The start of a GREAT summer...

The last week has been a full one and I am just now able to catch up on it! Whew...first week of summer break around here and we have already had some fun! 

First off was the long holiday weekend...3 days of fun (and a little work for me!) We worked a little in the backyard and in my little garden.

Or should I say my not-so-little-anymore garden. He's the munchkin with our first bounty of the season! Some jalapeños, strawberries and a big zucchini. Next up we hit up the park for some fun...

On Sunday we relaxed a little and took an early nap...or at least Roxy did!

I had to work a little on Sunday...

Ok, Ok...so it wasn't so much "work" as it was spending time cuddling with this adorable little 11 day old newbie, Jaxson! I just love it when I get to photograph newborns...they are just so sweet and cuddly and boy oh boy did I start to get baby fever after spending time with this sweetie! (just don't tell my hubby!)
On Monday I did a little grocery shopping, a little napping, a little swimming and we went to a a BBQ with some awesome friends! (Love me some Hatch's & Delorio's!)
As I mentioned in an earlier post Caleb is attending summer camp this year while on summer break and he is having so much fun so far! He gets to go on field trips 3 times a week and they have fun activities planned for the other 2. This week was a short one with Memorial day on Monday, so he only went on 2 field trips...first to the batting cages on Tuesday and then to the movies on Thursday. Needless to say...the boy is super excited to get to go everyday! 
So I think we've started out Summer out right, don't you? I can't wait for everything else this summer will bring...we've got some fun friends coming in this weekend and through the middle of next week (Holla Harding clan!) then my high school Bestest Bestie in the World Suzie and her family are coming for their yearly visit later in the month. (Check out the post from their visit last year...I want to top it this year. Think we can do it?) I think we may make a quick trip to Vegas or the PNW and definitely a trip up to the high country to get away from the ever-present 110+ heat. This summer is going to be one for the books I tell ya...yes it will be!!

Busy. Busy. Busy.

I have been so busy living my life that I haven’t had time to write about it on here! It has been a complete whirlwind for the last 2 weeks and I think that I finally have time to catch my breath!!

First off was a quick trip away with just my hubby and I to Laughlin, Nevada. It was the first time that I had ever been there and my husband hadn’t been there for almost 15 years, so neither of us were really sure what to expect. It definitely was NO Vegas…but there was some gambling & drinking, so we had a great time. AND it was really, really relaxing. Which was something that we both desperately needed. It was nice to get away by ourselves for a couple of days….just to enjoy each other, take our time doing things and feel no rushing or responsibilities for a couple of days. (And we walked away with all of our money, not losing one dollar to the casinos! Score!!)

The day that we got back from Laughlin, we had 3 hours to pick up our dog from the boarders, go grocery shopping, do laundry & get our house ready for house guests! A college friend of ours from up in Washington State came down with her family to go to her grandparent’s 60th anniversary party. Since we hadn’t seen each other in almost 3 years it was so nice to get to spend some time with each other…and the trip was made even better because our kiddos really got along and had fun with each other! (We even managed to squeeze in a fun four-generation family photo shoot with her family, her parents, aunts & uncles and grandparents! I LOVE being able to capture special moments like that!)

Finally…the trip that we had been planning for a couple of months came. The big trip to Disneyland! We had just 5 days between our house guests leaving and us leaving to go on our trip. So needless to say, I have been...

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!

Project Reconnect 2012

I decided NOT to do a list of New Year resolutions for 2012. Instead I have created project for myself…Project Reconnect 2012. I decided that this year I would try my hardest to reconnect with others. Over the past year between my depression and beginning my own business I have lost touch…lost touch with friends and family. But most importantly I’ve lost touch with myself.

This year will be about reconnecting with old friends. Trying to mend fences that were broke down from my lack of attention. Friendships only work when there are two people to work on them…and I have been lacking in my attention. I am not close to my family and over the years my friendships have helped to fill that void for me. But battling depression has made this difficult. It is like I have been a bear in hibernation…instead of me just crawling away to sleep though a season, I have been away for almost a year. I have hidden out and when I do have energy I have given all of that energy to my new business.

