Jen's Blog

Little known fact about me...I was blessed Mormon when I was born.  My mother is Mormon, and originally from Utah.  I didn't know this until later in life when I was searching for a baptism certificate before I got married.  I didn't grow up going to temple and I didn't know a lot about the faith until I did some research, but technically I was Mormon. I love genealogy and have been working on our family trees, it turns out I come from a long line of Mormons, and some of my relatives knew with Joseph Smith and made the long journey from Illinois to Utah.  Also, there is quite a bit of polygamy in my family tree when it was allowed as part of the Mormon faith. It was interesting to me to read about polygamy from a more recent point of view, and to learn about the dark side of polygamy, and why it was ultimately outlawed.  I loved how Anna told her story and admire her for her bravery in having survived growing up with such a public polygamist father.  In...

Before picture...with my boys in Grand Cayman!  April 2017 Anyone who knows me knows I have always struggled with my weight and that in the last few years I have developed diabetes.  In 2009 I successfully lost 30 pounds with Weight Watchers, and my fasting blood sugar went down quite a lot without medicine.  While I have successfully kept almost half of that off since then I have gained the other half back, and my blood sugar has gone up as well. Although I haven't had to go on insulin, I am currently on three medications to keep my blood sugars low.  That along with exercise and fairly healthy eating habits has helped keep my numbers in control. But...I love food.  And I love sugar.  I know it's a little bit of an obsession and addiction but there you go.  When my blood sugar went back up the last few months I wasn't surprised.  Winter was rough for me this year, not enough sun, I made some bad food choices and I wasn't as active as usual....

As a frequent yoga class attendee and busy, working mom to three teenage boys the idea of this book spoke to me as soon as I saw the title.  I have been taking a yoga nidra class once a week (yoga sleep and guided meditation) and it's been making a world of difference in my mood and my days.  I just finished reading Breathe Mama Breathe and am so excited to add more mindfulness to my day when  I can't be in a yoga class!   I was a little worried about a book for busy moms, so many of them are focused on moms of just one age group, but this one is great for moms with any age kids!  There are so many places I can add a little calm in my day that I never had thought about before!   These quick breaks in the day are actually practical and I can see myself doing them on a regular basis!   I am especially looking forward to adding these mediation breaks to my day: Coffee Your Teen Driver STOP the Teen 'Tude Prepping to Launch Wonder W...

Enjoying some quality time with family...so nice to get away from our usual hectic life!