2010/2011 and Faith

In a convoluted way, I found THIS POST. It really got me thinking...







2010 has been quite the year, full of ups and downs. There were definitely more ups than downs for me personally and I am ever so grateful for that. I know not everyone can say the same thing. But it has really gotten me thinking about things and that post definitely had something to do with it.







In general, I find New Years to be really depressing. It could be that I haven't really had a steller one probably ever. After a couple of crappy ones in a row, I kind of gave up on the concept of New Year's Eve. I pretty much lay low now.







But I find the idea of a blank slate to be kind of scary. The unknown of an entire year. So much can happen in a year, both good and bad. The good I can handle. The bad terrfies me. I wish I could be the type of person that found the prospect of a new year to be an exciting thing, but lately I am not that kind of a person.




Lately I have realized how much I struggle with faith (not just my mother-in-law). I have always been a Christian and I have never doubted my beliefs in Christ. Even through dating an avid aetheist, I never once doubted God. In fact, dating an aetheist only enforced my beliefs (turns out having someone question your every belief can be an awesome way to affirm them). I struggle mostly with trusting God and having faith that he will provide.

On a day when I am feeling rational, I don't struggle so much. On those days, I know that my lack of faith in God providing for me is entirely rooted in the fact that I take all that he has provided to me for granted.

On my less rational days, I think of all of the people who have bad things happen to them. I think of statistics. Obviously the odds of having a tragedy happen to your family are slim, but tragedies DO happen to people. On my less rational days, I fear being that small percentage. And it terrifies me. I have felt this way for a long time and I know it is something I need to work on.

Today, I read this quote:

So that is what I am going to do. I need to accept that I am going to have irrational days and I am going to be afraid. But I need to trust God, have faith, and live in spite of all of the horrible things that can happen.



And even though most people think New Year's resolutions are dumb, I think I am going to try and set some. But I am going to do it with Donald Miller's rules. I am going to set resolutions that help enhance my life story. I am a couple of days behind, but I am definitely going to do it.



Stay posted...



Love, Mrs. Janney

8 legs and Elvis

Totally random story here...

Last Saturday, Phil and I were having breakfast at home. We glanced out our front window and notices our neighbors across the street had quite the crowd gathered in their garage around a stack of coolers. A couple of seconds later, one of them reaches into the cooler and pulls out an octopus.

Then they cut off some tentacles and threw it in a turkey fryer.

You just don't see that kind of thing everyday.

And a random fact, Elvis was a twin. His twin brother was born 35 minutes before him stillborn. You learn some amazing stuff from Vince Vaughn movies. Four Christmases is awesome for many many reasons. (especially the taboo game scene)



Love, Mrs. Janney

Relaxing

Our laundry isn't folded.

The house needs to be vacuumed.

The bathroom could stand to be organized a bit.

I haven't done any Christmas shopping.

Or Christmas decorating.

We had sandwiches for dinner.

I haven't worked on any baby hats since Saturday.

...

But I am pretty relaxed. :)

Drinking chocolate, 16 and Pregnant, a great book that is getting really good, and my bed.

Relaxing.





Love, Mrs. Janney

Livers are important! Prayers Requested

Not sure if I have mentioned this in the past, but Phil's family had quite the family emergency in the beginning of August. Pretty sure I have mentioned this. Time for an update I guess...





Phil's dad's liver started bleeding one night in August. After being rushed to the hospital and life-flighted to another hospital, we found out he has Liver Cancer (heptacellular carcinoma to be more precise). They removed about 40% of his liver to get rid of the tumor. The treatment plan has basically been to wait and see if it comes back. The liver doesn't really take chemotherapy very well so it can be more harmful than helpful sometimes.





He went back in for a MRI before Thanksgiving to see if he had any new tumors (a sign of how aggressive the cancer really is). They found another tumor, but it is a tumor he already had that they missed the first time around. The plan of action was to go and cut off the blood supply to the tumor to kill it that way. That was supposed to happen A couple weeks ago. During the procedure, they found for some reason that they couldn't totally cut off the blood supply to the tumor, so plan B was to cut off as much blood supply as possible and use some chemotherapy directly on the tumor. So that is kind of where things are. He is just trying to heal from that procedure and deal with some of the lovely side effects of chemotherapy. I don't think they are as bad as full chemotherapy like some people have to have, but it definitely isn't a walk in the park either.





We are so thankful that Phil's dad is even still alive. I mean, if things had gone even a little bit differently in August, he probably wouldn't be here anymore. It is just another reminder of how much your life can change in a matter of seconds. I honestly think Phil's brother, who died in a car accident almost 4 years ago, was up in heaven, keeping his dad safe. Not everyone may believe that but come have a conversation with my about my sister and 2 oldest nephews and you might understand why I believe in gaurdian angels.








Anyway, we are heading back there for Christmas with Phil's family. Historically, his parents and I haven't gotten along that well. I don't know why. I'm as charming as a kitten. :) I honestly wonder sometimes if it isn't a geographical miscommunication or something.


So... Here is a list of prayers I am requesting:

- For the healing of Phil's dad.

- That is procedure and the chemotherapy work together to get rid of his liver tumor.

- No more liver tumors.

- Good guidance and knowledge for the team of doctors working on Phil's dad.

- Patience and comfort for Phil's mom. Between losing one son in a car accident and the other son to me, I think she might think the worst sometimes.

