2014 (October - December)

October

October was definitely my busiest month of the year. I write too much as is, so I like to keep the maximum amount of things I write for each month 3. I could have easily chosen 5 or 6 haha. Anyway, on to some of my best memories from this month!

My nephew turned 4 this month! We went all out and rented a bounce house and had someone come paint faces. It was a Spiderman themed party, so Kenny (my nephew - I don't know if I've mentioned his name yet) LOVED getting his face painted. I researched so many bounce house rentals, and I'm pretty happy with the one we used. It was the cheapest, and it definitely did the job, but it most certainly wasn't the one advertised online.

I laugh whenever I think about this. Like I said, it was a great bounce house, but it wasn't as cool as the one I saw online. Had I thought about it when we actually got the bounce house, I would have said something. I don't know what that would have done, which is why I'm glad I forgot, but I'm still sad we didn't get the one on the left. We still had a fantastic party, so I'm okay with how things turned out :)

This month I finally carved a pumpkin! The last time that happened was in the 90s, back when I was in elementary school. It takes a lot of work and isn't too fun when you're the only one carving (and not doing a very good job), but I am really happy with how it turned out! Before you see the picture, remember: I HAVEN'T CARVED ONE SINCE THE 90s. Lol

Honestly, I am really happy with how this turned out. I wish I would have gone a little slower and not made the cuts so jagged, but it looks really good for not having done this for 15-20 years ;)

The best thing that happened this month was getting family pictures taken! Going to university introduced me to some amazingly talented people. My friends, Kimmee and Jordan, have recently started a photography business, so I contacted them to do family pictures for me. The last time my family had professional pictures taken was in the early 90s. I've wanted family pictures for YEARS. I'm so glad I was finally able to have this done. Here are a couple of my faves:

That handsome little man is my nephew. There are times when all he wants is his picture taken, and then there are times when he throws a fit if the camera is on him. Thankfully, this day was a camera hog day. We had about 82 pictures sent back to us, and he is in at least 79 of them haha.

I have a blog planned to write about White Pine Photography (Kimmee and Jordan's business), but that will be after they get some stuff set up. Until then, if you have any questions about them, let me know! They will gladly answer any questions you have.

November

While October is my favorite month, November holds my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving! I was planning on writing a blog post about it, but I really didn't have anything to say. Maybe next year I will have more to write about the holiday that everyone forgets :P

The first thing about November has to do with my grandma who passed away from lung cancer (I've posted about her before here and here). I have written a blog about how involved with Relay For Life I have been in the past (read that here). While I was at an event one year, I saw a tent that had ribbon decals. I ended up buying a plain white ribbon decal and putting it on my laptop. After a couple years of wear and tear, the decal needed to be replaced.

I contacted my friend's aunt who has a decal business (here is the Facebook page). On the page, there was a picture of a decal with a name as part of the ribbon. I fell in love and knew that's what I wanted. I ended up getting a decal with my grandma's first and middle names, and it looks absolutely amazing.

I'm bummed because my laptop is textured, so the details in the name got messed up while transferring it. It still looks amazing, and the price was great too. For this decal, I paid $4.50 including shipping. And she was really easy to work with. I sent her a message describing what I wanted, we figured a few things out, and it was sent out as soon as I paid. I love it and will definitely go to her with future decal orders!

I haven't seen my best friend in years. She has moved around a few states, and hasn't been to Michigan in a while. We keep in contact on Facebook and texts as often as we can, but we definitely don't talk as much as I would like. She, her ma, and her sister are all pretty crafty, so she was excited to send me a package of gifts! While I have an idea, I'm not entirely sure who made what or who helped out with what, but I do know that I love them all!

She saw my decal and used that as an inspiration for a scarf. Her ma started making the bears a couple months ago, and the pillow is a Christmas gift from last Christmas or the year before...I can't remember. In case you're wondering about the color choices - my favorite color is orange and hers is pink. Whenever we buy or make something for the other, we make sure to have both colors on it somehow.

December

Remember in March, where I posted that Eric Whitacre favorited a tweet of mine? Well, it happened again. I know, 2 favorites within a year. We're pretty much the best friends ever. 

