That Wife

Favorites

Jenna — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:34:28 +0000

The blogs listed below are sorted into a Google Reader folder that is one of the first I check when I set aside time in my day to do some blog browsing. They all happen to be women and they come from a variety of backgrounds. All of them have a certain something, whether they interact with me frequently here on That Wife or write posts that frequently get me thinking or clicking through to comment, and I look forward to seeing a bolded number indicating an unread post next to their name each time I check my Favorites folder.

The Bastows

Blue-Eyed Bride

Educating Evelyn

Elizabeth Anne Designs Living

Everyday Reading

Frugal Wife = Healthy Life

I Am Style-Ish

Just One Week

Kelli Nicole Photography

Livin’ The Simple Life

My Life In Transition

Alice in Weddingland

Jenna — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:31:54 +0000

Are you a Dallas area bride looking for something to do on April 1st? Visit Jenna Cole to sign up for a chance to win two free tickets to Alice in Weddingland, an event thrown by Groom Sold Separately and benefitting Brides Against Breast Cancer.

Head over to Jenna Cole right now to enter!

Operation Inbox, Again

Jenna — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:30:05 +0000

Remember how I was going to write a real post about something serious this week? (Actually I have more than one in mind.) But instead I decided to attack the 70+ emails in my inbox? I remember and I’m glad it’s over. I’ve tried instituting a “don’t open it until you are going to respond to it rule” but I can’t make myself stick to it. As always, if you write something and don’t hear back from me within, 7, 10, 15, or 30 days, never fear. Odds are I will reply eventually. Most likely.

To all of those who do write, especially those sweet emails just to say you like me/my blog/my photos/etc, thank you so much! There are times where I really couldn’t keep writing if you weren’t taking the time to show you care.

In other news, not related to my inbox, I have a session this weekend that’s going to be filled with tulips (held at the Dallas arboretum) and a couple dressed in formal dress and tux. It’s my last session before baby and I can already tell it’s going to be magnificent! I’m crossing my fingers for a cloudy blue sky. Did you know I love what I do?

That Maternity Session: Pt I

Jenna — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:19:29 +0000

Why in the world has it taken me so long to start showing off these photos? When you get the RAW files from a photo shoot featuring yourself you tend to be rather nitpicky about how they look. I want my blemishes gone, can’t deny using the liquify filter every once in awhile, etc. I’ve been making my way through them slowly and I’ve decided to post them in parts as I finish them instead of waiting until I finish them all (will that every happen?).

We took the photos at a park right next to my house, a spot that would have been much better if the snow a few days before hadn’t caused the water levels to rise drastically since I had spent time scouting it out. Oh well, amazing Bethany Jackman (who is now in Boston for 8 months, hire her!) somehow made my poor location choice look amazing. I had two different photographers there that day (one personal reason why networking is so important!) and I’ll be showing you watermark free shots that were taken by someone else and edited myself. Visit their respective blogs to really see what they can do, please don’t judge their skills by my editing!

My favorite headshot:

My hair and makeup were done by Emily Hudspeth, who I’m now using as my regular stylist for cut/color as well. This was my first time experiencing airbrush foundation. It feels so cool and lovely when it’s being applied! I went in with the idea that I might like to have my hair all down and curly, but Emily wisely suggested I put it half up due to the wind that day. I’m very glad I trusted her because it would have been completely flat within minutes.

When it comes to photo shoots, fake eyelashes are a must for me.

I came really close to framing this one for our wall. I love the blue sky contrasted with the dead foliage, and the teeny pop of red from my ring.

5 photos above captured by Bethany Jackman, edited by me.

I’m a bit insecure about my weight gain and resulting shape, so photos that are composed in creative ways like this one (you’ll see several more in future posts) are my favorites.

2 photos above captured by lynn in love photo, edited by me.

One thing I was really passionate about in coming up with the ideas for this session, is I wanted to help more pregnant women see that you don’t have to wrap your naked belly in a colored ribbon tied in a bow or stack blocks on your stomach spelling out the name of your little one at your maternity session. In fact, my naked belly won’t make a single appearance in these photos and I’m perfectly happy with that! (Although I’m planning a day frolicking around with big belly exposed in a field of Texas bluebonnets within the next few weeks, as I’m lucky enough to have the equipment I need to do a photo shoot pretty much any time. I just have to convince That Husband to act as the photographer.) If you’re considering a maternity session for yourself, but you feel like you only see sessions filled with watermelon bump ultra skinny ladies, just take a look at me in my 200+ lb glory after gaining 50 lbs in about 35 weeks and tell yourself you won’t regret it in the end. Because you won’t! You’ll be so glad to have these photos celebrating your pregnancy, I know I am.

Next post features some time spent nuzzling with TH!

