Catching Up

Yes, it's been a long time. When I created this blog I had the suspicion that it would become one of the things I start and never finish. Now I'm determined not to let that happen. In an attempt to rectify my laziness, here is a *brief* update of what I've been up to.

Alex's 32nd birthday was November 16th. Since we're both between jobs right now, we didn't do anything big. We went to the Galleria and had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. That evening, we went to Harrah's with my parents. I won and he lost...it was totally opposite of the outcome we usually get when we gamble (which is hardly ever). Overall, I think he had a good birthday.

Last Wednesday we headed up to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws. It was a horrible drive up. It took about 9 hours because of constant rain, traffic in Indiana (my least favorite state), and fog in the dark the last 2 hours of the trip. The visit itself was nice. We hadn't seen his parents since September. The weather was cold--saw my first snow of the season, even though it didn't stick. Thanksgiving was awesome! My mother in-law is an amazing cook, and they had some family & friends over. As usual, it was a night of good food, lots of drinking & dancing! Alex & I went shopping on Black Friday, but we went around noon. We didn't get any Christmas presents, but we found some good deals for us! We got back to St. Louis on Sunday. Next time we go to Michigan will be for New Year's.


We're still looking for jobs. No interviews lately, but I have to believe it's because of the holidays. We remain hopeful that we'll find something soon.

Other than that, we're just getting ready for the holidays. I'm working on my Christmas cards, and this weekend we'll finish decorating the house and maybe start baking. I love this time of year!

I promise to be better at this. I promise to be better at this. I promise to be better at this. There, that's my daily affirmation for today!

I've been tagged

Thanks, Trish! I guess this is your subtle (?) hint that I need to get back to blogging. I get it, and I agree.

8 Random Things About Jenn:

1. I can't roll my tongue. I mean, I can't make the rolling "r" sounds in Spanish. And I speak Spanish. Oddly, I can fold my tongue up like a taco. I have a flexible tongue but I can't make it do anything really useful, except, well...never mind.

2. I'm a SNL freak, classic & new! Just about every conversation reminds me of a SNL sketch. Sometimes I share them with people and they look at me like I'm lame. Maybe I am. But damn, it's so funny!

3. I have moved over 10 times in my semi-adult life. I guess I didn't want to be tied down. Now I'm dying to buy a house and settle down, but I'm afraid I'd get the itch to move again.

4. From the time I was 12 up until about 4 years ago (yay!), I've had anorexia. Now I weigh more than I ever have and I sometimes wish I had the discipline to starve myself. I know that's terrible, but it's true.

5. I've never had Novocaine for any of my cavities. It started when I was little, and now I'm so used to the pain I don't need it.

6. I'm a reality-tv junkie! I watch all those horrible shows like Rock of Love, The Bachelor, America's Next Top Model, etc. Most of the time I know how terrible they are, but I watch anyway. I can't help it--they're entertaining.

7. I'm deathly afraid of elevators, tornadoes, and flying. From time to time, I will ride in an elevator or fly in a plane. I have to be heavily sedated on a plane. I usually just have mini-panic attacks in the elevator. I've never been in a bonafide tornado, but when there are warnings I cry uncontrollably until I pass out.

8. I would love to go back to school. Not for anything in particular, I just LOVE being a student. I could do it forever if only I got paid to do it.

That was a lot harder than it looks.

Our 1st Wedding Anniversary!

Last Sunday Alex & I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year already! It's so weird, sometimes it feels we've been married forever and other times it feels like it was just a month ago.

My mom has been in and out of the hospital with a kidney stone that won't go away (she's going in for her 3rd (!!!) surgery to try to remove it this week), so we didn't go shopping for anniversary presents until the day before. Yes, we went shopping Labor Day weekend. It was insane. I won't even get into the horrible experience I had in the parking lot, but trust me it was hell.

I came home from shopping to find my gift, Part I: a recreation of my wedding bouquet! It was gorgeous and such a nice surprise. I have informed Alex that if he bought me one every year for our anniversary I wouldn't be disappointed!




My parents booked us a room at the Doubletree Hotel in Chesterfield (the hotel we had our reception) for Sunday night, so after breakfast on Sunday we headed out to Chesterfield. We bummed around Chesterfield Crossing until it was time to check in.

It was so nice--we had the room right next to the room we stayed in a year ago. After dinner, we cut into a recreation of the top layer of our wedding cake (so yummy--white with strawberry filling) and had champagne (the bottle we received from the hotel staff on our wedding night). We exchanged presents and had a very, very, romantic evening. It was perfect!

Breaking ground...

I have given in to peer-pressure...I created a blog.

To be honest, I've wanted to start one for some time, but never really felt strongly enough to go through with it. Would people really care enough about what I had to say to read it? Probably not. Then I came to the realization that I'm not doing this for anyone else, I'm doing it for myself. I can consider it "therapy." Hey, it's free!

I'm going through a lot of changes in my life at the moment. I married my best friend 11.11.06. A few months later, we moved from Michigan to Kansas City, Missouri for a temporary job. While in KC, we decided to start trying to have a baby ("TTC" to those in the know!). Our temporary project ended in September, our lease expired in October, and now we're living (temporarily) with my parents in St. Louis. So that's where I am in my life.

This blog will chronicle my journey...my troubles with TTC, my job search, being a semi-newlywed, and whatever else pops up. It won't always be pretty or cheery, but it will be honest. Let the therapy begin!