W.O.W. Re-Do #3: Cheesecake Bars

Recipe W.O.W. Redo #3: Cheesecake Bars!

This may very well be my only dessert Re-Do... (Baking is not usually my forte)

I don't know anyone who doesn't like cheesecake... especially during Valentine's. I've made the fancy kinds and they have their time and place, but I've been wanting to Re-Do a recipe that I can make for a crowd that uses natural ingredients and is not fussy... But that still tastes like cheesecake! Not the dryish, gummy, over-cooked after-tasting cheesecake, and not the oozing, goopy, is-this-cheesecake-or-cheese-pudding tasting cheesecake. You know, the light, creamy, mouth-feel-with-just-the-right-amount-of-body tasting cheesecake. And I personally love that little hint of citrus in the background. So if you like the kind of cheesecake that I like, you'll love this recipe. I've adapted it from one that I found online, and I make it in a jelly roll pan (half-sheet) so it makes a great number of little bars or squares for taking to the family function or the ward whatever . I top them after cutting with all kinds of fruits and sauces, and then there is a variety for people to choose from. I haven't tried it, but I'm sure you could freeze them as well, right in the pan, (wrapped well with plastic wrap) and then thaw and cut later. YUMMM!!!

Cheesecake Bars
CRUST:
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (try to find some without the hydroged oils and H.F.C.S (high-fructose corn syrup) and whiz the whole crackers in your FP, then measure)
3 TB sugar
5 TB melted butter

FILLING:
4 1/2 blocks (48 oz) softened cream cheese (do not use lowfat)
1 1/4 cup sugar (fine-grain dehydrated cane juice if you can find it -- TJ's has a good one)
3 tsp grated lemon or orange zest (if you don't have a microplane grater yet, get one immediately!)
1 1/2 TB freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 or 6 large eggs (depends on size - I only buy free range organic eggs, and they vary somewhat)
2 cups sour cream (1 regular sized carton is fine, and I always buy organic full fat on this one. The reason for the organic-only dairy, raw if you can find it, is that 90% of the toxins from commercially raised dairy are in the fat; so sour cream and butter are loaded with it. So you get so much healthy bang for your buck when you buy organic dairy (we'll save the raw speech for another post).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease your jelly roll pan. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 3 TB sugar in a bowl. Mix well to combine. Pat the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for five minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For Filling: Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugar, citrus juice, zest, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time until blended. Set beaters to low and fold in the sour cream. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the crust, and smooth until even. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cheesecake is firm in the center (test by gently shaking the pan, if it looks jiggly in the center, continue to bake.) Cool on a wire rack and then chill for at least two hours before cutting. Toppings can range from lemon curd or fresh berries, to chocolate or caramel sauce drizzle. The sky is the limit on that!
I hope you enjoy these!

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY KIDS!

Hello to those who still love me after that last post!
To ALL of our friends and lovedones!

I'm sorry if you get this request more than once...

Firstly, I try never to ask for special favors, but my children are involved in this one, and that's my soft spot...

Our kids decided to enter an art contest last week... and I didn't know until today that whether they have a chance to win or not depends upon public voting! They didn't mention that anywhere on the website before the contest, and we don't listen to the radio station that is sponsoring it. So we are behind in the running now...
So the first phase of the contest ends on Feb 1. You can vote once per day, per email address, in each age category. Isabelle is in age 5-7, and Joshua and Olivia are both in age 8-10. Their names are listed next to their artwork.
Here are their submissions:








Here is the link to cast your vote:

http://www.mix969.com/pages/fridge-art/

Thanks for giving our kids a shot at this...

Love you all,

Scott, Debra, and family

Monday Mental Make-over...

You know, this blogging business is not easy for me! I'm here to admit that I'm having a small 'blogging breakdown'! I think it is a true blow to my subconscious perfectionism! The blogging honeymoon is over, I still don't know what I'm doing or how to do it, and now my insecurities are running wild! I'm trying hard to fight the increasing urge to be insanely critical of my posts... to the point that I don't want to post because... because I'm just lousy at this! I mean who wants to read a nutty mom's crazy rambling epic novel about chicken enchiladas anyway...!!!!????
(After some deep breathing...)

Good grief, Deb! Pull yourself together and just post your best, for goodness' sake! Hey, I just thought of a twist on a classic fly-lady quote: "Blogging done incorrectly still blesses your family...?" (the original for those who don't know it is: "housework done incorrectly still blesses your home", which I'm acually not so sure is true...)