My Tiger Stripes

Jenna — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:26:24 +0000

Still an innie. Good thing my modesty standards mean I don’t wear bikinis or other types of clothing that show off my midriff, otherwise this could be really depressing.

And if you were thinking it might be better in black and white…

You were wrong.

I’m thinking my belly button won’t be popping at all. Good because I think outies are a little freaky.

Baby Prep

Jenna — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:00:01 +0000

I hit the 9 month/36 week mark on Saturday, and last week was a frenzy of shopping and errands in an attempt to cross some baby prep items off of my to-do list. I showed you my apartment just a few weeks ago, and already it’s looking very different!

I finally made my way up to Ikea, and then stopped by a resale shop called Kid to Kid, TJMaxx + Ross, and Walmart. All of my shopping was done over a period of two days, and I came home absolutely exhausted each time. Why did I put all of this off until I hit 9 months? This is not something I would recommend to others.

My very favorite purchase is the chair I found in the as-is section of Ikea for $45. It rocks just the tiniest bit and looks so cute in our bedroom (I really wanted to avoid buying something hideous off of Craigslist if I could help it, as I like having a clean, well-decorated bedroom). The blue stuffed giraffe is going to be used for T1’s month by month pictures, and the super soft mini rug thrown over the back of the chair was a splurge I couldn’t resist after my friend Bethany wrote about how much she loves hers. I’ve already spent a lot of time in this corner and I’m in love with the setup.

Our biggest baby related purchase to date is the futon. Our couch is broken (I sat on it a little too quickly and my 200 lb pregnant frame was more than our discount store couch could handle) and so we purchased this both because we are expecting a lot of guests within the next few weeks, and because we are thinking we’ll swap out our broken leather couch for this dorm-room style fabric covered futon from Ikea. Not ideal for me but it works.

Although I’m not sure it will stay in this area, I have a diapering station set up in the corner of the office, with pad, cover and basket from Ikea, and drawers filled with cloth diapers. I’ll write up a post soon detailing what I’ve purchased for cloth diapers so far (I hope it all works out!).

Of course my favorite activity was folding and hanging up the baby clothes. T1’s wardrobe still seems a bit small, but I’m guessing those attending my baby shower will help round things out a bit, and that my mom will want to contribute as well when she comes down. Walmart only had pink hangers so that’s what I bought! The two red outfits and the yellow one were bought at Kid to Kid for a dollar each. Amazing, no?

I also bought a dresser at Ikea, which we’ve put in our closet as I realized it made the most sense to just have baby share with us instead of relocating everything from the office closet. Ohhh, and that stack of white you see on top of the dresser on the left side? That’s That 1’s first outfit! I bought a layette, hat, and blanket, all matching, at the Farmer’s Market this weekend. Our new baby will look so sweet wrapped up in it!

Another as-is Ikea find was this wooden shelving unit, for $30. I stocked up on towels and washcloths for the birth, and I”ll fill the basket on top with baby wash and other such necessities. The trash can to the left? Our cloth diaper pail! I’m still not sure this is the place we’ll want to keep it, we’re going to play it by ear and see what spot is the most convenient for us when we start changing diapers.

Also, how adorable are these booties? Erin sent them to me and I guarantee you they will be making an appearance in one of the many newborn shoots I That 1 will be experiencing in the first few weeks of life.

I still have a really long list of things to buy, but after a full weekend of shopping and organizing I’m feeling closer to being ready. I’ve crossed off all the items on my must-have-for-birthing list, and now it’s time to focus on tubs, saline solution, a play yard, and a few other things. What a process!

Brain Dump V

Jenna — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:14:21 +0000

1. Just Like My Maternity Session- But With a Better Body

Janssen (a longtime reader whose blog I love, and is also pregnant herself!) sent over the link to the photos from her sister’s maternity shoot. (Her sister and I are due about the same week I believe). I’m flattered that my shoot was used as inspiration, but extremely jealous of Merric’s darling little body. This is my first time stumbling on Molly’s blog, she does beautiful work!

2. Cord Blood Banking

I receive at least 5 advertisements a week asking me if I want my baby’s blood to end up in the trash (a reference to the way it’s done in hospitals I guess?). That Husband always knows I’ve found another one in the mail pile because I scream “IT’S THE BABY’S BLOOD!” each time another one pops up. So yeah, I’m against the idea of cord blood banking unless mom and baby have to be separated for medical reasons immediately after birth, especially the idea of paying some company to bank your blood when the chances of it ever being used are almost nill. If you’re receiving those same adverts (believe me, if you ever get pregnant you will), I’d suggest reading this post. Don’t worry, it’s not written by some crazy natural birther like myself, Elizabeth is using a CNM at a hopsital, not that uncommon these days.

