Friday Date Night

Scott and I make it a priority to have date night every Friday night. It is our time to spend together without the thoughts of work or school. I look forward to it every week. Last week we went out to dinner (one of our favorite things to do) before enjoying an outdoor movie in a cute, quaint little park. There is a place here in Vegas that plays a free outdoor movie (even with complimentary popcorn) every Friday and Saturday night. The movies are all family oriented, so we can count on them to be clean. Great little discovery!

I thought I'd also add these few pictures from last Sunday...

Isn't my man so handsome! For the record, I had to talk him into posing for me. Thanks Scottie!

Cliche Photo

I know that these type of photos are super cliche, but let's be honest, I couldn't resist. This is me at three months! I am now 15 weeks and my baby is supposedly the size of an apple. We find out the gender in September at twenty weeks!

Any predictions? Boy or girl?

Swagger Wagon

Check out our new digs! I like to refer to it as our new Swagger Wagon.

Yes, yes, you heard right...

I KNOW we don't have any kids yet...

I KNOW that our family, as of now, only consists of two people...

I KNOW that many of you wouldn't be caught dead in a mini-van. They just aren't "cool"...

Well, before you place any judgements let me plead my case and you may feel a bit differently.

First off, it is important to not think of it as a mini-van. Scott and I own a Swagger Wagon, which is TOTALLY different. Just watch the link below and you'll see what I mean.
 (The Swagger Wagon in the music video happens to be a Toyota Sienna, but in this case, we will considering all mini-vans to be a Swagger Wagon seeing that we purchased a Honda Odyssey.)

In case that didn't change your mind about mini-vans, let me continue...

Secondly, the gas mileage is still great. It's not much worse than a car. Sure it would be nice to own a more sporty,  "cool" SUV, but the gas mileage on other SUV's stink!

Thirdly, talk about convenient! Sliding doors on both sides, seats that fold down and provide basically the same storage space as the bed of a truck... I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
Scott and I knew that someday, perhaps when our family doubled or tripled in size, we would want to get a mini-van.  We recognize that this is still many years down the road.

Well, what can I say, sometimes things change. Due to a random kismet of events (such as the Toyota place offering to buy Scott's car back for almost as much as he originally paid for it) and for a plethora of other reasons (such as the fact that we found an almost brand new Honda Odyssey with less than 45,000 miles for below blue book price), we now own a van a little earlier than expected.

Don't be jealous.

Team Allen + 1

Scott finished up his first year of physical therapy school in May. What a great day. Scott worked so hard all year and I am SO proud of him. We celebrated his last night of classes by attending an end-of-the-year, school sponsored bbq at Lake Las Vegas. (Pictured above) The next day was a Saturday and we played ALL day. We started the day out with a great round of tennis...

...followed by some pool time, golfing, dinner and a movie. This was truly celebration time.

We went to a restaurant at Sunset Station, which means we had to walk through the casino to get there. We have to walk through casinos to get to places all the time. I thought it was a little bit odd that this particular walk through the casino left my nose rattling like crazy. I could barely breath from the stench of the second hand smoke. I usually deal with the smell fairly well, but this time, covering my nose and mouth was my only chance of making it through. I looked pretty funny as I walked through briskly with both hands smothered into my face with gagging reflexes appeared periodically.

I thought it was even more strange that my dinner was greatly disturbed by the fish that someone ordered multiple tables away. I like fish, but the smell was SO strong... once again... a few gagging reflexes occurred.

When we walked by a lady on the way out and the smell of her perfume about knocked me over, I knew something was up.

Shortly after that fun weekend, we packed up to make our way to Utah for our vacation. We stopped in St. George so we could utilize our National Parks pass and do some hiking in Zions.

I've always considered myself to be a decent hiker... intense elevation change, trekking great distances or having to hold on to a chain in order to climb (such as at Angel's Landing) are something I revel in, rather than shun away from. I enjoy the feeling of the challenge. This particular trip however, something was different. We hiked to Emerald Pools, which is virtually flat, has a lot of shade and would definitely be ranked an "easy" hike. However, I was huffing and puffing and had to walk extremely slow compared to my normal pace. For those of you who know me well, I like to walk fast... in fact, I have been teased for it my whole life. Something weird was going on.

Something very weird indeed. Where was the "push-it-up-the-mountain" Jessie that I was used to? 

About a week later, after many other "weird" things took place, we solved the mystery!

