Just Call Me Aunt Jenni!!!

I’ve been dieing to put this out here but my brother asked that I don’t say anything until everyone knows he and his wife are expecting. He is also a very private person so I am choosing not to talk too much about the pregnancy. But I can chat all day long about how I feel!!!!!

I’ve so excited! They are having twins, a little boy and a little girl. Due sometime in May, possibly earlier because they are twins. I’ve already told my brother that I want to be called Aunt Jenni. It sounds so much more fun than Aunt Jennifer. Jennifer sounds professional and boring but Jenni sounds young and fun! He just laughed.

I am starting to look for toys to buy the babies, just to get an idea what is out there. I keep my eye out for toys that are learning instruments, which I feel is important in the development of a child. My favorite age starts at 2-3 when they start talking and walking. This is the age that they start communicating. become more independent and playing is much more fun.

I’ve been asking around on how I can help them at first. I don’t want to get in the way. Several people have said making food they can heat up in the microwave is a huge help. With twins they will not have the time to cook much for them self’s and frozen dinners from the store get old real quick.

Ms. E explained that it’s important for the parents to spend the first several weeks bonding with the baby’s and getting into a routine so I should stay away from offering to take care of the babies, unless they ask for the help. Let the parent take care of the babies and I could offer to help clean the house, do laundry maybe even do any little errands they need run.

I figure I could help out once a week or every other week depending on every ones schedule. When I make food for myself I can make some extra, throw it into a container and take it over to them. Luckily I live about 2 minutes from them. There are so many people(family and friends) who want to help out that they won’t be hurting for extra hands around the house.

In all honesty, I don't expect to be "needed" very often. I figure if I stay out of the way and make home made food once in a while that will be more helpful than constantly bother them.

Don’t expect to hear too much more about this topic until May, when the babies are born. I’m respecting my brother privacy in this matter.

Christmas...I've lost the Xmas spirit

It was kinda depressing this Christmas day because it didn't feel like Christmas.

I can't really explain it...it just wasn't Christmas on Christmas day. Maybe the weather had a lot to do with it. It was warm and rainy. All the snow that was on the ground had melted away. It was over cast. Just not a pretty day at all.

I normally texted everyone to tell them "Merry Christmas" but this year I only texted those who contacted me first. I was in the bah humbug spirit I guess. Its the day after Christmas and I already took my Christmas tree down! My house is back to normal.

I only time it really felt like Christmas was during my ski trip with Mitch. There was several feet of snow on the ground and snow was still falling. I just wanted to run out to the middle of the parking lot and spin around in a circle with my arms out and eyes closed. Every time it snows I just want to forget I'm a grown up and act like a kid the first time they see snow.

In my mind snow means fun and young and let your hair down and be a kid. The one time in life I don't have to control every little thing. The one time that I don't care if people look at my like I've completely lost my mind. The one time I just don't care!

When we walked out to the truck to go skiing I loved the sound of the snow crunching under my feet. I love the snow flakes falling on my face and turning into cold spots of water. I love how the snow lays on the hair, jacket and gloves and you have to shake it off before you go inside. I love the beauty of the snow falling on to the trees. It's peaceful. It calms my thoughts and relaxes my mind.

Have you ever taken the time and watched how slowly a snow flake falls through the air? There is no sight or sound more beautiful than snow falling through the air.

Best Xmas gift ever!!!

I had the best time skiing in Michigan this past week. Mitch bought me a season pass for my BIG Xmas gift to Caberfae peaks and took me up there for a week trip.

It was perfect. The hotel was so nice, including a hot tub and pool. After the first day of skiing we took a dip in the hot tub and then swung over to the pool.....too cold for me! So I ran back over to the hot tub. The hotel even had a free dryer so you could dry your swim suit. Believe me it is all about the small things:) Another great thing was we were there just before the crowds hit so we were the only ones sitting in the hot tub.

The first day of skiing was a little cold but all the slopes were good. I dared to go down a blue slope and of course I fell and decided against trying that again. Don't worry, I didn't hurt myself. Although I did gt a ton of snow shoved up the back of my coat. Talk about COLD!!! my back was soaking wet by the time we were done.

Mitch took to the blue slopes rather quickly and by the second day that was all he was going down. Yes, Mitch did fall but he didn't let it bother him and he kept trying.

We both used our new ski gear...that was exciting! Although I learned a very valuable lesson. I should have been wearing my boots around the house before I went skiing. The first day my feet were killing me. The second day wasn't so bad. I am going to take them to a boot fitter and see if they can make my boots fit my feet better.

That last day we were there Mitch had to make me stop skiing. I didn't want to stop but my legs were getting tired and if I would have kept going I had a higher chance of hurting my self. I have some pictures but don't have time to post them. I will have to post them later.

Not all the slopes were open however it was still fun. I can't wait to return. Since I have a season lift pass, which also allows us 1/2 off lift tickets at a few other ski resorts I will try to use it as much as I can this year! Only three months left....I better get planning!

Seriously my mind is fryed right now...I will have to give more details about the trip a little later on.

Tis the Season

I've been following another blog and on one of her posts she had decided to give to other bloggers a gift of music!! It's a selection of music that she enjoys and wanted to share with others.