3. Formspring

My friend Erin doesn’t like blogging about blogging. I’m beginning to think blogging about Formspring should be added to my dislike list (and yet I keep doing it!). As I’ve found I don’t have the time to attempt to run a photo blog, a personal blog, participate in Twitter, and answer all of the questions that come in on Formspring, I’ve decided to start answering questions that come in with names attached to them first, and get to the others later. So if you have a burning question and would like it to be answered in less than, I don’t know, three months time, I’d suggest signing up for an account or attaching a name you use to comment here on That Wife when you submit something.

For those who were following the “TH and taxes and patriotism and callousness” craziness, wasn’t it fun to see him speaking up a little bit? He got pretty worked up about it though and I think he’s going to hold off on answering things for awhile. The benefit of him gaining my account information? He’s starting deleting the rude questions before I can see them so I don’t get sad. I love him.

4. Baby Deal Sites

I’ve been collecting diapers and slings and other goodies slowly over time, mostly from the following sites:

http://www.mamabargains.com//

http://babysteals.com/

http://www.greenbabybargains.com

http://babyhalfoff.com/blog/

http://www.bumpbargains.com/

https://www.zulily.com

https://www.theminisocial.com and https://www.btrendie.com and http://www.totsy.com/ (Invite only, email me and I’ll send one your way!)

Please don’t buy all the good stuff from these sites before I can get there.

5. Blessingway

Recently I used the term “blessingway” on my blog, and I had someone on Formspring point out that there are Native American tribes that find the use of this term offensive. This sent me off into a spiral of research and googling, and I’ll be honest, I’m still not sure where I stand on the issue. This thread on mothering.com hashes the issue out pretty well, and I’m wondering if anyone else has any insight for me? I’m having a tough time with the idea that a group can “claim” a word, forbidding others from using it, especially when that word is a translation of the original term. As a member of a group with many sacred rituals I tried to place myself in their position. An example of an LDS ritual that is considered very sacred (and that we are very saddened to see mocked) is the endowment ceremony. If a group of people heard about the endowment ceremony, read that it has been described as an ordinance ”designed to give ‘a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God’ (TPJS, p. 324), ‘to prepare the disciples for their missions in the world’ (p. 274), to prevent being ‘overcome by evils’ (p. 259), to enable them to ’secure the fulness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the Firstborn’”, and then this group of people in question decided to design their own endowment in the spirit of the purpose of the ordinance and called it “endowment” just as we do, I’m not sure I would be offended. They aren’t mocking or even trying to impersonate, they are trying to re-create an experience for themselves in the same spirit as the original event, or with elements of the original event. It does not lessen or demean my own experience personally, or even the experience of the LDS members, to think that others would like to capture some of that spirit for themselves.

Also, I’m not convinced that the term blessingway belongs to the Navajo in the first place. It sounds like something many Native American tribes have incorporated into their rituals throughout time, and what rite does a specific sect have to say that a word belongs to them? What if the Catholic Church came forward and claimed the word “sacrament” as their own, forbidding everyone outside of the Christian religion to use the term?

Maybe I’m not interpreting the situation correctly. Thoughts?

EADL: The Due Month

Jenna — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:37:12 +0000

Visit Elizabeth Anne Designs Living today to read the post that explains why I don’t have one of those little ticker/countdown widgets on my sidebar alerting everyone to how many days I have left until baby comes.

The Birth Plan(s)

Jenna — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:00:03 +0000

After some serious nudging from That Husband I finally sat down and put my birth plans together. I’m approaching the point where I could go into labor any day and he knows how important it is to me that I have him there helping to control and be a part of what is happening as much as possible. It took several hours, but after reading through a variety of birth plans from different sources around the web I was able to put together comprehensive plans for a few different scenarios we might encounter.

I think every woman should research and write out a birth plan, even if it’s just for herself to look over. Websites like this one walk mother’s through common scenarios and preferences and help you pick and choose what works best for you. If you read a term or phrase you don’t understand, look it up! It’s important to know what providers are talking about when they speak of pitocin/episiotomy/rooming-in/etc, and knowledge will only help you get the care that makes you feel the most satisfied.

Please note that these birth plans I created are not for TH and Sarah, not the hospital. I think birth plans in a hospital setting are most effective when you are working with a specific care provider the you have the ability to sit down and overview your preferences with. It wouldn’t do me any good to show up at a hospital several hours into my labor waving my sheet of paper around and declaring that anyone who approaches me should read it first. I believe that hospitals are an environment where routines are established and followed in order to maximize efficiency and effectiveness and thus not always excited about birth plans, especially from home birth mamas. The plans you see below are written out for That Husband and intended for him to read through and remember as much as possible so that he knows how to best respond in many of the common situations that happen during a birthing situation. I’ll of course be running through them with Sarah as well to make sure we are on the same page in various areas.

