Mama of the Week

Click on "continue reading" to see my MOTW answers (or, as I like to call it, "Everything you've ever wanted to know about Jen, and then some -- complete with pictures!" [are you surprized?])

P.S. I nominate Shelly to be the next MOTW!

all pictures are thumbnailed small, but will open up big if clicked on.

From Lisa:

How long have you been married?  Lou and I got married on May 4th, 2002 -- when I was 4.5 months pregnant with Jake.  We started dating in June of 2001.  So 2.5 years married, 3.5 years together.  (this pic is me at my wedding [I'm in the middle] with two of my college friends.  This was after I lost all the weight being sick but before I really started showing.)  We got married on the back porch of Evie's house, and Evie was our flower girl.  It was a very simple, beautiful day.

How many blogger friends have you met IRL? I met Leslie from iP in October 2003 and we see each other from time to time when we can -- she's more of a IRL friend now than an internet friend (because she's such a slacker when it comes to writing stuff on the internet!  ha ha!)  I have also gotten together with Cara twice this past year, both times were wonderful!  (Cara, you rock, girl!!!)  My next project is to meet Kelly and JenA!!!

What is your dream vacation?  I have several.  I want to take Jake to DisneyWorld one day before he's too old, but at a time of year when it's not crowded and we can enjoy ourselves.  While we're there I want to go to the beach, go to other resorts (like Animal Kingdom and a water park), and just make it a trip for him to remember forever.  But I also want to see Europe someday.  And Australia, of course.  (I'll stay at Sue's house.)  Oh, and I want to go hang out in the Colorado mountains and just chill out.  I want to visit New England -- take several weeks to drive through during the fall and stay at B&B's.  I want to visit New York and D.C. again someday.  (Shelly, this is me and Jessica Clark!  In D.C., summer 1996).  I want to see the Pacific NW.  I want to take Jake to Yellowstone Park, too, so he can see how beautiful it is.  (Pic is of me and my DARLING nephew Chris in Yellowstone park in 1995.  I was 16, I guess he was 12.)  I do want to make sure as Jake gets older that we do some traveling across the country so he can see more than just  Tennessee and have an understanding of the U.S.  I think it's hard to have perspective on who you are if all you ever see are familiar places and people like you.

What photo editing program do you use?  Right now I primarily use Sierra Instant Photo Expert, which (as I've said before) is incompatable with Windows XP.  I have to use control/alt/delete to move forward in the program.  I also use Roxio PhotoSuite 5, which does SOME things I like, and I'm GOING to get PhotoShop Elements very soon.  It's like THE program to have.  My goal for this coming year is to be the best photo-editor EVER.  :O)

Are you ready for Christmas? Actually, I'm ready for Christmas to just be over.  I enjoy the time off from work and seeing other people's decorations, but there's just too much stress and business.  I was thrown off this year by the late Thanksgiving and being out of town for 6 days that weekend, then realizing that I hadn't started my piano students early enough for the rectial.  It was all downhill from there.  :o/  But yes, my shopping is done.

Have you ever entered Jake into cutest baby contest? Dude - he would totally kick ass! :)  ha ha ha . . . why thank you, dear!  I think he's a cute kid, but he looks a lot like me, so I worry that it's just motherlove and narcissism!  I do enjoy compliments about him, though.  The other day, Priscilla looked at him and said, "You know, he's going to be so handsome when he grows up."  I love her anyway, but I love her even more for saying that.  I hope that, more importantly than being handsome, he grows up to be a sweet, loving, mature man.

From Sandi P.:

What's your dream date?  I love going to the Symphony or smaller classical music concerts, but Lou doesn't like to.  I've given up on "dating" him.

Will you encourage the Jakester to learn to play the piano?  Jake is going to start piano lessons around his 3rd birthday.  He shows SO much interest in the piano and music in general.  It's really exciting that he shares so many interests of mine.  I'm not going to pressure him or force piano on him, but I'm pretty sure he's going to really want to learn.  I'm good at teaching very beginners (if I do say so myself!), and I'm going to just teach him little fun things, probably until he's 5, and then we'll start in real books.  I think he'll have so much fun learning, he won't even realize we're working.  When he gets older, I'll get him a different, more experienced teacher.  I also really really want him to learn the cello!  And to play basketball.  heh.  But only if he enjoys it.

