Remember the Alamo!

So it turns out that Ken, the goober and I are going to be heading off to Texas for six months at the beginning of May! Ken needs to go there, Houston that is, for work as part of his training rotation so, naturally, Russ and I are going along for the ride. I wasn't terribly fond of the idea at first but now I'm actually excited to go. It's only six months and it will be interesting to compare the differences/similarities between Calgary and Houston. I mean, it's not like we're going off to some far-off foreign country right?

Quotes I associate with Texas off the top of my head: "I'm an oil man;" "...black gold, Texas tea;" "Remember the Alamo!" "All my exes live in Texas...; "If I owned Texas and Hell, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell;" "Everything's bigger in Texas;" "Saskatchewan is much like Texas except it's friendlier to the United States." That's all I can think of right now.

I'm sure I have a lot of misconceptions about that big ol' State but six months of living there should educate me. Plus, the apartment we're staying in has a dishwasher!!

-J

Idiosyncrasies

I love getting to know more and more about my little guy's personality every day. As of late, his favorite sign of affection is touching his forehead to mine and then shaking his head back and forth so our foreheads rub together. I absolutely love it! Instead of kisses, which would be accompanied by a shower of saliva, I get a forehead massage.

I have also noticed a trend in his food preferences. Squash is the new carrot here at the Conrad house and Russ can't get enough of it. What a weirdling.

His favorite place to sit this week seems to be crouched underneath one of the kitchen chairs where he will then proceed to repeatedly hit his head against the underside of the chair above him while attempting to stand up. Intense whining ensues, wherein I rescue my afflicted son only to repeat the process ten minutes later. I am constantly saving my little dude in distress but that suits me just fine.

I wonder what he'll start doing next week? As long as he doesn't express an intense interest in manhandling the odorous contents of his diaper, I think we'll be just fine (knock on wood and cross your fingers).

J

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

New Beginnings for the Young Women in my ward was on Saturday (I'm the YW President) and I am just so relieved it's over...haha. I had this "bright" idea about a month ago that for the event we could take pictures of the girls/leaders in Wizard of Oz costumes and then superimpose them onto different backgrounds, create a slide show, add some music and audio and that would be that. How hard could it be, right? Little did I know that it would take so much bloody work!!! For the last month it has been like a full time job putting together a 10 minute slide show!! In the end, it turned out pretty well and I received many compliments, which I needed, because I have to believe that all that work was worth it. It is long, so be prepared, but here it is:


J

Bienvenue Baby Sean

I have a brand new baby nephew: Sean Lloyd Jensen. When I went to the hospital to check up on the little guy, I took one look at my sister, took a double take and thought "Holy crap! She doesn't look like she was hit by a bus at all - not even close to looking like she was hit by a bus! In fact, she looks...good!" I was amazed because after I had Russell, I looked like I had been circle beaten by a bunch of UFC champions, dropped off the side of a building, whereupon, I was impaled by a fence post! The fact that she looked "good" reassured me that perhaps the next time around (yes, I would do it again) might not be as physically taxing. Maybe it would only look like I was mowed down by a Smart Car. We'll see.

Anyways, baby Sean is as perfect as a baby can be and I had to remind myself not to call him Russell which made me want to have another baby to give Russell a cute little brother (or sister) which made me remember how I looked after I gave birth, which made me think better of the idea. Phew! It was a full circle moment. I guess what I'm trying to say is congratulations Jenny and Josh!!

J

Out With the Old

Ken and I have just survived the "Great Purge." We both seemed to tire of the limited space in our closet at the same time and spent a Saturday accomplishing the long overdue task of sorting and chucking. How many striped sweaters can a guy have? Apparently, 15!! That he never wears...EVER! Not to be outdone by my husband, however, I too was guilty of hoarding an insane amount of clothing that I never wear probably because I can't fit into two thirds of it. It was sad and liberating to see it all go to good will. Good bye old friends; hello shopping!...I mean closet space.

J

2 Years

Let me preface this post by saying that Ken is not a romantic. He does not plan ahead for special events; he does not whisper sweet nothings in my ear (unless they are dripping with sarcasm) and he does not surprise me with...well...anything. He is a scientist, an introvert, and...a robot...haha just kidding!

That being said, yesterday was our 2 year Anniversary and I knew that I wasn't going to wake up to flowers or some sort of well thought out gift or surprise. So I had a surprise of my own up my sleeve. I found the perfect card to give to Ken and it read something like this:

Some girls need chocolates or presents to feel special on their Anniversary/ but all I need is YOU (because I have no other choice)/ Happy Anniversary!

I thought it was hilarious when I saw it in the store but, for some reason, Ken didn't find it nearly as amusing. And then I gave him a box of Purdy's chocolates, that he became very excited about eating, just to drive the irony home...haha.

It's true though - as corny and trite as it sounds - all I need is him. And that's exactly who I had that night when we had a three course dinner at the rotating 360 Restaurant in the Calgary Tower. The scenery was wonderful, the food was delicious but the company was far superior.

J

Life is a Song

I've always loved Simon and Garfunkel's "Song for the Asking" but now that I'm married and have started a family I love it even more because it makes me think of them.

J