I’m sharing these in hopes they help others who are attempting to write up their own plans, as I found many other personal birth plans sprinkled throughout the sites and forums I visited to be immensely helpful in ensuring I didn’t leave anything important off of the list. I’d love to have any women who’ve given birth previously comment and let me know if they think I’m leaving anything off that was important to them!

The Home Birth Plan

The Non-Emergency Hospital Transfer Plan

The Cesarean Plan

Meeting with the Midwife: Appointments 5 + 6

Jenna — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:30:21 +0000

I moved to bi-weekly appointments a few weeks ago, and they’re coming so close together that I didn’t get my act together and write about appointment 5 before appointment 6 had come and gone! Personally I miss only going in once a month, but I tend to be very chill when it comes to my healthcare and so I have to keep reminding myself that it’s important for me to visit with Sarah and have her check up on my swelling, weight gain, and measure my belly to make sure baby and I are where we need to be.

I’m making my way through my maternity photos slowly but surely. I love having the RAW files to process, but it means it’s going to take a bit more time to get through all of it. Photo by Bethany Jackman, editing by me.

Appointment 5

This was one of my shortest visits so far. I was up 6 pounds from my last visit, with a total weight gain of about 45 lbs at 31.5 weeks. My blood pressure rocked at 102/67 and baby’s heart was pumping away at 140 bpm.

I had attended the breastfeeding class offered by the birth center only two days before, so I had breastfeeding on the brain. Sarah had taught the class and mentioned the importance of showing your nipples to the midwife so I lifted my shirt and gave Sarah a little peek to make sure I don’t have flat or inverted nipples that would make breastfeeding difficult. She said everything looks great! We talked more about my breast reduction surgery and the plan regarding breastfeeding. I asked if I should purchase a supply of bottles and other formula related paraphernalia but Sarah said we wouldn’t worry about it until we had to. One of my favorite things about Sarah is her passion for helping every single mom to breastfeed and be comfortable doing so.

I told her that TH still hadn’t had a chance to get his blood tested and she gave me a test we could use to figure it out ourselves. Alright!

The last thing we talked about was Group-B Strep. She gave me a sheet that talked about the test, why it is done, etc, and told me to make a decision regarding my preference for having it done by our next appointment.

I thought some of you might like to see the fun we had testing TH’s blood in our kitchen!

We puzzled over the instructions before we began:

Dropped a bit of water on each of the circles on the blood testing card where indicated:

TH sanitized his finger:

Attempted to prick his finger using the little knife in the kit:

Gave up on that and poked himself with a pin:

Success!:

I gathered a drop of blood from his finger using little sticks that were provided and dropped some of the blood on each of the water droplets placed previously:

We mixed the water and blood together and waited to see which circles coagulated:

The results? RH Negative! What a lucky girl I am.

Appointment 6

Three weeks after appointment 5, I went in for appointment 6. It should have been two weeks but Sarah had a birth to attend on the day of my appointment so we pushed things back a bit. I frowned at the scale as I saw I had gained close to 8 pounds in three weeks, but my belly measured about a week behind so it looks like baby isn’t growing into a monster. Awesome blood pressure results once again, 102/58, and baby’s heart pumping away at 139 bpm.

At 34.5 weeks during this appointment it was time for Sarah to hand me the sheet containing all of the items I would need to gather for the home birth. I ordered a personalized birth kit from www.inhishands.com and put together a shopping list for things like towels/trash bags/sanitary napkins, etc. She asked that I have all of these items assembled by 36 weeks, which happens to be this coming Saturday. Crazy!

Over time Sarah has realized how strong willed I am regarding my own treatment and my desire to research things out for myself before doing them, and I really loved how she phrased her advice at this last appointment, urging me to look things up on my own and decide if I wanted to use them. She recommended Mountain Meadows Herbs Gentle Birth Formula, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and 2000 mg of evening primrose oil inserted vaginally each night beginning at 36 weeks. Primrose Oil is full of prostaglandins, thought to help ripen the cervix, and a method I’m definitely going to employ.

We talked about perineal massage, a method proven to help reduce tearing of the perineum during delivery and decrease the need for instrument assisted delivery. I believe in perineal massage because when TH does it, it forces me to relax and work on focusing through an uncomfortable event.

My calves and feet are swelling up to monster sizes lately but my blood pressure is still looking good and I don’t have swelling anywhere else so no need to transfer or worry aboutpreeclampsia yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s somewhat related to the large number of hours I spend sitting in front of the computer each day!

The last thing we discussed at this visit was Appointment 7, which will be a home visit! Sarah comes out to see her mom’s at 36 weeks to familiarize herself with the drive, know how to get in, talk to me about preparing the house, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if every appointment was a home one?

