Happy New Year! 2012 Edition

I guess I'll follow suit and write about the New Year today....

I am so glad to kick 2011 out the door.  There were some wonderful highs, but mostly the year was a turbulent ride of lows. In the last few days of 2011, various memories of the year were flashing through my head, and to say good bye to 2011, I want to share a few with you.

My Dad, next to my Mom's hospital bed, holding her hand, just looking at her, watching, make sure she would get everything that she needed.

My Mom, standing up at my graduation when they asked all the parents of the graduates to stand!  I love you, Mom!

Finally finishing college and earning my second degree!

Many, many memories of my wonderful trip to Ireland. My first flight, the gorgeous landscape in Doolin and the busy streets of Dublin. What a wonderful trip, and I look forward to doing more travel in Europe in the future!

Moving into Spartan Village (bad)

Moving out of SV and into our house (good!)

A friend of mine being diagnosed with cancer for the second time.

My maternal grandpa having some health issues.

My paternal grandpa being diagnosed with cancer for the third time.

Running in my first official 5K!

Adam passing out on me after crashing his bike.

Riding my first 100 mile ride (century)!

Courtney got married!

Making my 10% weight loss (again)!

Being unemployed

Finding a temp job that I love!

And adopting the mostest adorablest dog, evar!

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Now that that's done, things I hope to happen in 2012!

I am within range that if I stick to it, I will be at my goal weight sometime in 2012.  Probably not by my birthday, but close.  I am so excited. Even though many people think 135 lbs is too low for me, it is smack dab in the middle of my healthy range for my height. I plan to try to get to 135 lbs, and if I can't maintain that, then I will be more than happy to gain a bit to stick around in the 140s.  Unfortunately, I will probably be able to gain that easier than Adam is able to put on the weight he needs to put on...

And job stuff. That I can't talk about yet.

No hospital visits needed for anyone! (Except birthin' babies, that's ok. And no, I'm NOT pregnant)

Some monetary goals that Adam and I have.

Also, Lions should win the Superbowl!

Just have fun.

2012, let's have some healthy, good, old-fashioned fun!

http://departments.bloomu.edu/solve/img%5CKidsFun.jpg

"Every day is full of opportunities, how will you make a difference today?" -DB

Back from Vacaaaaaation!

Hellooooo!  I am back from 10 sandy and mostly sunny days at the beach from Hoeft State Park, the best State Park in Michigan.

My apologies to all who thought I may have disappeared for good this time, especially my new reader from Wide Lawns, Dawn.  (Hi Dawn!)  I didn't want to post that I was going on vacation as it didn't seem wise, but I have no qualms in telling you I have returned.  I would have posted that I was at least taking a hiatus from blogging, but the days leading up to our departure were rather hair-raising and didn't leave a whole lot of time for posting.

This vacation was particularly important to my family as we weren't sure that my mom would be with us for this one.  But we are very glad that she is and we can continue our family ritual of camping at Hoeft for 20 straight years, woo!

And a big kudos to a Mrs. Esther Gibbs who has been camping at Hoeft for 60 consecutive years.  They threw her a party :)

Alright, back to more regularly scheduled (and far more freckled) programming!

It's That Time of Year

Graduation time, of course!

I graduated May 7 from CMU with a Bachelor Degree in Theatre, Interpretation and Dance.  As I have mentioned before, I learned so much in the last year and a half.  I loved my time in the theatre department at Central.

But that is not what this post is about.

My parents, who are totally awesome!, decided that they would get me an Amazon Kindle for completing my undergraduate education.  THANKS MOM AND DAD!!



I have had it for about four days and I love it.

I mean, I knew I would, but I mean, I LOVE IT.

Of course, there are things I would like to see improve, but I will start with the positive.

First, I love that I have a Kindle.  And it has my name on it.  I'm also craaaazy.

Second, I love that they offer some books for free at varying times!  I like to expand my horizons, and if I can find new authors to love without going broke, I will!  I mean, I got like 50 books for free last night!  Ok, maybe not 50, but a lot.  I spent my evening downloading and organizing into collections, which is another feature I like.  I like being to able to go from having 8 or 9 pages of books listed out to a little over one page of collections.  And you can add books to more than one collection.  For example, I can put Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau in History and in non-Fiction.  Or any of Jane Austen's works into Classical Literature and Jane Austen (I love her, so she gets her own collection.  So does Nora Roberts.)

There are so many books that I would love to read, that I am now able to read because they are free on the Kindle.  Some I read in High School that I want to read again, so I can better understand them, some I haven't had the time to read before, but now I do and I don't have to carry it around with me and try and fit a huge book in my purse.

I also like (most) of the book prices.  I wonder what the point of having a Kindle is, if a paperback copy used or new, is so much cheaper than the digital copy.  But then there are shining examples of awesome.  For example, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything That Your American History Book Got Wrong by James W. Loewen is $4.55 for the Kindle Edition and the list price is $26.95.  That is what you expect from getting a digital copy that requires no paper or shipping.  It is also a very interesting read so far.



