Jenny's Journey

The other nite while on the web, I found out that Burt's Bees just had it's 25th Anniversary! I love Burts Bees! I love their minty lip balm, tear free baby shampoo and body wash, diaper ointment, lemon cuticle cream. The list only goes on and on. Right now they have a promotion on their website www.burtsbees.com that if you register and review some products you could wind $250 worth of products! That's a lot of lip balm! James and I purchased about 25 tubes of lip balm about 6 months ago off of Ebay! We were out and desperate. On Ebay you can get a good deal...I think we got them for like $1.50 a piece. They go for at least $2.99 in the stores!!! So anyways, if you are a fan like myself and many others I know, check out the site!

  We had a good time at the Jimmy Buffett concert at Alpine Valley. Despite the crappy weather, drinks were good as well as the company! Lots of friendly people at the concert for sure, all willing to help get you drunk! Jello shots went over very well, and the taco dip tasted damn good in the parking lot after waiting for the crowds to disperse and lines go down!   I have been to Alpine Valley before, but I don't remember it ever being this chaotic! And unless you had lots of money, I would advise everyone to drink their fill before heading in, unless you were OK with spending $13.00 for a beer!   Here are Kim and Jason, with matching hats and Hawaiian shirts!   And of course, with Kim, Amy, Stephanie, Melissa and myself - We were the women to blame! (James and Jason agree!)

Tommorrow James and I have tickets for the Jimmy Buffett Concert at Alpine Valley. We are super bummed that the weather is gonna be so crappy. So much for the cute bikini top I bought! Maybe if we are lucky we will have a change in the weather! We are having Margaritas, Margarita Jello shots (Lime Jello and Tequila), and Lemon Drops! Sounds good to me! I will post some pics and stuff soon after the concert!

Today is my Mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! My Mom came over today and us girls went to the Upper Crust for lunch, to Riverside Park to play and then to Culvers for their Lemon Ice with Raspberries!! For dinner, my bros and their families, my family and Mom all met at the Mineshaft in Hartford for the pizza special they have every Monday nite. 14 of us ate for $75.00....thats tip included! It was a nice nite. I always enjoy seeing my family all together. It doesnt happen as much as I wish it did. So, anyways...I hope you had a nice birthday Mom! I love you!

  My little Jenna had to go to daycare for the first time this past Thursday and Friday. She took 3 30 minute naps, but was still in a good mood I was told. I guess she is very wide eyed at daycare, having so much to look at and making all those new friends. I do think though that one is out to get her right from the start! On the first day of daycare I already had to sign an incident report! One of her "friends" (as it was noted on the report) threw a toy phone at her! Left a nice red mark on her head! My Poor Baby!!! Don't worry. Its all better now.

Here it the recipe I noted in previously. James wanted me to make it this week, I said when the weather gets colder - that when it will taste the best! Who really wants chili in summer?!?! Ruby Tuesday's White Chicken Chili 3½ hours 25 min prep Ingredients 6 cups chicken stock 1 lb great northern bean (soaked in water overnight) 2 medium onions , chopped 6 cups chicken , diced cooked 2 jalapeno peppers , seeded & diced 2 chili peppers , diced 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano 2 teaspoons cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 garlic cloves , minced 1 cup salsa 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 pinch salt (to taste) Directions: Simmer beans, half the onions, and half the garlic for 2 hours in the chicken stock or until the beans soften, stirring frequently. Add chicken and salsa. Saute pepper, spices, and the remaining onions and garlic in the oil and add to the chili. Simmer for one more hour. Garnish with sour cream, Monterey Jack cheese and fresh ...

Last nite I had my first Tomato Sandwich of the season! My version and only way I think you should make a tomatoe sandwich is this -- 2 slices of fresh white bread such as Wonder Bread - NOT toasted Mayo - my husband thinks it would be better with the tangy zip of miraclewhip...I dont agree. 1 sliced tomato - only the kind grown in your garden will do. Thats it! It is soooo good and really only available for a short time each summer/fall. I am warning you, do not make this with store bought, bland tomatoes!

Anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I suffer from allergies..to mostly everything nature or animal! Dust, trees, leaves, cats, dogs, grass....I swear the list goes on and on. Anyways, these last couple days I have been itchy ALL OVER my body! I have been taking a daily Zyrtec and morning shower(I should be doing this anyways!) and even washed my bedding(it was due anyways) to help combat the itchies. I checked an allergy website www.pollen.com and it said that it was going to be a Med to Med/High week of allergies. So, I dont know if any of you are having this issue, but I basically want to itch my skin off and dig out my eyes!!! I swear even my earlobes are itching right now!!! HELP!