MikaRose Marvelous Mother Giveaway

Jenna — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:06:26 +0000

I recieved this email today:

You might not be thinking about Mother’s Day yet, but our friends at MikaRose Modest Clothing already have you covered- they just announced their “Marvelous Mother Giveaway”. You can nominate any mom to win a prize package which includes:

- Two round-trip tickets to Tampa Florida from any major city in the Continental U.S.
- A Five night Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Cruise Line.
- Round Trip transportation from Tampa International airport to the Tampa Cruise Terminal.
- A $100 MikaRose Gift Certificate.
- And more!

3 other finalists will also get a $100 MikaRose Gift Certificate (any mom will love this).

To nominate your mom, just go to http://www.mikarose.com . (And hey- if you’re a mom you’d better forward this to your hubby or someone to nominate YOU!)

Don’t forget to check out the MikaRose dresses while you’re there. Their classic, tailored modest dresses are priced as low as $36.99 and we’re not even talking about their clearance prices (which are lower)! I saw the cutest modest dresses for little girls on clearance for only $10.99 – I’ll have to grab a few of those too: http://www.MikaRose.com

Maybe I can get a nomination out of this post (TH? Mom? That Sister is too young or I would ask her…), but I thought others might like to nominate a mother they know as well!

That Baby Shower

Jenna — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:30:26 +0000

I’ve said from the beginning that I didn’t think a baby shower was a good choice for me. I had heard enough stories (and talked to enough women) to know that sometimes they can dissolve into an opportunity for the mothers present to attempt to one-up each other in terms of who had the most painful/longest/shortest/scariest birthing experience. I long for a blessingway, but I don’t run in the right circles for it to happen. If I was going to gather together with a group of women, I wanted it to be a celebration of not just the baby and items s/he needs as life begins, but also of the impending event that would force me to transform from woman to mother. I thought that the possibility of a “horror shower” was my only option and so I wanted to avoid one altogether, opting for an open house after baby comes.

I think we’re planning on having cake, but don’t go thinking that anything like this monstrosity will be making an appearance. Via Cake Wrecks.

Then, the baby shower offers started pouring in from my dear friend in Dallas. What a wonderful group of women I am surrounded by! I started to rethink my position a bit, thinking back on the reactions I’ve had when talking about my home birth. No horror stories had been offered, no criticism voiced. The only people who had yet do to these things? My family, who I guess know me well enough that they think they are entitled to attempt to scare me into thinking childbirth is to an awful event to be dreaded. The women in Dallas though were just the opposite! They asked questions, often voiced astonishment, and wished me well. I realized that these were the kind of women I would be happy to have surrounding me in the weeks leading up to the birth, and so I accepted the offer of a friend and told her to being planning. She sent out the evite email on Monday and it’s been so fun to check the RSVPs to see who is coming. I told her no cheesy snickers-bar-melted-in-a-diaper games. We’ll see if she has other ideas in mind.

The best part about choosing to have a shower before baby comes, is as a mom who doesn’t know the gender, I’m guaranteed to receive gender neutral gifts! We’re attempting to go absolutely as minimal as possible, in part because we both don’t like clutter, and also because we’re hoping for a move to business school in the Fall and it doesn’t make sense to stock up on a bunch of baby stuff we won’t be using until after the move happens (high chair, exersaucer, etc). I spent a few hours putting together a Wishpot registry here and a quick Babies “R” Us one here, and if any moms out there would like to give me feedback on the items I chose I’d love to hear it (I’ve deleted and added several things already!)

March 27th is the schedule baby shower day. I hope I can find someone to take a few pictures for me, I don’t think my guests would appreciate it if I was the one trying to do so!

Finding the Light

Jenna — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:30:20 +0000

One of the reasons why I wanted to move from our last apartment to this one, was the increase in natural light. Someday I look forward to living in a home, where light enters the living space from four sides instead of one (I guess we do have on window on the side of the apartment so almost two), but I do my best to be content with what we have now.

Living in this space means I have to look harder to find well lit spots for taking photos. I thought I would show you a few of my favorites for the still life shots I create for the blog, in hopes that it might inspire those of you who are feeling frustrated by your own still life photo adventures at home. For those of you who are posting photos of food you’ve cooked, try moving your dishes to different areas in the house that have natural light (if you are taking your photos during the day of course!) if you have a dark kitchen like I do.

First, the two spots I use in the living room.

This cupcake photo was taken in the chair spot.

And I took this stroller shot out on the porch spot.

I don’t take photos in the kitchen very often because the lighting is so awful, but when I do I’ll try to use the edge of the counter that gets the most light.

I took this garlic photo there.

Sometimes I take photos in the office, and when I do I’ll usually lay some fabric down on this black table (fabric bought on sale at JoAnns).

I took this picture of our kitchen scale in the office spot.

Lately I’ve been taking most of my photos in our bedroom, it has two windows and so the light wraps around the objects a bit better.