But then we look at Nora Roberts' books.



I just purchased Vision in White on recommendation from a friend (Hi Lisa!  I really enjoyed it, a really nice, feel good story, just like you said :-) ) and it was $12!?!  The list price? $16.  The paperback price? $9.60.  That is not what you would, or should, expect.  Despite the fact that I love Ms. Roberts and her books, I am disappointed in the pricing for the Kindle Edition of all of her books.  All of the ones that I have looked at are more expensive than they should be for a digital copy, no matter if the titles are new or old.  I do appreciate though, that a lot of her books are available in Kindle format.  I like that a lot.  In my research for this post, I found that a lot of Ms. Roberts books cost the same or more in Kindle edition than in print.  A large number of them are the exact same price, $7.99, for the hard copy and the Kindle edition.  Which is slightly easier to stomach than having the digital version be more than the hard copy, but still not ideal.

I find this to be ridiculous.  It should never cost more for a digital copy of a book than the print copy.  Ever.  And there is no way that it costs that much to format the book for Kindle or other eReaders.  Even if you write out your first draft of a book with a pen and paper, to send it to print, it needs to be put into an electronic format, I assume.  And I would guess that if you don't live within walking range of your publisher, you wouldn't want to spend the money to ship the book when you can email it to them for free.  So, I feel that there are no excuses, only greed, for Kindle books to be as expensive - or more - than a hard copy.

I also spent some time searching the site for my favorite books, and requesting to the publisher that they be made available for the Kindle.  Although, I feel that if I have already paid for a book in hard copy and it becomes available in a digital format, such as the Kindle, I should not have to pay for it again.  I already paid for the right to read it as many times as I want, so I shouldn't have to pay for it again.  But, you can't get everything you want.

Another feature that I wish was easier to figure out is moving books from Kindle to Kindle.  I have a couple books on the first generation Kindle that Adam has and I want them to move to mine, but I can't figure out how to do it.  I have searched and searched on the Amazon website.  Oh! And as I just took a last gander under 'My Account' I think I figured it out!!  I will post step by step instructions once I figure them out!

*EDIT* I did not figure out how to transfer.  I will write more about the lameness of loaning and gifting in a later post.

Anyway, I would like to finish this post with a positive note about print books.  There is nothing quite like cracking open a new book.  The smell of the paper and ink, the stiffness of the binding and the feel of the pages.  I love buying new books, but if I can save a few dozen trees by buying books on the Kindle and forgoing that feeling, I will do it gladly.  And if I have them on the Kindle, they are much easier to move.  And take on vacation.  And take to the gym.  And a lot of other things.

I <3 all books, no matter the format of delivery!!

Graduation

I walked in my Bachelor of Science degree ceremony at 5pm on Saturday.

I am no longer a CMU student, but a CMU alum.

I feel no different.

I have lived my life based on semesters for twenty years, ever since I started pre-school.  Maybe 21 years, I don't remember when I started pre-school.

I don't know how to live without that kind of structure.

I'm sure I'll figure it out, but first I have to pack up my life and my husband and move to Lansing.

Then I have to find a job.  Or jobs.

And then I have to throw a bridal shower, a bachelorette party, be in a wedding and then turn 24.  I also want to plant a garden after we move.  And find a house.  And go camping sometime this summer.

I'd also like to root the Red Wings on to their 12th Stanley Cup.

We'll see.

Until then, graduation was an experience, nothing different than I've done before, however I do wish that Kat and I had been able to walk with our other classmates at the 1:30p ceremony instead.  But we had a good time anyway.



And I got to see my Mom stand and be recognized as being my Mom at the ceremony.  And I am so, so glad that she could be there with only a walking stick.  I love you, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

For Momma's Day this year, I made cakes.

After what we've been through this year, we are extra, extra, extra thankful for our moms this year.  And all of our family, really.

So, to celebrate, I made cakes, one for each mom.

This is my Mom's cake:



Complete with my parents' crazy dog, TJ chasing a baseball!

And this is my Mother-in-Law's cake:



This got decorated really, really quickly, while everyone was at my apartment because the pan arrived at 12:15p or so on Saturday.  1 hr 45 min before everyone was due to arrive at our apartment.  Not enough time to bake, cool and decorate a cake properly.  But it turned out cute.  I was hoping to make the coloring the same as Shelton the Sheltie, but all shelties are colored differently, so this one would do.

Both cakes were a big hit.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out :)

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, my mother-in-law, Ellen, all of my grandmas and aunts - I love you all.  Also, to all of the mothers out there, especially the ones who are often forgotten on today.  Mothers who are of the foster, adoptive and any other variety than the conventional version, you deserve a happy, relaxing day too.

