Relaxing Sunday

Today was the perfect day.

It started with a perfect little lunch at St. Louis Bread Co.

so delish.

Then home for B's nap.

After she woke up we headed over to the pool for some fun in the sun.

There were lots of our friends and family there which was a lot of fun.

Then back home so B could nap again.

Curtis then made the most amazing homemade pizza.

Like, it was seriously amazing.

The best pizza I've ever had.

Then I headed to the gym which felt great.

Now I'm chillin at home doing some blogging while Curtis, my brother, my bro in law and I watch a movie.

Such a great day!

Oh My! You want me to do what?!

The husband just informed me that he and I will be running a half marathon in February!!

I know what you're thinking..

"February?? You have plenty of time to train for that!"

Yes, this is true, but there is one tiny little problem! I am really bad at running... like, really bad... like I hate it. A lot. But I am going to overcome my hate for running and do it!

It's called the sweetheart half marathon because it's right before valentines day.. and not only is it right before valentines day but it's 2 days before our 2 year anniversary! Crazy right??

So even though it's about 6 months away I need to start training now so I don't die during this thing.

Anyone know of any good marathon training schedules?! I've searched the internet but I can't find a good one. If you have one or know where I can find a good one comment or email me please!!
I would appreciate it!

jennarduty@gmail.com

I'll leave you with this photo of Brooklynn throwing a little fit at lunch today...
No, my child is not perfect.. even though she looks like it. :)

whoa, look at that fist! hahaha

It's too dang hot, and stuff.

Okay people, I am dying here in this heat. I don't ever want to leave our apartment! And our apartment isn't even that cool. Since we are on the second level and have these hugemongous windows no matter how low we keep the air, which is usually at about 55 degrees ALL DAY ( it's a dang good thing we don't have to pay utilities in the summer) it still gets to about 80 degrees in here from 1pm to 9pm, then it starts to cool down. It's pretty awful I'm not gonna lie.

I really am not exaggerating when I say it's really freakin hot.

You know how I know it's too hot? When it's a clear day and NO ONE is at the pool.

NOT. ONE. PERSON.

You wanna know why no one is at the pool? 

BECAUSE IT'S TOO HOT TO BE OUTSIDE. EVEN IF YOU ARE IN THE POOL.

Sorry if that seemed like I was yelling at you. Because I wasn't. It's just really dang hot here! And when I am really hot I am really tired and don't want to do anything. And I hate when I feel that way.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.. but I was just thinkin about how I could never liver her perminitely because it's too hot. haha

Well, I'm going to leave you with this photo because I forgot about it and I don't think I've ever posted it anywhere and I like it. This was about 4 months ago..

Blog Swap: Nicole Cisneros

Today I'm doing something fun. A good friend of mine, Nicole and I are doing a blog swap. We are both answering 10 questions on each others blogs! Enjoy her answers below and leave her some love!


Hello there, folks!

My name is Nicole Cisneros, and I'm a happy member of The Cisneros Family, so come on over and give us some love every once in awhile!

Anyway, I'm super excited to play a little 10 questions game with Jenna, especially since she is one of my closest friends and one of the most hilarious people I know.

Here goes!

What’s your best memory of Jenna?

Hmmm……I would have to say one of my most favorite memories of Jenna happened when we were about 13 or 14. Oh my gosh, I’m giggling just thinking about it…..Okay, I went on a trip to Utah with her family for a little R&R, and on this fabulous trip we went tubing down the Zion river. Sounds nice, right? Well, it just so happened that that year saw the lowest tide in history or something like that, so we were scooting along rocks for a good chunk of the time, and then just when things seemed to get better, we got eaten alive by some sort of flying bug! Yep, that’s right, I itched for a good 6 months afterwards. Anyway, that is definitely one of the most memorable moments in general, but made awesome by Jenna because we still laugh about it to this day.

What are two things on your bucket list?

That’s easy! 1) spend a month in Europe with my husband after all of my kids are out of the house and established, and 2) do something awesome for/with the Make-A-Wish foundation. I mean, how can you beat such an organization? It's so amazing!

What movie always gets you to cry and why?

Steele Magnolias. An oldie, but a goodie. Man, oh man, tears galore!

What accomplishment are you most proud of in life?

