Maybe she's born with it; Maybe it's not worth it if she isn't!

The more I think about it, the more I realize I HATE makeup.

Seriously, I just wish I could spend a few minutes with the person who decided women should wear make up on a daily basis, or even at all for that matter! Does it make some people look better? Yes. But we wouldn't know what we were missing if someone had never invented it. I really just feel makeup and the whole makeup process is flawed.

1. We pay for bottles or gunk to cover our pimples. This gunk occasionally gets clogged in pores which causes pimples. So why not avoid the whole thing to begin with?!
2. Again, we PAY for this stuff to make us look 'pretty'. But most of the time, whatever it is we want to get 'pretty' for, isn't right outside of our bathroom mirror. So by the time we get to whatever it is requiring makeup, it doesn't even look the same as it did to begin with.
3. The same makeup we spend time putting on has to come off of our face before we go to bed. So we spend time and money to put makeup on our face that in just a few hours has to be washed off!

It is so frustrating to me!!!! I think the reason it is so frustrating to me is because I can't seem to make myself quit wearing it. As much as I complain about it, you would think I wouldn't wear it. But I do! Mostly because everytime I say to myself, "Self, we are through! No more wearing makeup!", I see some gorgeous, makeup wearing, woman walk by making me want to hide my face. It's a terrible cycle!

I am also fully aware of the fact there are some women who LOVE makeup. I know they love everything about it. But they can write about how much they love it on their blog, and I will write this on mine. :)

Learning Something New

It never ceases to amaze me how true the following statement is, "You learn something new everyday." I have known this for a long time now, but sometimes I think I get suprised by the things I'm learning. Let me give you an example.

Today, I kept a very close eye on my husband. Things have been kind of crazy in our house lately, and as a worrying wife, I felt it was my duty to make sure he was okay. The more I watched him, the more I learned.

I have known for just a few weeks shy of two years, my husband is an amazing man. But today as I watched and analyzed, it blew my mind. The man is so incredibly loving, forgiving, concerned, protective, gentle, genuine, and I could go on and on and on. I have loved that man for a good while now, but I am stunned at how I continue to fall deeper in love with him on a daily basis.

So today, I learned, not only is he an amazing person, he loves and lives with the most amazing heart I have ever seen. Which basically makes me the luckiest girl in the world! :)

I'm a weird person, which I am sure comes as no suprise. (The previous statement will act as an advance warning to tell you this blog entry may seem a bit strange.)

I'm a logical thinker. I don't like to say things I don't mean. I like to know everything about a situation before acting. I also extremely dislike lying or anything that may be proven untrue at any moment.

I've had a very long week. I have said several statements today causing me to question whether I really meant it or not. So as I sat down at the computer, I decided to visit good ole dictionary.com. Some of the definitions I found reminded me of a quote from Dr. Suess's character, Horton : "I said what I meant, and I meant what I said..."

First, I said, "I am so full of frustration."

Frustration- a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.

So yes, yes I am.


Second, I said, "I am just so done."

Done- worn out; exhausted; used up.

Yep, that pretty much explains it.


Finally, "I'm just emotionally spent."

Spent- tired; worn-out; exhausted.

Seeing as the last is almost exactly the same as the second, I think it is safe to say it is true.


After all my super in-depth research, I think it is safe for me to say these three things and be completely assured 'I said what I meant, and I meant what I said.'

Memaw

There are so many people in my life I adore. There are so many people in my life I strive to be like. There are so many people in my life I respect. There are so many people in my life considered to be 'my favorite'. But there are three women sitting at the top of every good list I have. No matter what is going on in my life or theirs, they constantly shape my daily life. Whether they know it or not, my momma, my mawmaw, and my memaw made me the Jenn Jenn I am today.

I am more like these three women than I could ever tell you. I could write a million blogs, and never come close to describing the relationship I have with each of these beautiful women. They are thoughtful, kind, loving, gentle, talented, smart, beautiful, funny, and the list could continue for days. Each of them hold a very special place in my heart. Hopefully, at some point, I will be able to write about each of them on separately to explain the amazing qualities each of these women contain, as well as, the impact they have had on my life.

Today, I spent some time with my favorite group of old ladies. You may remember a story I told you about Julia and Claire from the last time I met with them. Each month when we meet, I walk away with a huge grin on my face and plenty of stories to tell. This group of women consists of eighteen-twenty ladies. The ages of our group range from 90 something to 23. I, of course, am the 23 year-old. The next youngest after me is in her late 50's. This is one of my most favorite crowds, because they tell the best stories and spend as much time at the doctor as I do.

At our meeting today, as we stood to open our meeting in prayer, every time we recited a word, I heard a little poot. It took every ounce of self control I have to keep from letting my giggles escape. Not only because I'm still immature and laugh at 'natural body noises', but because there was a poot to accompany the first syllable of every word of The Lord's Prayer.

After the prayer, we sat down, and I tried to remain composed. Right when I was about to reach the composed mark, I remembered a story from my memaw.....

She told it like this:

"Oh Jenn! I was in North Carolina visiting your uncle, and oh I embarrassed your cousin. While your uncle was at work, your cousin and I went shopping downtown. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I tripped over a piece of broken concrete. And when I hit that dern piece of concrete, every step I took pushed me a little further to the ground until your cousin grabbed a hold of my arm. And as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, with every step I took, I pooted. I had those dern walking farts as I tripped down the sidewalk! I thought your cousin was just gonna die!"

I hope, after reading this, you understand why I had a hard time containing my giggles.

And just in case you are wondering, my memaw probably won't kill me for writing this where other people can read it, simply because she is where my momma and I obtained our audacity.