Now go hug your mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

Let Me Introduce You to Someone Awesome....

With Mother's Day coming up the day after graduation and both my Mommy and my Mommy-In-Law coming here for graduation, we decided to celebrate Momma's Day on Saturday as well as graduation.

Normally, we don't do cakes for Mother's Day, but with the insanity of the last 4 months, we felt that Mother's Day this year deserved a cake.  Or seven.  And I, of course, would make them, because I LOVE to bake things.

Now, we didn't decide to celebrate Mother's Day the same day as graduation until this past weekend.  Which meant, oh snap!  I can't give my Mom a cake and not my Mom-In-Law!  So I have to make 2 cakes.  By Saturday.

I only have one designed, what do I do!?

I did some quick thinking about my Mother-In-Law, what does she like? What are her favorite things?  Bingo.  I had a theme in mind.  I thought about free handing the design on a sheet cake, but with the short time frame, I'd probably end up throwing the cake out the window in frustration.

Then I had a stroke of PURE and UTTER GENIUS.

Special Pan.

Why didn't I think of it before?!

So, I went to my trusty stand-by, Joann.com.  But alas, despite their amazing baking supplies and other craftiness, they did not have the exact pan I need.  They had specialty pans that were close, and I could modify in a pinch, but I really wanted to try and find the type of pan I needed.

Enter: Google.

I search for what I need, finding pans in the right category, but not quite what I need.  I even found a cookie cutter that I almost fell off the couch in excitement when I saw it.  Until I realized it was a cookie cutter.  Cute, but useless in this case.

But finally, finally!  I find a website for a store in Philadelphia: Fante's.

They have the pan I need.

Alleluia!

They also have a bunch of other sweet baking stuff.  Go check it out!!!

I placed an order, asked for priority shipping and wrote a note saying I needed it by Friday in the notes section.  I also put my phone number in too, just to help speed up the process, if they need anything.

My phone rings two hours later.  It's Fante's.  They needed to clarify information, so I clarified what they needed and before we hung up, he told me that they saw my note about needing it by Friday and that they would ship it today so I would have it Friday.

I will reserve full judgement for later this week, but right now -

That's some customer service.

Welcome Home

Finally after many weeks and months of hospital rooms, tests, surgeries, chances, tears, sadness, ups, downs, anger, yelling, crying and finally upward progress from ICU to rehab, my mother arrived home from her fight against H1N1.

She is weak, but walking, talking and feeding herself.  She has a long way to go down the road to recovery, mostly regaining her strength.  From the worst place I have ever been in my life at the end of January and the beginning of February to now is almost night and day.  We still aren't back to normal, but we're getting there and my brothers and I have my Mom back and my Dad has his other half.

There are so many people to thank, I don't know if I can think of them all, but, I want to take a second to thank all of the wonderful people in my life who have been there in the darkest days of our family.  My husband who was stoic and allowed me to be selfish, would hold me for hours while I cried and drove us to Grand Rapids hundreds of times.  He was suffering just as much as the rest of us, but was a rock for all of us, especially me.  My Uncle Rick and his family who live about 10 minutes from the hospital and gave us a key to come and go as we needed.  They gave us beds to sleep in and fed us every weekend and whenever we needed a place to go.  Even though I know my uncle felt he wasn't doing enough and his wife who asked him why we hadn't moved in yet felt the same way, we are family and they wanted to take care of us.  It means so much to us, and we can never thank them enough.  Courtney and James and the Moore family, who helped try and keep a sense of normality for me, Nicole, Melissa, Pastor Emmett, Pastor Rick, the Eks, Debby, the Spedowskis, MaryJo and the entire IRC camping family.  Lisa, who took notes like a mad woman for me when I missed class, the professors who, in unison told me to do what I needed to do and make up the work as I can, instead of asking me to withdraw from my final semester.  To all of the people who supported and fed my family when I could not, the Healeys who fed Zack during the week when my Dad was still at the hospital on late nights, the Hammonds who took in our family dog, and the BRHS hockey family who rallied behind us and produced massive amounts of food for when no one could get up the desire to actually cook and held a team prayer for my Mom shortly after she went on ECMO in the ICU and always took a second to comfort and ask how Mom was doing.  And the hundreds of people who sent cards, well wishes and the people who sent the gas cards and food cards for all of the traveling from home to Grand Rapids my Dad did.

The doctors and nurses, respiratory people and ECMO techs who told us after Mom started to get better, that they had never had a sicker patient who lived.  Without their round the clock care, Mom wouldn't have been able to fight this off on her own.

And the unsung heros in all of this. My Mom and Dad.  My Dad stepped up hardcore and managed to figure out the finances that my Mom, being an accountant, had always taken care of.  He was at the hospital every day, talking to Mom, holding her hand and wishing he could do all of it for her and when he could not, he kept on the doctors, asked questions and got answers.  Always driving and pushing and hoping that Mom would get better.