How old will Jake need to be before you let him begin dating?  That's such a hard question!  I'm really torn on this.  I think it's important for teenagers to get to know each other and learn how to interact with the opposite sex, but I don't think they need to be getting serious in high school.  I want Jake to be a gentleman and know how to treat girls right . . . and I know that sometimes in high school you meet someone that you just want to be with and it makes sense to be together . . . and then again sometimes you just want to go out and have fun . . . I don't know!!!  I don't think I can answer this right now!

from JenA:

What do you miss most about Montana? Least?  Hands down the thing I miss the most is the sky and the stars.  If you have never seen the Montana sky, when you see it for the first time it will take your breath away.  It's so blue, and it just goes on forever.  At night you can see 100 times more stars than you could ever see here (or most places.)  It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life, and since I've loved away, every time I see the Montana night sky, tears fill my eyes.  In addition to that, I enjoy how the interstates are always clear of traffic (because, dude, there's no one there), and there are a few individual people I truly miss being around.  Most of them were my friend's parents or our teachers, and they are wise, intelligent people trying to make a difference where they can.  What I DON'T miss is the lack of opportunity, the lack of culture, the lack of acceptance for anything outside the norm (and how you stick out as a sore thumb so easily.)  I don't miss having to drive 2 hours to Walmart, having 8 churches to choose from that were all the same and none that reflect what I believe, the gossip and back-biting and judgements, the high regard for student athletes and no one else.  Sometimes I almost get nostalgic for Montana because of the simpler, slow-paced life, but really I think what I'm nostalgic for isn't Montana itself, but a time in my life where things made a little more sense (because I hadn't started questioning things), and when I didn't have so much responsibility and pressure on me.  Growing up, you think life will be so perfect when you're finally an adult and you can do whatever you want -- but you CAN'T do whatever you want.  Especially when you have a child.  It's just a new set of things you have to do, but with bigger consequences when you screw up.

What is your favorite breakfast, lunch, supper, snack, and drink?  Breakfast: I love Count Chocula.  I also like Honey Nut Cheerios or Frosted Mini Wheats.  If I'm at work, I like getting capuccino mixed with hot chocolate and a muffin or cinamon roll from the little store next door.  Lunch I love turkey sandwiches or PB&J.  Or a salad -- iceburg lettuce, cheese, and croutons.  Ranch dressing.  Sometimes I have a Dew and a candy bar, though.  (BAD JEN.)  Snacks I like pudding or granola bars or crackers with peanut butter.  Dinner I love chicken, broccoli, pasta, bread, cheese -- any combination of a couple of those.  (Not all of them at once.)  Drinks:  I LOVE milk and milk with Nesquik in it.  I need to stop drinking Dew.  I like capuccino.  I love orange juice.  Oh, and purple gatorade.

How do you picture your life in 10 years?  Hmmm.  I hope that by then I'll either be in a higher-paying job that I love, or working for myself as a photographer/web designer.  I'll still live in R*therford county, and still be best friends with Priscilla.  By that time I'll be skinny and buff again and maybe even playing volleyball for fun  (they're building a Y down the street from my house as we speak!  I miss playing volleyball, it's like the best sport ever -- you hardly have to do any running!  ha ha.  This pic was my last season of vball, freshman year of high school.  I quit after that to teach piano.  And yes, I realize those glasses are huge.)  The direction of my life is something I'm really struggling with right now -- I feel like I'm at a cross-roads, but I don't know even which roads I'm choosing between, so how can I decide where to go?  I try to hold on to the knowledge that everything thus far has worked out ok, and the string of decisions that seemed to be bad at the time all led me to Jake, like this was all meant to be.  So ultimately I am moving forward toward something else, somewhere else I'm supposed to be, I just don't know what it is yet.  [did that make any sense at all?]

from Sue:

If you could go back in time, which phase of your life would you like to relive?  Without a doubt, I want to re-experience my life since Sept. 12, 2002 (Jake's birth.) I was so caught up in the little day-to-day details, I didn't enjoy him as much as I could have.  I didn't write as much as I could have, I didn't take enough pictures, and there's so much I've forgotten already.  I wish I could slow it all back down and do it again, knowing how quickly he would grow and change, and how little time I had with him as a little baby.  I love who he is now, but I miss the baby Jake. (pic is me at 41 weeks pregnant, the day before Jake's birth.)

Can you please show us your all-time favourite scrapbooking page?  I will do this soon in a seperate entry!  It's a tie between several.

What is your impression of the lifestyle here in Australia?  It's hard to seperate what pop culture tries to make of Australia and what it's really like, since I've never been there!  It seems more laid-back than America, and more rural somehow, even though I know there are huge cities.  It seems magical, too, to me -- I guess because of the isolation from the rest of the world, and all the indiginous animals you have that no one else has.  Ok, that's it, I'm coming for a visit!

What do you miss about being pregnant?  I miss the feeling that when he was inside of me, Jake was all mine. I was the only one who could take care of him, I was 100% responsible for him.  It was such a magical experience -- everything was new and interesting.  I was so sick the whole time, but I did like it.  I loved feeling him inside of him and dreaming about what he would look like and who he would be.  I loved shopping for him and imagining what he would look like in the little clothes I bought.  Oh, and I miss the look of shock on visitor's faces when I would stand up from behind my desk at work and they would see how hugely pregnant I was!