- Comfort for Phil.

- And finally, patience and understanding for me.



Thank you for the prayers! I hope everyone has safe travels for the holidays!


Love, Mrs. Janney

Egg Sammich

These little guys belong to my brother and they LOVE egg salad sandwiches.












Especially the little guy, David. He is a funny kid. I am actually pretty surprised either of the boys like egg salad because it isn't something I usually think of when I think of kid food. Peanut Butter and Jelly, yes. Cheetos, yes. Fish Sticks, yes. Egg Salad, no. You can ask him any day what he is having for lunch and he will say, "Egg Sammich." Even if it isn't true, it is his wishful thinking. His daycare teacher told Stephanie, David's mom, that he would eat his entire lunch everday if she sent him and egg salad sandwich. Obviously Stephanie isn't going to send him an egg salad sandwich everyday. That's a lot of eggs for a little guy.





Since Phil was going to be at the Blazer game last night and I was planning on going to the gym, I decided to make some Egg Salad so I could have a quick, non-cereal dinner when I got home. I had never made Egg Salad before, but decided to make it like Deviled Eggs and it turned out SO YUMMY! I used 6 eggs and between Phil and I, it is already gone.





I had it for dinner last night and for my lunch today. And it brought an extra smile to my face thinking of this guy...









My "Egg Sammich" was yummy. Can't wait to see these boys again. :)




Love, Mrs. Janney

Hair Salon Harrassment

Since the holidays are rapidly approaching and because we will be in Virginia around the holidays, I decided I needed to head to the salon for a little hairstyle maintenance. There is a high liklihood that I will be meeting quite a few people from Phil's past and I want to look my best. Not to mention, I haven't had my hair done since before the wedding in May (that's seven months people), so it was definitely due.

I lucked out and my hair stylist had an opening for today so I snatched it up. The stylist works in a little shop with just a few other technicians. When my appointment started, the two other stylists were free but their appointments came in during my appointment. So there I am sitting, having a delightful conversation with my stylist about our dogs, when a women getting her hair done (we will call her Crazy Lady for the purposes of this story) starts talking about the Oregon Ducks.

Disclaimer #1:
I am usually not a huge fan of Duck fans. My days on the OSU dance team and encounters with Duck fans has left me with a bit of distain for Duck fans.

Being that I was in public and not sure about the feelings of those around me, I decided to not say anything about Crazy Lady's loud boistering about the Ducks. That is, until she mentioned that she lives in Corvallis and then began talking about how rude Beaver fans and those from Oregon State are.

Disclaimer #2:
I believe when you are discussing your Alma Mater, you have the right to be protective. I have very little problem with Duck fans who actually attended the University of Oregon because you should be proud of the school that you have put money into and from which you received an education. Because I have a bachelors and a masters from Oregon State and since my husband is getting his doctorate from Oregon State, I feel I am justified in my protection of OSU.

Once she began talking about how rude people who go/went to Oregon State are and which is the better school, blah, blah, blah, I decided to speak up. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Did you actually go to U of O?"

Crazy Lady: "No, but my son did."

Me: "Just so you know, I have 2 degrees from Oregon State and my husband is attends OSU."

(Without skipping a beat)
Crazy Lady: "I bet you're a Republican too."

Me: Bewildered... "Yes I am."

Crazy Lady: "I knew it! I can tell just by looking at you."


I then changed the subject and continued talking with my stylist. She continued by bashing all Republicans and blaming them (me) for the current state of the nation. Last time I checked, Crazy Lady, we have a DEMOCRAT for a president AND because of the Electoral College and the fact that I live in Oregon, my individual Republican vote has not accomplished anything since I have been able to vote. Pretty sure the Govenor, the President, both Senators, and all the Representatives from Oregon are DEMOCRATS. So absolutely NONE of the nation's current problems are my fault.

I am not sure if it is because I am wearing red today or what but apparently, I SCREAM Republican. I didn't realize it was so obvious. I tried to shove my piles of money back into my pockets but I most of forgot a few bills.

I meant to tell her before she left that I hated the environment and loved guns or something before she left, but I didn't have the opportunity. She snuck out while I was under the dryer.

The salon staff and I all had a laugh after she left. The U of O stuff wasn't such a big deal. The Republican comment was kind of strange. The whole thing made for an interesting morning at the salon.

My hair looks great. :)

Love, Mrs. Janney

Family Recipes

I just realized tonight that I now know how to make recipes from both of Phil's grandmothers!

I can make deviled eggs the way his Grandma Janney made them. I learned from his Aunt Betty. Phil tells me they are pretty dang good. I have only made them twice but I plan to make them for our office Christmas potlucks.

Over Thanksgiving I learned how to make Coconut Cake the way Phil's Grandma Bloodworth used to make it. Phil's Uncle Van showed me (in actuality I stood in the kitchen and asked Uncle Van a ton of questions to learn how to make it. He obliged and didn't seem annoyed by me which is good). It was SO GOOD and I don't even really like dried coconut but I loved the cake. I am going to make it for my family's Christmas celebration.

I think this should earn me awesome wife points. And it is pretty much the only Southern cooking I can say I know how to do.

And I have to just put it out there... I can't tell you how to make either recipe. Family secret. ;)

Love, Mrs. Janney

Semi-anniversary

Yesterday was our semi-anniversary. It totally DOES feel like we have been married 6 months, but in a good way. :). I have such a wonderful husband he totally gets me. We have had so much happen this year, it is nuts. December will probably also be a hectic month so we are hoping for a calm 2011.

