Introducing...

If I could have any super hero power, I would want the ability to know people's names. I love getting to know people, and the first step in that process is learning their name. I tried writing a letter to the president convincing him that everyone should wear those "Hello, my name is..." stickers, but all I got was a lousy signed photograph. I'm convinced he never read it.

I thought it would be fun to get to know those of you who read this blog. Here's what I'm thinking: copy the questions at the bottom of this post, and write your own post on your own blog answering one or all of the questions, or make up your own! Then leave a comment with a link here, so we all know to go read your inticing answers. If you don't want to create a whole post, I'd love it if you'd at least leave me a link so I can go see your beautiful blog. Hopefully this isn't too bossy of a post. My brothers tell me I'm very bossy. I prefer the term assertive.

Here are my answers:
1. Do you have any nicknames? What are they? Where did they come from?
My mom calls me Birdie, and any variation of the name such as Red Bird, Jenny Bird, Bird of Paradise, Aunt Birdie, etc. For over a decade she has had this name for me. She has even decided that I should collect bird items and encourages others to use it too. I think her hope is that when I'm old everyone will know me as Birdie instead of Jenny.

2. If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass onto your children, what would it be?
I know the physical trait would be my red hair, but that doesn't answer the question. Personality wise it would be my optimism.

3. If you could have any celebrity for a father and mother, who would you pick?
I love my Momma and Daddy, so it would be hard to switch, but if you're forcing me, I'd pick Tom Hanks to be my dad. Although hopefully he wouldn't let me fly to New York by myself like he did his son in "Sleepless in Seattle." For a mom I would defintely choose Carol Burnett.

4. Name your 3 favorite blogs.
The Lettered Cottage
Fly Through Our Window
Jasmine Star

5. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I think I always wanted to be a teacher as a career. I did consider being a journalist, or even a lawyer, but in the end I knew that I wanted to work with kids. When I was in third grade I wanted to be the First Lady of the United States. I didn't realize that you had to be married to the president to have that title. I thought I just got to entertain and read books in schools.

Here are the questions for you to copy and paste:
1. Do you have any nicknames? Explain. :)
2. If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass onto your children, what would it be?
3. If you could have any celebrity for a father and mother, who would you pick?
4. Name your 3 favorite blogs.
5. What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I look forward to reading your answers, and getting to know you all, one blog at a time.

:), Jenny

The Kitchen Episode 6

It's been a while since I've done a kitchen update. Here is your recap from previous episodes. The old cabinets were torn out, "new" ones were bought on Craigslist, we reconfigured the kitchen to fit the new cabinets, Dad made my countertop from an old bowling alley, and everything keeps getting really dusty. If you want a better recap, check out episodes one, two, three, four and five. Or just look at this picture to see what it looked like last time.

And with a little white paint, this is what I currently walk into each morning to get my usual Honey Bunches of Oats with Cinnamon Clusters.

Some of the doors are still in the painting process, and I haven't decided what should stay on the counters. That will come with time, and the help of someone who is much more decisive than me. Also there is the addition of my grandma's old nut block in the middle of the kitchen.

This stage has been a long time coming. We've spent the last 10 days sanding, priming and painting cabinets. In case you are wondering how it's getting done....

1. We removed all the doors. Dad ended up taking them home to work on in his basement and I worked on the frames of the cabinets.
2. Using de-glosser and sand paper we went over every inch of the cabinets to make them paint ready. This didn't take nearly as long as I thought, but it did smell.
3. We filled in the old holes from the hardware (Momma calls them handlebars) because we moved them to a different part of the door.
4. Next primer was brushed onto all of the cabinets
5. We lightly sanded (with about a 220 grit paper) the primer to make it smooth
6. We finished with 2 coats of latex paint
7. After a couple of days of drying, the doors were replaced. 

Okay, enough with the boring technical stuff. I'll give the public what they want which I assume is more photos of my kitchen.

The upper and lower cabinets are different colors to keep me from feeling like I was cooking inside a marshmallow.

The view from the dining room:

Next time I'll try to get better pictures during the day with my "real" camera. (Apparently my point and shoot camera is fake.)

This is the door leading to my mud room. It is no longer a banana, instead it is a pear, or maybe an apple. Momma says this color is pea soup. Either way, I'm glad to be gone of the gold. I'll save that for my basketball teams and my jewelry. (Well some jewelry I like silver, too, ooh, and platinum!)

My grandma, aunt, and parents fixed the menu board the other day while I was at work. I swear I am the only person in my family with a "normal" work schedule. They all just go out to lunch, baby-sit my adorable nephew, and all kinds of other fun things while I'm making a difference in the world by teaching children the importance of commas and not using run-on sentences like this one.

:), Jenny

In All Honesty...

I've been thinking about this post for sometime now, but I always pretend like I have no need to write it. I tell myself that no one cares about my personal struggles. I tell myself that I am the only one who deals with the issues I deal with. I thought about arguing with God about this a little while longer, but then I remembered something I read in a book over the summer.

We cover up the ugly stuff to protect ourselves. But when we do, we send the message to those who are hurting, who are broken, who are truly weary and heavy laden, that they are not welcome in our churches and our lives. That includes Christians and non-Christians alike. It's time to unveil.

This quote is difficult for me to read. I prefer to tell people that my life is "just fine" instead of being real. So I'm here to confess to you that my life is not perfect. (I know, you're gasping in shock right now.) I'm reminded of the third verse of the song "Come Thou Fount."

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be

Let they goodness like a fetter

Bind thy wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander, Lord I fear it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for thy courts above

Specifically the line that says "prone to wander, Lord I fear it." If you didn't know, my blog title is Confessions of Jenny. I chose this because I wanted to be real here. I didn't want to put on a face, but in true Jenny fashion, I have. When I write here, I make my life sound much more glamourous than it is. This probably won't stop, but I want you to know, Internet, that my bottom line confession is not that I've been lost, it's that I keep being found. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to look past it all, and go straight into my messy heart, and love me just because He wants to love me. Because that is who He is.

My current struggles include my weight and singleness. The irony is that both of these are things that you just have to look at me to know I deal with them. It's not like I can hide them...especially the weight one...but I still try.

I'm like a small child playing peek-a-boo. She thinks that she truly can't be seen just because she is covering her face. I also know I'm not the only girl who doesn't like what she sees in the mirror. We are all sisters in our insecurities. Today I came to the realization that I can't do this on my own. The reason I'm writing this is to help keep me accountable. I believe we are meant to live in community. We are meant to make each other better.

I'm going to try to blog my way through these struggles. The single thing is really day in and day out. Sometimes I love not being attached to anyone. Sometimes I hate it. God has a plan, and I trust in Him. As for the weight thing, my first goal is going to be to work out 5x a week for all of March. I'm not going to worry about food. I'm not going to worry about numbers. I'm only concerned about working out.

I'm not going to lie; I don't want to post this. It's very difficult for me to be transparent, but if one of you read this and see yourself in it, then it's totally worth it.

:), Jenny