Of course the thing I’m most proud of in my life is becoming a mother – cliché, but true. However, I had no idea that such an event made one actually feel accomplished until it actually happened, so I have to say that one of my most proud moments was when I graduated college with a double major in Communications PR and American studies with my husband and then 17-month-old baby by my side. Although I always knew I was going to get my degree, I was blown away by how accomplished it made me feel while juggling wife-hood, mommy-hood and all around awesomeness-hood.

Those two plus me in a cap and gown makes for one very happy lady :)

What piece of advice do you wish you could tell all of your girlfriends?

I wish I could tell all my girlfriends that it’s okay to go through the “trial and error” process of dating! It’s so important, and if you don’t, you will end up settling! Not okay! Along with that I wish I could tell them that there’s no rush to the alter, take your time….Even though I found my man quite early in life J

What is one thing you would tell your 16-year-old self?

Sheesh…..What wouldn’t I tell that blonde-haired-red-Hyundai-driving-crazy girl?? Well, one thing’s for sure: I would say quite clearly and confidently to cut your poor parents a break! They just love you and are looking out for your best interest! Don’t discount their opinions because you are now apparently the coolest thing on earth and they have become “square.” Not cool, Nicole! That’s one good thing parenthood will do to ya, give you some perspective!

Secondly, I would say to not stress out about the grand plan, because the it will change 20 million more times than it already has, and life will throw you some major curve balls!

If you could go on one fantasy vacation in your lifetime, where would it be and what would you do?

Okay, fantasy, right? Here goes….

We {because Chad would be included} would start off in Paris where we honeymooned and go wine tasting again, because that was life changing {hello, red wine!}. Afterwards we would take our Rolce Royce to the south of France, where we would board our jet skis and take off for the boot of Italy where supposedly my ancestors are from {yes, I’m sure there are more practical ways of getting there, but hey? This is my fantasy!}. Anyway, we would spend the rest of our days on vaca in our villa on the beach, all while taking Italian cooking classes and drinking fine wine with the Greats. Who are these Greats? I have no idea. But it would be wonderful!

There I was on the ole' 'moon wine tasting in a cellar near the Eiffel Tower.....Aww, love.....

Another honeymoon picture for good measure? Of course! That day we were in Brugge, a tiny, old little city Belgium.

What is one talent you wish you had?

Reading people’s minds, but only people’s minds who I want to hear….{Edward Cullen, hey hey!}. Well I guess that's more of a super power, but that works, eh?

Who are your top three heroes and why?

{In no particular order....}

-Elizabeth Smart: I know that’s quite random, but I watched a whole expose on her today, and holy moly! How did she come out of such a situation so normal and grounded?! She’s an activist now! Did you know that? Amazing!

-My sister, Gina: She is the first person close to me who had a baby, so she influenced my mama skills greatly. I still ask her questions on a weekly basis, and I’m so thankful for her. Thank goodness for sisters! {This one is also a “/mom” because she of course, has gotten me through the hard times of mommy-hood just by making me laugh}

-Honestly, I can't think of a third hero to save my life. Sad, yes. I know there's at least one more floating around in the ole' noggin somewhere, I just can't think of who it is at the moment!

What’s the craziest nickname you’ve ever called your child?

Well, we call him Cartier with an English accent on a daily basis, but as far as craziest goes……I would have to say “the beast” because when he was a wee one he was such a great guzzler-o-milk. I know, I know, it’s not crazy crazy, but that’s all I’ve got!

Well, that was a blast. I'm lucky to have a friend like Jenna {or JenAnAe, if that's what you would like to call her,emphasis on the "A's"}, so if you have a friend as great as she, then go give them a pat on the back!

How about one more picture, eh?

There we were being sassy at my wedding.....Check out Jenna's precious baby bump at the time! So cute!

Hey friends! I hope you enjoyed Nicole's post! 

She is one of my best friends and I know I sure enjoyed it!

Have a great day lovelies!

Oh the milestones!

Every time Brooklynn reaches a new milestone it makes me want to cry.

A good cry though. I am so proud of her for all that she has learned to do. Yes, she is growing up too fast, but growing is good. She scooted on her tummy for so long and just two weeks ago started to full on crawl. It was so exciting! Now that she has gained some strength she can pull herself up on pretty much anything.. so she pulls herself up on pretty much everything...

Literally, anything she can pull her self up on she does. 

She spends the majority of the day standing because it makes her feel like she's a big girl.

Which she is.

Man, if I loved this baby girl any more I think my heart would explode!

such a dang cutie!

diet coke update:

had one today.. still having a hard time giving up the crutch.

But I'm only allowing myself one a day until next monday..