We spent the evening helping to decorate my parents Christmas tree (since I am not putting one up this year), watching "It's a Wonderful Life," and drinking hot cider. It was great.

Then I came home and my migraine came back which kind of put a damper on most of my day today. Thankfully, the migraine subsided and I had an awesome evening with the husband: dinner, movies, and making hats for babies. :)

The hat count is now up to 10! I am so excited. And I heard from a friend who is a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit that they definitely use the hats which just motivated me even more to make them (Thank you Jessica!). Here are the latest additions:
















This last hat is probably my favorite. I think it is too big for a preemie. And the craftsmanship isn't very good. There are definitely some areas that need work. But this was the hardest hat i have done so far. You had to count the entire time and it turns out I kind of suck at counting while doing something else (i.e. crocheting). But still... I think I will be making more of those.

I have a feeling tomorrow will be a super productive day at work. :) I feel good about it.

Good Night!

Love, Mrs. Janney



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More hats!

I have finished a few more hats. They are so cute! I think once I get over ten or maybe more like twenty hats, I will starts trying to figure out where to give these hats away to. Hopefully someone will want them.

Here is a picture of the latest hats:






It is crazy to me how the same pattern can give such different looking hats with just a couple of changes. I think I will add a little bow to the pink and white hat.






Yeah. That is cute.

The other night I started working on a slightly harder hat that will hopefully be super cute. I haven't finished that yet. Just a little more left on that one.

On a personal note, I think I have the best husband in the world. Last night I came home to find our wreath on our door and all of my Christmas candles out! He knew I was kind of in a funk about Christmas, so he did it to try to cheer me up. :)

Then he took me out for drinks, dinner and to see Burlesque which I am pretty sure was the last movie he ever wanted to see. Definite husband points earned for that gut. :)

And since today is the Civil War game, I will end by saying...

GO BEAVERS!!

Love, Mrs. Janney




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First Hat DONE!!

The Little Hat Project is under way!! I finished my first hat last night!! I am so excited. It probably isn't the best hat ever. It could be much prettier I think, but for a first attempt I think it is pretty good.

The hat looks SO TINY! The pattern I used for it says it can fit a newborn, but I don't know that I would really be able to tell. I need a newborn to try this out on. Nobody I know has a newborn right now! I am pretty sure everyone and their dog is pregnant, but no new babies right now. Braxton is too big now to use his head.

I don't know if I will have time to make another hat tonight, but I am hoping to whip some out this weekend. :)

YAY!

Love, Mrs. Janney

Project Name and Christmas Spirit

I have gotten some awesome response regarding my name project. One of my aunts wants to make some hats too! Another of my friends is thinking of bringing her knitting needles out of retirement to try some as well. I think this is great! I am so excited about this, I am feverishly trying to finish my other couple of projects so I can get to work on some hats. :)



I think I have a name for the project...



The Little Hat Project



It's not a giant leap obviously, but I thought it was cute. I have no idea if this name is already used by someone, so if it is, I apologize. And I'm just using the name for purposes of this blog, not like a business or anything. I did a Google search really quick and nothing popped up, so hopefully I am good. :)



Phil and I are out of some essential home items (i.e. contact solution, soap, etc.) so we are headed to the Keizer Station Target tonight to replenish some supplies. Since Michael's just HAPPENS to be right next to it, we will then be heading over there so I can get my supplies for the HATS!!! I am so excited.



I feel like this project has come at just the right time for me. I will explain...



When Phil and I got married, we were pretty sure we were going to split up where we went on the holidays pretty well: Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas at home. This made the most sense because when we eventually have a family, we will not be uprooting our children on Christmas. So we figured, we might as well start this now that we are married.



In August, Phil's dad had a HUGE medical emergency (I think that is the best way to describe). Long story short, we found out through a catastrophic health event (internal bleeding) that he had Liver Cancer. When this whole thing happened, I put Phil on a plane and sent him back to be with his family for a week. I have zero regrets about this. If it were my dad, I would have been on the first available flight.



During this time, Phil found out that his dad really didn't like this idea. He likes his Christmas Eve traditions and everything. Me, being such a Daddy's Girl, I decided that we should go back to Virginia for Christmas this year. Phil's dad will get his traditions and his family can just be together after a kind of bumpy and stressful few months. Aren't I just an awesome wife?



I knew this would creat a kind of challenge for me this year. Ah... the joys of marriage and compromise. :) But Phil is totally worth it. But between the test and getting sick and travelling for Thanksgiving, we haven't been working out much and I am just wiped out. It is kind of taking away from my Christmas Spirit. I just don't have the energy or desire to really Christmas shop or decorate the house for Christmas. Last year we went all out. But this year, our first married Christmas, and I don't want to do anything. I haven't even gotten the Christmas candles out.



Anyway, I am just so thankful for this project. I think it is going to help keep my spirits up while I struggle with a little bit of a funk. I need to get back to working out because I know that will help. And I need to get this project started.



So... here are my hopes for the day:



- Finish reading about reinforced masonry (this is a work item and I know everyone is jealous of this one)



- Go the to gym. I would like to run a few miles tonight. Get the lungs workings.



- Go to Target



- Get The Little Hat Project supplies



- Finish current crocheting project





Wish me Luck!