When I started this blog, I hadn't really looked at many other blogs... I think maybe 5. You know, I'm thinking now that I should have stayed in the dark, really, because now the more of them that I read and see the more I think I stink! So, let me publicly pull myself up by my blogging bootstraps and hearken myself back to the reason I started this, and that was 3-fold:
1) Preserve and document my family's life,
2)Reach out to lovedones, and
3)Reconnect with and redefine my "inner Debra", so that I don't lose my mind, or allow my life's challenges to morph me into someone (or something) that I don't want to be.

That's all. That's it. I now remind myself that I didn't start a blog to:
A) Become a Famous Blogger worldwide,
B) Impress Strangers or Entertain Friends (remember that I'm not funny),
C)Become a Technological Blogging Blackbelt, or ESPECIALLY,
D) Fabricate some unrealistic 'blogworld' portrayal of a Perfect, or at least, Very Cool Life (does anyone else sometimes think that is what some bloggers do? Or is it just me having my pessimistic moment? Or are their lives REALLY PERFECT?!?)

So, I just had to reset myself there for a minute... before I launch into what I am thinking is a somewhat boring post... so my current motto is: "Boring is better than Blank!" Which was what I had before I started doin' the Jensen Jive...

(anyone who was just willing to suffer through this post to this point really loves me, so now you know who you are...)

Monday RECAP:
Last week, in honor of M.L.K. day we went miniature golfing for family night. It started out a disaster... balls flying out into the parking lot, bushes, streams... and kids (and parents) getting pelted by clubs swinging out of control... 3/4ths of us were in tears by the third hole! But fortunately, by hole 18 we had gotten into a groove. After witnessing our children's sportsmanship though, Scott and I made a mental note to do these kinds of things a lot more often... ;)
Here are some highlights:

Just playing around with 'scrapblog' for the first time... I'm so excited that I actually preserved another memory! And no gluesticks involved...Wow!

Click on the 'scrapblog' icon above (lower righthand corner)to view, and then click 'full screen to actually see it big enough to read it. (I'm sure you all know how to do this, but just in case someone else is "blogging challenged" like me...)

This may be more time than it's worth, but I'm thinking maybe I'll make pages like these to publish mini scrapbooks for my kids at the end of the year... if anyone else has thoughts about how to use scrapblog pages on their blogs, I would love to hear them. I'm just barely getting my feet wet with all of this...

Kathleen Pics

I was just told by a friend today about photobucket, and I'm trying to figure it out...



I've been saving this outfit for almost a year waiting for her to fit into it! Unfortunately, by the time we made it outside for the shoot, she was ready for naptime and I couldn't get very many shots. But it's a start at least. I don't know about anyone else, but our baby #4 has very few pics. So this year I aim to make up for lost time...


Even with the camel's hair, we think she is such a cutie! ;)

Come get me!

She is loving the weather, and spends lots of time outside picking treasures...
Hi Izzy! (She was my smile coaxer for the shoot, and she kept shrieking at a canine pitch to try to get Kate to smile...)

There's our little "Ka-tee"

Recipe W.O.W. Re-DO #2: 'Real' Chicken Enchiladas!

Aah... Chicken Enchiladas. Rich. Creamy. A bit of green chili. True Tex-Mex comfort food. It's winter (if you can call it that here) and so I'm working on my favorite warming comfort food Re-Do's before we are so hot that all we can eat is melon and cucumber! So don't go thinking from these first two Re-Do's that all I make is fattening casseroles... it's all in the portion size anyway, right? Right!

This is a chicken enchilada (corn of course -- commercial white flour tortillas make a mockery of enchiladas, and any other real mexican food, for that matter!), with a green chili 'baja' cream sauce. The recipe may look involved, but you will end up with something that tastes REAL. Again, no condensed soups or powdered sauce mixes, etc. You may already cook without these items, but if you don't and are ready to start, try these Re-do's, and you'll begin to notice the difference to your palate whole food cooking can make. Also, there are several make ahead stopping points in the recipe, and, you could even stop at those points and create another dish entirely! (I was really trying hard not to say, 'whole nother dish' -- eek!)

Let's start with my basic chicken. I cook whole, organic roaster chickens 90% of the time. Frozen chicken breasts are loaded with junk to make them juicy and flavorful, and I want to eat chicken that is 'naturally' juicy and flavorful. To do that, though, you usually need the bone and the skin on while cooking. So I make this chicken in the crockpot, debone it, and use it a million different ways. It also helps you eat less meat...(we'll save that discussion for another post) To simplify the enchiladas, you can cook this chicken days in advance, debone it, and even freeze the shredded chicken and broth.

