venting...

well, i'm trying a new font. can you tell i'm new at this and it's the little things that thrill me :) this latest post is brought on by the need to release pent up thoughts and words and, not wanting to burden anyone with my ramblings, (who, me? ramble?) i thought it best to type them out to no one in particular. :)

i really do hate to complain. especially when i have been so blessed to actually see, in this lifetime, the undeniable moving of God's hand in our marriage and family life. i mean really... when david and i were married over 10 years ago, living in abject poverty (me, waiting tables, he, finishing school) who would have though that God would bring us so far in such a short amount of time. not to say we've "arrived" by any means but we know that we are where we are because of God's great providence and plan, despite our whining and attempts to sabotage it all...

all that said - i had dinner with two of my most treasured friends last night and we were discussing the topic of relocation... i moved around my whole life. always the new girl. which had it's pros and it's cons... having to make new friends (obviously) but having the chance to start over again with a fresh slate. kinda nice. i am, again, facing an inevitable move. we knew when david got this job that we wouldn't be able to stay in one place for very long... we have been extremely blessed to have been able to stay in houston for such a long stretch. he had 4 years in the houston field office and is in his fourth year on former pres. bush's detail which means we are going to be leaving. i have been sooo reflective lately - getting together with friends from high school, trying to make the most of my time left here, trying not to withdraw myself too soon... it's a defense mechanism i have - not involving myself too closely with people because that makes it easier to leave in the end - that i know has negatively effected me before. it's a huge reason why i have so many acquaintances and "buddies" but very few intimate friends. and i regret that, looking back on my life. i was always working so hard to break into cliques, prove to people i was worthy to befriend, impress people with my quick wit and charm :) that i didn't take the time to forge any deep relationships... i watch my girls now and it warms my heart to see them walk into a chick-fil-a play area and make a fast and firm friend for life :) i think it's because kids don't have all the insecurities and preconceived ideas that we adults have insulated ourselves with over the years. what a shame. if there's anything i've learned over my 33 years it's that we are all just people. that's it! we're all human beings, just the same... despite the neighborhoods in which we live, the vehicles parked in our driveways, level of talent or articulation, in God's eyes we are all the same. created in His image to bring glory and honor to Him. so truly, who are we trying to impress? ugh, i'm so tired of trying to impress people. it's all just shifting sand. nothing upon which one can build anything of substance or fortitude. so here i was planning on venting about our impending move and i end up on this :) i guess i've always felt this pressing need to be who people thought me to be - the singer, the student, the friend, the wife, the mom... and i've never felt like i quite i measured up in any aspect. the scripture that is running through my head right now is when paul asks "who will rescue me from this body of death?" and the answer is simply "JESUS". it's when we run to the end of our emotional and physical resources that He reminds me, sometimes subtly, sometimes not so much, that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. He wants us to be free! free from the need to perform, the desire to belong, the misconception that we are not quite "enough"... He just wants us to be free. phew.

The Nutcracker Ballet

We took the girls to see the Nutcracker on Dec. 8th - we had such a fabulous time! They were so excited - the music was wonderful, the costumes were dazzling and it was really amazing... until the 2nd half :) after the excitement and onstage activity of the 1st act, the 2nd consists of lots of solo and duet dancing... after the prince and the sugar plum fairy (or as david referred to them "the sugar plum fairy and that girl" :)) concluded their dance and exited to grand applause, the prince took the stage again, this time by himself. delaney then gives a big huff and says "what is HE doing out here again?!?" it was classic. but we had a great time and enjoyed our family time together most of all :)

this is my feeble attempt at some fancy photography effects :) makenna looks a little bit drugged but it's not too often that i find a picture of myself that i'll post in public so it's on, baby! :)

halloween pics

now i remember why i don't blog so much - i had a great post ready, finally got the pictures where i wanted them (after much trial and even more error) had some witty captions all set and *whammo* it all disappeared after i "previewed" it... so here's the pics, i'm all out of witty... :)

more pictures

i took this picture! :) i was so proud of myself... (eat your heart out, stephen smith - ha ha) on the right you can see the steeple of st. ann's cathedral in kennebunkport, just down the coast from the bush's home... this is the kind of scenery i miss!

