Merry

This picture warms my heart. It is so idyllic, and perfectly captures the relationship between Todd and Nani. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband.

Nadine turned 4. And Halloween.

Grandparents, I am so so so so sorry for the lateness of this post. I suck, and I kept forgetting.

Nadine's birthday is the end of October, and then we also had Halloween. Pictures are on the Nani blog. Our Family Costume is nerdy and fantastic and worth a look.

Also, I made Nadine a minion cake for her birthday. It turned out AWESOME. Seriously;
best. cake. ever.

It was surprisingly easy, but very time-consuming (they had me harden the frosting in the fridge, between layers/colors. SUCH a good tip). If you follow the link, you'll be amazed at what are all those edible parts of the cake.

Girls in engineering

I was never really into feminism, Girl Power, etc. I didn't pay it much attention, I figured women had made significant headway, and it wasn't an issue in my life.

Then I became the mother of a daughter.

Now, I am all about female empowerment.

I'm not anti-pink, anti-princess (we watch, and enjoy, a SIGNIFICANT amount of Disney in this household). But I am definitely anti- 'girls-should-be-cute-but-not-heard', and anti- 'a-female's-only-roles-are-teacher-and-mother' (disclaimer: I am a fortunate stay-at-home mom).

Enter GoldieBlox. These are engineering toys for girls. Designed by a female engineer. Sweet!

The company is a finalist to have a commercial in the Super Bowl. Watch the below video, which is hilarious and awesome (I love the line that says,"You like to buy us pink toys...and everything else is for boys.").

Vote for GoldieBlox to win an ad in the Super Bowl.

Vote daily and on multiple platforms, so this great company will get even more exposure.

And tell others!

A rant. A rant-rant-rant-itty rant, Ranty McRants A Lot.

I am calling for an anti-boycott.

If you liked the book "Ender's Game", you should see the movie in theaters this weekend. And you should spend as much money as possible on the movie (IMAX, late-night, 3-D combo). Actually, if you haven't read the book, (1) shame on you, and (2) see the movie anyway, because the entire story will be new to you.

Why should you spend your hard-earned cash on expensive movie add-ons?

Because Orson Scott Card, the author of "Ender's Game," has come under fire for his personal views, none of which are reflected in either his book or this movie. There have been calls to boycott the movie. Boycotts because of the personal views of an artist. Outrageous. It is especially galling because the book is about an outsider who rises to his own potential in his own way.

In response to the issue over Card's views on traditional marriage, the studio has been distancing itself from the author of what I believe is one of the best books ever written. The author of the movie they're producing. Ugh.

I understand about not agreeing with others' personal views and ideas.

• Angelina Jolie is a homewrecker (yup, still an issue), but I watch her movies because she's generally a phenomenal actress.
• James Cameron has environmental views with which I don't agree and find quite kooky. But I still sometimes watch his movies.
• I don't share Joss Whedon's religious views (though I support his right to have those views), but I admire, enjoy, and support his shows and movies because his work is great and because he specifically creates strong female characters. 
• Tom Cruise questioned the merits of depression meds for post-partum women(!!!!!!!!)! But he's still allowed to make movies, and "Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol" was quite good.
• Giselle Bundchen makes some of the most indulged, out-of-touch, high-society, rich-know-it-all-celebrity, douchey comments of any woman in the news, but she's still a great model who should continue to receive jobs.
• I strongly disagree with the political views of the CEO of Amazon, but Amazon is the best online retailer and I enjoy the level and quality of service I receive from them. Also, it is the right of the Amazon CEO, just as it is the right of all citizens of the USA, to use his private funds in whatever way he sees fit.

Just as it is the right of Orson Scott Card to express his personal views and not be lambasted for it. I am especially upset because he is being lambasted by groups that always, always, always call for "tolerance" of their lifestyles. Apparently that is not a two-way street for them; you only receive tolerance if you share their views. Which is despicable.

When a boycott* of Chick-fil-A was planned (which, again, was called because of the PERSONAL views of its President, not because of how the company treated individuals), I began frequenting the restaurant to show support.

Along those lines, we are going to see Ender's Game opening weekend and we're going to spend as much money as possible to give the movie a boost in the box office. An anti-boycott, if you will.

We are doing this to show we support the right of free speech, no matter the views of the speaker. Which I believe was espoused somewhere important by some fairly influential people.

I think my rant is over. In conclusion, if you support free speech and despise hypocrisy, see "Ender's Game" this weekend. And tell others!