This shot of my Paloma’s nest bowl was taken on the top of our dresser. I clear the dresser off frequently and use it for photos for That Wife.

Sometimes, if I am working with larger items, I’ll set things on our bedspread and use the bed as a shooting location.

I’ve also been using the top of our laundry hampers when I want a bit more of a neutral background.

These cookie photos were taken on top of the hamper.

I struggled for a long time to find a good spot for my week-by-week belly photos, and I recently found that our bedroom is the best place to do so (if you look at the shot of our room above, I’m posing to the right of the big black mirror).

Of course my preference for photos of people is to do them outside whenever possible. I dragged That Husband outside with me for this shot and we found a nice little spot right outside our apartment door. Look how little my belly was back then!

Hopefully this tour helped inspire you to find some better spots for photos in your own apartment!

Spinach Pizza, Strawberry/Walnut Pizza, Baklava

Jenna — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:30:52 +0000

I made a few things this last week that I thought others might like to try.

Roasted Garlic and Spinach White Pizza. If I were you I would add even more roasted garlic and mix the ricotta with some pesto as it was a bit bland until I started dipping it in pesto while snacking on it at book club.

I knew I would have extra dough when making the above pizza, so I decided to whip up a dessert pizza as well. I rolled out my dough, brushed it with a bit of butter, baked it until golden brown, mixed together cream cheese-vanilla-powdered sugar-lemon juice to make a filling, sliced up strawberries, candied some walnuts, and drizzled the completed pizza with some agave nectar.

Reader Haley, a friend of TH from BYU, was kind enough to both provide me with the recipe for her delicious Baklava and gift me a bottle of Orange Blossom Water when she ran into That Husband at a wedding in Utah last weekend. What a sweetheart! Everyone who tasted the dish raved about it, and I even had one couple tell me they had debated whether it was store bought or homemade. What a compliment! It was time consuming, but rather foolproof. Haley’s Baklava Recipe.

10th Article of Faith: Millennial Events

Jenna — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:27:37 +0000

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

The 10th Article of Faith touches on several different events we believe will happen just prior to and at the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Gathering of Israel and Restoration of Ten Tribes

It was prophesied that Israel would be scattered among the nations of the earth because of the people’s wickedness, and scattering began when the Assyrians carried the ten tribes away into captivity.

“Israel was scattered because she apostatized; because she broke the Ten Commandments; because she rejected the prophets and seers and turned to wizards that peep and mutter; because she forsook the covenant; because she gave heed to false ministers and joined false churches; because she ceased to be a peculiar people and a kingdom of priests. When she became as the world, the Lord left her to suffer and live and be as the world then was” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, 186).

During the latter-days (we believe that time is now!) Israel will be gathered together once again, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be spread to all nations and peoples. The gathering of Israel in the latter days consists of the following: (1) the spiritual gathering, which includes coming to know that Jesus is the Christ and joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; (2) the assembling of Church members to organized stakes; and (3) the gathering of the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons-including the lost ten tribes (D&C 110:11)-to the lands of their inheritance.

Events leading to the separation of the ten tribes of Israel-later known as the ten lost tribes-are linked to the division of the Israelite monarchy (c. 930 B.C.). The Lord revealed through Old Testament prophets that the ten tribes would return and receive promised blessings. Isaiah prophesied “that the Lord shall set his hand again…to recover the remnant of his people” (Isa. 11:11). Jeremiah declared that “remnants” would come from “the land of the north” (Jer. 3:18;16:14-15; cf. 23:7-8; 31:8) and that the Lord would “make a new covenant” with them (Jer. 31:31).

The Gathering of Israel and the Restoration of the Ten Tribes is one reason why missionary work is considered so important by members of the LDS Church.

New Jerusalem and Christ’s Reign

The writings of Ether, written prior to 125 B.C., abridged by Moroni 2 in the Book of Mormon, prophesy of the preparations for the coming of the messiah and of a New Jerusalem in the Western Hemisphere. It is to be built by the remnant of the seed of Joseph of Egypt (Ether 13:3-10). ] Joseph Smith revealed that the city of New Jerusalem, where Christ would reign from during the millennium, would be built in Independence, Missouri, and will co-exist with the old Jerusalem that will be built back up again, each existing as a hemispheric capital. The City of Enoch will come down out of heaven and become part of the New Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ will come down to the earth once again, where He will reign for one thousand years as both political and spiritual leader over all the earth.

Renewal of the earth

The prophet Isaiah spoke of this time when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4). He further declared that the natural fears and enmities within the animal kingdom will cease, that “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid” (Isa. 11:6-9; cf. D&C 101:26). Ezekiel prophesied that the earth, which lost its pristine character as a result of the Fall of Adam (cf. Gen. 3:17-19), will return to its paradisiacal state once again (Ezek. 36:35), and be as it was during the time when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden.

