Compliments

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has complimented me on my weight-loss. I have had a huge amount of compliments from friends the last 2 weeks and I just want you to know that I am grateful for them. They keep me going and keep me smiling! It is nice to know that my hard work is visible!

Thank You!!!!

—Jena

Uplifting Evening

Tonight I was able to attend a meeting at my church with a special guest speaker, Deni Hill, who is the Biggest Loser Season 11 at home winner. She is also the Mother of my friend, Lauren who lives down the street from me. We had a really nice healthy dinner and then she spoke to us for an hour. It was great to hear her words of wisdom, she shared a lot about life on the Biggest Loser Ranch, and she had a lot of great advice. I love that she is taking her experience and sharing it with others, giving back. I was able to talk with her after the crowd died down and she gave me a big hug and we talked and she was wonderful, a very kind, genuine woman. She looks amazing and you can tell she is taking care of her self and has found happiness.

She printed off some cards for us with this quote and I love it and so I will pass it on :

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -Marianne Williamson”

I really love this quote, it is so true , sometimes I catch myself  ”playing small”, but inside I want to shine, so I will! Put your sunglasses on, its about to get a little brighter out there

Thanks Deni!

–Jena

Goals

• Update blogs more often
• Practice playing my guitar at least 3 times a week
• Read 1 chapter a day of whatever book I am reading
• Journal more often
• Sketch in my sketch book
• Keep up with dishes and laundry
• Eat Sushi at least twice a month, once is fine but twice is better and more than that is even better but not affordable so twice will have to do…

—Jena

P.S. Pretty sure the only one that will get done is eating Sushi, at least I have good intentions and I am honest with myself, right?

“I’m going to miss you Mommy!”

These are the words that my 5 year old Nahvi’ah Zoie has said to me several times as we have approached the new school year. She starts school tomorrow. We have spent almost every possible minute together for the last 5.5 years + the 9 months that I carried her. She makes me laugh everyday and keeps a smile on my face. She has also added to my gray hair collection but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Last night around 2 am she climbed in bed with me and I didn’t take her back to her bed, I cuddled with her all night. Pretty soon she will be too big to climb in bed with me and snuggle all night, and before I know it, she won’t need or want my help as much anymore, so I will take advantage of these precious moments that I do get with her.

I can’t believe I have to let her leave the nest tomorrow, let her test those wings out, see if she can fly. I have no doubt she will soar…

—Jena

P.S. I’m going to miss you Nahvi’ah!

Happy 5th Blurg-iversary :)

July 21, 2006 was my very first post to my blurg. It used to be called I Scream with a Fork, since I love eating icecream with a fork instead of a spoon. I am not sure when I changed the name but it is fun to look back 5 years ago to see what I was doing.

I love how big blogging is now compared to when I started. I think it is great people are blogging and sharing all the fun things they do with life.

Here is to another 5 years of blogging!

Blurg!

Jena

Another School Year

Last Monday, Moab started 4th grade and is loving it so far. Year round school is great for a lot of reasons but sucks because the new school year sneaks up on you too fast. Moab is getting really tall and I wouldn’t be surprised if she passes me up this year. I am so excited for her because her teacher is wonderful. She will get a lot of opportunities to be creative and artistic this year which is exactly what she needs.

Nahvi’ah starts school on Wednesday, this week! So crazy that my little bubba is going to school. She is really excited and wishes it would start tomorrow. I put the girls on different tracks this year so I am looking forward to spending some good quality time with both of them when they are off track at different times.

I was just looking at my calendar and my first long break with both girls at school is Sept. 26th- Nov. 13th! I plan on getting a lot done during those 4 hours a day that my kids are both at school.

Blurgity blurg,

—Jena

Goal- A Zen Life

So I had a great talk the other night with a couple amazing friends. <3 We were talking about getting rid of “stuff” that doesn’t really matter, stuff we can live without and stuff that causes stress because it is taking up space. It really motivated me to get my house in order. You forget how much crap you have when you put it in the basement or in the garage. SO MUCH CRAP!

