. There were several crafters and lots of food though! : ) We went out to the van and took naps for a couple of hours then brought DD back into the festival for the Glinda contest. By far she was the littlest one and she was SUCH a ham!!!! She smiled and waved like a little parade queen. DS just laughed at her. He was such a good sport for going because I think he was bored out of his mind.

We left Chesterton around 5 and headed into Chicago for a couple of hours. We visited Hershey Place - that was pretty cool! We have about 6 pounds of chocolate that followed us home too.... We went into American Girl Place just to look around. We stayed in Rosemont.

Sunday we went to the Cubs game - they won!!!!!!!!!!! 11-3!!!!!!!!!! It was so nice to go to a game that they actually won. We had a great time and the weather held up until we got out of the park. As soon as we stepped out the gate (I SWEAR!) the skies opened up!!!!!!! We got out the umbrellas and fought the downpour on the way to the van. We were soaking wet by the time we got there. Then, while DH & DS went to find a bathroom and I got DD in the carseat and dried off as best I could, I discovered the driver's side window had been left open! ARGH!!!!!!! Besides the fact that everything was soaked, DH is lucky that everything was still in the van!

I will post pictures of our weekend later. We had a really busy but fun weekend.

We're off to see the wizard!

We are going to the Wizard of Oz Festival this weekend. We went a few years ago and it was fun! DD LOVES the movie so I'm very excited to take her!
This is her in her costume for the Glinda Look a Like Contest:



We are going to the Cubs game on Sunday. UGH! I'm sure they'll lose - it has been a miserable season and I can't wait for it to end and hope that they pick up someone(s) worthy in the off season!

A little present

From the wonderful and talented CARRIE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you - I LOVE it!

Some scrapping....

Some digital layouts I've gotten done recently. TFL!

5 Things

The last 5 movies you saw:
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Toy Story
3. The Other Sister
4. For Love of the Game
5. The Incredibles

The last 5 things you ate:
1. Chocolate pudding
2. Chicken noodle soup
3. M & Ms
4. Granola bar
5. Apple

Your favorite 5 songs:
1. Life Ain't Always Beautiful
2. Anything by Kenny Chesney
3. Beverly Hills
4. A geez....I'll have to think
5. Same as #4

Your favorite 5 TV shows (of all time):
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Friends
3. American Dreams
4. So You Think You Can Dance
5. Brady Bunch

5 things you might not know about me:
1. My middle name is Michelle.
2. My HS graduating class was 22 people.
3. I was a single mom for 4 years.
4. I taught myself how to crochet.
5. I am the oldest of 5.


I am tagging all who read this - what are your "5 Things"?

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

It's what country singer, Alan Jackson asked in his song after September 11, 2001. I will NEVER forget where I was!

I was driving to work when the news of the first plane came on the radio. As I pulled in and parked my car, the second plane hit. As soon as I walked in the door, about 4 pairs of hands grabbed me and pulled me to the TV. I couldn't believe what I was seeing!!!!!

Unfortunately, there was a meeting scheduled in the room where the only TV was, so we huddled around this little radio someone had in the lobby and listened as all the events unfolded. It was so surreal!!!!!

There were no customers that day but headquarters wouldn't let us leave. (I still have the e-mails they sent out.)

When I got home that night, it was all that we could find on TV. I finally cried when my DS told me good night and said he loved me. Watching the footage over and over of the people running, was just so unbelieveable to me.

After 3 days of watching the news all night, I couldn't take it anymore. I meant no disrespect to any of the victims, but it was just too much. I remember sitting in our bedroom and watching the funniest movie I could think of and laughing my head off. I think it was a release for me because I felt a little better the next day.

I will never forget those victims or their loved ones. God bless you all! God bless all our fire fighters, police officers and medical personnel. And we should never forget our service people serving our great country!

Labor Day Parage

DD waving to her brother and everyone else who goes by for the whole parade...
DS (far left) walking past us

When I get down....

What do I do? Lots of things....

I usually need to be by myself for a little while. Then, I chat on a MB or e-mail some friends. I sometimes just like to sit with my DH and watch whatever he's watch (weird as it may be....). As always though, there's nothing a little scrapping can't fix. :D

For Love of the Game

I read the book several years ago, but FINALLY saw the movie this afternoon. Oh, my, word! I had a revalation....
A) I LOVE Kevin Costner, ok, 80s and 90s Kevin Costner.
B) (this is the revelation part) The scene when he is coming back from his hand injury hit home REALLY hard and I sat and bawled. I didn't feel so alone. I was SO ashamed last year of how things were here after DH lost his thumb. He quit his job and sat around for 7 months. I didn't hate him but I didn't really like him a lot, either. I saw a lot of the same things in Costner's character at that moment, that my DH went through. I guess it wasn't unusual what he went through.
C) Now that I have bored you with that. I want to say - I loved the movie. I don't remember much of the book but if it's as good or better than the movie, I better check it out again.

Scrap Happy!

I actually did some scrapping last night and this morning....here's a couple of things and there's more in my Peas gallery.

DD at the zoo last Sunday.

My cousin on her wedding day last year.

Digital stuff

I've done some digital playing with pictures - here are a couple of things I've done. You can also check out my Peas gallery to see more, if you want...

Welcome to the Jungle!

More zoo pics from last Sunday...