Brain Dump IV

Jenna — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

1. TAL iPhone App

I love listening to This American Life and I was excited to hear Ira Glass announce that they’ve developed an iPhone app that gives you access every episode, ever. If you like the show like I do I think you’ll like the app as well. The only drawback I’ve found is that you can’t do multiple things on your phone while listening to an episode, as I do when I’m listening to something using the iTunes app. Who else is a TAL fan like I am?

2. Free Getti

So many of you mentioned That Wife when purchasing from Getti’s Accessories, the shop I wrote about in the Thank You #7 post, that she is sending me a free item of my choice! Thank so much my friends.

3. Where Did Your Milk Come From?

My grandparents own a dairy and my grandma recently forwarded me a link to this site, Where Is My Milk From?, which happens to be developed by a guy in the Information Systems major at BYU (TH earned a Masters in that same program!). Punch in the code on your diary products and see where they are coming from. A great resource for those who would like to eat local.

4. Modest Clothing Resources

Pink Heli (aka Mrs. Mary Jane) asked where I am getting knee length dresses and skirts. Most of my clothing comes from Ross, TJMaxx, the sales racks at department stores, etc. Finding dresses/skirts that reach the knees just means a lot of time searching and time spent in the dressing room. There are a few online sites that LDS women turn to though when they know they want to find something that works: http://www.shabbyapple.com/, http://www.downeastbasics.com/, http://www.shadeclothing.com/, http://mikarose.com/, http://www.diviinemodestee.com/, and a new one on the scene that I haven’t heard any feedback from, http://www.eshakti.com/. Great Lengths has some options, although to me it looks like they are ripping off Downeast and Shade? I recently stumbled on http://www.mollysclothing.com and http://www.jildesigns.com as well. There is another site, starts with an “m” that I can’t think of. Anyone know what I’m referring to?

This site, http://layersclothing.com/, is down for now, but says it is returning this Summer. http://reddressshoppe.com/All%20Stock.htm also has some great options.

5. Gravatar

When I comment on That Wife, you see my picture next to my comment. Don’t you love that? Would you like to see your own picture as well? Read this post on Edit and Post and Ami will walk you through it. It’s very easy!

6. Links from That Husband

That Husband frequently sends me links to the things he reads that he thinks I might like. I’ll start sharing my favorites with you as well!

Newsweek predicts the death of the internet. This one will make you laugh out loud.

The WSJ says an hour spent cutting and clipping can yield about $100 in savings. I’m curious, do those of you who are attempting to avoid processed foods clip coupons? What type of products are you buying? Whenever I look through the lists I see coupons for products in boxes and bags that I would never buy otherwise.

Must Learn To Write Faster

Jenna — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:06:10 +0000

A Formspring question (still sitting in my inbox, yet to be answered) prompted me to start tracking how I was spending my time. Actually it’s due to several questions, all along the vein of “I just don’t understand why you can’t graduate/do this/that/the other, you just sit at home all day”. Good question(s). Why do I go to sleep each night feeling like I haven’t accomplished anything that day? I’ve been tracking everything I do for 9 days now (everything except bathroom visits, just go ahead and assume something like once an hour), and I’m still not ready to stop because I’m as of yet still not sure where it all goes. I’ll be posting a nice breakdown at the end of my experiment (when will it end?) as I think it’s rather fascinating to realize how much time goes into showering/dressing, cleaning, blogging, talking to my husband, sleeping, etc.

The downside for my little blog? I feel less motivated to post because I’m embarrassed how much time I devote to That Wife! I’m definitely feeling more motivated to get some advertising put together, as I probably wouldn’t feel so guilty if I could make a bit of money on the side. Regular posting should resume soon though, as I have entirely too many posts I want to write to stay away for long. Midwife visits! Baby shower plans (and a registry)! Why TH is a rockstar husband to his pregnant wife! Plans for my mom to fly down for the birth! Adventures in the kitchen! An excess of exclamation points can’t even begin to describe how ready I am to share this with all of you.

I’m just going to have to figure out how to crank these posts of mine out a little bit faster.

Use One Light Source

Jenna — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:00:31 +0000

Here’s a simple photo tip that can make a big difference when you’re taking indoor photos without flash. Strive to use one type of light source when you can. In the photo on the left I had both the artificial overhead lights on, as well as light streaming in from the windows. Our apartment is already fairly dark ( ), and I didn’t get around to dressing in my outfit and taking these until later in the day than I would have hoped, so there really wasn’t enough natural light for me to leave the overhead lights off if I wanted That Husband to take the photos for me without seeing blur from shaking hands. I left the white balance on auto, leaving my camera confused. Should it be measuring for the daylight or the artificial light? As you can see it, did a rather poor job of choosing, and I’m not willing to take the time in Photoshop to try to fix the skin tones (usually I would just go with black and white in a situation like this if it was a photo I deemed worth keeping, but I want the whole series to be in color).

