Vegemite!

 Meet Vegemite, one of the many loves of my life. (Thanks to my childhood in New Zealand.)

Vegemite and I were reunited yesterday after a couple of months of being apart (ie: ran out) thanks to two lovely sisters named Rachel and Marie who read my blog and teamed up to bring me a new container all the way from Australia!

I all but cried, it was such a joyous reunion.

 (See? The face of excited joy)

Oh giant tub of Vegemite - I believe you might last me ten + years!

And now a letter of gratitude:

Dear Rachel and Marie:

We have never met,

but I believe I love you.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and kind generosity

and for the size of the Vegemite jar,

which blew my mind.

Many hugs to you!

Jodi

InstaFriday

Random pics from the cell phone this week...

 Christmas Eve beauty

 Settlers marathon with friends

 gorgeous cuff from my husband

 and my most exciting gift - I'm back on the Project Life bandwagon!

 The age of technology

Les Miserables and dinner out with this beautiful lady

It's been a pretty fabulous week!

Christmas card 2012

We are enjoying Christmas break immensely, thank you very much. I'll be back soon with holiday reports and pictures and the like, but right now I'm off to Les Miserables and fro-yo with a girlfriend!

I'm sure you'll agree I've got my priorities straight.

Hope everyone had a fine and dandy Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and we're ready to get our Christmas ON. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

InstaFriday - J&J shopping edition

Instead of sharing my random cell phone pics from the week, I thought I'd share my not-so-random cell phone pics from today; Jodi & Jana's annual Christmas outfit shopping trip!

When all the presents and stocking stuffers have been bought and wrapped, Jana and I celebrate by taking ourselves out on a fun day to find something cute to wear for Christmas. And of equal importance on the agenda is eating out for lunch.

Here we go!

First stop: Starbucks and our gift exchange. I bought Jana this cute infinity scarf.

And Jana bought me a sweet card and gift cards to Starbucks and TJ-Maxx. Very timely :)

2nd stop: I thought I'd run into my bank real quick to cash a check I'd been carrying around for over a week since it was in the same parking lot. Except after I walked inside I realized this was not my bank.

Nor has it ever been my bank.

Kinda embarrassing.

Third stop: TJ Maxx. Aka: the motherload. Oh yes, we scored. 

I couldn't resist taking a pic of these adorable cupcake kits... are they not the cutest thing ever? 

Fourth stop: Ross. We'll call this stop a semi-success as it was pretty picked over.

Fifth stop: Olive Garden! Soup, salad, and bread sticks with alfredo dipping sauce... perfect shopping break.

Sixth and final stop: Target. Need I even state whether it was a successful stop? Isn't Target ALWAYS?

Aaaand... we're done. Another great trip in the books!
The birth of our Savior can now be celebrated in style ;)

2010 recap

picture from 2011 trip

Ten things

1. School is out and my blogging drive has gone on vacation. Be prepared for sporadic posting.

Oh wait, that already happens.

I mean even more sporadic than normal.

2. Tuesday night I went to my first cookie exchange party. Based on the amount of amazing cookies I came home with, it certainly won't be my last. COOKIE SCORE, folks.

The girlfriends I carpooled to the party with: Shay, Kelly, Tricia, & Diana

3. Wednesday night was the kids school program. 45 minutes of total adorableness. Kendall had a speaking part throughout the play and did so awesome - remembering every line and not showing an ounce of nervousness. (Because she didn't have an ounce of nervousness - girl has confidence!)

4. Yesterday I discovered the mystery of my super thirsty Christmas tree: my dog. Under the tree. Lapping up all the water like she'd just escaped the Sahara.

5. This Sunday we'll be celebrating Christmas at my parents with my side of the family. Christmas Eve we'll be at home opening presents with the kids. Christmas day we'll be at Russ's parents with his side of the family, and finally next Saturday we'll be up in Portland for the Cannard/Lynch extended family Christmas with all of Russ's mom's family. Four Christmases in seven days? Bring it on!

6. We get the kids new pajamas for Christmas every year and let them open them Christmas Eve so they can wear them to bed. This year I fell in love with this cozy set for myself and sent Russ this pic asking if he'd like to get them for me as a gift.

"Merry Christmas!" was his reply. Yes! My first flannel jammies since I was 15 years old! They're all wrapped up under the tree and I'm going to be just as excited to open them and try 'em on as my kids are for theirs :)

7. Tomorrow is Jodi and Jana's annual Christmas shopping trip for a holiday outfit. Complete with lunch out and our own small gift exchange. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions!

8. The kids have been out of school for 36 hours and we have already:

- put two puzzles together

- baked with Grandma

- built a gingerbread house

- watched two movies together as a family

- painted a clay train

- wrapped presents

9. We may have been a little gung-ho for Christmas break. 

10. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Personal thoughts

I certainly haven't felt like blogging the last three days. I hate that life can go on so easily, when for the families that were robbed of their babies and loved ones in such a horrendous way last Friday, it has completely stopped and will never be the same again.

And yet life just does go on.

We went to a beautiful wedding Saturday afternoon, hung out with friends and watched Daddy coach at a basketball tournament later that evening, went to church Sunday morning and ate out with family afterwards. Finished up Christmas shopping today. Excitedly watched snow fall this evening. Put together a puzzle and played charades with our kids.

Enjoying life and time together.

Look outside, guys...

"It's snowing!"

It doesn't mean that in between I haven't welled up with tears every single time I've read or watched an update on the news or online. It doesn't mean I haven't prayed for those mamas and daddys as if they were my personal friends. 

I have. I will.

Phillipians 4:7 - And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.

