||Newborn Session|| Jenn Anderson Photography

What an exciting Saturday! I was able to meet this sweet little angel baby for the first time. It's a good thing we took maternity photos when we did, because just a few days later he decided to meet the world a month earlier than expected. You can find those maternity pictures HERE.

This was my first newborn session and I loved every second of it. It's such a fun experience seeing your friends become parents for the first time. 

For more pictures of this cute newborn session, you can click HERE which will link you to my photography page.

Why They Sent Me to the Principal's Office

Somewhere stashed away, you can find stacks of notebooks, diaries, and journals from my past. I wouldn't call myself professional by any means, but I've always enjoyed writing. Something about being able to hold a book of compiled memories in my hand makes my whole soul light up with excitement.

I honestly can't think of a time that I didn't have some kind of notebook to jot down thoughts about my day, or what boy I was crushing on in elementary school. Every year, I could count on one of my birthday gifts to be a shiny new journal with some floral, sparkly, pattern on the cover (secretly, I think the reason why I rarely filled every page of a journal was due to some fancy cover that caught my eye at Walmart).

Bla Bla Bla hurry up and get to the juicy business already!

 OK OK, don't get your granny panties in a knot. I'll be brutally honest. It wasn't that big of a deal. Don't get me wrong, as a fourth grader, I didn't know whether to pee my pants in fear or cry my eyes out.
We called it "The Notebook."  Everyone on the playground knew of the 50 cent spiral notebook that I carried around.  One day, I had this brilliant idea at recess to ask my fellow classmates who their crush was (haha...oh the life of a fourth grader). I figured I could collect some data, match up the possible lovebirds, and then write about my findings (apparently the teacher wasn't assigning us enough homework).
I was quite proud of my work, and surprised these kids openly shared their deep secrets (I'll admit, I may have bribed them a little; saying if their crush liked them back, I would let them know). Ha anyway, to cut to the chase, there just had to be that one obnoxious classmate who makes everything about them and tattled on me with some lie revolving The Notebook. The principal ripped up the notebook, threw it in the trash, and told me to find something else to write about.

Well it's safe to say my life continued on, and I found new topics to write about in the many colorful and sparkly journals I had stashed away.

 Over the last couple of years, I think I have finally found a constructive way to organize all of my thoughts. The solution being, keep multiple journals. It's safe to say I have two by my side at all times; one for writing down daily activities and accomplishments, the other for random thoughts of mine that need to be organized on paper. Oh wait... then there is my Grateful Journal (I'll tell you about that on a different day)... so I guess that makes three. Oh.. and I suppose this blog counts as journal number four huh?.... As you can see, I have a problem (but I suppose if you have an addiction, writing ain't a bad thing right?).

The Struggle Is Real

Joyful Jennifer ||A bit about Me||

Hi everybody!

My name is Jennifer, and this is where I turn thoughts and memories about family life into words. Call it my "Lifestyle Family Blog" if you will.

 Being Wife to my best friend, and Mama to our cute little girl has been an awfully fun adventure. And if there is one secret I've learned to keeping a joyful home, it's finding ways to fill the joy jars of each family member INCLUDING YOURSELF. 

 Being joyFULL is always better than finding yourself joyEMPTY. 

Ps. You can also view my photography profile here if you're interested.

Enjoying Family ||Top of the Priority Ladder||

Life comes with many responsibilities: school assignments, household chores, church callings, work schedules, and the never ending tasks of being a new parent. Sometimes, I just wish there were two of me. However, that is not the case. 

With all the hustle and bustle of daily life, especially with the end of the school semester approaching, it's easy to push "family time"to the bottom of your priority ladder. I'll admit, I'm guilty of having those head nodding conversations with my husband about who-knows-what, just to realize later, that instead of listening to him, I was thinking about something else.  

Last week, while procrastinating my online homework assignment no less, I came across a quote on Pinterest (good ol' Pinterest). The author is unknown but their words hit home for me.

"Respect those who talk to you in their free time, But love those who free their time to talk to you."

Author Unknown

It was then that I realized that we needed to pull Family Home Evening back up the priority ladder. 

So this week, our family activity was spent at the mall with the baby bunnies, chicks, and ducklings. Little Miss had a blast! Of course, she still calls anything small and cuddly "doggy," but we are working on that. 

That night was the Undergraduate Art Show at the college. With the weather finally warming up, we decided to bring the stroller and walk over to the school. It was fun viewing the artwork together, discussing our opinions, without any outside interference (like that online homework assignment...hmmm). There was even a table of free finger foods to enjoy. Little Miss enjoyed smearing crackers over her face and smiling at the art students.

It was definitely a good day spent together as a family. Spending time together as a family definitely increases love and harmony in the home. I am witness to this.  There is a great talk  from the October 2005 Conference by the LDS apostle, M. Russell Ballard, titled What Matters most is What Lasts Longest. I highly recommend reading it if you wish to read more about the importance of family and Family Home Evening.

Joyous Springtime

The hubby and I are so fortunate to live close to campus. Not having the extra expense of driving has really been a blessing. PLUS the daily walks and dose of fresh air ain't bad either.

Just today, I was skipping on my way to school when I realized just how beautiful Spring really was! The perennial flowers have popped up and leaves are finally filling all the tree branches. With excitement, I couldn't wait for class to be over (not to mention it ran 10 minutes later than normal). I rushed home, grabbed Little Miss and a left over grocery bag, then headed right back out the door to the most perfect patch of overgrown grass I'd ever seen!

After I had picked a good handful of grass (the neighbors must think I'm crazy), and Clara picked a few wild flowers, we headed back home.

My little attempt to bring Spring into our home was a success! PLUS So so easy! 

What you will need:

1/4" ribbon

1/2" ribbon

Wild grass or wheat (I happened to find what is called bulbous bluegrass)

Wild flowers 

Hot glue gun

A ruler

And scissors  

First I took a small handful of grass

(Roughly the same amount as one serving of spaghetti)

I then arranged a few of my favorite flower pickings into the clump of grass

(The flowers are optional but I loved how they complimented my ribbon)

I used both white and purple ribbon for this next part

Using 13 inches of the quarter inch ribbon, I tied both colors around my little bundle and secured it with a double knot 

Your little bundle of Spring has probably shuffled around by now. Feel free to snip the bottom of your grass so that the stocks line up once again 

Now for the final touches. 

It's time for your half inch ribbon (roughly 13" or so). Tie your thread into a bow and hot glue it to the smaller ribbon over the double knot

Last but not least, trim the access ribbon until you are satisfied with the length 

Wallah! You now have a little bundle of Spring for your home. 

These are great for photo props or placing in bottles like I did here

One tip for clean up. I have found that rubber bands hold left over ribbon like a charm! No more pesky tape, yay!