Catching Up

The past month has been absolutely crazy. I feel though that this week was normal and mostly because it's leading into my first "normal" weekend in a whole month. I have loved having friends and family from out of town and my amazing cabin weekend, but I am ready to be at home with the dog and my roomie and just do what we normally do on a Saturday.

With that being said while this week was normal it was one that helped me catch up and get to where I am now.

1. My mommy and Aunt passed through Atlanta on their way back to Phoenix over the weekend and I had such a fun time with them. We went and picked apples and watched football and spent a good amount of time together.

2. There were some major break throughs when it came to my relationship with me and my dad, I am so happy where the Lord has brought us. You can read all about that here. It's a long story and tear jerker for sure, but a must read in my opinion.

3. That beautiful iOS 7 came out and I got it as soon as I could on my measly Iphone 4. The funny thing I am only going to have this phone for 2 weeks because my upgrade happens to be on October 1st and I have decided to get the 5s, now the real question is Gold or Silver....

4. My youngest W turned 6 yesterday which is crazy to me because he was only 4 when I started working for them. I made this Lollipop Arrangement for his birthday since he doesn't eat cake, ice cream, brownies, cookies or anything but lollipops and starbursts.

5. Last night I finally rented and got to watch Now You See Me and let me say, I would watch it over and over again, because it was so good. I was truly surprised and I usually guess what's going to happen in movies like these.

 

I am linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High 5 for Friday and all the ladies over at 5 on Friday!

                 

Jenny

Lollipop Cake

September is a busy month for me in nanny world. Not only does Labor Day kick us off and the kids baseball/softball games come into full effect, my youngest two, W and S have birthdays. They were born 51 weeks apart, not even a whole year, one week to the day shy of a year apart. So that means that they will both be the same age for 1 week.

W is turning the big 6 this week and it's crazy to think of him as 6 when I started with him he was only 4 and now he is turning 6. This is the second birthday I have spent with him and it's crazy.

W is a sweet sweet little boy who loves nothing more then some good conversation and his teenage mutant ninja turtle van, oh and a good hour on the Ipad every day.

One thing that sets him apart from any other child I have ever met is that he does not like dessert. Like no cake, cookies, brownies, ice cream, etc. Nothing appeases him except for Lollipops and Starburst. Fairly simple, until you go to tons of birthday parties and he'll just have the gold fish snacks cause he wont eat the cake. Last year we got a birthday cake for him and he got to blow out the candles but everyone else ate it. This year mom and I wanted to do something that would be for him.

I have seen many a lollipop arrangement made and sold online for 30-50 dollars, but I figured all I needed was the supplies and I could recreate it. So without further ado, my Lollipop Cake.


Supplies -
*Container
*5 inch Styrofoam Ball
*Stones
* 1 Bag Starburst (Candy for Jar)
* 6 Bags of lollipops of any variety (As you can see I had an extra bag of starbursts and was short 2 bags of lollipops to begin with)

 

First you put the stones in the container to help give it some weight and to make it look pretty good. 

 

Then put whatever candy appeases you in the base of the jar but you need to leave about an inch of space at the top so that the ball can sit inside it. 

 

Place the ball on the container and make sure it is set in there and that there are no candies causing it to be lopsided, you want it pretty even.  

 



Start at the bottom and do 1 row at a time all the way around of lollipops, make sure that they are right next to each other and that you can only see a minimal amount of the Styrofoam.

 

 

Then continue to work your way up, you might need to use a little bit of arm effort to get them in there when some of the other sticks get in the way, you could always try a new angle as well.

Keep going until you cover the whole thing.

Take some ribbon and wrap it around the top of the container and then if you used curling ribbon like I did curl those ends and make it look oh so cute.

 

Mom and I are debating whether to show it to him today or wait until his birthday, either way I can't wait to see his face. This is his first ever birthday cake that he gets to actually eat.

 

 

 Just a photo of me and the birthday boy for good measure.

 

 

Jenny 

 

 



What Now.

