i'm back. i promise.

After a long vacation from the blog, I plan on getting back in the swing of things.

There have been some major developments that make our life here on the plains a wee bit more interesting.

Here's a quick rundown. More details to come!

• We've moved (across town)! Liam and I bought our first home this summer and moved in over Fourth of July weekend. We love having a place to call our home.
• We're pregnant! We're expecting our first child any day now - as in, Boy Howdy's due on Tuesday! The past nine months have flown by.
• I'm a stay-at-home mom! When it came time to decide what life would look like after the arrival of Boy Howdy, we were committed to me staying at home. It may not be right for everyone, but it's definitely right for us.

Until next time...

(no) snow day

My cell phone gave a door bell chime very early this morning. The school district alert system sent me a text at 4:37 am. Snow day! I excitedly turned off my alarm for the morning and tried to overcome the excitement to fall back to sleep. I thought about getting out of bed to look at the situation outside, but I was just too cozy.

I slept in for the first time in a long time.

Once I got out of bed, I made my way to the front door. I couldn't believe my eyes.

 
The roads were clear. The sidewalks were clear. It was sure snowing and had been for hours, but it was too warm to stick. They had projected we would get over nine inches of snow accumulation. At the end of the day, even the little bit that had collected in the grass was gone. Just five degrees cooler and we probably would have had five or six inches of snow.

I am so grateful for a relaxing, refreshing (no) snow day!

super bowl fun

Liam and I spent Super Bowl weekend with my sister. We also got some good hang-out time in with my sister's bf, my cousin, her husband, and their sweet little man. Lots o' good food and fun!

Speaking of food, my sister and cousin recently started up a food blog. It's so charming and definitely worth a look! You can take a gander at the potato skins that they made for the big game. Delicious!

I was really excited for the Super Bowl. I've been a Green Bay Packers fan for about 13 years. It all began when I got a sweatshirt in Green Bay on family vacation because it was really chilly, and we didn't have heavy jackets with us. I've been a fan ever since. I wore that same sweatshirt to cheer on the Packers for Super XLV.

I became a more devoted Packers fan when K-State's own Jordy Nelson was drafted by the Packers. The Super Bowl Party crowd consisted of all K-State grads. Needless to say, we were so proud of his landmark performance!

See that little guy getting a taste of the potato skins? He's an avid reader of fine cookbooks.

Sometimes he even pulls out his glasses to take a closer look.

He's also a serious fan of self-portraits. So much so that we took 20 self-portraits without one smile from him. All the while, he asked for more by tapping his sweet, little fingers together after each one. He loved seeing himself in each picture along the way!

His lovely mamma even got in on a self-portrait photo op!

Before the end of the night, there was some barnyard play - complete with a charming smile.

happy kansas day!

January 29th = Kansas Day. This January 29th has me especially sentimental since this year marks Kansas' sesquicentennial. I can't say I'd ever used the word sesquicentennial until now. 150 years of a great state!

It was only fitting the Sunflower Showdown fell on Kansas Day. Liam cheered for Kansas State, and I cheered for KU. I can't help but be true to my roots.

I still love a good Rock Chalk chant at the end of another successful game. A KU victory made this Kansas Day even sweeter.

I'll leave you with a passage from the poem A Heavenly Gift by Nancy Julien Kopp:


Over these hills and
across these plains,
the Creator scattered
many-hued wildflowers
and treasured trees in
all the right places.
His mighty hand
carved brooks and
streams alike.

With grateful heart
my prayer of thanks
soars Heavenward from
this very special place
that I call home.

I love Kansas.

hello my name is jenni and i'm a blogging slacker

I am officially back from my spontaneous six-month sabbatical. (Alliteration accidental.) I'm not exactly sure when or why I jumped off the blog ship, but it may have been because of that string of days in July when I was home for only 3 out of 18 days... not to mention visiting 10 states in one summer. Yeah, maybe that was it.

Confession. It's been so long since I last posted that it took me a bit to even remember how to log in and write a post.

Anywho.
I'm back. And still adjusting to writing 2011.


A lot of things have happened in the last six months - most notable of which include:

A visit to see Liam's brother and his wife in Virginia!

A visit to see some wonderful friends in Maryland!

Celebration of two years of wedded bliss to my dear husband!

A new job as secretary at The Learning Center!
The Learning Center is an alternative high school diploma program. We have students ages 14 to 75. The job change led to more hours at higher pay with more working days. I am still mourning the loss of my summer break, as I will now be working year-round. But. It's hard to complain. I like my job and I love my coworkers. Also. It's thrilling to see the satisfaction through the happy tears when our students become high school graduates. What more could I ask for?

A cutie-patootie nephew arrived!

Check out that cuteness factor.


Those are the major highlights. I think. I apologize to any major highlights I may have forgotten. Now that you're all up to speed, stay tuned for some more regularly scheduled blog posts...

Tread on Trafficking is coming to an end

Tomorrow is the last day of the Tread on Trafficking event through Love146. I just got caught up on logging miles. When I began, I wanted to average one mile a day of walking/running/biking exercise for May and June. I'm almost there. I have some work to do today and tomorrow!

More importantly, though, I have raised $65 so far to fund the rescue of children from the sex slavery industry. It may not seem like much, but it is enough to make a difference. A big thank you to those that have donated!

If you are still interested in donating, there's still time!

Visit my donation site to contribute to the efforts of Love146 to end child sex trafficking.

 For more info on the event, check out my initial post on the event and an update.

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey!

introducing: my first quilt

 I've been doing a lot of this lately.

And loving it.

I decided to try my hand at quilting. 

I knew it would be easier to start with a really simple baby quilt.

I am very pleased with my first experiment.

Maybe that's an understatement.

I'm thrilled with my first quilt.

In fact, I stood up and clapped when the sewing machine finished the last stitch.

Clapped.

With no further ado, my very first quilt.

Seriously, guys.

I'm impressed that it even begins to look like a quilt.

I was expecting the first one to resemble a thrown-together mess.

Check out the darling animal fabric.

If you are interested in a baby/toddler quilt, let me know!

I think I'm hooked.

I loved the quilt-making process.

The precision

The detail. 

The art. 

The result.

I see more quilting in the future.

These pictures were taken before the quilt's first washing.

After a cold wash and low-heat dry, the quilt has shaped up well.

The edges flattened smoothly around the batting - no more rippling effect.

It has a slight antiquing finish around the quilted stitches.

It looks nice and snuggle-y.

Quilt specs:

Cotton fabric (preshrunk)

100% cotton batting (preshrunk)

Clear nylon quilting thread

Self-binding

Hours of fun