Deb's Basic Chicken

1 whole, organic (if possible) roaster chicken, giblets removed
2-3 cups organic chicken broth
kosher salt
fresh pepper
spanish paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
dried oregano
ground red chili (don't add this if you are not making your chicken for something mexican)

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place in crockpot, and sprinkle LIBERALLY with the spices, especially the salt (Remember there are no additives, bullion, or msg to give this flavor, so coat well). Add chicken broth and cook on low or high(depending on how much time you have) until the meat falls off the bone. (see below)

Remove skin and debone; shred or cut into bite-sized pieces. (usually it kind of breaks up like that anyway) Pass broth through a fine mesh strainer and skim fat; save broth. This can become your starter for LOTS of yummy chicken dishes! But, let's stay on track here...
Next...

The Filling:
about 3 TB Olive oil (extra virgin, and if you don't go through your olive oil bottle fast, keep it refrigerated. It makes a huge difference in flavor. Let it run under hot water for a few minutes before you start to cook, and it will reliquify.)
1 large onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, in strips
2 cloves fresh garlic
15 oz can whole tomatoes
2 cups of chicken stock from your whole chicken
2 TB ground red chili (New Mexico or Ancho is good)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp salt (taste it... it should be a little salty, because your corn will absorb it in the oven later).

In a skillet on high heat, add oil, onions, and bell pepper and salt; toss to coat. Let these sit in the pan and char a bit. If you do, they will give your enchiladas a smokey, fajita-like flavor that we all like. It will look like this:

Then add your garlic and soften. In a blender or FP, add the tomatoes and chicken stock, red chili, garlic powder, cumin and salt. Blend until smooth. Add to skillet along with the shredded chicken, and bring to boil, then and simmer uncovered over medium heat about 10 minutes. Remember to tast this; you want it a little salty:

We could stop right there and serve that over rice and beans! YUM!
But WAIT! There's more...

Green Chili Cream Sauce:
12 oz carton organic sour cream (do not use fat free)
12 oz. of chicken broth from the chicken
big pinch of cumin
big pinch of garlic powder
about 1/2 tsp salt (taste it...)
2 TB chopped cilantro
1 small can diced green chilis ( I like the roasted ones)
4-5 TB flour whisked into about 1/4 cup cold water (until it looks like pancake batter)
about 1 cup sharp shredded cheddar
3 green onions, sliced
12-15 GOOD QUALITY yellow corn tortillas (I use Trader Joe's but buy the best brand you can)
cilantro and sliced grape tomatoes for garnish (optional)

To save a dirty dish, I transfer the filling mixture to the empty crockpot and then add from the sour cream to the green chilis to the same skillet. Bring to a boil, then slowly add the flour/ liquid mixture and whisk and simmer until thick and creamy.

Let's put it all together now...

Heat canola oil in small skillet on med high. Dip corn tortillas, one at a time, in hot oil until they bubble, turn quickly, then slip them out and layer onto paper towelling to drain. Cover with damp towel. Line up your enchiladas in casserole dish (I like to use metal for this one). Spoon about 2 heaping TBS of the chicken filling in each tortilla and roll up:
Place snugly in pan; cover with cream sauce , cheese, and green onions. Bake at 375 deg for about 15-20 minutes, or just until melted and bubbly.

Serve over a bed of shredded romaine hearts with fresh refried beans and homemade spanish rice (I guess I'll post those two recipes later!) YUMMMMM!

"Kate, the Great!" A Fairytale...(Based loosely on a true story!)

Once upon a time in a previously farmed kingdom out in the middle of the desert, there was a baby princess named Kathleen. Most of the members of the Royal Family called her Kate, for short, or "Ka-tee," when they thought she was extra cute. Being the 4th-born in the family, she wasn't first at many things. But, she WAS the first to be born with beautiful, jersey-cow brown eyes, and lovely, dark, slightly wavy, chocolate brown hair.
As a matter of fact, Kathleen was named after her Grandmother, Queen Kathleen, who also carried the same features. Kate was sure to be a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty.

From the moment of her birth, life in the kingdom was very, very busy. They had a new, but very unfinished-looking castle, and a new Royal Infirmary where the King, her father, spent countless hours tending to the sick of the kingdom and trying to keep coins in the royal coffers.
Although life as a princess was wonderful, she noticed that the Royal family would often forget to live happily ever after from day to day, and were sometimes consumed with their troubles. One of their troubles was dirty laundry. They had mountains of it!

Another were dirty bathrooms.
There were 5 bathrooms in the Royal Castle, and no matter how they tried, they could never get all of them to be clean at the same time!




Those were just a few of the Queen's troubles, but the King had his fair share as well. For example, although their castle grounds were very small, they were continuously overrun with weeds, swamps, mosquitos, flies, and, worst of all... gophers!



And then there were the constant paper piles, paper piles, paper piles... the King could never find his important Royal documents. All in all, things were a Royal Mess!