So for the most part this blog has just been about my journey as a nanny who lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I bake, sew, do crafts, and have a blast with the three kids I watch.

What I don't or haven't written about is my current family situation.

I am sure I have mentioned that I have an older brother, who is married with 3 beautiful children, and two younger sisters who still live at home. What I have left out more so is that in September of 2011 my life came to startling halt when my parents who were shy of their 25th wedding anniversary announced that they were officially divorced. It happened so quickly that I felt sick to my stomach. I was just about 2 months into my student teaching in my last semester as a college undergraduate student. So I basically attempted to not think about it and just power through. This left me with a plethora of emotions and I would cry at a drop of a hat, then I would get angry, then I would have to laugh about it, before eventually crying again and questioning a lot of things.

For the past couple years my parents have been doing a whole court thing because of a very complicated situation which left my mom with absolutely nothing to her name and a number of medical issues that were coming to the surface. My dad and I had a strained relationship for a while. We are both quite similar in some ways and so that led to no communication and very little if any of a relationship with him. Through the whole situation I was closer with my mom. It was hard and surprising when they announced that my mom would move out of the house they were both living in for a year and a half and move to Phoenix to be with her family. My sisters took it very hard and while I lived in Atlanta, I could feel all their pain even though I was unable to be there.

My dad shortly after got remarried and to be honest I wanted nothing to do with her. In my mind I had painted her as some evil lady who was attempting to take the place of my mom, and I already had one and I loved her dearly. I harbored a lot of resentment but mostly kept to myself because in my mind if I didn't have to be a part of the whole situation it wouldn't hurt me. I was oh so wrong. Holding on to so much baggage I would spend many nights just crying and questioning why this was the situation my family was going through. How as a child my worst fear was my parents getting divorced and here it was happening to me in my early 20s.

Fast forward to the weekend I spent at the cabin the beginning of September. At the end of that trip we were each given a journal and were told to write a letter to ourselves asking God for things that we believed in him for this next year. As I wrote I asked for all sorts of things. One thing that I decided to boldly put in my letter was to start the healing process with my dad. This was something I put in there meaning maybe I could write a letter and let him know how I feel or something and that it would happen in the next year. This past Friday my mom and aunt where in Florida for another court date. They were going to be stopping in that night to stay a quick two days with me on their way back to Phoenix. I was really excited to see them and on my way home from work I called my Aunt to ask if I could grab anything from the store. And this is where the miracle begins...

When the phone was ringing it hit me that by this time they would have been done with court and would have some sort of answer to something. So as she answered I asked how she was doing and through tears she said that she was awesome. That just earlier that day, my dad cried on the stand and apologized to my mom. She said it was like the scales had fallen from his eyes and what he had mistaken as a character flaw in my mom which led to the divorce was in fact some medical issues that we were not aware of. As she was crying I started crying as she described to me that my mom would be taken care of for the rest of her life and that my dad was willing to help. As I was talking to her my phone beeped. I looked down and saw that it was my dad.

My heart was a mix of emotions, happy, nervous, and everything in between.

I told her I had to answer it and as soon as I did I knew it would be ok. My dad was on the other end of the phone and basically told me everything my aunt had and through tears apologized to me and told me he was sorry for any grief that he had caused. He said that he couldn't change what had happened in the past but was ready to make it right from here on out. He said that in the end my mom was still the mother of his 4 children and he owed her that. I was balling. In the past weeks at bible study I had talked many times about the one thing I ever wanted was for my dad to apologize but I never thought it would be possible. Not only was he apologizing to me he was ready to make it right.

I was stunned. I was overjoyed. I was praising God. I am amazed I didn't crash my car haha.

After I got off the phone with him I got back on the phone with my aunt to briefly tell her what had happened as we cried together rejoicing God. We had so many people praying for this and to see it come to fruition increased my faith by leaps and bounds. I attempted to call about 4 or 5 people who didn't answer their phones and so finally got ahold of my bible study leader Jeida who rejoiced with me as I described the events that unfolded. We talked about how much our faith had just been increased. My phone had about 3% battery left so I headed to the store and then home to charge it up.

