Day in the Life

Buh Bye Winter

March 17, 2009 by Jennifer 4 Comments

The snow has melted, the windows are open, the sun coming through the windows shining in on our faces. I’m so happy. As I was driving M to school this morning, we got to see such a beautiful sun rise. It was neat getting to talk to M about this.

With the sun finally returning here in the good ole high country, it has me thinking about Spring Break. I don’t believe we will go out of state this year, but we are planning a StayCation. We are fortunate to live in a resort area, with so many opportunities that we are going to take advantage of. Also, we will go on multiple picnics, do bbq’s with family and friends, explore the hiking trails and even get in a canoe or two.

We love to be outdoors and appreciate our surroundings. I want to make it a fun week for the girls and a week they will think that we actually did go on vacation. So I have been busy planning and trying to make sure we do the right budgeting and find the right bargains.

With all the planning I have started doing for Spring Break, I have made a decision for Summer Break as well… to have every Friday as Field Trip Friday. Each Friday, we will do a special trip such as a museum, gem mining, a new park, etc and the following Monday we will do a scrapbook page of our trip. By the end of the summer the girls will have a scrapbook for Summer 09 that they can cherish for years.

What are you and your little ones doing for Spring Break? Share your ideas below and let’s kiss Winter good bye for 09!

No Worries Jen Is Here

March 16, 2009 by Jennifer 5 Comments

Thank you all so much for the emails, DM’s on twitter, comments on Facebook, phone calls and cards. It all meant so much to get through the last week. I knew when I surrounded myself with friends and God that the week would be much more manageable.

I am happy to report my dad is going to be OK. We found out today his Biopsy results. He does have an infection in his body that triggered all this to happen in the first place. It is called H. pylori infection. It is fixable, yes it might take a bit to get it under control but the main thing it is fixable! God is soooo good as evidence in all your prayers too.

It was a huge eye opener, that daddy could be taken away from me just like that. To see a 68 year old man who you love with all your heart crying in tears, yelling and grabbing both sides of the hospital bed…. it just broke my heart and the tears just poured. That is when we got the prayer chain started and as you can see from this report, Prayer Works!

During the week, I had two reunions with friends. One set of friends was from my Middle School Days which I haven’t seen these girls since about 14 years ago. We had a great time over lunch and just trying to take my mind off of things.

Then we had been planning for a few weeks a 10 year highschool reunion with a group of girls that we reconnected with by email and facebook. We laughed till we had tears in our eyes that night, but it was so much fun and we are going to make it a much needed girls night out monthly. We shared highschool memories that left me saying let’s not go there a couple of times haha ;). Fun times!

I declare this week no hospital stays or visits. Woot woot… ready to dive into the week and get back into blogging, facebook and good ole twitterville :).

Ice Skating At Its Best

March 7, 2009 by Jennifer 5 Comments

We had the most awesome night last night with my BFF and her family ice skating. What a sight we were. The whole night we were pretty much like this:

We were constantly laughing. You see it has been about 11 years since we both had been. We went together with my church youth group at the time and how neat it was that we went back together 11 years later. This time we got to share in the experience with our children. Let’s just say the children way outdid us. There were falls into the puddles (that would be muah and her daughter M), there was plowing into the sides of the ice skating rink, there were times we wouldn’t let go of the rails, there were times we skated around with the Kid’s bar haha… it was just some plain ole genuine fun. I only fell about 4 times, that’s not too bad is it? ;). Poor L was so sad when I would fall and she kept telling me to take the skates off. She was grinning ear to ear when I took the skates. M is the one that surprised me. We had got her the kid’s bar to help her around the ice skating rink.. half way through the session she ditched the bar and went cold turkey on the rink without holding onto anything. She was literally making laps around Cindy and I. TOO FUNNNNY! We kept telling her how proud we were of her!

Here is our night in picts… Enjoy 🙂

Ready to begin our adventure:

Still holding on to the railing:

Jen is getting brave and going out to the middle:

We ditched the coats since we were getting so warm skating:

See my fancy foot work here ;):

Here we go… we are having a blast:

So so so proud of M:

Jen getting along sooo good:

Then kaboom right flat onto my tale..

L so excited that mommy was finally done with the ice skating rink:

What a night, but I am ready to do it again. I figured I would wake up so sore this morning, but not a bit. This will definitely be a tradition of ours :).

My First Time On A Game Show

February 23, 2009 by Jennifer 14 Comments

Here in the high country we have our own game show. I have been a watcher for a while now and was so excited to be asked to be a contestant thanks to my oldest brother Wes :). I had such a great time and loved I got to talk about being a mommy blogger! Thanks to my family and to Cindy and her family for coming out to cheer me on. Here is some pictures from the big night. I will attach the video below so you can watch my first gig at fame :).

Sneak Peek of the final outcome 🙂

So would you like my autograph now hehe? ;). For real though, I am so glad I got this opportunity and had a blast taping this. If you are ever in the High Country, you should go to a live taping or even be a contest on Sqrambled Scuares.

I Finally Found Myself

February 15, 2009 by Jennifer 14 Comments

As I was sitting in church this morning, it really came to me. I have finally found myself. I really am Jennifer Houck.

I will be honest and say the last 3 to 4 years, I have lived my life to please others. It didn’t matter what I was doing, I just wanted to make everyone happy. Everyone always came before me and even my family at times. I would hide behind this computer screen and be someone that just wasn’t real. I knew I was depressed. I felt like I never really got over post-partum depression. Last three years have been so hard with all the ups and downs in life, it would just spiral me out of control.

The last 3 months have been very changing for me. I have woke up and realized what type of person I was being. I was wallowing in my own pity in hopes that it would make me more happier. That has all changed so much. I am so happy now and have found myself. I am a mom, I am a wife, I am a sister, I am a daughter, I am a grand-daughter, I am an aunt, and so on. I really truly know who I am. The most important, I am a child of God. I have turned to him so much in the last 3 months and so letting him guide our lives… it is soooo wonderful. I have never been happier and felt so blessed. It’s like this big rock has been lifted off my chest.

I am not hiding behind the computer screen anymore. I know how to turn it off and put it away. I just love life and could not be more grateful. God will provide for us and lead us not into temptation if we just will follow. I am not hiding behind my doors in my house anymore. I gladly open the door and go outside to the real world to be involved. I love helping others and being there for others, I just know my boundaries now and don’t have to make sure I am pleasing everyone.

I am down now 30+ pounds too and still going until I meet my goal. I am doing it the healthy way and have got my whole family on board with this new lifestyle. It’s so great because we all are working together to rid our bodies of toxins and replenishing with all healthy foods and vitamins. It just makes you feel great about your own inner and outer self.

Life is so awesome now that I have found myself. I am embracing life and my surroundings. I am paying attention to the small things and not only trying for the large things. Thank you Lord for waking me up and realizing there is life out there. I love my life.

As my daughter asked.. “Mom, are we rich?” I said, “We are indeed Rich… Rich in LOVE!”

I just wanted to share this with my grateful mommy blogging community. You have been on this ride with me for 3.5 years, and I just wanted to shout from the roof tops.. I have found myself! YES!!!

Day in the Life

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