Backstory: Eric has virtual choirs about once a year. He started a few years ago, and I first learned about them when the 3rd one rolled around. I was in VC3, VC4, and Glow. With "regular" virtual choirs (VC1, VC2, VC3, VC4, and the youth choir), anyone who submits a video is in the choir. For Glow, people sent in videos, but not everyone was accepted. The first acceptance was in November of 2013, but then they decided to select more people, and those extras were chosen in December 2013. I wasn't chosen in November, but I was chosen in December. Also, I call it Glow, but it's actually the World of Color Honor Choir (that's such a hassle to say).

I cried (shocking, I know). I had such a confidence boost after I saw I was chosen (not that I've done anything since...haha). Anyway, I was looking through my timehop app and saw that it had been one year since I was chosen. I tweeted him, thanking him for the experience, and he favorited it (here's the YouTube video I posted in the tweet).

As with every other VC I've been in - I didn't see myself in the video -__- at least I'm used to it. If you're interested in any of the virtual choirs, you can definitely ask me, or go to Eric's website here. I wish I still had the recordings of each part that I used to practice. I love dissonance, and when I would practice listening to the tenors, I got chills (I'm an alto).

The final thing for December, and my year, was a surprise visit from my grandparents this past weekend. My ma woke me up on Saturday morning by lightly knocking on my door (I'm such a light sleeper). After a few minutes of trying to fall back asleep (she never said anything haha), I decided to get up and see what she wanted. She ended up telling me that my grandma called and said they were on their way up from Indiana.

I haven't seen them since my graduation in May, because they don't travel up here too often. I was excited to see them, but I was also so confused as to what was going on. I didn't think it was real for the longest time...and 4 1/2 hours later they were here! I always enjoy spending time with them, especially since I don't get to do it often. My grandma called my uncle and even had him come over. I hadn't seen him since my nephew's 3rd birthday. It was nice getting all the family together for some quality time. I wish it happened more often.

Here is a picture of my grandma, my ma, and myself :) (my front-facing camera on my phone is such crappy quality)

2014 was a pretty good year. It is so easy to get hung up on all the bad things that happened, so I'm glad I did these blog posts. I like to be a positive person, and this makes it easier to remember the good. It is something that I can look back on in years and see what happened to me. I can't wait to see what 2015 has to offer! :)


Click here for January - March
Click here for April - June
Click here for July - September


What are your best memories from this past year? I would love to read them!

XOXO
Jen

2014 (July - September)

July

I thought January and February were boring months. Turns out July was the most boring of them all (I hope I didn't just put my foot in my mouth and have an even more boring month coming up haha). Had I not started this blog, I wouldn't have anything to post for July...well, I wouldn't be posting anything at all, I guess ;)

I had blogs in the past that I tried to keep up with, but they never stuck. I never had a set schedule or anything to talk about (hey, just like now). I always quit after a few months and never touched it again. Honestly, I'm surprised I lasted this long with this blog. But I really do like getting my thoughts out there, even if only like 3 people read these. I like looking back and seeing what I thought was important enough to write about, no matter how silly everyone else thought it was, or how much I posted and possibly annoyed people. I've always loved writing out my thoughts, and this is just way easier than actually writing. I blabber way too much for me to hand write (which I'm working on, even though it doesn't seem like it). Anyway, here is what my blog looked like when I first made it:

I don't know how often I'll change up the design, as I'm still figuring out the website, but I do like seeing something new every once in a while. But I like it now, so I'm not going to worry about that any time soon :)

August

I've seen floods before, but I have never seen a flood like the one this month. It wasn't by me, but it was by where I grew up. My hometown always floods some when it rains a lot, but nothing like this. I don't remember too many details, but the freeway was shut down for a long time. I would assume the flood in Detroit was shown in other states on the news, but here's a picture in case it wasn't:

I just Googled 'flood in Detroit' and this picture popped up. It's crazy to me to think the water was actually that high. I get sad when I think of all the people who had a lot of trouble from this. I actually clicked on the 'news' tab in Google and saw an article titled something like '900 houses still haven't been cleaned up from flood' and that makes me even more sad. Those poor people. I also saw another article that said something about the debt from the flood being around $246 million. :( I hope this city is able to turn around soon.