And my Mom who fought so hard, and had taken so many steps to healthy living before this that helped her fight off this terrible disease.  I hope that in the following years as Mom continues down the road to recovery, she will continue to make those healthy choices that helped her survive this.  Mom has always been stubborn and that was so beneficial to her in this fight.

I love you, Mom, welcome home.

M.I.A.

I apologize for being M.I.A. all of a sudden.  However, three weeks ago my mother got sick.  Really, really sick.  As I type this I am at her bedside in Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.

She has complications from H1N1 and viral pneumonia.  She has been in a medically induced coma and life support for three weeks.  It's been up and down and she's had seven surgical procedures since then, the most recent one happening very early Friday morning.  I will not go into much more detail than that here, I want to respect my Mom's privacy.

So, with that, and school, this falls to the bottom of the list.  I will be back when life calms down, I promise.

Stay safe, and hug your loved ones.

30 Days of Truth - Day 14: A Hero That Has Let You Down

Dear Hero,

I don't really have a specific person who I want to be exactly like, so I don't really have a hero that let me down.  But I can talk about people who do things I want to do.

I want to be able to be home at least part time to raise my kids, like my Mom. (love you Mom!)  I don't want to stay home full time though, at least not all the time.

I'd also like to do lots of baking, like my grandmothers do.  I collect all of their recipes as I can, and I love them (and their recipes!) so much!

Kari Odland has been a big influence on me as well.  She recently got a new job and moved, but she was my biggest support, after Adam, when I first went to her and told her I wanted to leave ATEP.  She helped me work through a lot of issues I was having and I appreciate her being there for me. She's amazing, and wherever she is now, I hope she's as happy as I am.

Not a whole lot here, but if I think of other things, I will add them.

Love,
Jenny

30 Days of Truth - Day 7: Someone who has made your life worth living for

Me. I make my life worth living!

I know that's pretty conceited, but it's true. With out me wanting to be here, I wouldn't be here.

There are, however, people who enrich my life and make my life more interesting. My Mom and Dad, my brothers, my in-laws, my extended family and my friends, especially the ones who are closest to me!

You're probably thinking, I mentioned my in-laws but not my husband - awkward! But Adam enriches my life beyond any of the others and he deserves special mention. *SAP ALERT!* I love him, he is my best friend, he knows me better than anyone (except me) and he is my partner in crime.  I see him more than I see anyone else and I cannot imagine my life without him.

And of course, without my parents I wouldn't be the person I am today.  They helped me learn and have encouraged me through out my entire life.  I am an independent, intelligent person because I was raised by them.   I credit my love of reading, music and so many other things I couldn't possibly think of them all!  My parents are amazing, even though I didn't always think they were when I was a teenager.  (Who doesn't think that in their teens?!)

My brothers are also pretty awesome.  But they also annoy me a lot of times too.  I have high hopes for the both of them and I think they both have great futures ahead of them.

My friends are fantastic.  I can't possibly name all of them here, but I can't post this without mentioning Melissa, Courtney, Nicole and Lee.  These four ladies are phenomenal and make my life interesting - maybe a little more interesting than it needs to be :-)  A lot of people think that you have to have hundreds of people on your Facebook* or hundreds of people that you party with, to make your life worthwhile.  And maybe for those people, it does.  But I think that my life is richer and better because I have a few close friends that I can count on for anything.  People whom I can call at 3 am and have them be there for me.  Grouchy, yes, but there for me.

So, I hope that my life continues down the road it's on, even if the path it's on is not quite clear, because I have some pretty magnificent life companions. 

*I will state honestly that I have quite a few Facebook friends whom I am not in close contact.

Jack of All Trades and the Master of None

I mentioned in a post a few days ago that I often feel I am a jack of all trades and the master of none. I have many talents and I love them all. But at the same time I am struggling with what direction I want my life to go in. I love so many things, how do I pick just one to do? I'm a very one track mind person when it comes to things like that, almost to the occlusion of everything else. I have phases that repeat on a cycle.

I want to bake cakes for a living.

No, I want to work in community theatre for a living.

No, I want to be an administrative assistant for a living.

No, I want to act.

No, I want to sing.

No, I want to do techie things.

No, I want to teach. (English and History)

It's endless!! The one thing that is always there under everything is my love for ASL and the Deaf community, my husband and my desire to be a mom. So you would think I could be a freelance interpreter and a housewife. But no, I don't want to lose all the things I'm interested in. I want to learn everything I can about every one of those things and I want to learn about all kinds of other things. I just feel that I know so many things and I want to be so many things that I feel like I'm still a kid who has seventy answers to "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Another option would be to do them all in a circular basis, but I want stability. And I want flexibility. I am distracted so easily!

Oh, look! Something shiny!