* I was quite pleased to read in the July 26, 2013, issue of Entertainment Weekly that after the boycott of Chick-fil-A, "(s)ales for the chain climbed 14 percent in 2012." Hooray for the anti-boycott!

"Two hearts beating wildly..."

I was 12 when my youngest sister was born. She was the 5th of five girls, and I was the mother hen. I love the special connection that comes with sisters, and Kelsey and I had a great bond because of all the time I spent mothering her.

She was six when I went to college. I graduated college and moved back home for a bit, but I haven't lived at home in more than 10 years. And I spent all of my twenties enjoying friends and being gone a lot. Which means, I didn't get to really know Kelsey, and she was stuck in a time-warp as a tween.

This summer, Kelsey graciously volunteered to drive across the country with me and Nadine. That's right, my busy senior-year-in-college sister, who spent the summer on two (two!) foreign music internships, gave up two weeks of her life for me and my family. To help her frantic sister pack frantically. To drive from Maryland to Las Vegas. To help with a 3-year-old. Driving mostly sitting in the passenger seat.

She is a champ.

I very much enjoyed those two weeks with Kelsey, and I especially enjoyed our four days in the car. She is a remarkably good traveling buddy. I loved getting to connect with her as adults; I know she has felt separated from us other siblings. Whitney, my next youngest sibling, is five years older than Kelsey. It can't have been a fun position to hold, to watch all your siblings grow and not be at that point yet; then to reach that point, and have your siblings (or at least Jen) think you're still 12.

To make a long story short (too late), I am very grateful for our four long days stuck in a car, driving eight or nine or 14 hours a day. I feel it cemented my bond with my sister Kelsey.

(Non sequitur) And now she's getting married! I am so excited for her and Daniel. Truth be told, I have been secretly hoping for this event for five years. Kelsey and Daniel were friends in high school, then dated the last bit of high school and their first year of college. Daniel was gone for two years serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; he recently returned and they're getting married in December.

I began this post with my recollections of young Kelsey, because I was blown away how old (in all the good ways) she looks in these pictures. And how happy they both are. I love watching the interactions of couples in love.

Kelsey asked me to take their engagement pictures, and I was excited to use them as guinea pigs. I am not a terrific photographer, but it's a hobby I greatly enjoy, and I have a nice camera and good photo editing software (that I can't fully comprehend yet...). I am really proud of these pictures, though their success is largely due to the subjects.

We took the pictures at my parents' cabin in southern Utah, which is my Happy Place (I think that goes for all my siblings as well). It has many wonderful places for pictures.

They're such a great couple.

Our mom designed the railings. I've always thought that was cool.

Aren't they cute?!

She's beautiful.

Have you ever been photo-bombed by a horse? I have. (There's a horse butt behind Kelsey's shoulder. It cracked me up. I was distracting.)

 Ahhhhhhhh, love.

***************************************
I also made my family guinea pigs for my photography. We found a great place for family pictures, so I decided to experiment. The lighting wasn't great (curse you, shadows! Though also, hooray for shadow-creating-sun in Washington!) but I am happy with the result. We could re-do the pictures, but I am lazy and I don't want to get dressed up and drive out there again. LAZY.

I do love this picture. Hellooooo, Puget Sound!

The rest of the pictures are on the Nani blog.

That's all. Whew.

Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow!

Have you watched the What Does the Fox Say video? It's hilarious, and the song is far too catchy. It's also weird.

These two men apparently have a talk show in Norway, and this is a promo for their new season. Best. Promo. EVER. I'm a new fan. I hope their show is in English.

I loved and subsequently showed the video to Nadine. She also loves it, but only after the first half. The first time, she got about halfway through with a "what the crap?" expression, until I laughed. Apparently that told her it is silly.

She has learned the song and the moves very quickly. We posted a video of her on the Nani blog. And it's awesome.

I think I need to learn this dance for any future wedding receptions. I'll be a hit!

Blatant (and sadly un-sponsored) product endorsement

This is a random post, but I am nerdily excited so here you go.

The theme of unloading our new house has been 'organize.' I've unloaded and organized specifically with this theme in mind, and am really happy with how the house has come together. We have shelves in every closet, bins on our kitchen shelves, and the coolest spice racks I have ever seen. Seriously. It saves so much space! And is organized! And labeled!

I bought the MiniStack through RueLaLa (a group savings site from which I've subsequently had to ban myself), from YouCopia. The below picture shows my spice racks that hold 44 spices, and I can easily identify and reach every one of those 44 spices. I love it.