Sweet-n-low

As some of you know, I have a starbucks addiction I battle every now and again. I can proudly say over the past year, it has gotten better. Maybe the main reason I feel it has improved is because my new drink of choice is at least two dollars cheaper than a caramel macchiato with an extra shot. Now, I just get coffee with caramel and a sweet-n-low. This new drink is so easily imitated. I can get the same thing at McDonalds for one dollar or even cheaper at a gas station. The only problem I seem to run into is not every place has sweet-n-low. This is so strange to me. Then again, sweet-n-low and I go way back.......

(As soon as my husband reads this blog, he will probably say, "I wouldn't have told anyone that...")

When I was in the seventh or eighth grade, my older sister and I helped a lady who went to our church with her wedding catering business. She would decorate the tables, bake the cake, and provide several different kinds of food. I don't really remember what all I did to help, but I remember thinking it would be so much more fun if there were such a thing as cute, comfortable shoes.

One particular wedding we helped with was about 30 minutes from the town we lived in. I don't remember too many details of the wedding. But I do remember as it got closer to time the wedding was to start, there were only a few things left to do before guests arrived. One of the last tasks was setting up the table with the coffee. To help with the final table, I was asked to put the sugar, sweet-n-low, and equal in a white glass bowl.

I was almost finished putting them all in the bowl, when I began to think. I could not figure out how people were going to be able to tell the difference between the three. So I asked the other ladies in the kitchen with me. In response to my question a lady answered by telling me each packet was a different color. I told her I understood that, but all the individual crystals were white. I had opened each packet and poured them into the bowl. Oops.

After that special incident, I was known as 'sweet-n-low' to several ladies working the same wedding.

Easter

I can't believe it has been almost a week, and I haven't written about my Easter!It was so busy, but so wonderful!

It was such a beautiful day! As I look back on the whole day now, I'm overwhelmed by the presence of God in my life. Not only do I attend a wonderful church, but I have a wonderful church family who I love to worship with. Not only was I able to worship with my family in one service, but I was lucky enough to worship with my family in all three services. It was such a wonderful day, with a wonderful family, worshipping a wonderful God!

And after church, I hosted my very first holiday family meal! It was so good! There were eleven people at our house. Everyone from my side of the family was here. My sisters (and my older sister's boyfriend), my niece, my parents, and my grandparents joined me, my husband, and our nephew for lunch! I was so excited to get to cook for everyone. Recently, I have discovered I love to cook, and I felt Easter would be a wonderful time for me to share all my new favorite recipes! We had grilled chicken, some plain ( and by plain I mean Jeffy mixed seasonings to marinate them in) and some bbq ( I make my own bbq sauce, and I must say it is very good!). We also had sausage grilled in bbq sauce, ranch roasted potatoes, creamy brocolli and cheese, macaroni and cheese for KayKay, and rolls. For dessert, I made blueberry cheesecake bars, lemonade pie, and my mom brought a pineapple upside down cake. If success from a dinner is measured by how many people left the table groaning because they ate too much, my first holiday meal was a definite success!

It was such a wonderful day! I hope all of you had a wonderful easter as well!

It's Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baseball season is my most favorite season of all!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! And it isn't just Major Leagues I love. I love high school baseball, because I usually know the players. I love college baseball, because I love the sound of the ball hitting an aluminum bat (not to mention the Tigers and the Razorbacks). This year, I love the Cal Ripken League in Bentonville, because my nephew is playing in it. And finally, I love Major Leagues, because it's MLB! Duh!

So here is the 411 on my MLB preferences:

My Favs are: (in order starting with most fav) New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves

The teams which cause me to throw up in my mouth are: Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs

Honestly, I could talk all day about why my favorites are my favorites and why those three 'unmentionables' make me throw up in my mouth. I mean this is something I am very passionate about. Also, my absolute most favorite day of the year is always the day of the Home Run Derby! I stinking love the Home Run Derby!

So I have been waiting since my nephew tried out for his league to find out what team he would be on so I can make tshirts and a wreath for my door and all that good stuff. Finally, earlier in the week, we found out what his team would be. From across the living room, I hear my husband mumble, "Oh no..." So at that moment, I knew I wasn't going to like the next think he would say. He proceeded to tell me this year our nephew's league would use MLB teams. And naturally our nephew is on the Cubs. There are no words to describe how low my heart sank when I heard my husband.

Of all the teams, my nephew would end up on one of those 'unmentionable' teams. Of course, because that is just how my life goes...

Open Mouth. Insert Foot.

Around our house, we constantly battle our toilets. By we, I mean my husband and nephew. You can almost bet every time they spend more than five minutes in the restroom, you had better find the plunger. I like to joke about it, but I have to admit – when I feel Crohn’s coming on, I don’t want to spend time on a toilet already clogged.

After a lot of taunting and teasing around the house, I began to see the root of the problem. Because I have Crohn’s disease, I spend a lot of time bonding with toilet paper. So after a few years of Crohn’s disease, I only want soft toilet paper. Unfortunately, most soft toilet paper is thick. This fact has never been a problem for me. I’ve never had issues with the toilets in this house. However, the boys just can’t seem to win the battle with the toilet. I finally realized they were using a whole roll every time they go!

Of course, like a man, they both say they don’t use that much. Okay. I believe you. 
A few days after this brilliant discovery, I go to put my hair in a ponytail before going out for breakfast. As I walk in to the bathroom, Jeff is finishing his morning business. As I finish my hair, I turn around and see my husband pulling half a roll off the paper!

In shock, I yell, “Jeff, that’s a ton of toilet paper!”

In response, he yells back, “You’re a ton!”

Wow. Just what every woman wants to hear from their husband when they have been awake a whole ten minutes.

Open Mouth. Insert Foot.