What sorts of things are you doing to make Christmas a special time for Jake?  (this pic is from last year.)  This year the major thing has been letting him have an interactive tree experience.  I bought those two small trees with ornaments for him that he's played with at my house (like every day), and he has Nana's big tree all day to look at.  I bought him some ornaments for her tree that he knows are his, and he loves them.  He shows them to everyone who comes in the house!  We also picked out some Hallmark ornaments this year (3 of them) and we'll continue to do that every year.  He's still not really aware of the Christmas concept as a whole, but it will be fun to see him open all his presents.  (Presents, he understands.)  This Saturday we're having Christmas with Lou's family, then on to "Grandma Beverly"'s Christmas open house.  (Beverly is Lou's mom's brother's wife's mom.  But she's Jake's 3rd grandma.)  I'll write about Beverly's open houses next week.  They're incredible.  Jake has been watching Sesame Street and Veggie Tales Christmas specials on DVD.  Another thing I'm doing is taking a lot of pictures.  That might not sound like it'll make Christmas special for a 2 year old, but he LOVES to look at pictures.  He's as obsessed as I am!  He loves to look at his scrapbook.  He loves when I give him a photo to carry around the house.  Ooh, and next year he'll be old enough to attend the piano recital and maybe even play a song. (how cute would that be?!)  And I'll take him to see the Nashville Children's Choir Christmas recital next year, too.  We're slowly figuring this Christmas thing out.

From Kelly:
If you would have majored in something else during college, what would it have been?  I don't know about a major, but I wish I had taken more of a variety of classes in college.  As a music major, I was so bogged down with all the extra classes and performances and music groups I was supposed to be in, and all the practicing, I didn't have time for much else.  I wish now that I had taken ANYTHING in business, government, philosophy, more art, more psychology, some sociology, even more religion classes.  I feel like I'm not as well-rounded as I could be.  I wish I could have spent another year in college taking classes and just soaking it all in (and slowly going broke . . . )

If you could live anywhere in the world and take your loved ones with you, where would you live?  Honestly?  Nashville is the place I dreamed of living all my life, so I've never dreamed about living anywhere else.  ;o)  I don't know what it is about this city, but I love it.  I would love to have my family and friends live closer, or have the money and time to go visit them whenever I wanted!!!

What is your fave holiday and season and why?  I love Easter.  I love the renewal of springtime.  I love that Easter is primarily a religious holiday, and I love what it stands for.  The Resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christian belief, and I love taking that Sunday in spring to celebrate not just His Resurrection, but the fact that He came to Earth at all and went through so much for you and me.  My favorite Easter song is "Because He Lives."  The chorus says: Because He lives I can face tomorrow/ because He lives all fear is gone / because I know He holds the future / and life is worth the living just because He lives.  Yeah, makes me cry every time.

What are your fave boy names and girl names?  For girls -- Elizabeth.  Emily.  Harmony.  Melodie.  For boys, Nathan.  Aaron.  Christopher.

From Tanya:

You know this is going to be about pictures right? LOL 1.) What is the BEST picture you took and why? ( Feel free to show the pictures.)  Ok, I've narrowed it down to 20 pictures.  I honestly can't pick one favorite picture ever.  I think because I've taken so many, and because I have so many different KINDS of pictures I like to take.  There's Jake, there's other people's kids, there's flowers . . . it's like comparing apples and oranges.  ;o)  The answer to this will be in an entry soon.  For now, click here to see a page I made on my department's website about pics I've taken of the university.  These are my 62 favorites of my college.  ;o)

2.) Do you think you would ever make a tutorial about some editing tricks? ;) Actually, that is something I will probably work on sometime in the next year -- the biggest problem is figuring out which photo editing program to recommend to people to buy so we're all "on the same page."  I *AM* thinking about just a "in general, here's how to take better pics / fix your pics."  I guess I have an audience for that now, don't I.  ;o)  Tutorials and stuff like that is just so time consuming . . . we'll see what happens.

3.) How much time a week do you spend taking pictures, fixing pictures etc?  It depends.  Sometimes I just take pics of Jake off and on when the mood strikes, then fix the pics during down time at work.  Sometimes I have a picture I want to do a lot of fixes on and one picture takes me an hour.  I would say I spend at least 2 hours a week on photos, some weeks an hour or two a day.