The ABCs of me

Apparently this was a thing back in like 2009. Well I've always been a little late to the party so why not jump on board now that it's almost 2013?

1. Age: 33
2. Bed size: king (it's worth it)
3. Chore you dislike: mopping floors. I hate mopping!
4. Dogs: one mini-schnoodle named Miley (schnauzer-poodle mix)
5. Essential start to your day: prayer (sometimes just for help to get out of bed when it's too early!)
6. Favorite colors: lately, mustard yellow. Always and forever, pink.
7. Gold or silver: how about white gold?
8. Height: 5’5 ½”
9. Instruments you play(ed): HA! No.
10. job title: Awesome and amazing keeper of the home, schedule, and family sanity
11. Kids: three (ages 11, 9 & 4)
12. Live: near Portland, Oregon
13. Mom’s name: Carol
14. Nicknames: jode, jodes, jodalamode, jodi-wan-kenobi (husband), jodalicious (again, husband. He has a thing for odd nicknames)
15. Overnight hospital stays other than deliveries: tonsils out when I was... 6? 7?
16. Pet peeves: socks left inside out in my dirty laundry hamper. C'mon, people! Take your socks off right! (Obviously by "people" I mean MY people.)
17. Quote from a movie: "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." - Notting Hill
18. Righty or lefty: righty
19. Siblings: older sister (by 1 ½ years), younger brother (by 1 ½ years)
20. Time you wake up in the morning: mostly 6:45 -7 am on weekdays, 9 am on the weekends
21. Unusual thing about you: I can not, nor have I ever ONCE in my life been able to Magic Eye 
22. Vegetables you don’t like: mushrooms and olives. Wait, are olives a vegetable? 
23. What makes you run late: if I knew the answer to this maybe I wouldn't be late to everything
24. X-rays you’ve had: jaw (broken), mouth (dental implants), shins (shin splints from cheerleading)
25. Yummy food you make: I'm real good at dessert and I make a mean pot roast 
26. Zoo animal you like: chimpanzees & orangutans and the big cats (lions, tigers, leopards, cougars... you get it)

So there you have it! 

Have a great weekend :)

Christmas tree 2012

Let the record show that we got our tree up a full 12 days earlier than last year!

THANK GOODNESS.

It's going to be hard to leave my house now though. See that toasty fire? Cozy.

The holiday bazaar

J & J Homemade = Jana and I and our delicious assortment of holiday treats! Plus some cute crafted items by Jana because she's the only half of J & J that is actually crafty.

Just like last year, we had a great time and sold almost all of our food items. 

And now, a mini-tour of the bazaar (an old gymnasium with the brightest blue walls you may have ever beheld)...

The super cute duo of Angie and Amy. Angie made these amazing orange/white chocolate/cranberry scones and I could NOT stay away from them. Two on Saturday and another two Sunday afternoon!

Amy's crochet creations were a huge hit, check out the boot cuffs on the far right - for ladies and girls. I'm hoping a pair are going to show up under the Christmas tree... I may have thrown a few hints out to some family members ;)

My adorable mother-in-law painted gift bags and created cute decorative tabletop arrangements.

I wanted one of these polkadot aprons in a bad way! Made by my friend Cheri, check out her awesome pillows!

My friend Danielle made a TON of awesome home decor items - all hand painted and distressed. She also baked, made soap, bath salts, headbands and bracelets. Oh and she's the mother of seven children!

I'm with you... how does she do it???

Always love Sariejune!

Becky and Nicole and more cute crocheted items that I couldn't stay away from. Darn all these talented ladies!

I could have taken way more pictures of all the vendors but I got distracted shopping and then had to return to my table before I spent all my earnings (a legitimate concern).

I don't know what it is, but sitting at a bazaar booth for a whole day plus part of the next while gabbing with your bestie and all the people who stop by to shop really wears a gal out!

I'd like to request an extra nap today please?

InstaFriday - holiday treats edition!

Happy weekend, friends! 

I'm selling treats at a Christmas Bazaar held at our church tomorrow and have been in the kitchen quite a bit the last couple of days. I did get out and about a little though, here's the instagram proof!

Monday night: Russ's first home game of the season. It was "pink out night" (raising money for cancer awareness) and the team was all in pink! Pretty awesome.

Blake likes to play with the camera on my phone when I'm engrossed in daddy's games and not paying attention. This was my "hey, you little stinker!" face when I found the camera 4 inches from my nose!

Tuesday night: Walmart run with Mum for all the ingredients I needed for my bazaar treats. The checkout lady wanted to know why I was taking a photo of my stuff... how to explain InstaFriday?

Thursday: out running errands with Blake... one for me and one for him!
Love their free whipped cream cups :)

Cooper's latest, drawn yesterday while watching the old cartoon. Pretty sure I'm running out of room in the file cabinet with all his pictures that I MUST. KEEP.

And on to the treats! Here's what I've been whipping up in the kitchen:

Recipe found on the blog Joy's Hope. Love her blog! And this addictive toffee.

No recipe, but got the idea from seeing several different kinds on Pinterest. LOVED how these turned out!

Instructions found HERE, again via Pinterest. I am, of course, a sucker for anything with the words peppermint white chocolate in them.

A recipe I've had for years and don't remember where it came from. But I googled the name and found the same recipe HERE. This stuff is amaaaazing.

And thanks to my sister, I have cute labels for my packages!

No picture of the popcorn baggies - just Christmas edition quart sized ziplocks.

Here's hoping all these goodies sell!

I'll post pictures of my table and some of the other cute stuff found at the bazaar (that I'll probably have bought, because you know I'm a sucker for bazaars...) on Monday!