My mom and aunt came in late that night and after visiting and talking some more about God's grace and his power we went to bed. I was so overwhelmed in my spirit.

Saturday morning I woke up to an email from my dad that was addressed to all four of us kids and my sister in law. Basically it was explaining everything again and apologizing some more. I was still in shock and just amazed at how God was moving in such a rapid pace.

My mom and Aunt and I went apple picking that morning on a beautiful mountain just north of where I live and then came home to watch some Alabama football and a movie.

On Sunday we headed to church and then to lunch and finally back home where my Aunt told me she would buy my plane ticket and then I could reimburse her, which was a major blessing as I am about to take on a financial cut in work. I sent my dad an email that afternoon about something and later that night received an email back.

I was sitting in the church plant that I have been attending for a little while now and read over the email and contained my emotions as even more joy filled my heart. Once I got home I re-read the email and just cried. I shared it with my roommate and as the email went this was the last paragraph.

I am proud of you and again I am sorry that I treated you in a fatherless way and thank you to find in your heart to forgive me and letting us move forward. I know I don't say this much, but I am extremely proud of you and I wanted you to know that and that I love you from the bottom of my heart. I know it will take more on my part to convince you of that and it will be a work in progress but I am committed to you and your mom.

Thank you again Jenni and I proud and blessed to call you my #1 daughter,

God Bless you and I know God has great things in store for you,

Love Always,

Daddy

If you know me and my story you know how much that paragraph meant to my heart. To my broken heart that was still very heart by my father. To hear how much he loved me and that he knows how wrong he was and that he plans on doing everything he can to prove to me what he has changed, has changed my life.

I feel like I have been floundering in the bottom of a valley quite some time now. Still trusting and knowing God is faithful. I have believed this year to be one of immeasurably more and have seen it so much in other people but wasn't seeing it so much in my life. Until now. This is immeasurably more then I could have ever thought was immeasurably more. This is the face and voice of God saying "Jenny when you stand back and surrender and let me in control I can move mountains, watch out because I am not done with you yet." Remember that letter I wrote on that Sunday at the cabin. It took him 5 days to get the ball rolling. 5 Days. Not a year, not a month, not a week, 5 days to say I hear you, I see you, and I'm gonna let you know how much I am working on your behalf.

Still not convinced how much God is moving. You know that flight that I was gonna pay my Aunt back for? Well I found out this morning that my Pawpaw is going to be covering it.

Blessing
Immeasurably More.
Cared For and Seen.
By the God of the Universe who calls me His.
I am honored to serve him with my whole life.

If you don't know him and you want to, please don't hesitate to ask.

So what do I do now? Praise Jesus and continue to see his hand over everything. When it comes to my dad, I forgive him. How? Because Jesus forgave me.

With Love and now Healing,

Jenny
PS. I love you Daddy, always, your Lynn Shows.

Finish the Sentence

I love this link up so much and am so glad that it is back, it's always fun to go around and read other people's responses.

My happy place is most definitely in a cabin on the side of the mountain. Luckily I just got to experience that this past weekend and cannot wait to do it again sometime soon!

Whatever happened to people who know how to drive.... I feel like every time I get out on the road I realize that more and more people drive like idiots. I probably fit in that category as well though.

So what if I decorated for Fall way too early, it's ok, as long as Starbucks busts out all of their pumpkin products I am justified.

E! needs a reality show about bloggers. The Lifestyle of the not so Rich and the not so Famous. It would be a hit.

My go-to fast food meal is usually Chick Fil A #1 with extra pickles and a coke, or McDonalds chicken nuggets and a coke.

You might not know that I was deeply depressed and suicidal when I was in high school...so glad to have moved passed that and live such a happy life right now.

The hottest quarterback in the NFL is someone I would like to see, because honestly I don't know names haha.

If I could lose about 50 pounds automatically I would be super excited, I have so many cute outfits I want to wear!

