End of the year contemplations

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... This year has been completely insane. I can't actually believe it is over. I'm relieved it's over. We have really struggled this year financially, but have been blessed in so many ways it is ridiculous.

Marc has been out of work all year, but has taken this time to be with our daughters and work on projects of his own. It has been so great for Marc to spend quality time with the girls when they are so young. I am confident that Marc and the girls will always have a wonderful relationship and much of that is attributed to the last year. I have also loved having him home when I need him and being able to spend time together.

I also struggled to find work this year, but was able to continue working at the sleep lab until a suitable job came along. My current job at the new Park City Hospital is the most perfect job for my current situation. I love it and can't say enough good about it. I love not having set hours and just being on call. This way I am still keeping up my skills and collecting a paycheck, but I don't have the burden of a traditional job. I also had the opportunity to go back to school and finish my bachelors degree.

The girls are so much fun and are growing so fast. They are small for their age, but they are so smart. They say so many words and sign all the time. They love playing games like peek-a-boo and to be thrown into the air. Every day things get easier.

We have been so blessed to have all the help we could ask for. Marc's mom has been coming to our house 2-3 times per week to watch the girls while I am away at school and to allow Marc time to work on his projects. My mom also comes on Fridays when she is around and loves to take the girls to fun places. She has also bought them memberships to the zoo and the Discovery Gateway so we can get out of the house when we get cabin fever.

When I think back on the year, I have to believe that things happen for a reason. I am so grateful for the opportunities and help I have been given and look forward to next year.

Happy Birthday to me!

For my birthday we dropped the girls off at the Inman's for the day while Marc and I took the day off from the girls. We went to lunch at Happy Sumo which is always delicious.

For dessert we ordered the tempura banana split which was delicious.

After lunch we went to a movie and then headed back to pick up the girls. Sandy made me an icecream cake and we had a small party. Overall it was a very nice birthday.

Christmas '09 Part 2 and 3

Christmas was spent with Marc's family this year. We got up early and headed to Melanie's (now officially dubbed Mimi by the girls). We enjoyed opening presents, eating our traditional Christmas breakfast of eggnog french toast and polish sausages.

The girls were completely spoiled with the favorite gift being the rocking giraffe

The haul

After we were finally getting hungry we headed over to Marc's parent's house for Christmas dinner. After dinner we finished the day by making gingerbread cookies.

It was a long day, but the girls did pretty good and we had a really nice time.

Yesterday we ended the Christmas festivities with the Jensen Family Christmas Party. The only kids there were our own and Ryan so it was nice to have a more adult centered party. We decided to forgo the yearly rendition of Must be Santa and the Christmas pinata to everyone's satisfaction. Instead we played Rock Band which was much better.

Zoo Lights

Christmas '09 Part 1

My parents along with Lauren and Janell are going on a Panama Canal cruise for Christmas, so we spent Sunday with them as an early Christmas celebration. Our church is at 1:00 and my parent's church is at 9:00. Since we wanted to spend the day with them, we went to their meetings. We had a good time making dinner and opening presents. It was nice to see my dad as well, since he isn't around too much. Caleb sent us a package with some Korean candy and anime socks that Marc was pretty excited about. My mom got me a crepe pan that will be put to good use and Rachael sent us some super cute magnets with pictures of the girls and their names. We are kicking off a pretty busy week of Christmas. Yeah!

Potica Day

When Marc and I got engaged, he informed me that if I was going to marry him, I had to learn to make potica (po-TEET-sa). Potica is a traditional Slavic nut bread that his family has been making for Christmas for generations. This year, we decided to make more loaves then usual and give mini poticas as neighbor gifts. My mom generously donated (and shelled) the 6 lbs of walnuts needed from the tree in her back yard. She also got up at 4:30 this morning to start the dough. Because of the delicate nature of potica the dough is a much lengthier process then traditional dough, it kneads for 30 minutes in the mixer to work up lots of gluten and make it very elastic. Everyone showed up at my house around 10:30 to start rolling the dough and putting the potica together. It was so fun to have most of the women in my immediate family there (we missed you Rach!). Lauren regaled us with stories of her trip to Australia and Janell got so good at rolling out the dough (it is rolled out paper thin, spread with the nut mixture, rolled like cinnamon rolls, and then twisted to fit into the bread pan). Melanie and Ryan were kind enough to entertain the girls all day. I was on call and got called in at about 1:30, so I missed the Tim Tam Slams that Lauren introduced everyone to. It was a fun day and I love carrying on the tradition in Marc's family. According to Sandy, we are the only ones carrying on potica from her grandma Cieluszak. It is technical, labor intensive, and can be expensive (if you buy the nuts at the store, again, Thanks Mom!) I look forward to Alice and Claire learning the art.

BTW: if you buy a loaf of potica from a bakery, a 1.5 lb loaf can cost around $37, so if you got one, treasure it.

Furnace Troubles

Today we got about 2 feet of snow at our house. The photo was taken around noon, and we got about 6 more inches. That was pretty crazy in itself, but the rest of the state was hit pretty hard as well. Because of the widespread storm, our main road was never plowed. At about 11 o'clock Marc noticed that the house was a little cold. He started inspecting the furnace and the code the furnace was putting out said that either the vent was blocked or the motor was out. We kind of assumed it was blocked ventilation due to the crazy amount of snow we got today. Marc called around to a few different furnace places trying to get someone to come out and look at it. Of all the different places he called, only one called back and was willing to come out and look at it (due to the weather), he said he could get here around 6 o'clock. Luckily we have a nice gas fireplace that does a great job of heating the main living area and one downstairs that we turned on so it wouldn't get too cold down there. The furnace guy showed up around 6:30 and after looking at it he told us it was the inducer motor and needed to be replaced. Thankfully he had a motor in the car and no one had to get on the roof (a very dangerous business). But of course a regular maintenance thing has to happen on the snowiest day of the year and a Sunday. Whatever! The repair was pretty expensive, but Marc was able to talk him down about $150, so that was good. I felt really bad for the guy when Marc was talking to him and he said he still had 2 more jobs to do tonight. I had made some chicken and dumpling in the crockpot for dinner and sent him with some. I think he was pretty excited. I'm just glad we were able to get the furnace fixed tonight so we didn't have to stress about freezing pipes and such.

Discovery Gateway

We went to the Discovery Gateway on Friday with my mom. The girls had so much fun and we decided to get a year pass. This is perfect for days that are too hot, too cold, or inclimate weather.

A crazy Sunday

Sunday was my first day/night of taking call at my new job. I haven't started taking an entire week yet, I was just filling in over the holiday. Starting in a couple of weeks I will be on call every other week (nights and weekends). I was assured that call was easy and that I probably wouldn't be called in, so I was planning of going to church and doing my normal Sunday activities. Around 11:00 I was called in and hurried up there thinking that if I was quick, I could make it back for Sacrament Meeting. I got home and was called in again at about 3:00, so no church. As I was driving up, I got another page for another patient, so I had 2 exams waiting for me when I got there. While I was there 2 additional exams were added on for me. It seemed like every patient who came into the ER that day needed an ultrasound. I finally left around 7:00 relieved that the crazy day of call would soon be over, but no. I was called in once more at 3:30am. So much for my peaceful Sunday of call. Hopefully it won't be this crazy every Sunday.