I finally got the motivation (Thanks, Danielle!) to get some of my jars listed on my Etsy page. It's not spectacular, but it will get better! :) Thanks for looking!
www.JournalJarsbyJen.etsy.com
May 13, 2010
A tour of the house!
I have been promising pictures for a while, so here they are! I realize that many of you will probably never get to Arkansas for a visit, so this is where we're living for now. Enjoy! (And know that you're always welcome to visit!)
As I started this, I realized I don't have a good picture of the front of the house. This one will have to do! :)
Here is the backyard. Since I took this picture, we also got Gavin's climber that he received for his birthday. It's on the other side of the yard. 
I tried to post the pictures as you'd see the rooms when you come into the house. As soon as you walk in, there is a room to your right with french doors that we're using as Gavin's playroom. You can see I had fun decorating it with some posters like it was my classroom. :) The table is for me to use to scrapbook or work on Journal Jars while Gavin plays.
If you hadn't turned right into the playroom, you would have entered the living room. We love the high ceilings and that it has a fireplace. Can't wait to use that this winter! :) We love how the mantle is coming together, too.
Off the living room to the left is our master bedroom and bathroom. We're not big fans of the patio door blinds, but it isn't our home to change them, so we're dealing. We really love the bathroom, with the exception of the shower stall. It's way too small and reminds me of showering in the dorms at college.
Off the living room is the eat-in kitchen. We'd love to have a bigger space for our dining room table, but this serves the purpose. I love that it overlooks the backyard because I can see Gavin playing if I come in to make lunch or get dinner started. And, we love all the cabinets!!!
The first bedroom on the right wing of the house is what we're using for our guest room/office right now. We'd love to get a more comfortable bed and an actual desk in here soon, but they just aren't in the budget for now.
And the last part of the house is Gavin's room and bathroom. We're not huge fans of the dark walls, but it works. He's doing great with his big boy bed and loves to read his books in there.
We hope you liked the house! It's much better in person, so let us know if you want to see it for yourself! :)
Here is the backyard. Since I took this picture, we also got Gavin's climber that he received for his birthday. It's on the other side of the yard. 
I tried to post the pictures as you'd see the rooms when you come into the house. As soon as you walk in, there is a room to your right with french doors that we're using as Gavin's playroom. You can see I had fun decorating it with some posters like it was my classroom. :) The table is for me to use to scrapbook or work on Journal Jars while Gavin plays. 
If you hadn't turned right into the playroom, you would have entered the living room. We love the high ceilings and that it has a fireplace. Can't wait to use that this winter! :) We love how the mantle is coming together, too. 
Off the living room to the left is our master bedroom and bathroom. We're not big fans of the patio door blinds, but it isn't our home to change them, so we're dealing. We really love the bathroom, with the exception of the shower stall. It's way too small and reminds me of showering in the dorms at college. 
Off the living room is the eat-in kitchen. We'd love to have a bigger space for our dining room table, but this serves the purpose. I love that it overlooks the backyard because I can see Gavin playing if I come in to make lunch or get dinner started. And, we love all the cabinets!!!
The first bedroom on the right wing of the house is what we're using for our guest room/office right now. We'd love to get a more comfortable bed and an actual desk in here soon, but they just aren't in the budget for now. 
And the last part of the house is Gavin's room and bathroom. We're not huge fans of the dark walls, but it works. He's doing great with his big boy bed and loves to read his books in there.
We hope you liked the house! It's much better in person, so let us know if you want to see it for yourself! :) May 12, 2010
May 11, 2010
The Best Mother's Day :)
I had such a great Mother's Day! Mother's Day 2008 was pretty special - being my first and getting to spend it with my own mom and grandma. Last year, Jarrod was in NY and though I got to go to Cincy and see my family, I still missed that "pampered" experience since Jarrod wasn't there. This year was awesome!Jarrod got up with Gavin and let me stay in bed. I was miserable with my allergies so even though I'm sure it was because it was Mother's Day, I'm so glad he let me lay there with my eyes closed a little longer. Then, the tears started.
I cried 4 times on Mother's Day. First, Jarrod brought my coffee and my present into bed. He gave me the sweetest card that made me cry. Jarrod is NOT a card person, so the fact that I not only got one, but that he wrote in it what an amazing mom and wife I am, I couldn't help but cry! He got me some amazing skincare products from Aveda. This may not seem like a super sweet gift, but I am constantly complaining about my skin, so it was really thoughtful of him to find something that would hopefully make me feel better about my skin (though I'm not too happy with the cost of it!!!) Then, I got a text message from my own mom that made me cry for the second time. It's amazing what just a few simple words can do to me!