Okay, so it wasn't really a mystery... we had a pretty good hunch of the cause of so many weird things to take place, but the reasons behind them all were confirmed! We had a little Allen on the way!

Say hello to Papa Scott and Mama Jess! We are so excited to welcome our little one and we will be doing so on January 29th... or thereabouts. This picture of our little one was taken at the end of ten weeks. Still a little alien looking since the head is still the same size as the entire body, but to be able to see the arms and legs was super exciting. The little one was very active. The doctor had a hard time measuring it on the screen because he/she was flipping around and waving at us. The heartbeat was easy to find. What a blessing.

The remainder of our 6 weeks proved to be interesting seeing that my little tummy got a bit more sick and queasy every day. I tried to still get out and have fun, but I had to modify my activity a bit due to pure lack of energy and the feeling or throwing up at any moment.

Scott and I went golfing.

Well... Scott went golfing and I drove him around in the cart.

Scott and I went prairie dog shooting.

Well... Scott went shooting while I stayed in the front seat with the binoculars. I was his spotter.

Scott and I worked on the farm.

Well... Scott worked on the farm and I sat in the tractor and cheered him on.

So while I wasn't the same energetic Jessie that I normally may have been, we still had a nice vacation in Utah and were able to do a lot of fun things. I met up with many different friends...

 enjoyed Arches National Park,

went to San Diego and Sea World,

and celebrated a great forth of July.

The sickness is almost totally gone now and I am SO grateful. The upside of being sick for all of vacation, is that I had Scott there to support and help me.

WELCOME BABY ALLEN!!

Memory Keeper

Ever since I was young, I have had a crazy pattern of keeping memories in any and every possible way.

Memories are extremely important to me and I try to capture them... ALL of them.

I write in a journal... almost daily... and have since eighth grade...

I keep letters, important papers and newspaper articles of things that I want to remember and bind them into my journals...

I have a memory jar that I keep theater, movie and fun event tickets of things that Scott and I have gone to...

I scrapbook... old school style

And Digitally....

I make musical CD's or soundtracks for different times through out my life...

          * Highschool Soundtrack
          * Summer 99 Soundtrack
          * Africa Soundtrack

... you get the idea.


Another fun way that I have tried to keep memories is through making quilts. The first quilt I made was in commemoration of my summer in Africa. I bought a ton of colorful African material in the market place and I put them all together in a blanket. I loved the way it turned out.

My newest form of memory keeping?  A T-shirt quilt! I have not finished it completely, but the top is done being sewn. All of the t-shirts are from races that I have run over the years.

Quirky?  Yes.

A little extreme in the memory keeping?  Maybe. 

Do I love it?  Absolutely!!

Each one has a great memory attached and now they are all kept in the form of a blanket. When I am using it as a lap quilt when watching a movie, I will be able to relive each one.

Let the memory keeping continue on.

Forever Indebted and Grateful

Our Sunday School lesson last Sunday was on Mosiah chapters 1-3. Scott and I have made a great effort to read the chapters together before we receive the lesson each week to be more prepared for personal inspiration and understanding. It has made all the difference.

The concept that stuck out to me this last week was one that I have always known, but saw in a different light.

We are forever indebted to God.

Of course we are. I already knew this. He performed the atonement for us and gave of His life so that we might be able to repent.

Our indebtedness, however, goes much deeper than that. It says in Mosiah 2:23... "... in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him."

So before the atonement was performed, He first gave us of our life and breath to begin with.

In Mosiah 2:24 it says... "And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever..."

It's rather ironic. We try to repay our Savior by doing as He has commanded us to do, but every time we keep His commandments, He immediately blesses us, therefore increasing our debt to him. One might look at being in debt to someone as a negative thing, but in this case, the debt is good. We keep His commandments, He blesses us ten fold. We keep another commandment and our blessing thus increase.

So in a way, the more in debt we are, the better. It means we are doing as the Lord commands and He is blessing us in return. It's a win, win situation. The best part of the deal is that the Lord doesn't expect us to make good on the debt, because that is impossible. Does a parent keep tally of all they do for a child as they are growing up and expect the debt to be repaid? No. A parent gets repaid by having the child make wise choices and living a righteous and worthy life. All we must do is keep trying to repay the debt and we will be blessed beyond our wildest dreams.

I am a child in this life... a child to my Heavenly Father. I am grateful that I will be forever indebted to Him. 