The photo on the right was taking at noon, with plenty of light streaming in through the windows. Much better right?

Of course this doesn’t apply if you are going to use flash, as your flash will overpower your other light sources and white balance won’t be an issue. And because every situation really is so different (I’m not trying to sell this as a universal rule, just hoping to suggest a solution for those who are frustrated regarding the color of their photos!), keep in mind that sometimes you can have both artificial light and natural light in one room, but one can overpower the other and you won’t have the awful color issues I’m having with photos like the one above on the left.

This shot from Kelli Nicole’s blog is a good example of how one light source can overpower the other. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that the artificial lights are on in the house, she just chose to take her pictures in a spot with plenty of sunlight streaming in so there are no funky skin tones to be had!

The moral of this post? Pay attention to your light sources, and try not to mix when you can manage it. If mixing is something you can’t control, I suggest finding a nice black and white conversion that you like and using that when you can. Much easier on the eyes than that blue and red mess you see me trying to get away with above!

That Apartment #2

Jenna — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:30:06 +0000

Way back in December of 2009 I posted a photo tour of our first married apartment (reading through the comments I was amazed to see how many of you have been reading regularly since that time!), and I’ve been wanting to do another tour since we moved, but I only wanted to do it on a day when I could clean the house first. Though both TH and I are relatively neat and clean, sometimes the clutter and dust builds up and we don’t make the time to get rid of it right away. What you’ll see below isn’t anything close to magazine worthy, but it’s wonderful to walk around the apartment on freshly vacuumed carpet and not see any clutter built up in random piles around the rooms. I learned a good lesson after cleaning this weekend though, pregnant women should not be cleaning the bathroom. The cleaners I used to make that room sparkle have left me feeling rather sick, and so bathroom duty is officially up to That Husband for a few weeks!

On to the tour of our second apartment!

The Living Room

I think we’re going to sell the bookcase/entertainment center when we (possibly) move this fall. I love it, but it’s not something I want to have with a toddler around.

Our couch recently broke, rendering the middle cushion unusable. TH and I don’t have a lot of time to just sit together and watch TV, but when we do I always feel a bit sad that we have to sit on opposite ends.

This is my favorite part of the room. The assortment of frames along the fireplace are from Goodwill, as well as the silhouette diamonds in the center.

The kitchen/dining room.

We don’t have a lot of storage in this kitchen, but I love how open the space is.

Baby and I made an appearance in this shot!

The bare bones little office.

I see pictures of the office spaces some women have created but I’m just not sure where you keep all the cords and other necessities to make it look that way! I’ve always wanted to decorate it a bit more but the “household” portion of our budget never built up to the point where that was possible. By the time we move we’ll likely be done co-sleeping and we’ll have to give the second room up to baby.

See how bare it is? Blah!

The bathroom.

My favorite room, the bedroom.

As you can see this room has the most color, and the most decor. I’m going to work to always try to make our bedroom my favorite room in the house, as it helps me sleep better knowing I love the space I’m in.

The closet is so huge that we can’t even fill up the clothing racks with our wardrobes combined.

Someday I will get some yellow embellished froufy pillows for our bed. Someday.

My favorite decor int he whole house. A horseshoe from my grandma, my favorite childhood photo of TH, our wedding invite, a purse knit by my grandma, the flower I wore in my hair for our wedding, a family heirloom, and a painting of my wedding dress. I painted the trio of frames below the shelf myself and they are much too bright, but I can’t really see myself fixing that until we move into our next apartment. I don’t embark on craft projects very often.

As you can see, what little baby stuff we do have is still put away, and so I’m preparing myself for things to become nice and cluttered with the joys of parenthood very soon. We should find out within the next few weeks (months?) if we are moving away from Dallas or staying put for another year.

Edit and Post

Jenna — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:00:41 +0000

My dear friend Ami (one of the co-founders of Elizabeth Anne Designs) has somehow managed to squeeze another blogging endeavor on her plate with the launch of her new site, Edit and Post, dedicated toward sharing tips and tricks for those who want to learn how to use their blog to further their business endeavors. She described it much better than I can:

Edit and Post will encourage you to think more closely about your blog, about your business, and about your goals. I am excited to share the blogging and Wordpress knowledge that I have gathered through the existence of Elizabeth Anne Designs, and while I may chat about weddings on EAD, my education and experience is in finance and accounting so I will be providing plenty of general business suggestions and tips.

I think there are several of you who will really like her posts titled So You Think You Want To Blog? and So You’re Ready To Blog. My personal favorite? What Figure Skating Teaches Us About Business. I hope you’ll visit, and subscribe if you think the site is something you can learn from. Best wishes in this newest endeavor Ami!