Author: jennced15

The Drive I Make The Most

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Did everyone know that Thanksgiving is a week away? Crazy right? I can’t believe we are at the holidays and end of this year. What a crazy blessing this year has been in my life. Crazy blessing you may ask? . . . yes, crazy blessing. I have had all the ups and downs a person can handle. I bet we could do a scan and see the whiplash it has caused. 🙂

But keeping with my gratitude of weeks past. Here are 5 things I am grateful for that happened this year.

  1. I am grateful for the short time I spent living and working in Texas.
  2. I am grateful that I moved back to the Pacific Northwest.
  3. I am grateful that I now have a married sister.
  4. I am grateful that the world’s cutest nephew turned 1.
  5. I am grateful for the struggles I endured.

However, I am grateful for one more thing: I am grateful that I live close enough to the people I love that I can visit often which brings me to the real post this week about the places I have been.

I have made the drive between the Pacific Northwest and Utah more times than probably any other drive in my life. (Believe me–I drive a lot) 🙂 So to commemorate yet another trip down I-84 to I-15 and back; I have decided to share with you some interesting facts about some of the places I pass along my way.

On your next drive; learn something new about the places you pass along the way.

  1. Boise, Idaho: I use to live here and I really quite like it. I hear comments all the time about how plain it looks and how it is any wonder why people would live here but I think my fellow Boiseans would agree with me when I say, What are you talking about?” It is a great place and had a job opportunity come up here, I would have taken it.  Quick Fact: Boise has the second largest Basque population in the United States.
  2. Twin Falls, Idaho: I know–this sounds crazy but I did actually live here as well and I really liked it. It is a little out of range from a big city but it is a hub to some great recreation areas. Just ask Demi Moore and Bruce Willis who raised their daughters in the town of Hailey, Idaho not too far away from here. Quick Fact: Even in dusty sagebrush covered southern Idaho there is a drive called the 1000 spring by-way and in the spring you will want to divert and take the scenic route.
  3. Pendleton, Oregon: This city is a welcome relief if you are travelling during the winter and braving the Blue Mountains of Oregon. It either means the worst is behind you or gear up because it will be awhile of slow snow driving. I’m looking forward to it. 🙂 Quick Fact: Pendleton is where the world-famous Pendleton Woolen Mill is located. Fancy a blanket anyone?
  4. Oregon: I decided to include a general fact list on the whole state since this is where I now live and where I spend about 50% of my drive time. Quick Fact: Did you know that one of my favorite places, Sauvie Island is one of the largest river islands in North America?
  5. Utah: I also decided to include a general list on the whole state of Utah since it is where I moved from and where I usually find myself racing to get to the family that I love. Quick Fact: The Sundance Film Festival was not started by Robert Redford but he was the first  board chairman.

And the Gratitude Continues

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Another round of what I am grateful for. This could never get old for me. Hopefully it won’t get too old for you. I have come up with 5 new things to be thankful for this November.

How is your gratitude list coming? Please share something you are grateful for. 🙂

  1. Music: This morning I was driving to the office and a song came on the radio that I haven’t heard for a while but it brought a smile to my face and some bobbing to my head. I really enjoy music in its many forms and if I could do something that I love; it would be with music in some way. Here is my song if you are wondering what made me happy. 😛
  2. Blogs: I really learn a lot about other people and what I learn the most is that we are all the same. We all have the things that we are passionate about and the things that we like to share with others. It is really wonderful to be apart of that community. Here are 5 of my favorites blogs to follow:
    1. The Kitchn
    2. Love Taza
    3. Peanut Butter Fingers
    4. Can You Stay for Dinner?
    5. Oh Happy Day
  3. Modern Medicine and Holistic Approaches: This might sound like an oxymoron but I am very grateful for the ability to care for myself without having to worry about insurance and drugs however; I also recognize when I need something to get over Bronchitis and I am grateful for the medical profession.
  4. Food: I know that I said I was grateful for the harvest last week but I was really talking about the source of our food. This is gratitude for the wonderful things I have eaten over the years. Here are 5 things that I REALLY want to make in the next couple of weeks.
    1. Simple Lemony Spring Chicken & Spring Veggie Soup
    2. Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps
    3. Cranberry Avocado Salad
    4. Caramel Churro Chex Mix
    5. Pumpkin Heavenly Oreo Dessert
  5. Animals: Everyone should know by now how much I miss my dog Coco but having her in my life gave me gratitude and love for all animals that cross my path. It is such a wonderful thing to have the connection we do with them.

