Oblivion is often bliss. That is until you realize you have been oblivious, and that there is a better way! As a new mom, I truly encompassed the idea of oblivion is bliss. I made some pretty serious decisions based on, "Well, I might as well do it the hard way since I don't know any better yet!" For example, I decided to make all my own baby food, and went with cloth diapers. I am so happy I made those decisions, but I always get the reaction "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Why, yes. Yes I am. One of the things that I never realized that I was missing out on was a good stroller. We found a cute, but cheap stroller and car seat combo at Walmart on clearance, and it was a score, but our bundle of joy outgrew the 22 pound wait limit in 2 months and the stroller was fine, until we got a sweet jogging stroller, and it made me realize how not smooth our original stroller was. I'm not one for needing the best of the best, but we go for walks pretty much every day, so having a good stroller is something I would have done differently from the get-go. This stroller offer is pretty sweet, and I am all for sales! It's great if you have one child, twins or even children that are spaced a couple years apart. It's only for one week, and it's on for $499.99 (reg. $850) and a second seat for only $99.99 (reg. $160). It is only good until August 8th, so its worth your while to check it out! This is me in a picture I swore I would never show anyone. I'm showing you now for two reasons. First off, it's the only picture that shows me with the stroller that I was quite happy with until a better one came along. Second off, it's in retaliation to all those people who are giving Kate Middleton a hard time about her post baby belly. It was another example of oblivion for me. I admit, I was kind of under the assumption that as soon as you popped that baby out, your stomach would be back to normal. I nearly cried when I saw what my belly looked like after. Ok, maybe I did cry a little, but briefly! I got over it when I realized how worth my post baby belly was! To those who are judging Kate for having a post baby belly, I will politely say, TAKE A STROLL. I'm sure she could have gotten a tummy tuck with the royal budget, but she didn't. In my eyes, I just gained a whole new respect for the woman. She is going through what pretty much every mother in the world goes through. I say, embrace the post baby bump! She looks so lovely and more importantly, real and happy. Will looks happy too. Image via The Hollywood Gossip Don't be sad about the post baby body, with some work and time, it gets better. It's been over a year for me, and I'm still working at it. While I strive to be healthy, I couldn't care less about the people who judge me for not having a completely flat stomach. I'm not losing sleep over it. I delivered a 9 pound baby for crying out loud (Ok, he was only 8 pounds, 13 ounces)! I am losing sleep, however, thanks to the little man. Sleep, baby, sleep! Happy Strolling! Jena xo
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Today is my 27th birthday. I know a girl should never reveal her age, but it's true. I'm 27. Or 25, for the third time. And for my birthday I did a few nice things for myself. First off, instead of vacuuming during Keenan's nap, I showered. By myself. I usually pop Keenan in the bath with me and a million bath toys and try to shower without stepping on a toy or a baby. I got to shave my legs slowly this time and even got my knee caps! After the shower, I got to blow dry my hair and do my makeup. Sad to say, but it's been a while since I've taken the time to put on more than foundation and powder! Next off, I painted my toes with my favorite colour by Essie: Trophy Wife. All I'm saying is it's a great colour! The whole time I was having this "me time", I was also thinking about all the wonderful things I've got in this 27 year old life of mine. The list was truly endless. I am a super blessed being. I've got an amazing family- immediate and extended. I love my family. They bring joy to me every single day. This is one of my more personal blogs, so I'll straight up say it. To have joy everyday, to someone who has battled depression, is one of the best things you can imagine. Adam and I have a pretty amazing relationship, and I am so lucky to have such an amazing man by my side. He is the the cheese to my macaroni. Wouldn't be complete without that! We also have the cutest boy in the whole world! Just look at him! He makes my cheeks hurt every single day from smiling. I couldn't smile any more than I do! I think that we (especially moms) need to take time for ourselves. Instead of wearing myself down, sometimes, just sometimes, I need that time to reflect, and then I'm refreshed and ready to get back at it. Best advice I've ever gotten was this: Love your neighbours as yourself. The key part for me is the "as yourself" part. I find that I make myself so busy doing projects or things for other people that I don't take the time to love myself. In the past, the problem had sometimes been that I didn't even like myself, let alone love myself. So, without that basic self love, how can I be effective at, well, anything? Like my motto with Aesthetica Design has been: Take the time to remember what matters, so you can Jena xo Our boy is growing up fast! It was his first birthday already, and of course, we wanted to do something special