another sweet picture of playing in the back yard with dad - david and makenna also loved fishing out there in the early morning and evening times... some great memories! :)

some fun pictures

here are a few pictures to catch you up on things from the past several months :) great shot of david and the girls on colony beach in maine at sunset. could they BE any cuter??

great shot of the girls walking the beach looking for sand dollars - they are such good buddies - it so warms my heart to see them interacting with each other (well, most of the time...)

a nice picture of me and david - not a bad job by makenna :) - next time, i'll take the handful of sand dollars OUT of my front pocket prior to picture taking... love it...

the girls playing softball with dad in our backyard in kennebunkport - so nice to be able to see this shot every morning as opposed to an ornery dog and a big brown fence :)

long time, no type :)

wow... i just read through some of my friends' blogs, most of whom have more kids than i, and i realized i have neglected to update my blog this entire summer! so lame!! i had every intention of blogging the highlights of our third summer in maine but i was too busy doing NOTHING that i forgot!! :) we had a fabulous time in kennebunkport - we stayed a whole month longer than we have in the past and we really enjoyed the extra time up there... we came home sept. 8th and by that time the leaves had already started turning, the nighttime temps were down in the lower 40s at times and we actually got to start wearing sweaters again! there was such a freshness in the air up there that is desperately lacking in suburban houston. :( now that we're back, however, it's even harder to get back in the swing of things... school, church, any type of routine whatsoever! those of you who know me (and yet continue to be my friend - you are real troopers :)) know that organization and time-management have never been my strong suits... and i don't feel like my complaining "man, i spent way too much time relaxing in maine this summer that it's hard to get back to reality" will go over real well with my friends :) next year is our last summer up there and then we will be moving on (that's a whole 'nother post) a transition which, some days, cannot come soon enough and alot of days i don't even want to think about... one good thing is that i will take my best friend (being david) and my two amazing kids with me and we will adventure together wherever we end up. :)

so anywho... lots of fun pics to share with you all - when i get them downloaded to my computer, that is... david is still in maine - he'll be home sept. 29th for the rest of the fall, until his next trip, of course... makenna is back in public school, 2nd grade, this year - after spending 2 1/2 hrs. in the car every day driving back and forth to private school last year we decided that maybe public school isn't totally terrible :) and she's doing great... delaney is in her last year of preschool (which is freakin' unbelievable) and grew about a foot this summer :) she is such a character, just starting to come out of her shell and engage others in conversation, etc... unlike her sister who will carry on a conversation with a potted plant. they are great girls - they love playing together and love singing and dancing to hannah montana and high school musical (1 and 2!) too stinkin' cute :)

not a real exciting post but at least something to show i AM mindful that i have not been participating as i should in the great blogosphere... i will do my best to get back on here and give you something worth reading! exciting!! juicy!! thrilling!!!!!

oh sheesh... :)

love y'all
jen

we won the SILVER!

we had quite the exciting day on wednesday. last month, makenna won the right to represent the 1st grade from cypress christian school (among several other christian schools) at the ACSI regional speech meet held here in houston. well, she won the silver! i got to sit in on her competition and she did soooo well - she had to recite a poem (not really a speech) called "the ice cream man". it was so cute! the girl who won was freakishly good - in fact, i think they should have carded her at the door - she may have been 14. :) anyway, after the awards ceremony, makenna and i congratulated the winner and told her she did a great job. she told makenna she did too - it was so sweet! i told her that there are times when you feel great about your performance and know it was the best you could do and the judges don't necessarily agree with you... and then there will be times when you think you did just terrible and aren't happy with your performance and the judges think it's just the best thing they've ever heard. you never can tell! all you can do is your best and pray that God will use the outcome to His glory! and i believe that's what He did! humility is a lesson best learned young. as far as i know, there aren't any further competitions (as far as the speech meet is concerned!) and makenna got to wear her silver medal to school today to show her friends that she represented them well :) i love that kid!