Hopefully I can get rid of it before then!

Head aches are getting better day by day.

I'm just getting them later in the day which is good.

I miss it so much already.

:(

Happy Happy Happy

Brooklynn and I are both so very happy to be home with Curtis! We missed him so much while we were out of town. Being away from him for 2 weeks was just a little too long! Not that we didn't have fun in California, because we sure as heck did, but it would have been much more fun if Curtis were there with us! It's made me realize how grateful I am for Curtis and all that he does for me. I am SO very lucky to have a husband who helps out as much as he does. 

I would definitely go crazy without him.

One thing that I am not happy about it how dang hot it is here! I literally will not go outside unless I absolutely have to. When you walk outside it's hard to breathe because it's so hot and humid. I could never live here permanently. Of course the summer we are here it's the 4th hottest summer in history!

Not cool.

Well, since not much has gone on today I'll leave you with some photos of our little one. 

You sick of photos of her? 

I'm not. ;)

Okay, I'm not leaving quite yet. One of our favorite times of the day is bath time. Mostly because B LOVES the bath! She has so much fun playing and splashing in the water. Yeah, we usually end up being as wet as she is in the bath but I don't mind because she is having so much fun!

And what is more fun than giving a baby a mohawk in the bath?

nothing. ha

daddy & his girl.


oh, update of quitting diet coke:
I've had one a day for the past two days. Day one I was very grumpy and having a really hard time. Today was much better. Still have pretty dang bad head aches but I could manage! I can't wait until I feel great without them!




one more thing...
if you're liking my blog, can you vote?
you can vote once a day.
i'd love you forever!
ok i'll love you anyway.
but it'd be super nice if you voted!

My name is Jenna, and I have a problem.

What is this problem I have you ask?

I am 100% crazily, madly, insanely, addicted to diet coke.

Like, really bad.

A while back I did a post about how I wanted to not quit but to just wean myself from it just to drink less. It worked for about a week and then I was back to drinking it as often as I did before, which I am honestly embarrassed to say that it is sometimes 10 a day. That's a lot.. I have a serious problem.

Now here is what I am going to do about this problem.

I am going to quit

SAYYY WHHAATT?

Crazy, I know. And here's the even crazier part. I don't even want to quit. Not at all. I love diet coke and if I could have it my way I would just constantly be drinking it and never stop. But that is no way to live. I need to quit. The amount I have consumed cannot be good for me. 

So here I am, day one at 5:30pm ready to bite someone's head off because I have the worst head ache and is making me extremely irritated.

Which is more proof that I need to quit. Anything that makes you feel like this if you don't drink it is bad.  Well, diet coke is not bad, unless you're consuming it the way I do. Or did.

This week if I get out of control I am allowing myself to have one a day because I think cold turkey might kill me. But after this week I am done.

It's really sad.

I am going to miss you diet coke.

We have had a long relationship that I loved.

But all good things must come to an end.

Bye for now.

anxiety.

I'm about to leave my parents house to head to the airport for another 4 hour flight with my 9 month old baby girl.

If you read my post about flying here you know I didn't have the best time.

I am getting nervous for the flight again since I know that this flight is also completely full.

ahhh.

Please send positive vibes my way and pray that this experience is better for us!

Bye Bye Mission Viejo.

I'll miss you.

But not as much as I've missed my husband.

Cannot wait to see him.

Still, so nervous. 

Bass Lake in Photos.

So, there is not much to write about Bass Lake because we pretty much do the same thing everyday. So instead I took LOTS and I mean LOTS of photos!
Prepare yourself for an overload of photos! 
I will put captions under the photos that need some explaining.
Enjoy.

 Somehow, water got in my very expensive baby monitor... but of course, PaPa can fix anything!

 These are all of the great grandchildren in order from oldest to youngest (the ones that were there)

 McCartney is the cutest little thing.. this is her doing her model pose! HAHA!

 I've been trying to get a photo of B's top two teeth coming in! This was the best I could do!

 Everyone playing "water in the face". The person in the middle thinks of a category such as ice cream flavors, then thinks of one. Then goes to each person and they guess. Whoever guesses right gets water in their face from a spoon. Also, if you repeat someone else's guess you get water in your face as well. This game started long before I was born! Definitely a Bass Lake favorite!

So, there you have it. An overload of bass lake photos! And we're here for one more day so there might be another post. But maybe not cause that's a lot.. 

I hope you enjoyed!

until next year!