They come with blank labels, that can either be hand-written or printed. I have way more labels than shelves, so I am (embarrassingly) excited this will adapt with my spice needs. (Heh, I recognize the nerdiness of this post, but I just have to gush and share the joy.)

The best part, besides the LABELING,

is that the drawers slide down and then catch themselves, so you can reach all the bottles. Seriously, this is a genius spice rack.

Do you see how the shelf just hovers???!!!! Love it.

Everyone should own some. Go buy them. Or put them on your Christmas list.

Seriously. Do it now.

This post will make all the other posts wet their pants!

Alrightie, this post is about The Move. Where we drove 3,780 miles across the country, basically coast to coast.

We had two 14-hour + drives; I pushed my luck because Nadine did ridiculously well on the drive. I was so pleasantly and gratefully surprised.

My wonderful sister Kelsey allowed us to fly her out to drive across the country with me and Nadine (Todd drove his car). We drove caravan-style until Nebraska; then Todd drove to Salt Lake and we drove to Las Vegas. Todd took his anesthesia boards on the 29th, so Nani and I spent time away from Washington so he could devote his time to studying.

We were supposed to spend Independence Day apart, which was sad, but then Todd surprised us by making a less-than-24-hour trip down to Vegas. What a great guy.

Here's our Maryland house while I was being Crazy Packer Woman. The Army couldn't schedule movers for us (grrrrrr to them, and for waiting until two weeks before our move to finally tell us the truth), so I packed the house, with the help of my wonderful friends and Kelsey.

We're still fighting with the military to try to get this all reimbursed, and it looks like we won't, because of a weight miscalculation on our movers' part; so the moving saga continues. Arrrgh, Army!

Here's our huge ABF truck. We packed 27 linear feet. Holy crap. My wonderful father-in-law flew out to help, and we are so grateful, especially because he was so great at fitting everything tightly together in the truck.

We have been very happy with ABF, except for the weight problem. (The Army reimburses based on weight, but ABF charged us based on how much space we took up in the truck. So instead of the Army reimbursing us the entire amount we paid to ABF, on a last-minute move because of the Army's incompetence, they will only pay us what ABF mistakenly said was half the real weight.) But I digress....

Our last night on the road, we stayed in North Platte, NE. It's basically in the middle of nowhere, but it happens to be the headquarters of Cabela's, so they had astonishingly nice hotels (yay!). It also had this hilarious sign on their gas station.

While I was in Nevada, all four of my sisters happened to be there too (for a blissful week window). We haven't all been together in nearly three years, so of course we had a Ripp Girls night. Unfortunately Mary and Ashley weren't able to join us, but we had Maren, Kelsey, Maggie, Whitney, me, and Lindsay. Beautiful women, and some of my favorite people.

I didn't contact anyone while I was in Nevada, and I apologize, but the women above are my excuse for not seeing anyone else.

I have many other pictures from our time with my family, but they're on the Nani blog.

But before you click over, here's our house in Washington!

I really enjoy this house. I like the layout, I'm so grateful for the backyard, and I love having a garage. And surprisingly, I really enjoy Washington so far. That's easy to say in the gorgeous summer, but still. I like it more than I thought.

I'll attempt to show the layout, for those who haven't seen the house (which is most of you).

Here's our front door. (I took this in the kitchen.)

Facing the front door: to the left is the stairs, to the right is the family room.

The family room is still a work in progress, but I have our curtains up, the TV works, and all the furniture is in the right spot. Phew.

Randomly, one of my favorite things about the house are the wide stairs. Well, that and the fact there's only one set of stairs in the entire house, and no stairs to climb to get into the house (again, garage!!!!!).

I'm now a bit embarrassed to be posting a picture of our stairs. Ah well.

The kitchen is HUGE. And it has a gas stove. And it's my dumping ground for boxes. BUT, all the boxes are out of the garage!!! Now it's time to organize the house. As you'll see in a few pictures.

We have a wall of shelves. We didn't have nearly enough shelving space in our MD kitchen, and I've apparently been traumatized by it.

On the left is the valence material that was in the house before, and their opaque window covering; on the right is my fabric choice, and thermal curtains to block the sunset-facing windows (we don't have AC, and though the mornings are gloriously temperate, that direct sun bakes the house).

The dining room is in a walkway between the kitchen and the family room, in a corner. One window faces east, the other west (with thermal curtains), so I got these fantastic curtains to tie the room together. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these curtains. Love. They sold as only one panel, so I cut the panels in half and then sewed the cut side. I am so thankful I can do that kind of sewing.