My personality is awesome because I laugh at myself and everything else as well, usually people end up laughing at my laugh, I tend to find the comedy in most situations.

Twerking is ew.

I think it's super gross when people don't know how to dress appropriately before leaving their house. Please spare us all and at least put on something that resembles pants.

Someone needs to tell Miley Cyrus that she should be Hannah Montana again, I liked her.

Jenny

Apple Fritters

Man, yesterday was a good day. I posted about experiencing real Christian Sisterhood and it was something that came from my heart and something that I need to read often to remind myself. You can check it out here.

Yesterday driving home from work, I knew that I wanted to do another baking item from my Fall Baking List. I looked at my Pinterest board and decided it would be the perfect night to do Apple Fritters, especially since my roomies boyfriend would be over to help eat them.

 

 

I have been dying to get a fryer. I have always wanted one even when I was younger. Where some people want new clothes and shoes, I would prefer a new kitchen gadget. It's just how I roll. Well I still don't own a fryer but that didn't stop me from wanting to make these amazing Apple Fritters.

 

Who loves apples?!?! Me!

 

My mom and aunt are coming to visit for a quick weekend on their way back to Arizona from Florida and I cannot wait to have them here. I love my mom and have not seen her since May and she has not seen my new apartment yet. I was trying to think of what I wanted to do with them while they are here and finally decided that we would go apple picking because it is the perfect time to do so. In honor of that I made these Apple Fritters last night. I got the original recipe here.

 

Ingredients:

 

Fritters:

1 cup of flour (but it doesn't have to be perfectly one cup, it can be overflowing)

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs Butter melted

1 egg

1/2 cup milk (maybe more)

1-2 apples peeled and chopped up into pieces

Oil

Glaze:

1 1/2 Tbs Milk

1 cup powdered sugar

 

First peel and chop up your apples (you can use whichever apple you like, I used Red Delicious) and place them off to the side.

 

 

Then mix all of your dry ingredients together, and then your wet ingredients until you get a light cake batter looking mixture, adding milk if too thick or flour if too runny.

Then add in the apples and get your oil ready to about 350 degrees. Or for me it was med-high heat on my stove. You will know when the oil is ready when you drop a very small bit of the mixture in the pan and it rises to the top. Once the oil is ready, you can use a cookie scooper or in my case just a plain old spoon to take a dollop and place it in the oil.

Once that gets nice and going you can add about 3-4 more in the pan just making sure there is not too much crowding going on.  Every 30 seconds or so you can flip the fritters until both sides look a nice brown color.

Then get some paper towels ready to catch these bad boys and let the excess oil come off of them. I just set mine on a paper towel on a plate.

While you are cooking some you can start to whip together your glaze, or if you don't have enough coordination in between don't worry about doing this until all of your fritters are cooked. I tend to be a little crazy and quite messy when I cook.

Mmm, my mouth is watering now.

Keep making fritters until you have used all of your batter and then they are all done, toss them in a big bowl.

From here you can just pour the glaze right over top of these, or if you are like me you can heat up that glaze for a solid 15 seconds and then pour it all over.

Toss them around to make sure that everyone gets an even amount of coating. Then set them on some drying racks, but make sure you get some paper towels down underneath because they will be dripping glaze down.

You can eat them immediately or let them sit for a bit, it just depends on how much patience you have but it doesn't matter either way because in the end these things are very delicious and just hit the spot!

Don't forget to go and check on my Fall Baking List here. I have already done 4 recipes and many more will be coming soon as I attempt to bake my way through Fall this year.

You can find my Pinterest Fall Baking board Here and the pin for this recipe here.

Have a great Tuesday!

Jenny

Linking up today with some wonderful ladies for Tell Us Tuesday!

 



Coming Off the Mountain Top

Woah. This weekend was amazing and I really have no words to say about it, but at the same time I have many.

Basically the run down of my weekend was10 women, who all love Jesus, who all love each other, and whose heart is for the community of sisterhood in the body of Christ, spent time in the presence of their maker by experiencing true transparency and joy through one another.

