OH MAN!

Well a few things...

I know this might sound bad, but I am ECSTATIC today because our Governor got arrested on corruption charges...FINALLY!!! He is a jerk, a creep, and an all around bad guy for Illinois. God puts our leaders into place for a reason, and I know that but I am SO glad that God is now taking him OUT of leadership for us. The state will be better for it! Although I say I am happy about it, it's really quite sad and pathetic that our country has come to this.

We took Boaz for a walk/run last night and had such a good time. Dave and I both need excersie and so does our poor little dog, so we bought him a couple sweaters and even a coat and we are going to be taking him with us on our walks. Last night he went an entire MILE which is the longest he has gone- and he ran MOST of it too! He was so tired last night when we got home that he just pooped out and rested the entire evening... it was kinda nice! :)

Lauryn's wedding is only 25 days away!!! We finalized our hair appointments today and I should be taking my dress to be altered soon to get that done. This weekend I'm spending my Saturday making favors, christmas gifts, and getting a Mary Kay makeover since I won $50 in make-up at a wedding show here in Salem! (Good thing b/c I needed new make-up BADLY)

Dave and I had a great weekend together. Friday night we had a game night at church with the youth- we did a Christmas "around town" scavenger hunt and it was SOOOO much fun! We also decorated Christmas cookies and played a few other games that had a Christmas theme.

Then Saturday we got to actually sleep in before we headed out for Fairview Heights. We went to PetSmart and got some fun toys for Boaz since he has DESTROYED his other toys we bought him! (That place is so much fun by the way...) After that we headed to St. Louis for dinner at Maggiano's. OH MAN it was so good! Calamari and Spinach Chicken Manicotti... FANTASTIC! Plus we split a chocolate and candy cane ice cream dessert... MMMMM. We finished the night looking at Christmas lights and then headed home.

Sunday was church, a party with friends in Orchardville where we had a White Elephant and had some pretty funny gifts exchanged! That night we headed to my parents after church and decorated their Christmas tree. The sad part is that this is probably the last year we will ALL get to do this together. With Lauryn getting married and living in Edwardsville, and Dave and I thinking of starting our own traditions as a family it's a little sad. I mean we will all still be together during the holidays, but it won't be the same when we all have our own families and stuff. I guess we'll just all start NEW traditions with each other! :)

What type of traditions do you all have with your families? Are there any traditions you no longer do that you miss or are glad that are gone? ;)

New Resolve!

I had a breakdown last night and into this morning... I've decided that I am DONE with several things:
1. My apartment being dirty all the time (unless people are coming over)
2. Dishes NEVER being done
3. EATING OUT!
4. Not excercising
5. BEING OVERWEIGHT!!!!!

Starting today I go back to my 'wedding diet' which I lost 15 lbs in 2 weeks right before my wedding. Hopefully I can do this again because my sister's wedding is only a month away and I need time to get the dress altered!

Meal Plans include: 1 piece of bread per day, NO condiments (mayo, BBQ, ketchup, etc), no meat other than turkey and chicken, no chips, NOTHING FRIED, only water to drink with meals, 1 cup of coffee a day with no flavored creamer, no dairy products, and only ONE SMALL sweet snack a day.

I'm also going to start walking everyday again. This really helps with not only the weight loss, but my energy level, helping me feel better about myself, and since I'll be taking Boaz- hopefully he will get some good energy out and sleep through the night again! (We've been having a problem with him sleeping all night lately!)

I have 32 days until Lauryn's wedding, and I hope to be at least CLOSE to the size I was at for MY wedding. That way I won't have to go out and buy some new clothing for winter OR for the wedding events. Over the next few weeks I'll try to let you in on how I'm doing with it all and maybe at some point post some pictures... depending on how I feel! :)

Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for God's MANY blessings in my life. Thank you Lord for your provisions and meeting my needs, and for ALL the wonderful things I have been given from YOUR hands. My life is forever yours.

I wanted to thank all of you for your prayers. God did hear them, but answered in a way that was different than what we wanted. Trent went to be with the Lord yesterday at 2:29pm, surrounded by his family.

The follow up testing yesterday morning showed no brain activity and the Dr. said there was nothing that could be done. Terry and Sandra made the difficult decision to give their baby boy back to God. All of their family was able to be there and say goodbye in their own way before they released him and Terry, Sandra, and their two daughters even had a last family picture with him.

Their daughter Emma is old enough (4 yrs old) to know and understand what has happened and it has been EXTREMELY hard on her. She apparently hid in a closet and cried for quite a while. Please pray for her and her baby sister Eva (3 months) as they learn to adjust to life without Trent. He was an adorable and very joyous little boy, even in the midst of his sickness.

Please continue to pray for the whole family as they make preparations for Trent and as they ALL learn to continue living without him. Losing a loved one is so hard, but losing a young child is unimaginable. Thank you again for all your prayers, the family appreciates them all.

~Jenna

PS… If you want to read their Family Blog Updates, visit this site http://schoessowfamily.blogspot.com/

Prayer for Trent

Early this morning my best friend called me to let me know that they have taken her nephew, Trent to the hospital. He is 2 1/2 years old and has been quite sick since birth. His mom Sandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma right after his birth and he was also diagnosed with Nephotic Syndrome (kidney disease) along with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia. Sandra has been healed and has been cancer free for over a year.

Trent has had several Rituxan chemo infusions, one of which he just finished the beginning of the month (the photo was taken during that treatment) but has been fairly sick since then. Last night he had a fever of 100.3 and was throwing up, this morning he still had the fever and was sick, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head. They rushed him to the ER in an ambulance and they had to sedate him to put in a feeding and breathing tube.

Due to the sedation and the disease itself, the Dr's think that he may have some brain damage. A brain surgeon has been called in and they are now just waiting to hear how that plays out. The outlook isn't great, but we serve a BIG GOD that does miracles EVERY DAY, and Trent needs one.

Please pray and pass this along to anyone you know that will pray. Thank you thank you thank you for joining with me.

~Jenna

My Friday

Tonight we are having our Young Adult Sunday School Class over for dinner. Thanksgiving type dinner that is! Dave and I are in charge of mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and TURKEY! I'm using THIS turkey in the crockpot recipe to make things easier since I'm doing THREE turkey breasts! 2 are in crockpots and 1 is going in the oven.

Everyone is bringing salad, corn, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cheesecake, and we are also doing FONDUE for dessert!!!! Wahoo!

I'll let you know how everything turns out later!

~Jenna

Say it ain't so!

Has it REALLY been 2 WEEKS since I last wrote here??? Guess I've been too busy with the craziness that is my life to realize!

Well I wanted to let you all know about a recipe I tried that was AMAZING! Now I do NOT claim to be Suzy Homemaker by any stretch of the imagination, so when I made this Apple Butter I think Dave was quite shocked. (In a good way!) Since we are having a 'light' Christmas this year and scaling back on purchases for others, this might be an idea for me to make for people.

As Christmas draws ever closer, and along with it my sister's wedding, I'm getting busier and busier so I am going to start working on gifts probably this week or next. Like I said, we are going 'light' so most if not all gifts will be homemade. I don't want to do too much food, because almost all my family is on diets and my Dad can't have any carbs so most holiday snacks are out for him. I'm thinking about doing a "Coffee/Tea Basket" for most people.

I found a bunch of different recipes for making Coffee and Tea mixes that you just add water to, along with homemade flavored coffee syrups, and maybe biscotti? Then for those that don't like coffee or tea I could make the apple butter and some soup mixes or something.

What do you think? Is it too cheap sounding, or do you think people will like it????