Love, Mrs. Janney

A New Project

A few years ago, Joanna taught me how to crochet. I had started an afghan and took it to England with me, but never really worked on it (I have no idea why. To this day I can't seem to remember what I did in England that occupied so much of my time). I kind of forgot about crocheting through grad school and wedding planning.

My mom actually suggested I take it up again for a take back east for Thanksgiving. She thought it would give me something to do and keep me calm (she was totally right). So I took back enough yarn to work on a couple of projects. I got back into crocheting pretty quickly and finished a scarf in a couple of days, so we went and bought some more yarn. On the way home, I started and finished a scarf for my dad and started a scarf for my sister, both in OSU Black and Orange for the Civil War Game this weekend. GO BEAVS!

In talking with my mom about how much I liked crocheting, she mentioned a women at our church who crochets hats for preemie babies and donates them to hospitals. I LOVED this idea! What an awesome way to use a skill!! Let's be honest, I only need so many scarves and afghans so I just though this was such a great idea. A way for me to crochet, get the calming affect and create something for someone in need.

So I found some easy free crochet patterns online yesterday. I am so excited to get this project going. I have a couple of other crocheting projects I would like to do before I get going on the hats, but I am so motivated to get those done so I can get started. I stayed up and basically worked on finishing the scarves for my dad and sister until 11 last night. My husband is so awesome, he knows how excited I am for this project that he even cooked dinner and cleaned it up so that I could keep working. I am hoping to finish my other projects by this weekend so I can get started! I will keep everyone (all 4 of you) updated on my progress. Now I will just have to think of a cute name for my project. :)

Love, Mrs. Janney

This Week

Last night was the first night Phil and I have been back to the gym in over a month. I am so glad that we went, but it was definitely not a pleasant experience. We were going to go running and then I was going to go to Group Power. I got a phone call from Phil's mom during my run (more on that later) and we left after that. But the run was NOT fun. Stupid asthma! I hate it. I was only able to run a mile, then I walked, and then ran another mile and then walked. That was it!! Only 2 miles. :( Bummer. Oh well... you have to start somewhere I guess. I WILL get myself back to where I was, better even.

So... the rest of this week has a LOT to look forward to.

Tonight: Gym again. I am hoping it goes better than last night.

Thursday:

Friday: Hang out with grad school friends.

Saturday:

HARRY POTTER date night with RIKKIE!!! Some yummy salad and pasta and then HARRY POTTER!!!!

Sunday: White Christmas Night.

Every year before Thanksgiving, my family gets together, has pizza and watches White Christmas together. We used to do it the night before Thanksgiving, but being married causes compromises. I have been gone for Thanksgiving and so my family has been kind enough to move the tradition so I can be there. There is singing, lively debate over whether the choreography costumes are purple or black, and sadness over how people don't just break out into choreographed song and dance in real life.

And I get to see these guys:

I think it could be a very good weekend. :)

Love, Mrs. Janney

A Very Determined Bear...

I am still around. The last few weeks have been, not hard, but not the easiest either. One of those situations where things aren't super wrong but things aren't great either. I took the PE Exam and I thought that after that, I was going to be able to get all kinds of stuff done; all the stuff I had put off doing while I was busy studying.



But it wasn't like that.



I was wiped out from the test. I didn't know what to do with myself because I constantly felt like I should be studying or doing something. Relaxing was really hard. And then I got sick. Not contagious, take you out of work sick, but just crummy feeling, cranky, antibiotic sick. And man... the antibiotics and stress really just took everything out of me. I didn't feel like myself at all. I was SUPER down, cried constantly and couldn't really get myself to do much of anything except go to work.



But this weekend... everything changed. I don't know what happened. I went to the Dad's Weekend Game at OSU (bad game, let's not talk about it) and when I got home, I suddenly had the energy and the motivation to do something. It was a complete switch from how I had been feeling! By the time Phil got home, I was madly working away in our office. Our office has been our dumping ground for stuff since we moved in over a year ago. Mail, Christmas gifts, leftover wedding stuff, wedding gifts... it was a MESS! We have been meaning to clean it up so that we can use it but we just haven't gotten around to it yet. Saturday night, I got around to it. And we finished it! In basically 1 night!! I was so excited.



So Sunday, I redid the linen closet and Phil and I moved some things around in our bedroom. Laundry got going and we got a good portion of it done. And then I started working on the wedding Thank Yous, which I had been putting off. All of a sudden, I was determined. I had to finish those this week. Last night, Phil and I FINISHED THEM!!!



Oh man... such a relief to have that stuff done. Those things have been on my list to get done for such a long time. I can't believe I got them done! I feel so much better! Tonight we are going to attempt going back to the gym. I have been trying to get myself to go for like a month and just haven't been able to do it, but I feel like I can now.



After the PE Exam, I came home to find this card and some flowers from my husband:








I have had it up in my office for the last few weeks and have been staring at it. I didn't feel very determined at all. Turns out, my husband knows me very well... I am a Very Determined Bear.



Love, Mrs. Janney

I am here. I promise.

So this last month has gone by SO SLOWLY and I apologize to all 2 of you that actually read my blog. :) But pretty much talk to any of my friends and they will attest to the fact taht I have been BUSY and with only one thing... STUDYING.