for him, but honestly, it was a bit more for us. As much as I had been thinking about the plans for his very first birthday, I really let it get away on me, and I just sent out e-mail/ Facebook invites about a week before. Oops. Bad mommy move. Had I been more prepared, Smilebox or My Own Labels is an excellent source for party goodies like these below. And for the all out moms, after the party, how fun would it be to make a canvas print of the party by Easy Canvas Prints? For the prepared mums! As unprepared as I was, we still wanted to do something cool for our son's birthday. So we decided on a pirate themed camping party. The pirate theme was decided months before the birthday, so I did have stuff together for it. Yeah, me! Adam's family has a tradition of cake smashing on the first birthday. This is something I don't remember doing on my first birthday, but I went with it. So I planned out am extravagant treasure chest cake, and it progressed into a much simpler Map cake. I'm still working on this whole cake decorating thing. I don't particularly like them, so previously, I didn't bother often with them. Now, apparently, kids are big into cake, so I caved. Since the cake was going to be smashed (see above), and I didn't plan on decorating two cakes, I went with the mini version and did cupcakes. They were actually awesome. Can't go wrong with cake mix. I used an excellent recipe for the butter cream frosting that I got off of Savory Sweet Life. I tried this frosting recipe, and I am never going back from whatever I used to use. So perfect. As much as I said I wasn't prepared, I was somewhat on track. I even had decorations. The only thing I was really lacking was the invites. Who needs invitations to a party? Oh ya... Everyone? At least we have great friends who showed up on late notice! I'll get on it next time. Needless to say, it has been an amazing year having the little man around. We have so much fun together, and I couldn't ask for a better life! I'm the luckiest woman, I really am. I don't mind the pirate's life. It totally works for me!
Hope you are having a great day. Jena xo As I am hanging out with my family, who I don't get to see very often, due to the fact we live on opposite sides of the country, I have to laugh. We are so weird. And when we all get together, things get weirder! We have some good laughs, whether it's teasing my dad about booking flights to Denver rather than Dallas or yelling at the GPS to shut her mouth and having my mom think I was talking to her. Then having the rental car break down, which meant we didn't have to pay for the ridiculous parking at Niagara falls, as the courtesy car at the dealership dropped us off and picked us up. Gotta love road trips! This post is dedicated to my lovely, quirky family and to all the funny things we see and do.
As you can see, we are a bit of a crazy family. But I love it, and wouldn't change a thing! Thanks for reading! Jena xo Elemental Herbs Kids Camping Kit Gift Bag Set - $33.99 from: The Ultimate Green Store There are some toys that I've even integrated into the decor, as crazy as that sounds. It's gonna be pulled out as soon as it's put away, so I might as well save a step and keep them out. There are some toys that I've even integrated into the decor, as crazy as that sounds. It's gonna be pulled out as soon as it's put away, so I might as well save a step and keep them out. Because his parents are really into pirates, so is Keenan. Here is the proof of that, on display beside the fireplace. Which happens to be his favourite place to play and crawl on. I feel some grey hair coming on already. At least the edges have been baby proofed! If Keenan wanted to play with this wooden train set, he'd have to find all the pieces in the toy box and put it together every single time. Did I say he'd have to? Oh ya, I meant ME! Therefore, this train set it out on display for him to pull apart every other minute. But at least I know the pieces are somewhere on the floor and not amongst the millions of toys in the toy box. This was a cool thing, made on Vancouver Island, and given to us from auntie Michele and uncle Garry (they spoil him, along with every other auntie and uncle!) Too cool to put away in the toy box, that's for sure. I love that it's a very Canadian toy. This is truly a piece of art. My parents gave this to Keenan for an early first birthday present. Whoever thinks men aren't interested in children's toys have yet to see this bad boy. As all the men who have studied this rocking bike have found, each piece is in no way mass produced. What a labour of love. It was handcrafted by Craig Donaldson, and is a hit in our home, with his B.A. biker parents. Keenan is a little daredevil, particularly fond of trying to stand on the seat. But it really is the coolest thing, and I am proud to have this toy on display in our house. For the record, I only ride a pedal bike. Bathtime is just not truly bathtime without a bath FULL of toys. This is the only toy that I let stay in the bathtub; it's not only fun but also functional. I don't know if anyone else remembers smashing their head on the bathtub faucet, but I sure do. I should have listened when my mom told me that only oceans are supposed to have tidal waves... Anyways, this whale is cute and awesome, and prevents any smashed heads. And every time the whale starts barfing water, Keenan is happy, which in turn, means I'm happy.
