A few things that make me happy!

I am asked quite often how I stay so positive. How during times of adversity, disappointment, frustration, and huge amount of stress, I can smile and say “it always works out just like it is supposed to”. The answer is first and foremost my love and dedication to my relationship with Christ; however secondly, I spend a lot of time focusing on things that make me happy. It is hard to let the uncomfortable events of life get you down when you are forever thinking of the things you love. I thought I would share a few of the things today that always bring a smile to my face and make me happy to jump out of bed in the mornings.

Family








Friends








Kids






Running






Sunrises/Sunsets





When life gets a bit too much to handle, sit back and jot down a few things that make you smile, brings laughter to your heart, and makes you so thankful for each breath you take. I promise it will help you put into perspective the issues that you find troubling and before you know it your soul will be giggling rather than complaining.

Love,
Jen

No he didn't?

Today was the day for the infamous date. The date my friend has had in the pipe for the past week. I have been eagerly waiting; 9:30pm could not get here fast enough. That is not an arbitrary time I am just tossing out there, she was suppose to be home around that time. So I made sure I was home from running and the gym and sitting by phone anticipating the call. It came, and I sat in shock as I listened to her evening.

She explained that she did not just get home from a date that in fact she just finished eating dinner after taking a long run and doing an hour of cross training at the gym. I thought hummmmm how did she fit all that in and have a date, so I simply asked, and I was not prepared to hear her answer. My friend, who has a heart of gold, who would lay her life down to help another, who would rather give her time in services than work to receive a pay check, not to mention is cute, fit, and has a great personality got stood up. What is this world coming to, or should I say what is the mentality of a large chunk of men coming to?

I really felt for her, and then she said this…….”Jen I am not that disappointed, I am so glad to have seen his true colors before I went on a few dates with the guy and then he showed me who he really was”. What a great way to look at it. I am not so sure I would have responded in that fashion, the lack of respect this man…no this boy showed my friend agitates me. But she responded in such a classy dignified manor, not reacting to his lack of respect but simply chalking it up to an experience and moving on. She has another date on Saturday; I hope it goes great, if anyone deserves it it is her.

Love ya,
Jen

Life is full of surprises!

One of my really good friends has had quite the experience with men the past week, oh the ups and downs that being single and dating cause. I can totally sympathies with her when she shares her frustration, her excitement, and her anxiety. Us single gals we have to stick together you know, it is a rough world out there.

Let me share a quick story with you.

Last week my phone rang……..

Hello

Hey, guess what!

What……..

He asked me out.

Who?

That guy I have been telling you about.

Oh, that is awesome, I am so happy for!

It is the first time someone that I have been interested in, well I will say intrigued by, has actually asked me out. I am not sure how I am supposed to feel. Am I supposed to be excited?

Well of course you need to be excited.

But I am not, is there something wrong with me?

No, you are just being guarded, and that is perfectly a-okay.

Okay…..well I am at the gym so I better let you go I need to go jockey for a treadmill. I just wanted to fill you in on the news of the day.

I am happy for ya sisah!! Have a great evening!

Thanks, you too!

I will keep you all posted on how the date goes. I am sure she will end up having a great time; she always does, even when she thinks she won’t.

Love ya,
Jen

Mint Chocolate Cake Balls

So for anyone that knows me well, you all know I love to bake, let us not confuse baking with cooking! Coking can at times be a disaster in my kitchen. It is a 50/50 shot as to whether something I try to cook is going to come out eatable. But baking, now I have mastered that craft. I like to specialize in cupcakes for two reasons, one I simply love to bake them and two my most precious 8th grade small group girls love cupcakes. Yesterday however I put a twist on cake and made cake balls rather than cupcakes, and let me tell you they were a hit. I got the idea from Bakerella’s website. For all of you that love baking and have not visited her site go take a gander, I promise you will fall in love.
Okay, I need to get back on track. I made mint chocolate chip cupcakes for my company Christmas party last month and people seemed to enjoy them so I thought why not make mint chocolate cake balls….and that is how this little piece of ymminess was born.

Mint Chocolate Cake Balls
1 box milk chocolate cake mix
1 splash of mint extract (sorry for the lack of being exact, but I never measure I simply add until it tastes just right).
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz)
1 package vanilla bark
Wax paper



1) Bake chocolate cake according to direction on the box (add a splash of mint extract for taste).
2) After the cake has cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.
3) Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting.
4) Chill for several hours (I put them in the freezer for a few hours).
5) Melt vanilla bark according the package directions
6) Roll the cake balls into the vanilla bark (I find a spoon is a great addition to this process. Use the spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra) and lay on wax paper until firm.
7) I added the finishing touch of coloring the remaining bark green and drizzled it over the top, to give the extra mint flare.



Sit back, hold on to your hat, and enjoy your mint chocolate cake balls. I am not sure you will be able to have just one.

Love,
Jen

Marathon Training 101

Marathon training is in full swing and I am loving every minute of it. Well maybe not every minute of it. It has been a challenge this season for some reason. I think in part to the fact that I have been strapped to a treadmill the past month or so due to the frigid tempts. we have been having here in Oklahoma. In fact it was so cold last week school was out due to cold weather. Yes, you read that correctly. Now I don’t think it has been life threatening cold in order to shut down school, but it was cold nonetheless. I will blame my slow start to training this January on the cold weather rather than the few extra pounds I have gained, the lack of motivation, the massive busy schedule I have, or the fact that I am so sleepy due to lack of sleep. Yes, the weather it is!