PE test. Basically the most important test of my career and I qualified to take it this October. If I pass, I will be a licensed engineer. If I don't pass, I can take it again next year. Not a big deal, but who wants to take the same test multiple times. So I have been hitting the books. Don't believe me? The picture below says it all I think.

This is my main reference manual for the test, all tabbed up and ready to go. The test is next friday. I figure about 4 more days of studying and then rest up the brain. After next week, I can focus on something else than studying. I literally have done NOTHING but study for the last 3 weeks and before that, it consumed my mind constantly and my weekends.

The thought of being able to do things that I want to do and need to do again almost makes me giddy. Phil can finally stop having to do everything around the house (thank goodness for him though). If it weren't for my wonderful husband, I would have been eating soup for the last 3 weeks, wearing dirty clothes, have a totally messy house and super stressed. He's kept me clean, sane, clothed, and as calm as he can. He's a catch. :)

I will leave you with a picture of my life right now... or at least my life for the next week.

Love, Mrs. Janney

My favorite things...

Had kind of a rough day today... Let's not get into the details. In an effort to lift my spirits, I have decided to make a list of some of my favorite things that I happen to have around.

1. Husband

2. Blankets

3. Harvest Moon. Now in my tummy.

4. A good book. Right now that is the The Irresistible Henry House.

5. Hot Chocolate. There is some sitting by my bed.

6. Healthy turkey pepperoni pizza. Had some for dinner.

7. Pumpkin Spice Latte. Might have to grab one in the morning.

8. Feeling great on a longer run. Hoping to run in the morning.

9. The smell of the rain and fall in general.

10. Husband. He deserves being on the list twice. :)




There are way more things to add to the list but I thought 10 was a nice even number. Here's hoping that tomorrow is a much better day!!

Good night.

Love, Mrs. Janney


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Unsolicited Opinions

Lately, or ever since I got married, I have been given everyone's (including perfect stranger's) unsolicited opinions regarding appropriate family planning. Apparantly, I look confused about when my husband and I should start having a family.

The fact that I have TWO college degrees, have travelled the world, and have been financially independent and debt-free for years obviously doesn't qualify me to make my own life choices without the help of others.

Today I was given the opinions of 3 construction workers. I was actually on a job site, inspecting fill, when THEY brought it up. SERIOUSLY!!

Friends, coworkers, MY PARENTS!! Everyone with opinions about how we should wait. I am not saying we want to have a baby right now. I am not saying that we don't. But keep your opinions TO YOURSELF!!! I don't tell you about how your should change your job or clean your house or even how you should eat. So why do people think I care AT ALL about their opinion on the status of MY UTERUS.

Today my mom gave me an ultimatum about when I have kids. And she implied that my dad didn't want me to have kids soon because he didn't want "the drama." That is hurtful.

I've kind of calmed down, but still... I hate the idea that if I don't conform my family planning to other people's schedules, people will think it is tragic. I don't understand how a stable, married couple having a baby isn't anything other than a great thing.

But that's just me.

Love, Mrs. Janney

100 Days

We have been Mr. and Mrs. Janney for 100 days! We are now in the triple digits. :)

We have had a completely hectic 100 days, filled with work accomplishments, family emergencies, the celebration and birth of a best friend's baby, work stresses, and a couple of trips. The summer was so crazy and we (or at least I) am ready for fall.

In these 100 days, I have learned that Phil and I may fight, but we just have to work it out and we will. There will be stressful things, but we are there for each other. We are learning.

I love you like crazy baby!! Happy 100 days. :)





Love, Mrs. Janney

FALL

Now that it is Labor Day (which I have spent working), Phil says I can say it is FALL. Fall is my FAVORITE time of year by far. I think it is because it before the holiday season, it is cold and starting to rain, but isn't really cold and wet yet, and it smells so good. I think the smell has to do with rotting leaves, which doesn't sound like it would smell good but it does. That combined with apple cider and pumpkin... AMAZING!!

So... to celebrate the start of fall, I am getting myself one of these tomorrow:



YAY!!!

Love, Mrs. Janney

Braxton Douglas

This week has been kind of crazy because JOANNA HAD HER BABY!!!

I was super excited because (and this is going to sound bad), but since he was earlier than expected (I think her due date was off) her mom wasn't going to be here for the delivery. That left one spot open in the delivery room for... ME!!! I tried to make myself super useful so Joanna wouldn't be annoyed I was there, but there is only so much you can do. I did take my fancy camera I bought myself for my birthday and tried my hand at birth photography. That may sound gross, but it isn't. Nothing revealing or gross. Just some nice pictures of Braxton's journey into the world. :)

Joanna got to look at some of the pictures on my camera while things were finishing up at the hospital but hasn't seen that actual images yet (I guess she's busy or something). I won't share much here because I don't have her permission yet, but I CAN'T HELP MYSELF!! He is so stinking cute.




Joanna really hasn't ever held a baby before, but let me tell you, she is a NATURAL. The second they handed him to her, she looked like she had been holding babies her whole life. And Josh's face during the whole process was PRICELESS. We kind of thought he would cry when Braxton was born, but he didn't. Instead he had this look for absolute amazement and excitement. It was so cute.

So I ended up going about 40 hours with like and hour and a half of sleep through the process. Totally worth it, but I am TIRED. Not nearly as tired as these guys will be though...