But I need more than just a business to make me feel whole. I need confidants. I need people that trust me and that I can trust. I need girlfriends that I can get silly and drunk with. I need friends that accept me as who I am and love me. But I need to reconnect and put more effort into it if I expect to be able to get any of these things back into my life. 

(I have also been lucky to have a few girlfriends that have stuck with me along the way...the deep dark way that is depression. And I am thankful for them. More than words can even begin to express...without their love, support and friendship I could not have made it through the past year. To you gals I love you more than you could ever know. Thank you for being there for me to cry on your shoulders and thank you for helping to pick me up when I fall.)

I also need to reconnect with myself. I need to take more of an active role in living my life. I need to work on me. I will do better at putting myself together more. Taking more pride in my appearance…I truly believe that looking good will help me to feel good about myself. Over the past few weeks I have worked on cleaning out my closet and getting rid of my grubby, slouchy, lounge around clothes. I found myself wearing them day in and day out…and because I was wearing them it was so much easier to just stay at home and lounge around. I didn’t want to go out looking like I rolled out of bed, so it was just another excuse to just stay home and hibernate.

I need to cook more meals at home. Not because I am setting a goal of loosing weight, but because I LOVE to cook at home. It’s something that makes me so very happy. I love creating new dishes to share with friends and neighbors. I love creating delicious sweets that I can bring to work. It is a way to get me back to being me. But I also think that cooking more meals at home will also be a great way to get some much-needed family time. Time for my husband, son and I to sit down together, break bread and talk. Talk and decompress from the day’s stresses. And we can reconnect.

I also will be reading more. I love to read. I love to learn. And I have missed it. I love getting lost in a novel…connecting with characters, letting my imagination get away from me. It is something that I long to do again and I will. But as I said I also love to learn and I will be reading books on things that I want to learn how to do or how to do better.

And I also will take more time to blog and reconnect with my blogging friends. Because I have learned that blog friends are real. Some of the only people that I have managed to not loose over the last year were some amazing blog friends. My girls Laura and Branson have been wonderful about checking in on me and keeping up on what’s going on. And I truly appreciate them for that. But I also want to reconnect with some of the other wonderful women that I have “met” online that I let slide on by because I wasn’t present enough.

But I am back. I will be baking and posting recipes. I will be talking more about my life, my family, my job…my hopes and dreams. And sharing photos along the way. I also will be better about visiting other bloggers and commenting instead of just lurking on their blogs. Its time for me to start joining in on the conversations and stop just standing in the corner observing everyone.

But blogging for me is also a wonderful creative outlet. I LOVE writing and for me blogging is almost like keeping a journal. It’s a way for me to get out what I am feel and thinking and share it with others. It is a way for me to get back to myself…the myself that I love. The one that is happy and outgoing. The me that is fun and loving. And I miss that part of myself. So in 2012 I will be working on reconnecting both with my friends but also with myself.

So here’s to 2012!! And the start of Project Reconnect…

Not keeping a tally

Last week it was pointed out to me how much I give, but how little I seem to always receive from family and friends. I had never viewed it this way before…part of my personality is that I am someone that gives. I love giving to others… and up until last week, it’s never been about what I receive back.

But ever since my good friend pointed it out to me, it has been so hard not to begin tallying things up. And I found myself unhappy…unhappy because I started wondering why I wasn’t good enough to get back from others. Why wasn’t I receiving back as much as I was always giving out?

My tally marks were beginning to be all that I could think of…I gave person a this, but I only got this back, I gave person b that and I received nothing back….it was all that was going through my mind. And I didn’t like it. I began to spiral back down into depression thinking about all that had gone on in the last couple of years with friends, family and work…so I began to cry.

And cry.

And cry.

But I also began to examine who I was and what was important to me.

Was getting really what was important to me?

Was keeping a mental tally on my friends and family really important to me?

If they were doing the same thing, how would I stack up to others on their tally sheet?

Is judging the people that I love really how to go about loving them? Shouldn’t I just accept them for who and what they are? Isn’t that what love really is?