Next to the main stars, down three steps, is the living room, a hall pantry, a 4th room, a bathroom, and the garage entrance. (The hallway to the 4th room, the pantry hallway, is straight ahead. The door in the far right is to the bathroom. Next to that door is the door to the garage.)

The living room has the computer, treadmill, and a couch. Right now it's a catchall, but soon it'll be nice and sparse. For Nadine's toys, I'm sure.

The pantry is basically two shelved closets, and it's AWESOME.

This 4th bedroom will be the toy room/sewing room. I don't want to think about organizing it.

The picture below was taken in the living room, with my back to the hallway (the exact opposite of that first picture of this room). To the right is the living room, and to the left is the kitchen and further through that is the dining room.

Upstairs are the three bedrooms AND the laundry. Upstairs laundry was one of the top three renting points of this house.

Our room is a nice light blue, though I'm afraid of how dark I'll feel in the winters, so I got fun yellow curtains for our window. It brings out the yellow in our quilt and I love the look. I also cut these curtains and resewed them.

Here's the guest room. I try not to think about this room yet.

 Aaaaaaaaaand now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for.... ;)

THE GARAGE

 I know, I know. It looks like . . a garage.

But we haven't had a garage in four years, and I've missed it greatly.

The other major renting point of this house is the huge backyard. Seriously huge. We also haven't had a real backyard in four years, so we're trying to remember to use it.

More graduation pictures

...are on the Nani blog.

El fin

Todd graduated from residency today! I am so proud of him. He has worked very hard and has sacrificed so much during these last four years. He's a real REAL doctor now. Yahoo!

Isn't he so handsome in his uniform? Mmmmmmm.

Later I will post more pictures of his graduation, and our story about how, a week ago, two weeks before we're supposed to move, Todd asked about our move being scheduled and we were told we have to pack ourselves. In two weeks. And how my friends from church came together like champs and made it possible for nearly our entire house to be packed already. I am so grateful for tender mercies.

Bucket list, check!

One of the things I've always wanted to see is the sand dunes and tall grass of the Carolinas' beaches. We took advantage of our proximity to North Carolia (for the next 28 days!) and visited a few weekends ago. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect (and we had a beach-front condo at an off-season price--eureka!). I have many more pictures on the Nani blog, but here are a few to tempt you.

Apparently the dunes and the vegetation are a natural barrier between the homes and the ocean. Picturesque AND useful.

I love this man.

The times they are a'changing

Fifteen-ish years ago, I'm pretty sure White Zombie (and I) did not anticipate this.

Eminem probably didn't either.

Heh.

Mother

Now I'm all choked up. This video is beautiful.



Most appropriately, my mom told me about it, and the wonderful line within,

"Life doesn't come with a manual

it comes with a Mother."

Mmm, what a fantastic line.

I am so grateful for my wonderful, beautiful, hardworking, supportive, loving, creative, nurturing, good-advice-giving mother and mother-in-law.

This is such a rambly, grumbly post. But I rate my favorite airports! Which is SCINTILLATING.

I am so excited to move. So so so excited.

At the same time I'm really worried that I have built up Washington too much; that in my desire to get out of Maryland and away from the east coast, I am projecting too much onto our next area of residence. A place where it rains nearly all the time, and air conditioners are not standard (ugh; only AC can cut out the stink of damp. Crap.).

I feel bad for poor Maryland. There could be a philosophical question based on my three years here: did living in Maryland exacerbate my depression, or was I more depressed because of living in Maryland? Either way, this poor state may always be viewed negatively by me because I spent so much of the last three years being so blasted sad.

I also think my years here were deeply biased by my Nevada upbringing. I like space. I like the sun. I like dryness. I like driving with aloha (within reason, of course). I like to be able to choose whether to be stuck in traffic. I like pleasant people who practice the Golden Rule. I like front yards that aren't a parking lot. I like being able to see for miles forward. I like fences.

Also, I like to whine. Apparently.

There have been some positives to living here.