A positive thing that happened this month was a family reunion! I am closer with my dad's family than my ma's, but most of them have moved away. A few of us were commenting on something random at like 1 or 2 AM one night, and we decided we wanted a family reunion. I think my cousin and uncle ended up doing all of the work, but it was so great. They rented a hall and we had karaoke (before I left only a couple people sang besides children). My family is so wonderful and it was fantastic getting to see people I hadn't seen in years:

Cousins: Martin, Taylor, Lisa, Donny, Morgan.

My Aunt Ronda.

My sister-in-law, Jodie.

I know more people took pictures after I left, but I left early because I was with my ma and nephew. Had I been there longer, I would have totally taken more pictures. I love them and miss them all so much!

September

Technically, I ordered my first Naturebox in August, but I didn't receive it until September. I am so glad I started using it, because their snacks really are great. I wasn't consistent with my posts at all (surprised?), but I did post every month I received my Naturebox with a review. I really like them and their program. Click here to go to my first Naturebox review if you're interested :)

Remember from my post in May how I said I had a goal to do a 5K by the time I was 30? Well, I did my second one in September! Jen and Lisa (from the same YouTube channel as my last post that mentioned them) had another Roadie Run in October (I did mine a little early). My time was about 15-ish minutes better than my first, but that's to be expected since my first time I got stopped by traffic lights, talking to people, and a train :P I haven't received my medal yet, but here is some gorgeous scenery that I got to look at while I was walking:

I can't wait to do another 5K. I don't have any desire to do any type of marathon (half or full) or triathlon or anything, but I wouldn't mind continuing 5Ks or maybe a 10K (in the way, way future haha).

Click here for January - March
Click here for April - June
Click here for October  - December


What are your best memories from this past year? I would love to read them!

XOXO

Jen

2014 (April - June)

April

The first thing that happened this month was I got my new phone. I had gotten a phone in June of 2013, but I dropped it on the cement in August? September? Anyway, the LED went out about 7 months later. I called AT&T and was able to get a new phone for just a few extra dollars a month. I went with the same phone (Galaxy S4 Active), just in a different color. I had quite a chuckle once I named my phone (really, did I have any other choice?):

Anyway, the phone works great, and I am super thankful that I have always gotten super helpful customer service reps when I call AT&T.

The next thing I remember from April is visiting my elementary school.

Here's a back-story: In April of 2013, I had to write a Target grant for one of my reading classes (I wanted to be an elementary school teacher and had a reading minor). In August of 2013, I received an email saying I got the grant! My elementary school has a lot of ESL (English as a second language) students, so I helped them get a few copies of a program called Heidi Songs (they already had 1 copy, I think) to help teach the students through music.

I was able to visit the students in April, and I was given a gift of beautiful notes from each student. 1 set of notes was from the beginning of the year, and there was another note from April. I was able to see the progress that had happened from using the program, and I cried. All of the students were absolutely precious, and there is one story that has stuck with me:

One Kindergarten student came in at the beginning of the year speaking absolutely no English at all. By April, he was at the top of his class because of Heidi Songs.

I ended April on a good note: spending Easter with my nephew. I have either been away at school, or my nephew was with his parents for Easter. This year he was here, and I had a blast setting things up for him and getting everything ready for when he woke up. We did a couple different projects and got him really excited for the day. I think my favorite was coloring eggs with him. He's so precious and makes me so happy (the eggs say 'Kenny' and 'Auntie Jen').

May

I hit 2 of my big goals in life in May. The first goal was that I wanted to do a 5k before I turned 30. Well, I did my first 5k on May 10th, 2014 :) I have two friends, Jen and Lisa, who have a YouTube channel. They did the first 'Roadie Run' in May, and I decided to take part. It was a virtual 5k, so people were able to do the 5k from wherever they were in the world. Here is the medal I received :) :)

The second, and most important, goal I hit in May was that I graduated from university! I started in community college (graduated with an AS) and went to university after. Since I couldn't afford to go back my final year, I didn't think it would ever happen. But I finally did it (8 years after graduating high school), and I was the first person in my family to receive my bachelors degree (I graduated with a BA). I also received my first bouquet of flowers ever from my aunt and uncle (can you tell my favorite color is orange? Shorty is a nick name I have for my aunt):

June

My birthday month! I'm not one of those people who celebrates a birthday month, not even a birthday week, but I do enjoy when it rolls around. I happened to turn 26 this birthday. I don't feel 26. I know it's not old, but it's weird to think I'm actually 26...can I say 26 enough? Haha.

