You Might Be a Horrible Person If...

1. You went to a good friends wedding and re-gifted a gift you were given at your wedding - 4.5 years ago.

2. You wrapped the WEDDING present in CHRISTMAS wrapping paper.

3. The card was bought 5 mins before it was put on the gift table.

- The only saving grace was we put some money in the card. :) - so we can't be that horrible.

So little time

We have so little time left here in Kentucky, and it kinda sucks. We have known we will be moving for, well, ever. We knew residency would lead to a fellowship. And we knew the fellowship would not be in this beloved state.

And so to phx we go. I know it will be a great adventure, BUT I just wish I had known about 'the move' later.

I like to get things in order because they overrun my thoughts if I don't get it done.  aka... I can't stop thinking about all the questions that lay in the future. and I know that when we get to that decision making time it will be easy and clear and what will be will. However right now I'm going crazy with questions.

Will we sell Jared's car before the move? Will Jared finally get his truck? Will we need someone to help us drive across the country? Will I fly out to phx to find a rental place to live? Or will we hang with our parents and find something later? With that comes... what about all our STUFF?  How will we move it? Pods? ABF? Moving company?  But if we don't have a place right away to move into we will have to 'move' it all twice. - and will we have enough time or help to get it done?  What about selling the house here?  When will be put it on the market? Will it sell? There is so much to do!  When will I put in my 2 weeks notice? Will I find a job in az?  When should I start looking? When does Jared have to take boards? What will we do about insurance in the job gap? What about all the cost?  When should I start packing? Should I do a yard sale and try to make some dough or just goodwill everything?

And so these questions sit and dwell and eat away at me.  I can't make any decisions because one depends on another and the other is time sensitive.
I have lost my love of running because this is all I think about. OVER and OVER. (just a little ocd).  And I stress about things I can't do anything about. I look at the poor nursing job situation in phx and am frustrated.  I look into transferring our licenses and am confused.  I see how expensive the truck Jared wants and laugh. (Like that will happen).
I think of what I am leaving. The people, the seasons, the green, the kindness, the waves from strangers, the rainy days, the horse fields, everything... and cry.

I realize I have fallen in love with this 'place', but that I must move on. I will love another.

I finally realized all this when talking to Jared. I'm WAY TO STRESSED about the whole thing. So I prayed  and it came to me that - It will happen whether I stress or not. Things will come together and it won't be a bad thing. Something good will come of all of this. I will end up loving every place I go to because that is my attitude. Everything will be ok. Enjoy the time I have now, here, because that is what is important. The good memories of 'my old kentucky home'.

2%

Love Jared.. but, 

He has a bad habit. 

Nothing like smoking, drinking etc. Not at all. My problem (or his problem) is that he LOVES to embarrass me in front of other people. 

Today he gave a talk (great by the way) in the singles ward. I went because ... well otherwise I would be alone.

He said some things... including:

'that is my wife.  She is married. Please don't take her home with you.'

Ugh

I gave a thumbs up to EVERYONE looking at me. And then the people around me proceeded to pat me on the back and tell me I was 'safe here'.   etc... It ended with my red face, and Jared laughing.

This would not be the first time he has embarrassed me in church. OH NO. He teaches Sunday school in church and is always saying something to the effect of  "If I could convince my wife to let me get a truck... I would use it for lots of good things like... helping the scouts blah blah blah.." 

Of course after these lessons I usually have 3-5 people laughing and talking to me about the 'forbidden truck' or whatever...

So when we were on our way home I confronted this bad habit. 

It went something like this...

Jen "Why do you ALWAYS make fun of me. EVERY time you talk in front of people?"  

Jared "It is fun to watch you be embarrassed. You are the easiest person to embarrass and you make it so fun"

Jen "Its not fun for me!

Jared " I always try to say something to embarrass you."

Jen "You ALWAYS do??"

Jared " Well, like 2% of the time, but it works 100% of the time"

Cursed am I to be doomed to a life of embarrassment. 