I eventually got up and even though it was my special day, I made my favorite boys pancakes. In the process of making them, I knocked a full glass bottle of olive oil out of the cabinet and broken glass went everywhere. That's why I cried for the third time....I got a piece of glass in my finger. No fun!!! It still hurts, so I think there's still glass in it...
After I got out of the shower, Gavin gave me his card. That was the last thing to make me cry. This is my third Mother's Day, but it's the first time I've gotten a card "from Gavin." It's adorable and Jarrod sat with him to let him color it with markers. Such a special card that I will always cherish!
The rest of the day was great. I took Gavin on a bike ride, then we both napped. Jarrod let me continue to nap while they had some fun in the backyard. We eventually got ready and headed to a new restaurant for dinner. We tried a place called 'Mama Fu's' and it was so yummy! It tasted a lot like PF Chang's but wasn't nearly as expensive. And the best part - we showed up to learn that moms ate free for Mother's Day! What a nice surprise! Gavin and split a piece of chocolate cake for dessert (my new diet started yesterday....). After I finished putting Gavin to bed, I came out to a nice glass of wine waiting for me (and 2 hours worth of ironing, but that was my fault for putting it off for so long!) It was a great day with my husband and special little boy! I am so lucky!
May 10, 2010
Gavin's birthday celebration
I know it's a little late, but here are the pictures from Gavin's birthday celebration! :)
On Sunday (the 25th) we planned to do presents and cake. We were only half successful. I had this vision in my head of a train cake for Gavin. It was going to be so cute! I bought all kinds of stuff. It was going to be 5 small train cars. One car hauling its freight (M&Ms) and another hauling animals (animal crackers). The middle car was going to have the number 2 candle....it was going to be adorable! Well, I failed miserably at my first cake-making experience. So, we did presents that day, but decided to just buy a cake to have on his actual birthday.
Since most of Gavin's gifts this year were big gifts, there wasn't a ton to open. He got lots of books from Mommy, Daddy, Tyler and Briana, and an outfit from Memaw. I just realized while typing this I didn't take pictures of any of the big gifts. We'll have to do that another time! He was much better this year at opening presents, and now will randomly ask, "Open presents?" :)
On his actual birthday, I made him a birthday breakfast of pancakes in the shape of the number 2, which he immediately shouted, "SNAKE!" when he saw the first one. Guess he didn't understand the correlation. :) Maybe the '3' pancake next year will go over better.
Then, we were all looking forward to one of Gavin's favorite dinners. Daddy's homemade spaghetti! The only problem - Jarrod was working later than normal, so I made the sauce, and it didn't turn out like his! Gavin took a few bites and then realized it wasn't the same....it wasn't a hit like Daddy's usually is!
And since my cake was a disaster, I ordered one from Sam's. They didn't have a train option, so we stuck with good old Elmo!
Blowing out the candles with a little help from Daddy!
He was so serious! All he wanted was to eat the cake. I couldn't get him to crack a smile at all!
Pure deliciousness! Gotta love Elmo cake!
On Sunday (the 25th) we planned to do presents and cake. We were only half successful. I had this vision in my head of a train cake for Gavin. It was going to be so cute! I bought all kinds of stuff. It was going to be 5 small train cars. One car hauling its freight (M&Ms) and another hauling animals (animal crackers). The middle car was going to have the number 2 candle....it was going to be adorable! Well, I failed miserably at my first cake-making experience. So, we did presents that day, but decided to just buy a cake to have on his actual birthday.
Since most of Gavin's gifts this year were big gifts, there wasn't a ton to open. He got lots of books from Mommy, Daddy, Tyler and Briana, and an outfit from Memaw. I just realized while typing this I didn't take pictures of any of the big gifts. We'll have to do that another time! He was much better this year at opening presents, and now will randomly ask, "Open presents?" :)
On his actual birthday, I made him a birthday breakfast of pancakes in the shape of the number 2, which he immediately shouted, "SNAKE!" when he saw the first one. Guess he didn't understand the correlation. :) Maybe the '3' pancake next year will go over better.
Then, we were all looking forward to one of Gavin's favorite dinners. Daddy's homemade spaghetti! The only problem - Jarrod was working later than normal, so I made the sauce, and it didn't turn out like his! Gavin took a few bites and then realized it wasn't the same....it wasn't a hit like Daddy's usually is!
And since my cake was a disaster, I ordered one from Sam's. They didn't have a train option, so we stuck with good old Elmo! 
Blowing out the candles with a little help from Daddy!
He was so serious! All he wanted was to eat the cake. I couldn't get him to crack a smile at all!
Pure deliciousness! Gotta love Elmo cake!
And this is for all the family that couldn't be with us. We wish you were here! Hope this helps you feel like part of the celebration. :) (Sorry if it's a little jumpy - I was trying to record and snap a couple pictures at the same time!)
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