I thought that was a great idea. Music really is a huge part of a persons soul and it can describe who you are as a person or your feelings in a moment.

Yesterday I received the CD in the mail along with the list of songs on stationary and a chocolate candy bar. I was excited to receive the music but when I saw the hand written note and list of songs written on stationary it moved me in a strange way. An actually hand written note. She took the time to write a personal note on some very pretty stationary.

It has been a long time since I've actually received a hand written note in the mail. It was nice for once. Because of technology, I think we all have forgotten the impact of what a hand written note can make on someone.

Long Story Longer has a great spirit and I encourage everyone to visit her blog. She is listed in my side bar.

Jingle Bell Run Finished

I have to say it started out a little rough. I had this great plan of running to my MP3 Player. I bought a new CD and loaded it on my computed. Created a new playlist so I could keep a good pace. Everything seemed to be working well until my MP3 player died. I'm talking completely dead.

Crap! I thought. Now what? One strike was I couldn't get anyone to run with me. The next strike was my MP3 player died. The third strike is the weather was frightfully cold....20 something degree's.

So here I am wondering how I'm going to do this without any mental distractions. I have this hard time with mental blocks. There is always that voice in the back of my head and it aways questions everything I do and at times stops me in the middle of a run.


Little Voice: why in the H#!! are you doing this? Your legs are starting to hurt...you could just walk...just for a minute. Your feet....your back....aren't you just tired? It's freaking cold out here!

Without some type of distraction I wasn't sure how this run was going to go, but I moved forward. I went ahead and drove to the race. I figure since I purchase a new watch and a new running jacket I should actually use them.

It was crazy busy. It seems like there were more people there this year than last year. There was a new location to go to register and the race route was changed a little bit. Which made it a little harder.

We all lined up. The first mile was almost all up hill. They had you turn off on to this side road that had a pretty steep decline just to turn you back around to run up the incline. My first mile I clocked at about 10.30 min mile....which is amazing for me.

The 2nd mile they had a water station, which was not running smoothly. I went to grab some water and there was none. I had to actually stop to get a drink...which I just needed something to wet my mouth. For those who do not run, stopping in the middle of the run can slow you down and it's hard to get back to a good pace.

The 3rd mile was pretty straight and easy to run. I have to wait for the finally posting to find how I actually did but I think I ran about 11 1/2 min mile. Which my goal was a 12min mile.

Outside of a few little hiccups I had a really good run. Now I have to find my next run!

UPDATE!!!
Results are in! I ran an 11:14 min mile (34:55 total)

Wish Me Luck

I'm running the Jingle Bell Run and it's freezing outside. I can't believe I am getting up this early to go out side and run 3 miles.

Oh, Well. It will be fun because there are about 3000 participants so it should be fun:) I will follow up when I get home!

So much to do today. I really need to go shopping and get some xmas gifts because next Sunday is my mom's xmas and I don't have a darn thing bought....really putting me in pinch. So after I run I'm going to shower and run out to the stores. Luckily I know what I want to get for everyone.

VACATION IS FINALLY HERE!!!!

I've been looking forward to my vacation. Work can really stress me out and it will be good to recharge myself. So how am I going to do that you might ask.

Well, of course I will recharge my batteries skiing!!! It's my xmas present from Mitch and we are leaving next week. I'm sure people are tired of hearing me talk about my ski trip...well at least at work.

I can't believe it is already here! I have everything I need to go skiing. The ski resort is open and I am ready to hit the slopes. I could go on and on and repeat myself but I will spare you the redundancy:)

I will definately take pictures and have Mitch take pictures as well. I'm so excited!!!!!

Crazy Neighbors!

Mrs E has these crazy idea's for her daughter birthday party's. Which means her daughter always has the best parties ever! Her daughters 12th birthday party was last night and it was completely crazy.

Let me back it up to about two week ago when I got a call from Mrs. E.

Mrs. E: Hey Jen!
Me: Hey, Mrs E How are you
Mrs. E: I'm good. Hey what are you going to do with all that sand in your driveway?
Me: Well I was going to put it on Craigslist but haven't gotten around to it.
(Seriously, when I was working on my patio the company I called for sand delivered a cubic yard to much. So I had way to much sand in my drive)
Mrs. E: Do you mind if we take it?
Me: ummm, sure
Mrs. E: Don't think we are crazy when you see us wheeling it into our house.
Me: What!? (giggling) Why?
Mrs. E: It's for M's birthday party. I'm doing a beach theme for her.

Of course I asked a lot more questions but my mind was going wild on how this would all workout. She literally had all the sand moved into her front room (which has hardwood floors), moved in some outdoor palm trees and hung up these huge plastic wall pictures that made it feel like you were at the beach next to a beach hut.

The sand was about a foot deep and tapered out about 5 feet or so. Mrs. E also buried some small gifts in the sand and at the end of the night had the kids line up and take turns digging for them....kinda like a treasure hunt.

It was truly crazy. There were about 15 kids there and when I walked in they were all singing karaoke. All the kids played along with the theme and came dressed in beach attire with beach towels in hand. It was so awesome.

Mrs. E has the most creative ideas of parties. If I ever have kid I'm totally calling her for some idea!