The first thing that happened this month that is super exciting for me, and probably boring to everyone else, is I started cross stitching this month! I have three friends, Kristian, Melodie, and Hannah, who are really into sewing and cross stitching and they got me interested. I've always loved being crafty, but I've never been good at being crafty...does that even make sense? Anyway, I bought my first cross stitching kit and made a little duck. I ended up LOVING it, so I invested in a bunch of thread and cloth, and I have made a few of projects since. I gave the duck to my nephew, and it's somewhere in his bedroom at home:

I also started Shaklee this month. I have talked about Shaklee before, and I will talk about Shaklee again (I actually already have a blog post in mind, I just need to do the work for it first) because I love it. I haven't been too involved lately (I got really busy at nights, but now my nights are super free, so I'll start up again), but the people are amazing and they make me feel great about myself.

I was actually told about Shaklee in May, but I didn't get any products until June. I did their learn and earn program, and got some products to try and I loved them. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford any more products because I had no job, but they were willing to work with me, help me, and give me advice anyway. They're really great :) Since my reason for trying Shaklee was weight loss, I got some of their weight loss stuff, and I lost about 5-6 pounds in the 2 weeks I was using their products. I can't wait to get back into the groove of things and talk with my Shaklee peeps more :) I miss them in my life! Here is what I tried for those 2 weeks:

If you're interested in Shaklee, please let me know! It's not just for weight loss, so I can give you all the information I have, and if I can't figure something out for you, I know plenty of wonderful people who can ;)

Click here for January - March
Click here for July - September
Click here for October - December

What are your best memories from this past year? I would love to read them!

XOXO

Jen

2014 (January - March)

I have seen people on YouTube make videos reflecting on the past month or year, and I decided I wanted to do that with my blog. I think it will be something really cool to look back on later in life and see what my year was like :) Enjoy reading about my year!

*Since this will be so long, I'm splitting it up into multiple blog posts*

January

This was a pretty uneventful month for me (as are most months - I live a boring life to most people, but I'm okay with it lol). I was SUPER sick from the end of December through the beginning of January. Snowmageddon was also happening, so when I wasn't inside staying away from the cold, I was outside in the cold, shoveling. We have a huge driveway (it's 'u' shaped), so whenever I shovel it takes a few hours, along with a few breaks. One of my favorite things to do during winter is to stay inside while watching a movie and drinking a hot cocoa. Here is a picture collage I made of one day when I did just that (this is a tree in my backyard, my favorite musical, and one of my favorite mugs):

I also tried doing pen pals this month. I still really like the idea, but it didn't work out. I sent out like 10 letters, and got like 3 back...and I don't know if I ever replied to any haha. I really love the idea of having a pen pal, but if I don't write back as soon as I get a letter, I just forget. I should try that again and randomly send people cards :)

One final thing that happened in January is not something I haven't talked about on this blog. I'll probably write about it this upcoming January, on my 2 year "anniversary" (I feel really weird calling it that). Long story short: I had a benign tumor in my jaw removed on January 15th, 2013. It was a huge surgery, and part of my lip / chin is still numb. But there is no sign that it has returned! :)

February

Is February boring for everyone? Looking back on this month, I only see a couple things that stick out to me. One is a funny story (to me), that involves shoveling:

As I mentioned in January, we have a huge 'u' shaped driveway. Our street is also pretty busy, so we get a lot of snow stuck at the ends of our driveway. For me to shovel them, I have to wait for traffic to die down a little and shovel as fast as I can so I don't get hit. If we don't shovel the driveway enough, the snow gets pushed down and freezes to the ground because of the driving my family does going in and out of the driveway. This particular day, some snow plows were going down the street. I backed away from the ends of the driveway just to be safe and out of their way (I was like halfway up the driveway). Well, I didn't back up far enough, because I got dirty, disgusting, mushy snow thrown all over me when they drove by. And some of it went in my mouth. I know they weren't aiming for me (or were they?), but I had never been that angry while shoveling before. I think I stopped after that and quit for the day haha.

A positive thing that happened this month is I won a free book! Ever since I heard about Anne Frank in elementary school, I have been really interested in her story and The Holocaust in general. There is a Holocaust museum around here, and I like their page on Facebook. They were having a contest for a book and had three trivia questions. I answered one of them correctly and won a free copy of Through Eva's Eyes!