on the road again

david left this morning for the country of qatar - don't ask me how to say it because i have a hard enough time spelling it without a "u" after the "q" :) the girls and i are down at my parents' house in clear lake - we went to kemah this evening for dinner and a quick stroll around the boardwalk and then came back to their house. this is a short trip for david - he should be home by monday night... piece of cake :)

we are looking forward to getting back to maine again - and i can't believe how quickly the time is approaching! david has decided to take makenna with him when he drives up this year - i think that will be such a fun trip for both of them. a great bonding time, for sure. david leaves for "swim school" (a month long rescue swim course in maryland) mid-april and will return around may 19th or so - he and makenna will take off soon after that. when we drove up two years ago it took us a full 3 days to make it to maine - i'm sure they'll make a couple stops along the way! delaney and i will be flying up to join them on may 26th. we're staying in a new place this year - it's a little smaller but MUCH nicer and updated. our last condo hadn't been renovated (or dusted) since 1972 - and that's a generous estimate. we were looking into getting into a different house all together but a few of the other tenants of the condominium complex (mostly older, retired folks) encouraged us to stay. seems they like us. who knew. :) plus it's right on the water, walking distance from "dock square" (downtown kennebunkport) and has lots of grass and room for the girls to run around, ride bikes, etc. should be fun. we'll be gone through june, july and most of august since school starts later this year. we thank God for good neighbors in katy who keep the grass alive and house intact. the first summer we went up there i was so crazy nervous and not really wanting to leave my house, etc. last summer was much easier because i was familiar with everything, knew my way around, found the nearest target store, etc. this year i am just itching to go! the phone hardly ever rings, we have no obligations (well, david has to work obviously), lovely surroundings, everyone speaks english, it's just fabulous. :) there's definitely a reason why the bushes choose to live there 6 mos. out of the year!

Spring Break 2007

woo hoo! our first official family vacation! we left last monday for san antonio in our brand new (used) mini-van!! we arrived late afternoon, checked in to the hyatt on the riverwalk and the girls went swimming in the rooftop pool with views of downtown san antonio - fun fun! we had dinner at rita's with a few hungry and confident pigeons retrieving chips from under our table :) tuesday promised rain but we ventured off to sea world anyway - however, midway through the seal/walrus/otter show (which was GREAT by the way...) they made an announcement that lightning had struck in the vicinity and they were postponing the show for a few minutes. so, there we were, sitting on metal bleachers in puddles of water and we decided that we should probably get going too. :) thankfully they offered us a "rain day pass" good for free admission the next day so we took advantage of that. wednesday was drizzly until about lunch time and then the sun came out and it was gorgeous! laney rode her first roller coaster and loved it - and kenna got drenched on the "rio loco" with david. (i opted out on that one, thanks) we had a great time playing, eating and laughing... i recommend it to anyone as a great family vacation - save those pennies though cause it is not cheap. which reminds me why this is our first family vacation! it's taken us this long to save up for it! :) but the girls LOVED it and to see the joy on their faces is worth every last penny. i've attached some pictures for your amusement. we love shamuuuuuuuuuuu!!

blogintro...

so i've thought about starting a blog for a while now - but thought it fairly narcissistic to carry on and on about yourself simply for the review of others. besides, who the heck would want to read this anyway? but then i thought it would be the perfect response to those people who ask "so what have you been doing lately?" and i can't think of one single, useful thing i've done in the past few months - i can say "here, read my blog." plus, i really quite enjoy the word "blogosphere" and i'd like to be a part of one :)

so to my friends who have recently forwarded me their own family blogs, you get the thanks for the inspiration - and i hope all kinds of eventful things happen to us in the next few months so you have something fairly exciting to read. (okay God, i said "fairly" exciting - not "new baby" exciting or "sudden relocation" exciting)

yikes... :)