Are there any toys you always have hanging out? Feel free to leave comments or suggestions! Thanks again for reading! Jena xo
Today was my first experiment with dog treats. We went away for the weekend to see my parents, so I was feeling a little guilty about leaving our boy, Bocephus back home with the other set of grandparents (That's the dog, not the baby, in case of any confusion)
The whole thing was kind of exciting to me, for a few reasons.
A. I love baking, but it never gets eaten, so I know this time around, it'll be eaten for sure! and B. You know those Mason jars of bacon fat that sit under your sink cause you don't know what to do with? Yup, I just used up a good chunk of it! Reuse it, baby! I know my Oma used to use it in her cooking, which was delicious. But while I really knew she used it, I just pretended to be oblivious to that fact. I don't think I could ever use it in my cooking; I mean it's meat fat that has been sitting under my sink for who knows how long.... Anyways, I had a ton of it just begging to be used for dog treats!
So, I started throwing it all together. With the little dude pulling down my pants. He is now getting really, really busy, as he is officially now walking. Between me pulling my pants back up and helping him walk, I managed to mix together:
Half a jar of bacon fat Six ice cubes of frozen broccoli and apricot baby food (I found some at the back of the freezer that needed to get used) One cup of oats Two and a half cups of whole wheat flour **I didn't have any, but next time I'll add an egg and some shaved carrots too. Then I used my one and only cookie cutter to make the bones. I made them fairly thick because Bo Bo is obviously a pretty decent sized dog, weighing in at 110 pounds!
I originally had them all on one tray, but spaced them out onto two trays after giving my head a shake and actually thinking that one through. Then I baked them for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, which is also known as 350 Fahrenheit.
Looks like someone might have been jealous! He has been into dog food lately... But unlike what I had posted in a previous post, saying I'd make cookies for Keenan in the shape of dog bones, these cookies really are for the dog.
Happy Dog Days! xo Jena
Even though I went to school for architectural technology, I've learned more about houses from my first house designing job and from actually owning a house, than all of school put together.
Funny how experience always wins over training.
And lastly, home is where the heart is.
This old home has been so full of happiness and laughter and love and friendship in the short time we've lived here, and that is thanks to the people that have made this house a home. A huge shout out to both sets of parents and families, who truly made this adventure possible for us. To Tanya, Patrick and family for the long nights painting, smashing holes in walls, and for everything. To Sandra at RCU, to Zig at Battersby's Plumbing, to Chris at Canyon Electric, to Dale at Big Bend Plumbing and Heating, to John and John at Revelstoke Flooring, to Laurie and Courtney at Expressive Interiors, to Blake at BR Construction, to Connie, to Mike at RockWorx, to Chris and Trap with New Era Insulation, to all our friends, and to anyone else I forgot: Thank you so much! It wouldn't have happened without you all. Last but not least, thank you to Adam and the Big Guy upstairs for EVERYTHING! I am so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful life.
Happy Living!
Xo Jena
Does happiness come from having things? I know that while everyone is whispering in your ear that it does, I am going to disagree. If anything, I think it does the opposite. "You'll be happy if you have the newest 3D TV, or the fastest car known to man, or the sweetest speed boat, or the fanciest clothes, the most bling, the nicest stuff." The nice thing about stuff is it is exciting to enjoy. For a few hours. Then easy to move on. Think about a birthday or Chistmas- you have this huge influx of things to enjoy, and you do... Temporarily. Has the new x-box really brought you joy? Or just another dilemma of where to focus your attention?
The more you have, the more you are being distracted from what really matters. Back to the physical basics- food, shelter, and clothing. Beyond that yes, there are the emotional needs of humans, which do include more than just the food, shelter, clothing list. According to EQI, we have 10 basic emotional needs
1. Accepted 2. Believed in 3. Cared about 4. Forgiven 5. Loved 6. Safe 7. Supported 8. Trusted 9. Understood 10. Valued Looking at that list, the closest thing I can even relate to having things is #7- being supported, but that could be a bit of a stretch, as the list is relating to emotional needs, not physical needs. So along with our basic physical needs, the equation of happiness coming from things is incorrect. The life where friends and family and relationships (and the basics) are the focus equates for a very happy life. Yes, sometimes it's hard, as relationships aren't disposable like material things are, but in the end, it's much more rewarding and gives lasting happiness. So don't let the materialist mentality of the rest of the world convince you of "true happiness", but remember what really counts in life. Your dog doesn't care about if you have the most expensive watch, but he/she cares that you take the time for walks and playtime and dinner. The best things in life are free! Enjoy it! Love it! I know this did not really have much to do with anything design or building related, so on a side note, minimalism is very stylish these days. "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." -Hyman Schachtel xo Jena |
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