>>52 PHOTOS

My original plan for 2013 was to continue my goal of taking one photo a day, every day for the entire year.  Turns out caring for two tiny ones makes this extremely challenging.  A trip to the emergency room earlier this year got me behind and I never really caught up.  So, I've decided on a new plan and that is to take a photo of the kiddos once a week, every week, for the entire year.  I think this is a little more doable.  The kids are so cute anyway and are always doing things that make me laugh.  Catching it on camera is all part of the fun.  And going back through my photos, I have already done this, so I'm already caught up and up to date.

Here's my new link to the blog if you want to follow:
www.52photosproject2013.blogspot.com


This idea was inspired by this blog: 

>>366 PHOTOS

I came across this awesome blog  and was inspired to challenge myself to the same goal this new year.

In 2012, I will take at least one photo, every day, for the entire year.

At first I thought, "I can't do that."  I considered doing a 52 week photo challenge (one photo per week), but then thought, "why can't I?"  I decided there was no reason that I couldn't.  I couldn't think of one excuse or one reason that would prevent me from doing this....besides maybe laziness.  Plus it might be fun...so I could accomplish two goals at once.  So, it's a win-win.  I think at the end of the year it will be a lot of fun to see what kinds of things went on....all the little things that are so easily forgotten.


Thanks Oh Snap Diggity for the inspiration!


Wanna follow my journey?  You can check it out here on my 366 Photos Blog.


Also, if you want to join me in the fun, I'd love to see your photos too.

The tip I liked most about doing this challenge was that if you miss a day, don't beat yourself up or try to get up before midnight and snap a quick photo, but instead, the next day just take a picture of something you did the day prior.  No need to beat yourself up or quit altogether.

I hope I can keep up and follow through with this goal.  Letting you know about it and putting it out there on a blog will hopefully help.  And besides, what better way to become a better photographer than by practicing every day...right?

>>TWO THOUSAND TWELVE

Holy cow...it's 2012.

I love the start of a new year, however, I hate how fast they seem to come these days.  Didn't we just celebrate the start of 2011?  I swear we did.  Crazy.

I've been thinking a lot about my goals for 2012.  Of course I thought of the obvious...exercise more, eat better, save money, blah, blah, blah.

As I thought a little more and dug a little deeper, it finally came to me.

In 2012, starting now, I will....

have fun.

Here's the thing you may or may not know about me.  I don't know how to have fun.
I'm the one who says, "I'll just watch" when others gather together to play a game.
I'm the one who will never ever raise my hand to volunteer to do anything.
I'm quiet and rarely let loose.
I'll sing, but never loud enough for anyone else to hear.
I'll dance, but only when no one is watching.
I like to have a plan and I struggle with spontaneity.
I worry and stress about the safety of any event or activity that I may be participating in....however, most likely I am just watching and not participating because I am too lame (and too scared of getting hurt).

I tell myself that I have fun watching other people have fun.  Which is true.  But it's time for me to lighten up a little and learn how to actually have a little fun myself.     

So... bring on 2012.

I'm ready to have fun.

Now, who's up for teaching me how to do the robot?

Happy 2012!!

a story of triumph

I was eighteen years old and in my first semester of college.  I was driving to school when I heard an advertisement on the radio about U2 performing that night in Salt Lake City.  The radio station was going to be giving away 2 free tickets before the show to the contestant who put together the best U2 poster.  The concert was sold out...so these tickets were a hot commodity!

The requirements for the poster were as follows:

It had to have the band's name somewhere on the poster - U2
It had to have the name of the radio station (KISN 97 - pronounced Kissin' 97)
It had to say something about a rocket

Not sure why the rocket theme, but it probably had something to do with their tour.  It was their Elevation tour, so I guess that makes sense.

I decided at that moment that I was going to make a poster and win those tickets.

All day during school I was contemplating just how I was going to go about winning those tickets.  I had formulated in my mind the poster.  I knew it had to be good if I were going to really win.  In my mind I was picturing a giant rocket with the words U2 and KISN 97 on it.  Perhaps U2 and the radio station could be riding on the rocket??  I was scheming.  ALL. DAY. LONG.

After school I had to head to work.  I told all of my co-workers about my plan.  They laughed and thought I was just being silly.

"I'm serious," I told them.  "I'm going to win those tickets!"  