Closing a Chapter

When I got married, I moved away from Utah and I said goodbye to my career of being a classroom teacher with a classroom of my very own. I was THRILLED for the cause of my departure, but leaving what has been my world for the last 9 years was... well... hard.

HARD.

One of my rocking chair friends, who also happens to be a fellow teacher and is pictured above, also recently closed the door on her life as a classroom teacher to be a mom... ANOTHER wonderful reason for departure.

I remember reading a blog post that she wrote shortly after packing up her classroom. She described the feelings that brewed within her as she packed up that portion of her life. Wow... I don't think I could have said enough "Amen's" to her sentiments. She spoke of the battle of condensing years of grinding, molding and polishing into a few files boxes and how the really valuable stuff (the stuff that makes a difference) couldn't be given away. The valuable stuff is...

*quote*

"trapped somewhere in the universe of personal effort.  Sure, some of it can be imitated, but the rest can only be seared in the soul through one’s personal effort. So I was left with this beautiful, painstakingly and lovingly created masterpiece—this teacher—and nowhere to put her. She’s to be thrown into the fire, melted and crafted into something else, and for a little while the thought of it hurt... for a second I searched frantically for somewhere to put that teacher, or some way to infuse everything that she was into someone else, but it was impossible. She’s simply got to be remolded."

This is how I felt. I couldn't have said it better... (hence the quote)...

I put my heart, soul, blood and money into my occupation as a teacher. I worked hundreds, or more likely thousands of hours beyond contract time in my 9 years as an educator  and then I said goodbye all in one fell swoop, including giving away probably 75% of my "teacher stuff"... that literally was a compilation of my heart, soul, blood and money.

I was extremely lucky to get a fantastic teacher to replace me... one that I knew would love the kids and love her place as an educator. I even had the chance to mentor her as a student teacher before she took over.

However, it was hard to shake the feeling of being replaced. I started to wonder if I actually made a difference and what value I actually served in my slot as an educator throughout my nine years. Then I started to fear that I would just be forgotten like one forgets a five dollar bill in your jeans pocket.

Then a few different things happened that helped these fears finally be cast aside...

First... I got a letter from a student that was in my class my first year of teaching. She is is a senior this year and is nearing graduation. She thanked me for all that I had done for her as a fourth grade student and in no uncertain terms let me know that she cared AND had not forgotten me.

Then... I went to Utah. I was walking out of a movie theater with my family and I heard someone say.... "Hey Miss Jensen!" Seeing that I am no longer Miss Jensen and no one called me that anymore, I figured it had to be an old students. Sure enough, another one of my first year students (senior this year) stopped to talk. He knew me and I knew him (by name I might add) and we talked as if we were old friends. Even though he is now almost a foot taller than me and he hadn't seen me for all of the growing up years since fourth grade, he hadn't forgotten me.

Last but not least, I went to visit the school I just departed when I got married. I was a little nervous. I took Scott with me because the kids love "Dr. Scott."

The new teacher told the kids I was coming, but I was anxious to see how they would react. I walked into the front office upon getting there to see two of my prior students (twins) there with their mom. One of them was getting checked out. The mom turned and saw me and sighed with relief saying that her son was devastated thinking he had missed seeing me before getting checked out. I looked at this sweet, beautiful, wonderful little boy and he had been crying. He came over and gave me a big hug. Due to the tears, he couldn't even say anything, but he didn't need to. His face said it all. He had not forgotten me.

The class gave me a very warm welcome.

The smiles on their faces were all I needed to know that my years of grinding work and effort had not been forgotten, but as my rocking-chair friend afore mentioned, I couldn't infuse myself into a teacher who was to follow. That teacher had to be molded for themselves. However, what I came to realize is that I was figuratively fused into every students I ever had. I somehow transferred a piece of me into them. It was at that moment that I no longer felt the twang of pain that came with leaving what I loved. It was at that moment that I knew that it had all been worth it.

My life has moved forward. I find myself in a new station of life and I love that station. I love being a wife. I love being there to support my husband and serve him as he serves me. The best part is that I know the "teacher" that still resides inside of my soul will be able to again emerge when I have kids of my own.

I will no longer be dressing up as a mountain man, important historical characters, holding less than desirable reptiles or any of the others joys of teaching (at least not in my own classroom) but I'm okay with that. As that chapter of my life closed, a wonderful new chapter began.

Goodbye Miss Jensen and hello Mrs. Allen!