Here is the website for the book.

March

3 really big things happened for me this month: my final undergraduate class started, my petition to walk at graduation was granted, and Eric Whitacre favorited my tweet. Let's get to the stories:

Really long story short, I maxed out my financial aid and couldn't return to SAU my final year. Since I had been in college for so long, one of the lovely people who works in student development told me about a different program that meant I would only have to take one more class to graduate with a different degree. I went that route and had one final class from March - April!

Another thing I had to do with school was petition to walk at graduation. Since I wasn't a traditional student anymore, I had to go through some extra steps in order to get everything together. I had to get a 'C' or better in my class in order to walk, and *spoiler alert* I got a B+ :)

The final big thing that happened this month (and probably one of the highlights of my life) was when Eric Whitacre favorited my tweet. I'm not even sorry for the fan-girling that happened when I saw the notification. For those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing who he is, Eric Whitacre is a Grammy-winning American composer and conductor. Look him up. Even if you don't like choral music (how can you not?), you will appreciate his music. Promise.

Anyway, the choir from SAU (I almost wrote "my choir" :( I really miss it) had the opportunity to perform with a bunch of different choirs in New York, and Eric (look, I sound like we're besties) was the conductor for the concert. I have never wanted to be in choir as much as I wanted to then.

If you're interested in learning more about Eric, here is his website (I suggest you look at the virtual choir stuff...I may or may not have been in a few ;) *3, 4, Glow*).

Click here for April - June
Click here for July - September
Click here for October - December

What are your best memories from this past year? I would love to read them!

XOXO

Jen

NatureBox! (4)

This month was a good month of snacks. This is the first time I have actually liked everything in my box :P


Italian Bistro Pretzels:

This snack contains wheat and milk.

I was recommended this snack by someone who runs the Naturebox Twitter account. I'm not sure if more than one person does, so I'm not sure who told me. But this snack was recommended to me because I didn't like one of the snacks I received a couple months ago. I LOVE these pretzels. I know I've stated before that I'm a big fan of pretzels, so I'm extra glad I got these. I really taste the garlic with these, not so much the parmesan. They taste like really hard garlic bread.

The only downside is that they're SUPER hard and I have sensitive teeth, so I can only eat a couple at a time, but I guess that's a good thing ;)

Here is the Naturebox page for this snack on their website.

This snack expires on January 29, 2015
I give this snack 9/10

Country Ranch Sunflower Kernels:

 
This snack contains milk.

These are really good! This snack honestly tastes just like sunflower kernels with a hint of ranch. I have my dad taste the snacks every month, and he said these taste just like regular sunflower kernels - he doesn't taste any ranch. I can understand that because the ranch isn't overpowering, which is nice. I've had other snacks that were ranch flavored, and that's all I tasted. These are a nice mix of the two!

Here is the Naturebox page for this snack on their website.

This snack expires on February 10, 2015
I give this snack 7.5/10

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Pretzels:

This snack contains milk, soy, and wheat.

I was most excited to try this snack this month. As I've stated plenty times before: I love pretzels. I also love blueberry flavored things. If you have ever had a yogurt covered pretzel, this tastes just like that, except blueberry...haha. If you have never had a yogurt covered pretzel, just know that it tastes nothing like actual yogurt. I absolutely hate yogurt, but yogurt covered pretzels are really good to me.

Like the Italian Bistro Pretzels, the only downside is that these are really hard and crunchy, and I have sensitive teeth. Other than that, these are delicious!!

Here is the Naturebox page for this snack on their website.

This snack expires on May 29, 2015
I give this snack 9/10


Would you like to try Naturebox? For every box they deliver, they donate one meal through Feeding America to help the millions of Americans who go hungry. I have a personal code that you can enter at checkout if you decide to try! When you enter this code, you automatically get $10 off your first box! :) Go to Naturebox (click the link), choose your plan, enter your information, enter your billing information, and enter the code 4QKM-78A :)

If you can't get the code to work, let me know and I will try and figure something out! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me! :)


Click here for my first Naturebox review.
Click here for my second Naturebox review.
Click here for my third Naturebox review.

XOXO

Jen