• Rita's 
• The wonderful nice people I've met here. I've especially really loved the women from church. There are so many strong, educated women who made the conscious decision to live as they currently do. I have been forever inspired and enriched by several of the women I've met here.
• BWI. Yup, the airport. BWI is a dream airport. I adore it. Especially helpful is the fact I can get there in 15 minutes. / I grew up using McCarran airport in Las Vegas, which I've now realized is a total piece of crap airport designed by blind monkeys with a preference for tour buses and taxis. McCarran is my least favorite frequented airport (and yet it always brings me "home;" such a conundrum). / I flew to Reno a lot for work, and that is a good airport. It's tiny and cute and efficient. / Salt Lake was less good when I was going to school in Provo (Go Cougs!), but it's pretty nice now. Plus it takes us to my in-laws, which is also huge in its favor. / The Honolulu airport was nice. Not just because it takes you to Hawaii. It's my second favorite frequented airport. They, like BWI, know how to get you in and out quickly without giving preference to the tourism-dependent vehicles (ahem, McCarran? See how they've balanced that?). / In conclusion, BWI is awesome. It's airport bliss.         The end.

How did this turn into a post about airports?

Anyway, I am excited to move back out west.

Maybe that's the east's biggest problem: it's not the west.

It reminds me of a line from Fellowship of the Ring. "I want to see mountains again. Mountains, Gandalf!"

I think that line fairly often. . .  except I say, "moun'ns."

Y'all ready for this?

Da na na nana na nananana na na na nananana.

Hee.

I've updated the Nani blog with lots of pictures. It's a good one.

We caught the DC blossoms at the perfect time! I have been hoping for this our three springs here (actually, I have wanted to see the blossoms for 15 years). It was spectacular and stunning. I took about 25 pictures of the blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial in the background, to have one to frame for my wall-o-Jen-pictures. I'm so excited!

Losing my mind

Ha, on the Nani blog I re-posted pictures of Nadine in the snow. From the post just before it. Woops.

I have switched my medication, and I swear the new one has turned my brain into mush. I've never been so scatter-brained.

I've left my wallet (1) in a shopping cart at Target, and (2) at home. Both times, I didn't notice until I was ready to check out of the store, with a cart full of groceries (no worries, I always returned within an hour or two to purchase my cart).

The other night I came home late, my hands full. The next morning, I took the trash outside, and when I returned, I noticed I had left my keys in our door lock, on the OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE. All night. Thank goodness we have a view-blocking storm door, and an alarm on our door, and really long-suffering guardian angels.

I switched meds because we're (still) trying to get pregnant. But the pregnancy-friendly meds are not nearly as effective as the other meds (which were hell to detox from, but so wonderful when I was taking them), and they have the unfortunate side-effect of making me spacey. And hungry. And rage-y. We'll see how long I last before I just give up and go back to the effective meds.

It's pretty funny how much trouble I have focusing, except when I really think about it. Then it's not so funny any more. Sigh.

Nani updates and a Facebook farewell

I added a very few pictures on the Nani blog. She's cute, so it's worth the click.

Hopefully my blog presence will increase (a bit) now, because . . .

I'm quitting Facebook.

Phew.

I feel so free.

And apprehensive.

(Please don't think I'm passive aggressively writing this to make others feel bad.
I'm just explaining my feelings. Blogging, if you will.)

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.

• It's a great way to keep in contact with people.
• It's like approved voyeurism.
• I get a high when people comment on my posts (lame!).

But at the same time,

• Facebook keeps you in contact with people
• it's approved voyeurism
• using it makes me feel euphoric. I'm quite addicted to it.

I'm not horrifically addicted. I generally only log in once a day, and luckily I don't have the app on any devices. But I log in EVERY DAY. When I could be interacting with my child. Or exercising. Or cleaning. Or napping. Or reading. Or actually personally contacting my friends.

Facebook facilitated me becoming "friends" with people with whom I had hoped to never interact again. I know I could've declined their friend requests, but I have guilt doing that (lame!), and I was also overcome with curiosity about whether high school mates had continued to wreck their lives.

Facebook was also good at keeping me in contact with select few individuals, but I've realized I can't stay on it just because it's my way of staying up to date with these people.

And most importantly, constantly seeing the random, whiny, menial thoughts of "friends" caused me to really, really dislike them. The following sums it up perfectly:

(In the interest of full disclosure, I have also severely limited my time on Pinterest. While trying to mitigate my depression, I realized the only thing Pinterest accomplishes for me [except recipes] is that I negatively compare myself to the other moms there. And that's lame and terribly destructive.)

Facebook is far too efficient at quenching my thirst for drama, so it has to go. It has to go because I waste a lot of time on it. It has to go because there are few relationships that can be fostered only on Facebook. And it has to go because sometimes I find myself thinking of my life in terms of status updates (lame!).

Plus, not having a Facebook account will justify sending out Christmas cards.