One co-worker stepped up to to the plate and agreed to help me win the tickets.  I told him all about my idea with the giant rocket.  While I worked, he got busy finding some cardboard boxes.  He then proceeded to cut the cardboard into the shape of a giant rocket.

After work, I rushed to the store, bought some spraypaint and some battery operated Christmas lights (it was November after all).  I then met my co-worker at my house and we frantically finished up the rocket.  We spray painted it, wrapped it with lights, cut out lettering for U2 and KISN 97 (being oh so creative and using red lips for the KISN).

And WAHLAH.  We had our "poster."

The rocket was big...at least 5 feet in length.  We then attached it to a wooden dowel so we could hold it up high in the air...you know...like a rocket.

We threw it in the back of my grandpa's old rusty Toyota pickup and headed to SLC.

We arrived just in time.  We saw our competition with their puny little posters parading around the streets chanting, "U2, U2, U2."  My co-worker, who is at least 6'5" tall held the rocket high high high in the air and we joined in on the chanting.

"U2!  U2!  U2!"

We did this for about 30 minutes until someone from the radio station came over and presented us with 2 tickets to see U2 that night.

Score!

I will always remember this story.

I knew in my mind that I could win those tickets.  Even when people doubted me or laughed, I knew I could do it.

And I did.

And it was epic! 

Below I have drawn (using only clip-art mind you) me and my co-worker with our stellar poster.

Moral of the story: You can do anything if you put your mind to it!


Now, who's up for a little With Or Without You?!?

"I can do anything good . . ."

This is what I am going to do every morning in front of the mirror from now on . . .



"I can do anything good.  Better than anyone.  Yes I can."

I totally want to be more like this girl.

Insecurities are for the birds!

Cheers to more positive affirmations in our lives.

i will . . .

give up soda

eat healthy

exercise

run a mile

keep my house clean

save money

learn to cook

be confident



a n d . r e p e a t

I will . . .

recipes

Thank you to everyone who emailed me your recipes. I received a total of 46 recipes, so I'm pretty darn happy about that. They have all been compiled and have been emailed back to you. If for some reason you didn't get the email, let me know and I'll resend it.

I'm happy to share the recipes with others, even if you didn't email me any (who's really keeping track anyway?). Leave your email address in the comments section or email me at jennycheney(at)gmail(dot)com and I will send them your way.

I will also try to post some of the recipes on the bon appetit recipe blog. If any of you are interested in being able to post recipes on this blog, let me know and I will add you as an author to the blog. Just send me your email address.
I'm hoping all these recipes will help me in the kitchen. Cooking doesn't come naturally to me...at all. I never cooked while growing up...I didn't really help in the kitchen...I didn't learn how to make this or how to make that....and I was never really interested in doing so.

Then I got married.

Turns out, Curtis didn't cook either.

I think we probably had a lot of top ramen our first year of marriage...and second... and third... and fourth...

Time for some good home cooked meals at the Cheney house.

This week: clam chowder, tacos, chicken/broccoli casserole. I need you guys to hold me to this...otherwise, it will turn into Taco Johns, cereal, and frozen pizza.

an idea

One of my goals that I really, really want to work on is to make dinner more often at home. We like eating out...and we do it a lot. However, it's not a healthy way to eat, and it also isn't cheap. When I write out a weekly dinner plan, I do much better. The problem is, I am struggling to come up with meal ideas for my weekly dinner plan. Maybe some of you are having this same problem. Yes? No?

This is where my idea comes into play.

If each of you emailed me 1 or 2 (or however many you wanted) recipes that your family enjoys, I will type them up on one document and then email them out to everyone. Then we would all benefit by having a whole slew of recipes to turn to for dinner.

I think it would work best if the recipes were simple...the very recipes that your family eats for dinner on a regular basis. It doesn't really even have to be a recipe. For example, we like baked sweet potatoes, so, my recipe could just be how we bake the sweet potatoes (how long, what temperature, etc and how we top them with butter and salt and pepper.

So, the next time you haven't a clue what to make for dinner, you can whip out your sheet of recipe/dinner ideas and pick one from the list.

What do you guys think? I would love it so much if you would all participate. Even if you don't know me, feel free to join in. The more, the better.

Email your recipes to jennycheney[at]gmail[dot]com. I'm looking forward to seeing what's cookin' in your kitchen.

2010 says goodbye to procrastination

I am a huge procrastinator....and I'm sick of it. I have also become quite disorganized. I don't know what has gotten into me.