On Sunday we did our annual pilgrimage(except last year) to Gurnee Mills for the big sale that Bass Pro Shops has at the end of each August. James easily spent the $140 in gift cards he had, we had a spit up incidence from Jenna where I had to stand by the mess for like 2o minutes until someone came to clean it up(yes, I was concerned that someone may slip on it!), had a late lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, where I had a really good White Bean Chicken Chili (maybe I will post the recipe at a later date) and Jadyn rode on the merry-go-round. Sad to say I did not buy a thing. :(

Ever since Jadyn and I watched the kids on Jon & Kate + 8, go camping in their backyard, she has been asking Daddy if we could do this. Well, the summer just flew by and available weekends are getting s care, so Daddy set up the tent Saturday. Jadyn was way excited! We sat by the fire and toasted marshmellows, made smores, swung on the swings in the dark, went on adventures(we had the LawnMower Moster chasing us)! Finally at 1030, they headed for bed in the tent. By only the lite of her little latern and princess flashlite, Daddy read her a book and they went to sleep. I guess Jadyn just kept talking and talking until Daddy told her to zip it! Jadyn slept decent on her princess blow up mattress/sleeping bag...Daddy not so well. Since we had not used our air mattress in like 5 years, the batteries had corroded in it and well it was garbage. Poor Daddy slept on the hard ground, heard the band playing in the distance from the Ixonia Town and Country days until 1245, and his shoulders ...

At a K4 Registration earlier this year, Jadyn was given a packet of Sunflower seeds to plant when it got warm and when the sunflower was ready to bloom, that would coincide with the start of school. Well, I didn't want to be the only Mom with her kid showing up to Kindergarten without a picture of her and her sunflowers. So, I planted the seeds twice! They did not grow for one reason or another. So this is the picture I took of Jadyn next the the sunflowers we bought at the farmers market instead!! Can't say I didn't try!

Today James and I ventured to Madison for the Farmers Market! I have been wanting to go like forever! I was not disappointed! We actually ran out of money. Here is a list of the things we purchased. Corn on the Cob (from a vendor located in Watertown...go to Madison to buy from Watertown!!) Tomatoes Fingerling Potatoes Green Beans Bacon - yes...bacon! Lettuce Salsa Verde Kit (comes with tomatillos, jalopeno, garlic, onion) - I always wanted to try a tomatillo and it is surprisingly very sweet! Watermelon Apples - Zestar(?) - very good..juicy, crisp....yumm-o Red Peppers strung to dry to use in cooking - kitchen decor Sunflower Bunch Glads (for Mom) Beef Stick - 1 - for James Cookie -1 - for me Iced Cafe Mocha Iced Tea I think that is about it! About $50 worth!!! We went around the Capitol Square twice, learning that we should have went around once admiring everything and bought on the 2nd time around!!! We had so much stuff we had to stop at the car once(luckily we found close parking ...

Well, it has been a week and 1 day since I turned 31! Yikes. Well, I feel quite old and all, but I think I have alot to show for my 31 years here on Earth! I have been blessed with a wonderful family, and the best of friends. Have 2 little sweet hearts and married a man I love to be with! I have a good job, nice home....basically thats all I ever asked for...ever really needed. I always knew that I didnt need to be rich (but that would have been nice!), just that I wanted to be happy and live comfortably...and so far I think I have done just that. Life has its ups and downs (last year being a big down), but for the most part I am very happy, mostly because of all the great people in my life! Anyways, for my big 31, I had to work...boo hoo...but afterward, James, Jadyn, Jenna and my Mom all went to Spinnakers in Oconomowoc for dinner. It was very good! It was the perfect nite to sit outside!(something I just LOVE to do in the Summer!!!) Strolled on the beach for a little afterward...Jam...

Ha!!! I just realized that I named my blog pretty much the same lame ass title as my bros blog! Jeff and the Turks!!! Dork. What did I expect...creativity from me....yeah right!!! But wait...I just thought of a new blog title! The 4 J's! Cute...yes?!?!? no?!?!? Oh, yeah..guess I should tell you it was originally named - Jennifer and the Quandt's

Hmmm...what to say!?! Well lots of people I know have these things called blogs...thought maybe I would try it out. Basically a way to keep in touch with others, post pictures....you know that kind of thing!