From Shelly:
#1. What was your most memorable memory of Colstrip, Montana?  Oh good, some positive memories . . . I loved piano lessons with my teacher, Gail who lived across the street (pic is me and Gail in 1994.)  I loved my church, dysfunctional though it was -- it was a place where I truly felt loved and sometimes the only place I felt like I belonged (pic is me at 5 during VBS -- doesn't that totally look like Jake?!!!)  I didn't always agree with what the pastor said (Baptist church), but I as a musician I was seen as an adult.  I started playing piano for services at 13, I sang solos all the time, sang with the adult choir, led music for VBS.  It was great for my self-esteem.   I loved spending time with my church youth group and having slumber parties with Andrea, Casey, and my sister Kathy (which we did at least once if not 2 or 3 times a month).  I loved any choir activity at school, and going to choir every day and retreating into a world where I was the power player (the best alto ever -- ok, in the choir -- and I played the piano a lot for choir, too, and I was one of the only ones who really knew music), where the people around me were like-minded and we were removed from the rest of the high school crap, even if just for that class period.  (pic is me on the right at a Christmas choir concert.)  And I loved playing basketball in my driveway, especially with my friend Jory, who was my first love and who is still a good friend.  (ok, and THIS pic is me and Jory on the last day of high school.)

#2-What is your Worst Memory of Colstrip, Montana?  I was talking about this the other day with a fellow Colstrip escapee from my class in e-mail -- we ran around in the same "group" but weren't really close.  We've started talking again, though, and I'm loving getting to know her again.  Anyway, in my class there was this huge division between the preppy bitches and the normal kids.  What's odd, is that individually, most of the preps were nice to me, but get them in a group and they were all horrible -- especially if one of the 3 or 4 key bitches were around.  The worst one?  Let's call her M.W.  She’s the one who made me realize in 5th grade that there definitely WAS something different about me and that I didn’t fit in.  At least not in their world.  One day she was handing out invitations to everyone in the class for some end of school party she was giving, and I was literally the ONLY GIRL in the class not to get one.  What the fuck?  At least these days kids aren’t allowed to pass out party invites in school unless they’re for everyone.  And she was doing it blatantly in front of me, and everyone was talking about this great party they were going to go to.  She was really bitchy to me during basketball in middle school, too, and made it less enjoyable than all the running already did!  (that's me, #40.)  [My consolation?  She's still stuck in Colstrip and married to some loser from high school -- she can bite me!!!]  (bitter, much?  ha ha ha.)

#3-What would you like to have Jake always remember as he grows up?  So many things!  To respect people even if they don't give you a reason to.  To stand up for those who need him, and to help anyone he can.  That God loves him and has a reason for him to be alive.  That I love him more than anything else in the whole world.  To be open-minded but firm in his beliefs.  To be patient and compassionate with people.  That's just for starters.

#4-What is your most embarrassing moment ever?  Gosh, there are so many to choose from.  I'm a klutz, so I fall down or trip a lot.  Then I pretend that I didn't or that nothing happened.  heh.  Let's just go with the most recent: The other day when I was having dinner with my friend Kim, I was trying to put Jake back in his high chair as the waiters were coming by with our food -- Jake didn't want to, and he put his hand on the neck of my v-neck shirt and pulled backwards and I think everything I had was flashed to those waiters!  They were boys in high school, though, so it probably made their day.  heh.

Comments

[Shelly]

How about me?! just kidding.

Question#1. What was your most memorable memory of Colstrip, Montana?

#2-What is your Worst Memory of Colstrip, Montana?

#3-What would you like to have Jake always remember as he grows up?

#4-What is your most embarrassing moment ever?

That should start things off!

Oh, I met someone who lived in Colstrip, MT for a few years, until she was 7, last night at Kens' work party! How is that for things? I have forgotten her name :( But I just about fell over! Everyone at our table did! Small world!

[Shelly]

Okay.. Who is this person?? Do I know her!? Please tell me!

[Ninotchka]

Jen: I enjoyed reading your answers! :)

[Sue]

I loved reading your responses Jen, thanks for including all the pics too. And OF COURSE you will be staying at my house when you visit Australia!

How did Christmas with Lou's family and the open house go?? I bet Jake is just SO excited by now :)

[Kelly]

I loved your answers! The pics made it even better! Good job girl!
Thank you for sharing all of that with us! Your a doll in all those pics btw!
Kelly

[Jen A]

Oh man, I'm gonna have to dig out some of my junior high/early high school pics, b/c we looked SO much alike, right down to the big glasses! Hehehe. And you and I want to visit all the same places! Let me know when we're going! ;-)

[hohgaku (eric leatha)]

You hit the nail on the head with regards to nostalgia for our small town childhoods. I was interned in colstrip from 80-84 (10-14 yrs old) and thought it was the best place in the world.
Then I got older and mythologized it.
Then I went back to visit.
It was only beautiful in my head and as we all know, you can't live there.
Great blog, thank you for the authenticity and holding up the mirror.