Have a WONDERFUL and GRATITUDE-FILLED week!!

Gratitude is Contagious

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We made it to November . . . how–I am not exactly sure. In some ways I think this year took forever. Maybe because I had a year of struggles. In other ways I think it flew by. Probably because I was once again too busy to really live it. Either way, this year has been full of change and the kind that is painful because it forces you to grow and learn.

At this point I am sure you are thinking, “Gee Jenn, way to be depressing”.

Actually not. What I have learned the most in this entire process is what really is important to me. I have learned that people really love me and most importantly, I have learned that I am not alone in this thing we call life.

I have learned a little more every day this year what gratitude really is and why celebrating one day a year is so important. I am hoping that each of you will catch my gratitude bug and give it away as well.

So every week I will share some of the things that I am grateful for. I have a list that is much to long to write on paper and too long to share each time I pray but somehow all of it is written on my heart. It is safe there and will stay with me forever.

I hope each one of you know that you are in my heart.

  1. I am grateful for the natural beauty I am surrounded in. I have lived in many places, been to many places and seen many things but no where on this planet can I find a place that the beauty of the earth does not stir my soul in gratitude and love.
  2. I am grateful for my friends. I am talking about those friends that know when you might be close to a breakdown. The friends that know when to tease you about the guy that just walked by. The friends that would do anything in their power to save you.
  3. I am grateful for the harvest. I love this land of plenty. I experience nostalgia from the smell of cinnamon. I love the art behind a well prepared dish. I love how food brings people together because it sustains life. Food teaches us to bond at a basic human need and we all flourish from it.
  4. I am grateful for trials because they teach us to try harder. They move us forward down the paths that make us grow and change. In that change we become the people we are truly meant to be and that is a beautiful thing.
  5. I am grateful for family. I love and respect the people who have to put up with me and I hope they will always know that my life would be incomplete with any of them missing. I would gladly and readily trade every part of my existence for my family.

Since I knew this post would be full of written thoughts. I have decided to share a small slide show of recent pictures (one of these days I will  upload to Flickr). Enjoy!!

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Playing Dress Up

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Who didn’t love playing dress-up when they were a kid? Seriously . . . ask yourself that question out loud and I am sure at least one memory will come to mind. You might have wanted to be a princess or a superhero. You could have wanted to be just like your Dad or the rock-star on your older siblings poster. No matter what, we always want to pretend we are someone else even if it is short-lived and mostly in our dreams.

This actually is the fuel on my eternal Halloween fire. I love dress-up. I love reinventing myself for one night. It is the easiest, quickest and funnest (is that a word?) way for me to escape my hum-drum life. No longer am I defined by the practical side but I can let all of my little girl to adult fantasies come to life.

Everyone knows by now that Halloween never visited my new home this year. I am hoping that next year will make up for it. In the meantime, I have a party to attend tomorrow night and I get to play dress-up. To make it easier on  myself I will be wearing last year’s costume but at least this year I will be getting my makeup done professionally at this wonderful place in Portland: Blush Beauty Bar. For those of you asking what will I be–I was a crow until someone pointed out that I looked more like the mocking jay. Either way, I will be a black bird. (If I can get my act together I will post pictures next week) 🙂

This got me thinking about today’s top five and I have decided to list the top 5 costumes I would like to wear according to category.

What is a costume you would like to wear?

My categories and costumes are . . .

  1. Classic: I have actually done my favorite but I think I am going to have to do it again–Bride of Frankenstein. 
  2. Princess: My whole life I have loved Sleeping Beauty but not when she is the princess. I have always loved her as Aurora. 
  3. Scary: I don’t do gross but I do like to do unsettling so I would like to be an eerie ghost. 
  4. Funny: I think it is best when you do something related to your job. Mine is accounting so one year I will drape a sheet over my body and hold in my hand some sort of sandwich spread. That way I am a spread-sheet; get it? 🙂 Ha! Ha! 
  5. Historical: Okay this one might be stretching it a bit but . . . I love the movie Gone With the Wind. Here’s to you Scarlett! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!