On a more positive note, I have been having a great time meeting new friends, running new routes, and watching those training for their first ½ marathon bust out with all the drive and motivation one can muster. I am training with Fleet Feet this year which is different than last. There is more structure, more encouragement, more motivation, more education, and more incentive with Fleet Feet than what I have gained in previous training sessions. A few pointers Coach Judy shared with us this week.

1) Runners should run in the middle (hump) of the road as often as possible. When running along the side of the road near or on the shoulder, which slants, a runner will find they start to have knee problems. For example if a runner always runs on the left hand side of the road, they will begin to develop left knee issues, and vice versa on the right.

2) Runners always want to cut the tangent when rounding a corner. Meaning run as close to the side of the road as possible, but only on corners. Also make sure a hand gesture (no not the one you are thinking of) is given so that runners behind will be aware of the runner's movement in front of them.

3) When running up hills runners want to lean forward just a bit, and engage their arms. Using arms will help to propel a runner up the hill. Also slow down, shorten the gate, but add more steps.

More fun tips from coaches, books, articles, and past experience as the training season progresses.

In my thoughts and prayers

I know that any of you reading this post today share the same heavy hearts as I do thinking and praying for those lives torn apart by the horrific tragedy in Haiti. A country that is scared by tragedy, the people of Haiti again on Tuesday January 12 suffered an unimaginable loss of love and life in a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, more than half the populations living on less than $2 a day. Many Haitians had very little and now most have nothing. I can’t imagine searching helplessly for my loved ones, listening in the night for faint cries of life under the ruble, and living on the streets with an entire nation that in seconds became homeless, helpless, and hopeless; yet this is a reality for people of Haiti.

I have spent some time doing research on humanitarian charities; I have found great respect in the charities listed below. For what it is worth anyone who resides in a place in which they are able to make a charitable donation towards the humanitarian relief effort in Haiti, I highly recommend one of the following organizations, or one that your heart follows.

Doctors Without Boards
UNICEF
American Red Cross
World Vision

May we all keep the victims, families, doctors, volunteers, military personnel, humanitarians, and those who feel led to serve in whatever capacity they can, in our thoughts and prayers during this unspeakable catastrophe.

Love ya,
Jen

Adventures of Dylan, Harley, Dude, & Thorfine!

Now that it has been exactly two weeks since Meegan, Paul, Jeff, and I had our oober fun outing to the bowling alley and singing our hearts out at karaoke I feel it is time to wrap up my Oregon adventures.

I would like to be the first to mention I have not been bowling in ohhhh…..7 years or so, as a result I was a tad apprehensive. In addition I do not partake in liquid courage so I was required to act “cool” and pretend I knew what I was doing being I would not have anything to blame my bad display of bowling on.



After picking up our rockn’ bowling shoes, (I think mine might have been glow in the dark, something they didn’t mention to me and something I never got to determine), Paul gave Meegan and I a fun bowling gift. He said he bought them that day at the store, but I am convinced he had them since high school. Meegan received a candy necklace that when she went to put it on the elastic busted and little candies went EVERYWHERE! I found candy in my non glow in the dark shoes at the completion of the bowling extravaganza. I received a ring sucker, I took it out of the wrapper and found that it appeared to have melted and as a result had reshaped and was cocked to the left.



Once we got past the hysteria of not one but both gifts being dysfunctional we got set to bowl. I am not sure how it came about and with this crew I am not even going to take a wild guess, but we used code names rather than our given names.


Dylan


Harley


Dude


Thorfine
Please don’t ask.








We all did very well……………..






In fact the non bowler Harley is got a strike first time out of the gate. Beginners luck………..please check out that form, I am most certain it was not because she had any idea at all how to bowl.

After 2 games we were ready hang up our bowling shoes and head out to sing some karaoke. After all Thorfine challenged Dylan to a sing-a-thon, he could not back down now. Dude and I were simply along for the ride to watch this story play out at least that is what I thought!!

Dylan had to liquor up before he could join Thorfine to belt out a crowd fav. So in the mean time Thorfine got up on stage to loosen the vocal chores and shined as she sang “All That Jazz”. It was a show stopper and her talent made Dylan even that much more nervous. However, we all convinced him that she would carry the team if he should get weak in the knees.



“Dylan”…………..“Is Dylan here”…………….okay so we were not quite use to our code names. Dylan and Thorfine went running to stage…….it was their turn to show what great karaoke is made of.

They were awesome, although we really could not hear them too well for the entire bar was sing “Sweet Caroline” in unison.



However, Dylan had a fun time he was hooked, singing three more songs that night.

Thorfine and Harley closed out the night singing “Earl Had to Die”. I know it was not a super uplifting song, but being from the honky tonk state it had to be a country song for Harley to partake.



We had the best time, and for the second night in one week this sistah was out late enough to again close the bar down. Who is this person that has invaded Jennifer’s body, oh yeah it is Harley and she LOVES to have fun and burn the midnight oil. I was thinking 2pm was late to be heading home but the rest of the week proved even later.

Love Ya,
Jen