Oldham County Tri

Again this year, we did the Oldham County Triathlon. (400meter swim, 10mile bike, 3k run)

It is a lot of fun!  This year instead of having FREEZING cold water (like last year) it decided to rain and blow on us. It made for a fun experience.

Jared ended up doing GREAT!!!! With 1st place in his age group!!!

I did about the same as last year (although a better time) and I got second in my age group!

It was a bit scary on the bike because of the slick road conditions and fallen debris all over the road... not to mention the crazy wind throwing us around. But Jared and I were careful and both decided a broken ___(insert whatever bone here)___ would not be worth pushing it too hard.

Jared did witness one person slide out on his bike...  Jared slowed down a bit.

It did stop raining for the end portions of the race. (which was nice not to have to run in the rain.)

Overall, it was very fun, and if we were going to be here next year we would do it again.

Oh and did I mention I got a new bike!  Woohoo! So nice! - Thanks Jared...
(and just in case we forget what brand the bike is... It has its name on it 27 times!!!! yes we counted. CRAZY MARKETING!)

Sorry I didn't get more pictures of Jared.... sorry honey!
- but thanks for the vid of me... I think...

Dx Day

Today was the day we got the diagnosis - 4 years ago.

A brain tumor that would change our lives.

In most ways we have become stronger as a couple,
                      although I know I still have obstacles to overcome because of it.

Happy Dx Day Jared!

My Dream Come True

So... this is not your normal "dream come true" story. Why? Because I'm not your normal 'dream come true' person.

Since I was the ripe age of ... oh about 10 or 11, there was a new girl in my class. Her name? Erin. She was kinda shy, but nice and always wore her hair in a bun.  I was very shy and quiet so we never really got to know each other.

What does this have to do with your 'dream come true' may ask?  Keep reading...

So, picture day came upon us.  And we went to P.E.  (of course) to get all sweaty and beautiful for our pictures the next hour.
We did our run and such physical exertion and then came in to the locker room to 'change out'.

Everyone was busy doing their make-up and getting all pretty. Me?  I just changed my shirt.
(High Maintenance) -

CHECK THESE OUT!

4th or 5th grade -yeah, I had a perm. Do the youngsters even know what that is now days?

5th grade (from little kid....

...to awkward)  6th grade

(of course my mom kept my awesome bangs from moving with lots of hairspray - Thank you.)

So - back to the topic at hand.
Erin was there in my P.E. class.  She was at the mirror and took down her bun, and her hair started to unwind and fell.... and fell, and fell until the ends were past her waist.

EVERYONE WAS LIKE... WHHHHAAAATT???? Where did that come from????


And so from humble beginnings came my 'dream'.  To have a bun so often that no one knew how long my hair really was... and then WOAH! I would wear it down one day and people would be so surprised!!!!
(Silly and slightly immature?... yes - but I can't help it.)

So my 'dream' - you may call it a bullet point on my bucket list - sat dormant for YEARS until...

It came true... although not really as I had thought.

At work I will wear my hair in a bun - for a couple reasons.
1. No one likes poop with c-diff in their hair
2. Crazy patients like to grab and pull hair
3. No one likes poop in their hair...
4. No one likes urine with MRSA in their hair
5. And really... I'm just too lazy in the morning to dry my hair and make it look decent- so it is actually a wet bun that is usually still wet and smelling like mildew after 14 hours -ew.

So people at work call me a ballerina because of 'the bun' - (another dream I have always wanted, but with my first ballet class at BYU at the age of 19 that dream was quickly extinguished).

At work...  It was 3, 12's in a row. Meaning I had the same patients for 3 days.  The 1st and 2nd days were 'bun' days. The 3rd I wore a pony tail. - and the patients were like...

'WOAH. You have long hair...  So... my pain medicine...'

It really only lasted... 5 seconds, but 5 seconds of pure joy.
And I saw stars.... My dream; Come true.

Our Table

This is our kitchen table. Not so good for eating at.

Jared is one busy guy. When he is not working he is either studying for boards, preparing for his Sunday lesson... 

OR

Being a goof- ball.

Love me some Jared.