I procrastinated big time this year for Christmas. I ordered gifts online (due to the lack of shopping in Thermop), and lo and behold, they didn't make it by Christmas. So, we headed to Utah without gifts to give. When we returned back to Thermop, there the gifts were sitting by our front door....and here they are, still in Thermop, sitting on the living room floor. I have yet to mail them out.

Tomorrow is my grandma's birthday...another late b-day card from me...to go with her late Christmas present. Awesome.

Sorry grandma.

I don't think I use to be this way...I'm not sure though. I can't remember.

My goal for 2010 (minus the first week), is to be more organized and to quit procrastinating. My hope is to not be late for another birthday.

For starters, a calendar would probably be good....one I will actually use...and look at every once in a while. I'll work on that...but probably not today.

>>TWO THOUSAND TEN

A new year is here. Pretty crazy. 2010 just seems so futuristic . . . sort of Jetsons-ish.

With the new year comes new resolutions. This year's goal:

Get pregnant.

This is the year . . . its just got to be.

And of course, my usual goals . . . be a better person, be a better wife, be more outgoing, eat better, exercise more, keep the house clean, read more, learn more, love more.

Lets all toast to a fun, happy and healthy new year!

*clink*

Wishing you all the best in 2010!

>>THINGS ARE GOOD

I think a person can be happy wherever they live...I also think a person can hate where they live...the choice is up to them.

It would be quite easy for me to dislike where I live, and I'll be honest, I struggle with it sometimes.

However, if I am able to focus on the positives, I find that I really do like it here. Sometimes I think I even love it.

Let me tell you what happened here today.

I went into the new Eye Center in town to pick up some contacts I had ordered last week. The nice lady at the front desk went into the back to get them for me and came back with not only my contacts, but with the newspaper article featuring Curtis and his admission to the Wyoming Bar. They had clipped it out of the newspaper to give to me. How nice is that?

Seriously, there are some nice people in this town.

I want to always try to focus on the good. When we moved to Laramie, we didn't really know what to expect, but we just hoped for the best and knew that we would be happy as long as we were together...it didn't really matter the location. We stayed positive and we fell in love with the place...the town, the people, the life-style.

Now, we are in a new place, a place unlike any place we have ever lived. We didn't fully know what to expect here, but we knew we would be together and that is what mattered. We are getting use to this town now and are learning to love it...the town, the people, and our new life-style.

Of course I'm not always cheerful, happy and positive, but I want to try to be. I think it's important to see the good in all things. Life is just better that way.

>>HOT, JUICY GOSSIP

What is it about gossip that is so darn appealing. Why do we do it? I'll admit it, I love hearing juicy gossip every now and then, (just as much as the next person, right?). I mean, I'm sure when you saw the title of my post, you, yourself was hoping for a post full of hot, juicy gossip.

For the most part, I think I listen to gossip because I am interested in other people...what they are up to, what kinds of shenanigans they are involved in, what others are saying about them, etc.

One of the toughest goals I ever set for myself was to not engage in gossip for 2 weeks. I was in high school at the time and it took me months and months to accomplish this goal. I was constantly starting over. The actual gossip part of it wasn't that hard for me (I've never really been one to actually spread the gossip), it was the not listening to gossip that I struggled with, which is after all, engaging in gossip. Instead of saying to my friends, "hey, how about we not gossip," I was more like, "yes, go on," "tell me everything and be sure to leave nothing out."

While Curtis was in law school, I would always ask him to share the law school gossip (aka: drama) with me. And trust me, there was always a lot. You would think that once people grow up, they stop acting stupid. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I always found the law school drama to be quite entertaining.


The problem with gossip is that it is usually always biased and ends up leading to bogus rumors, like these rumors about me...


The first one is actually more about Curtis and the rumor was that he hit me. What?? Crazy, I know. The story is pathetic, but humorous as well. Several years ago, I had to have surgery to repair a deviated septum and had to have my nose broken by a doctor to repair an earlier broken nose that didn't heal right. Just for some background info, in 3rd grade, I was kicked in the face by a bully at school during recess, thus, the broken nose. Following the surgery, of course my eyes were a bit swollen and black and blue. Well...someone saw me at a gas station who knew someone I knew who happened to work with a friend of someone I am married to. Get it? This is how gossip works, right? Anyway, the friend of someone I am married to, called us and told us the news. The conversation went like this...

Friend: There is a rumor going around that you hit Jen.

Curtis: What?