A few things that cause me stress in my life are things that we actually use. Our couches that someone gave us are huge leather couches, they take up my whole front room. We also have a couple kitchen items that just take up too much space. When I make up my mind to do something, I do it, that is just who I am. So on Sunday, I decided to take pictures and post them on bookface and by that night we got rid of our huge couches and by Monday, a huge list of things I posted are now gone.

It feels so great to get rid of items that are not serving a purpose and that just get in the way of being stress free. I am going to work my hardest these next few weeks, my goal is to have it all done by the time Moab finishes 3rd grade so that we can have an amazing summer.

Thanks for reading and if you decide to set the same goal, good luck!

–Jena

Beautiful

Watched over

I don’t like to talk about religion, politics or other personal or controversial things on my blog because I like some things to stay personal and private but some things need to be shared, and I have not been able to stop thinking about last week and how I know we were being watched over.

At our house, we had just gotten over 2 weeks of Moab and I feeling very sick. By Sunday we were feeling better so Moab and I went to do our volunteer time at the Archery range in Eagle Mountain. We decided to take the truck because it had been raining and wet for a week and the range is off road in the mountains.

We got there at 8:00am Sunday morning and worked the registration table until 12:00pm. We have church at 1:00pm and it is about a 25 minute drive back home. So, we hopped in the truck to get home in time and right in front of Camp Williams, BAM! CRASH! A huge pipe goes flying off my truck. I pulled over, ran back quite a ways and carried the part back. It was the drive shaft. I called my Brother and he reminded me that I was in a 4wheel drive truck and that I could get home. Right when I was about to leave, some true heroes from the Military base pulled up, hopped out and made sure my truck was safe to drive home. It was a very tense ride home and halfway there, another part came flying off. I pulled over, picked it up and we finally got home safely but we missed church.

The next day we were obviously down to one car, so we had to drive McKay to work in Sandy. We dropped off Moab, then McKay. Nahvi wasn’t feeling well so I also called the doctor to get him to call in her an antibiotic. On the way home, I stopped to get my sick girl a Sprite and a treat from Maverick by the District because I like to spoil my kids when they are sick!

We were driving home and right in front of the big park on Huron, the car loses power, I push the gas and we are hardly moving, the check engine light starts flashing and the car starts stinking! We barley made it home but we were able to roll right into the driveway. I was able to get it towed to the shop later that day and McKay’s sister sent her car up to us later that day for us to use. Two cars braking down in two days in a row, what are the odds?

Both times I was driving with one of my sweet girls and both times Heavenly Father made sure I was able to get myself and my girls home safely. If either one of these car problems would have happened on a major road or highway, we would have most likely been in 2 terrible car accidents, but we were not, we were being watched over and made it home.

Instead of looking at the negative of things, I really try to find the positive of why trials, why hard things happen to people. I got an interesting perspective last week that helped answer why…

My car was quickly repaired and we were able to pick it up on Wednesday morning. My friend Eric called that same morning and asked if I had my car back and if I could pick up his Son from school because he had a work meeting at the same time. It was early day and I said that should not be a problem. I picked up the kids and dropped of Aidan at home in Herriman. On the way back a truck right in front of me stopped, so I stopped, looked over and noticed a man, laying on the grass at a bus stop, head rolled back and legs in the gutter. Something didn’t look right about him, I drove down the street a little, got the girls twist cones at Taco Time and I just strongly felt that I needed to go back to that man on the street. I was scared because I had my girls but I knew what I needed to do. I parked in the Smith’s parking lot and left the girls in the car and told them to stay there. I approached the man slowly, he looked dead, I thought that I was looking at a dead man and that my girls were seeing him from the car. I didn’t want to startle him if he was alive but it was very apparent he was not alert, something was wrong, but luckily I could see his chest rising, he was alive, thank goodness. The bus driver pulled up at the same time, I told him that there was something wrong with this man so he got off the bus and helped me try to wake him. A lady in line at the Pharmacy drive through yelled and asked if he was okay and I said, No, he won’t wake up so she called her Brother -in-law at the fire department to get help. We finally got him awake and he finally was able to tell us he had diabetes. He didn’t have a medical bracelet on, but he should have because he was in a diabetic coma, his blood sugar was dangerously low. A police officer noticed us before the call went through and stopped to help us also. The ambulance came and ended up taking him to the hospital. I still wonder to this day how many people passed this man on the street, who didn’t think twice, who ignored that gut feeling that something was wrong. I am glad I listened to my gut and helped him. He could have died but he was not meant to die that day.