Welcome to the world, Little Man!!! I am so excited to be your Auntie! :)






Love, Mrs. Janney

P.S. - The nurses in the maternity ward of the Corvallis Hospital totally ROCK!! Thanks so much for being totally awesome.

Running Again

So a couple of weeks ago we had our family camp-out at the beach. The Oregon Coast weather can be extremely unpredictable. It can either be super sunny and nice or freezing cold, windy and raining. And we are talking about in the middle of August. Phil and I decided we would take the opportunity of a little get away to go on a couple of early morning beach runs. After all, it is not every day that you get to run on the beach. We were greated our first morning with this kind of weather:







The first run was amazing. Hard but "good for the soul" type of run along the ocean with the perfect music on the iPhone. The dog came with us and she enjoyed herself immensely. I love her ears in this picture:







The second day we changed our loop a little, but it was still a really great run. Felt really good to get the legs moving again.



I was never much of a runnner. In fact, totally the opposite. In high school and early college, I HAD to run for dance team and it was pretty much the most hated thing I ever had to do. Combination of asthma and low blood pressure made running kind of a scary thing for me. I did want I had to, but never enjoyed it and NEVER chose to do it as a form of exercise. After I signed up for the Nike Women's Half Marathon (thanks to a small moment of insanity and motivation from my marathon-running friend, Karla), I realized running had to be a new hobby. And I liked it. But the race was hard. I didn't have the right shoes when training, got a leg injury a month before the race so I had to STOP training. Losing that last bit of training made the race super hard.



I had read that after a race, you should wait to start running again until you REALLY want to. So I did. I haven't really run much since last October. I did kickboxing, spin class, yoga, weight lifting, even swimming for a little bit. Everything BUT running.



I'm back now.









We have run a few times in the mornings before work. Saturday we ran a 6 mile loop.



I thank the beach.







Love, Mrs. Janney

Busy Lately

Oh man... to say that things have been hectic lately is nothing short of an understatement. Things have been less than ideal these last 2 weeks.

Without going into too many details, Phil's dad had a medical emergency (I'm not sure how much information Phil is comfortable with putting out there). Since family is pretty much one of the most important things to me and because Phil IS the most important thing to me, I sent Phil to Virginia right away to make sure he could spend time with his family. He was gone a week.

At the same time, I was trying to prepare for my best friend Joanna's baby shower. I had been looking at ideas and trying out recipes for a couple of months. I wanted it to be just right... classy and unique. Well Phil and I had planned on getting a lot of work done around the house to prepare for having people over for the shower, but he had to leave suddenly. So I had to try to figure how to do everything I had orignially planned AND get the house ready all at the same time by myself. I mean, I could have cut back on the stuff I had planned for the shower, but I really wanted to do it the best I could for Jo. I feel like amazing friends deserve amazing things.

On top of that stuff, I was dealing with trying to be supportive of the stuff Phil and his family (who I have not always gotten along with the best) were going through and trying to wrap my head around the changing circumstances of my new family. Money got thrown into the mix too but we won't talk about that.

I survived the week. Thanks to some help from my parents and LOTS of work by Phil once he got back, the shower was exactly what I had in mind for Jo and her baby on the way.

Also during last week, massive hiccup at work. All I will say is a combination of my being REALLY stressed, passive aggressive co-workers, and total lack of sensitivity caused a MAJOR breakdown for me. Even now after it has been "dealt with" I am still kind of knocked back from it. I don't bounce back from some things very well and I can tell this is definitely one of those things.

Even now I feel like I could burst into tears over everything right now. To say that I am a little depressed is an understatement. I am trying to pull myself out of it, but it is hard. Exercise has been helping. I guess it is good that my desire to lose weight trumps my bad feelings. :)

In other news, I have taken a step backwards when it comes to my coffee consumption. I had started drinking my coffee black to cut back on the calories and because sugary cofee kind of grosses me out now. But the other day I decided to get a soy misto from Starbucks (a past favorite of drink of my friend Karla). They use the Vanilla Soy Milk. It is SO GOOD. And I have had one everyday since. I stopped using soy milk a while ago (I used to put it in my tea) but stopped because of the estrogen mimicking effects of soy. I figure I will have to stop when we start having kids so I might as well enjoy it now.

The baby shower forced us to finish getting the house looking nice and I LOVE IT!! We bought an area rug for the living, mainly to cover some stains on the gross carpet. We used a belated wedding gift card to get one from Target (thank you Alan and Jen).

We got our thank you notes so now I have to start getting those done. I will be glad to have those done. I feel like a bad person for not having gotten to those yet. But it is kind of bad timing because I registered last week to sit for the PE Exam in October. And I HAVE to pass it. Well I don't have to, but I REALLY REALLY want to. So I have to start studying for that. I figure if I can do like 10 thank you cards a day, I should have them done in a little over a week.

We are leaving for the family camping trip tonight and I am so excited. Seriously. I am super excited. I am not so sure about being excited to be around my family since the last time I went I left early because they were so mean to me. I am hopeful though that this time will be better. I just really need a little break. Actually I think I could use a long break but I will have to settle for a short one. Gotta take what you can get.

Anyway, I will post some pictures from the baby shower soon. I really need to download them because I want to give them to Joanna. I will leave you with this picture of the Mommy-to-Be. She has about 4 weeks until her due date and she is pregnant OUT IN FRONT. Like she has not gotten any wider and you can't tell she is pregnant from the back. The baby is OUT IN FRONT. Totally worth all the work to have a shower for this lovely lady. :)





Love, Mrs. Janney

The Latest about ME

So I thought I would follow up my last kind of serious post with a more light-hearted one. It is just a bunch of stupidness. Nothing like boring all 3 people who read my blog (and 1 of them is my husband).