If you were raised in a Christian community like I was, you know about the problems that come with Christian Sisterhood. So much comparing, so much time spending gossiping about the people who claim to be the closest with. Who can serve the most times during a Sunday at church, who can be involved in the most stuff, who can get the best awards, and who can be noticed by the most people. As I have gotten older I thought it would go away, but I have come to realize that it doesn't. At 23 years old I see it now and it makes me sad, and it was turning away from a faith that I believe in and love so much. Until I met The Crescendo.

Back in June I was at church on a Sunday talking with a few friends in between gatherings and I overheard a friend talk to another friend about where they were meeting for bible study that week. Ever since we moved to Atlanta I have been craving a bible study to get involved in with women my own age and stage in life. As I heard them talk and the other girl walked away I looked to my friend and asked if she knew of any bible studies that I could get involved with. She was so kind and told me about the one she was in and that they met on Wednesdays and were about to start the book Captivating by Stasi Eldredge. I was stoked, but scared at the same time. I decided to go anyhow, I had a few copies of that book and took it with me to work and once I got off headed down to the house we were meeting at. After all the ladies got there I introduced myself and started to get to know the group. In the weeks to follow the group shifted with people coming in and people heading out and eventually we got a consistent group going of about 10-15 a week.

I spent the next few months growing and learning with these women. Every Wednesday we would meet a different house and laugh and talk about our weeks and then dive into the study we were doing. It was so raw and real, every topic was an open topic and no one was "better" than the others, in everyone's eyes we were all on the same playing field. Broken girls who love Jesus and want to help each other and cheer on each other as we learn what it means to be a woman who is truly in love with Jesus and seeking him in her every day life. Eventually we wanted a name for our group and after reading about women being the masterpieces and The Crescendo in God's story of creation we decided it was the best fit for us.

About a few months ago we talked about planning a cabin trip just for a girls weekend, to get away from Atlanta and get to spend time with each other. No agenda other then have fun and love each other unconditionally, and boy did we. Our cabin was located in Tuckasegee (Tuck - a - see - gee) North Carolina on a mountain. We had to go down a gravel road and then a really steep hill to get to the cabin, so to say that it was secluded was an understatement, but we loved it. We were unprepared for what God was going to do through each other and the time we would spend at the Crescendo Cabin.

 

 

We spent the entire weekend, eating, chatting, talking about topics that are rarely brought up in groups of women. We kayaked, canoed, and row boated. We jumped off the dock and went swimming in the lake. We watched football and Pocahontas. We played Apples to Apples. We had an ice cream sundae bar, and Monkey bread for breakfast. We took naps in the hammock and attempted to see the sunrise over the mountains. We danced and sang our hearts out, and we sat out under the stars and freaked out over spiders. We were girls, women, who enjoyed each other's company and through that got to see the heartbeat of God. There was no jealousy over people's relationships, there was no annoyance over the way someone did a certain thing. There was no gossip about what she did or she did. It was a beautiful thing and one I don't see quite often. It was a breath of fresh air and something I had never experienced before.

 

How do you get 10 women of varying ages, races, lifestyles, jobs, journeys in life, families, and etc together without any of the problems women are known for? Jesus. But not just any Jesus. We understand individually and as a group that our number one calling is to Jesus. To be him, and love like him, and care for each other like he does us. It puts on all on the same level. In that instant we are not white, black, married, single, dating, employed, in school, well off, struggling, thin, or curvy. We are sisters and we love Jesus and we love each other.

 

It has changed my view on relationships. It has changed my view of my creator. If this is just a glimpse of what true community can be like, then I want it, all of it and nothing less.

 

You can have that too. Get over yourself, and start loving others unconditionally. Don't worry about what someone else is doing, that's not something you are to be worried about. Stop comparing yourself and realize that the way God made you was intricately designed that no one else could be made. When you start loving others with no expectations, you truly get to experience Jesus and then others will follow that lead.

That's true community.

 

 

 

Love,

Jenny

 

Here are pictures from the trip :)