I wrote a note about this in more detail on my facebook page, but the reason I mention it here is because this experience along with everything else that happened to me last week really showed me, things happen for a reason. Everything fell into place, just how it was supposed to. I got my car back that day so that I could help out a friend to take his child home so that on my way home, I could help this man. It was all part of a plan. That man was being watched over. We all are being watched over. You may or may not believe in God, but I do because of experiences like these that really help me open my eyes and take notice to all the little things that he has his hand in.

I could care less that our cars are broken because, my family is whole, we got home safe and that was what was supposed to happen and that man was able to live another day, how great is that?

There is always a bigger lesson to be learned when trials happen, sometimes bigger than the trial itself.

I am glad I had the week that I had last week. I write it here so I won’t forget it because someday I may need a reminder again, I am only human!

Thanks for reading,

–Jena

Life is good.

A few months ago, I was kind of down in the dumps. Did you ever read that Sweet Pickles book called Lion is down in the dumps? Anyway, I was stressed  and depressed that I wasn’t losing weight, that I was gaining, I kept wondering if something was wrong with me. My feet were messed up and I couldn’t run any more because I had Plantar Fasciitis and running was my sanity!

Then, the answers came and I made a game plan. Nothing is going to get in my way this time. I can see myself smaller and I can’t wait. It has been a long time since I have been small, my normal size. I still feel like that girl, small, fit, spunky but sometimes my weight gets in the way and I notice the fat suit I am carrying around. It is coming off and I am so excited! I just keep thinking, this time next year, I will be at my goal weight. Very exciting!

McKay and I are about to celebrate our 13th anniversary. 13 years is a long time. McKay and I have had a very happy and healthy marriage. Our biggest trials we have gone through are all the pregnancy losses but we got through every one of them and came out stronger. We feel very lucky to have our 2 beautiful daughters. They are getting old enough to go on fun adventures with McKay and I and we have so much fun with them. One thing we are doing for our Anniversary is going to Moab, Utah and running in a relay race together. We are also going to iFly in Ogden, Utah to go simulated skydiving in the wind tunnel. McKay is a great husband, he always takes good care of me and lets me be me! I am looking forward to the next 13 years of our marriage.

I am so thankful for my 2 girls. They keep me on my toes, that is for sure. They are so oposite in every way but I love seeing them grow and learn. They make me smile and laugh and I am so glad they are here and they are mine!

I am so grateful for all of my wonderful friends. I have such a great support system of friends. Friends that live all over the place and friends I am surrounded by where I live now. You are all wonderful and I love each and every one of you!

I need to blog more because I miss it a lot. It seems like facebook really gets in the way of blogging and I hope I can do a better job blogging here more and keeping up with my friend’s blogs. I love seeing what you do with your families, I am surrounded by amazing women, amazing moms, amazing friends! Thanks for being you, because that it what I love!

When McKay moved my blurg to another server, it lost all my blog links, so if you have a blog and want me to follow it, please email me at:  jenamarston at gmail dot com

Have a great week!

–Jena

P.S. If you want to comment, and you are having a hard time figuring it out, click on the little post-it-note to the right of the Post Title