Anyway... Here are the latest facts about me:

- I now drink my coffee black and like it.

- I am going through a lemon phase right now. Yesterday I made lemon bars (from scratch), lemonade and then had a lemon-lime Crystal Light. And my menu for this week has 2 different lemon chicken dishes in it. Don't know what the deal is about that.

- I am back into eating healthy and that feels really good. I put some flax seed in my non-fat Greek yogurt for today. Not sure how it will taste. I will keep you posted. In case you were wondering, I also put fresh blueberries and honey in my yogurt.

- I've been working on some stuff for Joanna's Baby Shower. So far, things have turned out super cute, but I can't give any details or pictures because I want it to be a COMPLETE surprise for Jo. :)

- Phil has been super busy lately with school stuff so I have been trying to make sure all he has to do is bath himself. I've only really had issues with this a couple of times in the last 2 weeks. I was hoping I could be more supportive than I have been, but I am not perfect. In fact, I think I have figured out that I am a little more needy than I originally thought.

- We've gotten the house decorate a bit with our wedding stuff. The hutch we bought will get put together this week I think so we can put our dishes away in it. And after that, we will be able to get the rest of the house organized.

- Working out has been challenge lately for a few reasons: (1) I have been wanting to take of things around the house. (2) We have had social engagements as of late and I refuse to give up the little time I see some of my friends so I can work-out. (3) Allergies have been affecting my sinuses and asthma so I haven't been feeling the best. Nothing like feeling like you can't breath and have a headache to make you want to go sweat. But I am hoping I will be able to turn that habit around this month. I have some definite fitness/weigth goals and I would feel a lot better about myself if I would just GET CRACKIN' on them. So... on the agenda for tonight is either Group Ride and some weight lifting OR running and some weight lifting.

That's it for now. What can I say? I am a old-married lady now. :)

Love, Mrs. Janney

Church Lesson without going to Church

Phil and I were really good about going to church before we got married. We made it a super priority along with several other very good habits (eating well and working out). But since we got married, life has just be CRAZY. I am not even sure why or how it happened, but things just haven't been "settled" I guess you could say.

So last week we were working on fixing that and we went to church. Well... it was one of the most depressing sermons I have heard in a while. The last we were in church before that was at our wedding. Happiest day of our lives. Bright future ahead of us. Sunshine and daisies. You get the picture. Then the sermon was about loss, grief and death. Losing your spouse, having a young child die, stuff like that. Basically Phil and I were both just trying to not burst into tears in the middle of church. Talk about having your worst nightmare thrown in front of you. Now I know life doesn't offer a guarantee good time, and that grief and loss are a part of life. But I don't really want to have to think about it too much until I get. I am not totally selfish though. I understand that there are tons of people (unfortunately) in the congregation that needed to hear that message. So it was good for them. It made me want to cry.

So back to this Sunday...

We had every intention of heading to church, but we just weren't super jazzed about it after last week. Plus, Phil had a super big important meeting today he needed to be uber-prepared for so it was ok for him to have some extra time during the day to work on that. While he worked, I did house stuff and I watched some TV whilst doing so. It just so happened that pretty much the only thing that looked remotely interesting on was The Devil's Advocate.




It was super interesting. Not sure why. Towards the end of the movie, the Devil (played by Al Pacino who makes an excellent villian) has a monologue where he talks about how he has been on earth, doing work to create this evil society where people think God doesn't care about them and that they should give into every temptation they have because they can basically. He talks about how easy it is to do that and how difficult it is to please God and talks as if God is a huge prankster for giving us free will and then laws to abide by. And as I am listening to this, I am realizing how right on most of it is. Obviously I don't believe that God doesn't care about his people. But the part about how the Devil has been working on turning the society towards sin is so true. And it was kind of a good eye opener. The whole movie gives example after example about how society has turned towards sin. Avoiding sin is hard. Giving into temptation is the easy thing to do. But we are supposed to avoid sin to be closer to God. And it is no wonder that society in general feels so distant from God when sin is what pulls you away from God. It is basically just a downward spiral away from God if you think about it. The more you sin, the further you get from God. The further you get from God, the less you avoid sin, thus pulling you further away from God. I wonder how much society would change if we (collectively) could pull away from temptation?

I won't give the ending to the movie away, but it was also a good lesson about how even after we learn lessons and choose righteousness over sin, the Devil is right back at it, working away and challenging us all over again.

I don't know if I was just open to the message of the movie or what, but it was definitely a good lesson for me. It spoke to me. Just something to think about.

The movie also tries to paint lawyers in a very bad light, but I won't take that message to heart. :)



Love, Mrs. Janney

Feeling Good

So I am laying in bed right now, typing this on my phone. And I just feel good. I have had a pretty good couple of days. I feel energized, I feel like I have contributed at work, I have helped around the house to make sure things are easy for Phil while he is stressed, I have worked out, and I have made pretty good dinners. It has just been good.

I think after the wedding things were just crazy. We weren't really able to get a handle on the house or laundry or gifts. But I finally feel like we are getting a hold of some things.