F: Yeah, someone saw her at a gas station with a black eye. He said that the last time he saw you guys together, you were fighting.

C: What? (now laughing) We never fight, at least not in public. :)

F: Yeah, so he told someone who told me that you must have given Jen the black eye.

Oh my goodness...people are silly, aren't they? We knew all those involved, so we just had to laugh about it. Just the ridiculousness of the whole situation and how it unfolded cracks me up.


I just got wind of this other rumor going around Laramie that I was pregnant. Someone saw me at the women's clinic and then got together with a bunch of girls and talked about seeing me there. They came up with the conclusion that I was there because I was pregnant. That is not the best part though. They all agreed that I was "acting weird" during the last week of school and I must have been acting so weird because I was trying to hide the fact that I was pregnant.

Oh my, how this makes me laugh. I laugh now just thinking about it and picturing them standing in a circle discussing this.

I had no idea I was acting so weird the last week of school. What a crack-up!


Now, just to clear up these preposterous rumors, Curtis has never hit me and I am not pregnant (although me being pregnant is not that preposterous, but unfortunately, tis not the case).


So, while gossip can be quite entertaining, I am aware that most of it is just silly nonsense, and that is why I am going to do my best to avoid such silly hog-wash. This isn't to say that my ears won't perk up when someone says to me, "did you hear what happened to so-and-so."

I can only imagine the kind of gossip that goes on in a small town (and how fast it can spread). Therefore, my mouth is sealed...ears not so much....mouth zipped tightly.


Any rumors that any of you would like to clear up?

>>A SUPER DUPER GOOD LUCK TO MY HUNNY

Curtis takes the bar tomorrow! He has spent his summer surrounded by big blue barbri books and on the computer taking practice exams. I am sure looking forward to having my hubby back. However, I know Curtis is not looking forward to this dreaded test. He has one full day of multiple choice questions and another full day of essays. YUCK!

Wish Curtis luck and send all your good energy (and brain power) his way. :)



I can't believe this time has actually come for Curtis to take the bar. We moved to Laramie 3 years ago and while it seems like the last 3 years have flown by, it also seems like we have been here forever. We love this town and it is crazy to think that we are leaving in just a few short days. We found a place to live in Thermopolis and we are excited about this next phase of our lives.


Now, on a completely different note, I walked to the grocery store this afternoon to buy the essentials...milk, bread, bananas, etc. I even brought my own bag from home. I felt very g-r-e-e-n. I like that feeling . . . except that the gallon of milk was way too heavy. My goal is to be green more often.

Some questions...

1. Who do you think is funnier on Family Guy: Stewie or Peter? Curtis and I disagree on this one, so I'm wondering what you guys think.

2. Should I grow my hair out or keep it short? I really can't decide. I love it short because it is so easy to do in the mornings, yet it is very hard to keep it short...I have to get it cut every few weeks (which can get expensive). I like it long too because I can put it in a ponytail, but it also takes me longer to do it in the mornings (blow-drying, straightening, curling, etc).

3. Grammar question: When something belongs to Curtis, do I write it as Curtis' or Curtis's?? I usually write Curtis' but I always wonder if I am doing it wrong. (Kristy? Shannon?)

4. How do you stay motivated to stick to your goals? Setting goals is not my problem. I set goals everyday. The problem is that I never follow through with them. I will even break my goal the same day as setting it. Kristy...how did you not eat sugar for a whole month? Jana...how do you get yourself motivated enough to run 12 miles? I must lack motivation, yet when I set the goal, I feel super motivated to follow through with it. I just give up too easily. Any suggestions?

5. When is it going to stop snowing? Seriously.

>>HAPPY 2009

I love the start of a new year. There is just something I love about starting out fresh.

I love new year's resolutions. There is never a time that I feel more inspired and motivated to improve my life, get rid of bad habits, and form new, good habits than at the beginning of a new year.

This year, I want to be a better person.

I want to be more active and less lazy.

I want to cook more and eat out less.

I want to read more and watch less tv.

I want to be more outgoing and less introverted.

I want to save more and spend less.

I want to be more confident and less insecure.

I have a lot of plans for 2009. I think this will be my best year yet. A lot will happen this year.

A lot of changes.

Graduation, moving, new house/apartment, new jobs, new acquaintances. A lot of excitement, a lot of unknowns, a lot of apprehension and unsurity.

I'm looking forward to this new year. I hope you are too.

What are your new year's resolutions?