So over the weekend I threw away my tally sheet. I made myself stop thinking about getting. Because what is important to me is the giving, not the getting. It’s part of what makes me who I am. And I like who I am. Actually I LOVE who I am. And giving to others makes me happy. It makes me feel complete. 

I also realized that those that mean the most to me do give back...my soul is filled to the brim with love and respect for those that I am the closest to. And if by chance I get something back from any others it will be an amazing little extra to overflow my spirit.

Happy Thanksgiving! - Thankfulness Challenge

#23 - I am thankful for friends that invite us into their homes!

My husband has worked every Thanksgiving since I've known him (he works in retail) so each year we either skip Thanksgiving or I cook up a small meal that we enjoy together after he gets home from work. This year a good friend of mine has graciously invited my son & I (and when he gets off work, my husband) into her home to enjoy the holiday with her and her family. I am really looking forward to help cook the big meal and to contribute some of my own dishes. I really am truly thankful to not have to spend the holiday alone like we usually do.

Thank you Moore family for opening your home to us...it means more than you ever will know.

  

#8 - Thankfulness Challenge

#8 - I am thankful for my friends who aren't afraid of depression

I am so very lucky to have such wonderful friends. They are really there for me when I am down. They make me laugh. And the memories that we make are just amazing!! 

I have been having a very hard time lately dealing with depression and three of these friends have been so wonderful, supporting and really, really there for me. They call me to check up on me. They help me to laugh and to see the beauty of what surrounds me. And what I appreciate the most from is them not being afraid of depression but for helping me to tackle it head on. Thank you so much Sarah, Suzie and MaryAnn...I am so thankful that you are there to hold my hand while I climb this mountain back to my old self. I can't tell you how much your caring and support means to me! Hugs to you girls!! Great big bear hugs!

#7 - Thankfulness Challenge

Hi...I am doing a Thankfulness Challenge for the month of November.

If anyone is wanting to join in please do...There isn't any linkup.

Just pull the badge art (at bottom of this post) and put it in your post.
 

#7 - I am thankful for the internet and what it has brought me!

Blogging, Mom websites, Facebook, Twitter...they have all helped me to make some amazing friendships. While some of them are in cyberspace only...others are now friends in real life also. Some of my closest IRL friends are rekindled friendships through Facebook. While others are mom's that I met through websites dedicated to mom's and motherhood.

The internet is an amazing place that really brings people that otherwise would never get to meet together. I have met amazing ladies that help me with photography questions, some that helped me when I was starting my photography business, ones that have encouraged me when I'm feeling down...and I do the same for them! I may never meet these women (and a few men) in person, but I consider them my friends.

The story about that time that I made out with the bartender

Yeah, you read that right. This is the story about the time that I made out with a bartender. But this story has two sides to it.

There is the story about what REALLY happened.

And then there is the story about what two drunk men think happened.

When we were on our little excursion down to southern Arizona at the beginning of the month we stopped into a local pizza joint in Bisbee for dinner. And let me tell you that it was a great place to eat at. The pizza was from a wood fired oven. The No Besos Para Ti appetizer was amazing and garlic-y, the beer--phenomenal, and the pizza was seriously out of this world good. Our waitress was great. We sat outside and let the children run amok (we were the only ones on the back patio, so they weren't bothering anyone and they got some excess energy out!).

Chris & Caleb exploring the back patios of the restaurant

We enjoyed our time, relaxed and conversed with some of the amazing people that worked there...including one of the girls nicknamed "cuddles." And yes, I did ask for some cuddles, but she did not oblige me. (I possibly just scared her...)

Wood pile for the wood-fired pizza oven

Then as we were leaving I noticed one of the women that was working behind the bar was having a little situation with a man just outside in the parking lot. I could tell that it wasn't a great situation and that mostly it was the man just being an asshat to her. Calling her names, and just not getting it. (Turns out he didn't like that he couldn't bring in his own bottle of wine to drink with dinner...it wasn't something that they could do with the type of liquor license that they had. He just didn't get it and thought they were being "mean." Again I say...asshat.)