I have been struggling with motivation for myself. So many things I have wanted to accomplish are not in my control and that has been discouraging to me. But I am finally starting to get some goals for myself again. More importantly, I am getting a handle on making goals for things I can control. I think that is making the biggest difference.

Tomorrow night I get to spend time with my family and see some of my nephews. That is something to look forward too. I think tomorrow could be a pretty great day too. :)



Love, Mrs. Janney

Location:My Bed

Me and TV

I used to be ok with watching lots of different kinds of TV. It was good to switch it up a bit... some crime shows, a medical drama... But about a year and a half ago, I had to stop watching most television. Not by choice, but for my mental health. And probably for the health of my relationship. It got to the point where every diagnosis on Grey's Anatomy, I actually thought I had. Izzy get melanoma and I made Phil check all of my moles. Now in reality, that probably isn't a bad thing seeing how my skin is practically translucent. But still, it was a little overkill.


Here's how bad I am about the crime drama:
We moved into our duplex about nine months ago. The place has two separate attics, one over the garage and over in the upstair spare bedroom. When we moved in, the cover for the attic in the spare bedroom was off (probably to check the cable or something). But I was terrified. Thanks to a recent episode of CSI, I was convinced there was something living in the attic. So I made Phil go up TWICE to make sure there was no one living in the attic. The attic isn't even finished I don't know why he had to check at all. He said he checked once when I wasn't home and I didn't believe him so I made him check again. It was kind of ridiculous.

Needless to say, Phil was supportive of my decision to not watch any medical dramas or crime shows anymore. I am also not allowed to watch anything that could possibly be sad. No Home Makeover. No medical mystery diagnosis shows. No Dateline.

Here's a list of the shows I am allowed to watch:

- Comedies (although GLEE did get kind of serious in the second half of season 1)

- Most Reality shows such as Keeping up the Kardashians, the Real World, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, The Hills, The City, Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelorette

- Pre-teen dramas. Right now that consists of HUGE and Make it or Break it on ABC Family

- Re-runs of FRIENDS and Gilmore Girls.

- I tried to add Prison Break to the list, but ended up having dreams that I was framed for murder. Everytime I heard police sirens, I thought they were after me, so I had to stop watching that one.

None of these shows sound remotely like ANYTHING a man would want to watch...

My poor husband. He really must love me.

I think he is just thankful I am not waking him up in the middle of the night to check for a tumor or a robber.


Love, Mrs. Janney

Feeling Sleepy...

I am really tired today. I am not sure why. I think it is a combination of waking up twice last night (thank you Lyme Disease) and lack of coffee yesterday and today (the creamer I bought is NOT GOOD).

My motivation for things has been going up and down... I get super excited to clean and then I lose my motivation. I am really excited about working out and then I don't want to do it. Gotta stay consistent! At least when it comes to the gym, as long as I can get myself there, I work out and do fine. As for cleaning... that's a different story.

I just need to make it through the afternoon and then it is gym, make dinner (veggie fajitas), and clean hopefully. NO! I am GOING to clean. :)

I will NOT lose my motivation.

Here's my quote that is keeping the motivation up:

"They say it takes certainty more than talent to make a star. I mean, look at John Stamos." - Emma

It's from GLEE



Love, Mrs. Janney

Uncle Curtis

Since I miss my brother, his wife, and my nephews lately, I decided to see if Phil and I could drop by the see them. I even tried to bribe them by offering to bring over ice cream. Even though my brother said the ice cream wasn't necessary, they accepted my offer (always be the auntie bearing gifts).









Their oldest son, Jacob, wasn't home because he was at a sleepover. I was bummed about that. But that also meant I got to spend quality time with just David, my youngest nephew.

David is two and has quite the personality. He is such a ham. At our wedding reception during toasts, he kept walking up to me by the cake and giving me a mischievous look like he was going to just stick his hand right in the cake. He never did but I wasn't too worried about it. It would have been cute.

Back to my story...

So we were asking David what Phil's name is. We are trying to work on "Uncle Phil." David has another Uncle Phil (my sister in law's brother) and apparently it is too confusing to have more than one because he looked straight and Phil and said...

"Uncle Curtis."

After we all stopped cracking up, we tried several times to convince David that Phil's name wasn't Curtis. He wast having it. Phil even tried ignoring him but David just crawled up next to him in the couch and tried turning his face towards him, all while saying with increasing volume, "Uncle Curtis... Uncle Curtis... Uncle CURTIS!"

So we will see how long this lasts. :)

Love, Mrs. Janney

Location:Salem, OR

Getting Started

So after reading other people's blogs for about a year now, I have decided to finally start one of my own. I figure even if nobody reads it, it will be a fun thing for Phil and I to look back on.

I have also picked up quite a few tips, recipes and ideas from the blogs I have read. So I figured I would pass along the recipes and ideas I have had or used as well.

So here's a little about me. I am in my mid-twenties and just got married to probably the best man in the world a little over a month ago. We live in a duplex with our dog, a short drive away from my office and an hour commute from Oregon State University where Phil (the husband) is attending grad school.

I am slowly learning that I love to be domestic. I have also learned lately that I am getting into nutrition and fitness which is definitely new for me. Those topics will probably frequent these blogs.

So... To anyone that may possibly read this, I hope it is slightly entertaining.

I will leave you with a picture of me and the chicken I roasted last night. It was super delicious.





Love, Mrs. Janney