Noticing that she was upset about the exchange, I did a typical "Jen" thing and I went back inside to tell her how much we enjoyed our meal and our time at her restaurant. I knew that she needed to hear something good after such a sucky "conversation" with that asshat. (You see...this is just something that I often do, and my husband thinks that it's weird...I can't stand to see people upset, especially when they don't deserve it. And she didn't. Not at all. It doesn't matter to me if someone is a stranger. Sometimes kind words can make all the difference in the world!)

Now we get to the part in the story about me "making-out" with the bartender. After I told her how much we enjoyed ourselves, she grabbed me and hugged me. Then she began kissing my cheeks and saying "bella...thank you!" & "oh bella...you are wonderful." It was a very touching moment. I felt full of happiness for dissolving her rotten mood and I could tell that she was grateful for me taking the time to tell her that we had a good time and enjoyed the food.

I then walked outside to get into the car to go back to our hotel. The end of my story. Simple. Straightforward. Sweet. But...

Here is where the "other" view of the story comes into play.

Immediately as I opened the door to our rented mini-van the two men (one of which was my husband) began excitedly to tell me about how they had saw two women "totally making out in the restaurant!" I then told them that it had been me with the bartender.

I was quickly interrupted and before I could tell them that what they thought they saw was wrong, they exclaimed excitedly "YOU made out with the bartender!! Wow, she was HOT!"

Yes, in their drunken stupor what they saw was actually the exchange between the bartender and I. The moment that was really sweet and included a hug and a kiss on the cheek from a grateful woman, was a huge make out session to these two men. Ugh. I then had to calm them down and tell them what really happened.

All that I can say is...

Ugh. 

Men.

A Trip to the "Old West"

A couple of weeks ago one of my closest friends and her family came to visit us. The thing about this visit is that it is an annual visit...every June she and her family come down here to the desert from the waterlogged state of Washington (my home state) and hang out with us. We swim, drink, laugh, eat a lot, and just generally have a great time. But we also plan one trip to somewhere in the state of AZ during each visit also.

This year we choose to head south of the Phoenix metro area and do an "Old West" trip. We hit up Tombstone & Bisbee and had a fantastic time!

First off we stated at Tombstone. If you have never been there I highly recommend it...it is definitely a tourist town, but still so much fun! While there we were entertained by a shoot out at the OK Corral, the kiddos got to "meet" Doc Holliday up close and personal (he also grouched at them and took a photo with them all looking "angry"), visited the Boothill Graveyard, and took a stagecoach ride. We also walked around, shopping, checking out old buildings and just generally having a great time!

Next off we headed to Bisbee, Arizona. Now since this was my second visit to the town of Bisbee, I can honestly say that it is my favorite town in ALL of Arizona. It is a beautifully quirky town southeast of Tucson, near the Mexican border. It was originally settled as a mining town, but today is known as a charming, unique artist community. We decided to stay overnight in Bisbee in the historic (and haunted) Copper Queen Hotel...and yes, both families had ghostly encounters while staying there! We walked around the town, had an amazing dinner at a pizza place called Screaming Banshee Pizza...and if you ever visit the town make sure to eat here...the food was AWESOME! We did a little shopping, talked to local artisans, and took a tour of an inactive copper mine, the Queen Mine.

It was a jam packed two-day trip...but so much fun!!

And now, I'm going to overwhelm you with photos.

First up is Tombstone, AZ:

Our stagecoach driver, Cecil

The boys looking "angry" with Doc Holliday

Settling in to watch the shoot out at the OK Corral

The Earps

And here are some photos of Bisbee, Arizona!

Our hotel, the Copper Queen

Interesting art in Bisbee

Behind this wall was a dog park!

My son & his new "friend" at a honey shop in town

Getting ready to go on the mine tour!

The kiddos has so much fun pretending to be miners!

My two "miners"

Heading in!

So if you are ever in the Southwest visiting...I encourage you to travel down to southern Arizona and visit these two places. You won't be disappointed!