Even though things were tough at times, they tried to be happy just being together. And Little Princess Kathleen handled it all with grace and poise. Then, one day, while riding with the Queen in their Royal Coach, something very strange happened. They were driving alongside a corral of horses, which were often seen along the roadsides of the kingdom, and the Queen noticed some unusual movements from farther back into the barn. They asked the driver to pull the coach over for a closer look, and to their surprise, there was a camel in the corral!?!!!?!!! A camel? How very strange, as they were not common at all to their kingdom. As the Royal Queen, Prince Joshua, and the 3 Princess sisters were peering in to see the camel, to their great surprise, it began bounding toward them! They were frozen in shock at the sheer girth of the beast! And, at the odd patterning of fur in long, straight, stringy patches intermingled randomly with the shorter, whispier coat. Before they could react, the camel was towering over them!
He seemed to like Princess Kate's bright red sweater, for he swooped down with his huge, curved neck and swallowed her whole! The Royal Queen immediately sprang into action. She and the other two Princesses, Isabelle, and Olivia, along with Prince Joshua climbed around that animal's neck and SQUEEZED, SQUEEZED, and SQUEEZED altogether until they applied so much pressure that the camel spat out Princess Kate, onto the ground. Together they rushed to her side, and, to their great and happy surprise, found her totally unharmed! Upon further examination, however, they noticed one peculiar alteration. What was once smooth, silky, dark tresses was now none other than... CAMEL'S HAIR! And what a sight it was!














But do you think that marred Princess Kate's enduring beauty? Not one bit. She became ever more exotic-looking, and people came from all over the kingdom to admire the evidence of her brave battle with the camel.

And what about the Royal family and all of their troubles? Well, Princess Kate's altered appearance stood as a constant reminder to them of what is really important: Their Eternal Royal Mission: Return With Honor, and Return Together. They sent a proclamation throughout the kingdom to remind others of the same:
So whenever you stop by our castle for a visit, just remember...
"We might not have it all together, but TOGETHER we have it all!"

And they all lived more happily than ever, after that....


The End

(Note: no camels were harmed during the shooting of this story...)

Just had to write this down before I forget it...

O.K. -- True confessions. Scott and I are just not funny. That's the one thing we can laugh about, is the fact that we just can't seem to be funny, and we know it! So we are trying to laugh a little more this year, whether it's really funny or not! So we are just getting into texting. It's really good for us, because he actually responds to me when I text him, unlike calling his cellphone. So the other day I was supposed to go to the office for a lunch meeting, but the kids weren't cooperating, and the office was crazy that day, so I stayed home. This is the text I got a little later that afternoon:

Me: "...maybe you can save my food for me." (They ordered burritos from Chipotle, my favorite)
Scott: "I brought home your food -- your a hogtie!"
Scott: "I meant hogtie Sorry"
Scott: "Hogtie"
Scott: "Hot one"
????????????????
Needless to say I had to wait until we were face to face to get the expanation on that one. Apparently, the text preselect kept coming up "hogtie" everytime he would try to type "hottie." I wonder if there is some implication here? Now we just skip hottie and go straight to hogtie. It's more fitting, I think. I'm still laughing....

Recipe W.O.W. Re-DO #1: Tuna Casserole

Well, since I started my blog a week ago, I've been flooded with wild, crazy, and random blog post ideas! Of course I have no time or capacity to act on 90% of them. But, we'll keep stabbing at this bogging thing until we get a good rhythm going. One of my avid interests is cooking, and especially natural, whole-foods-with-a-gourmet-twist cooking. Those who know me may say several things about my cooking (most of it not to my face, I'm sure!), but I'm pretty sure that no one would say that it's boring. I love to squeeze out my creative juices in the kitchen. Maybe because we all have to eat, and so with such little time for "creative outlets", I figure I can kill two birds with one stone! Or at least roast one and deep fry the other... ;)

Actually, one of our family jokes is that you better eat plenty if you like what you eat at Debra's house, because it may never be repeated! I'm seriously that eccentric. I think one year when my cooking interest was really exploding, I would try up to 5 new recipes each week, and not repeat anything for months! Weird, I know. I would ask Scott, "What should I make for the missionaries this Friday? I can't make something new; I want to make sure that I know is going to be good.", and he would sit there, dumbfounded, trying to think of anything that I had made twice in the last 6 months! We would laugh and laugh.

4 children later, I've calmed down quite a bit. We certainly have our fair share of pizza (whole wheat crust from TJ's of course) and mac n' cheese (always organic!), and we even have seasons of true crisis when you may see a hotdog gracing my table (those are dark days...) but overall I really try to keep things at a certain baseline, 'healthful' (to coin a Rachel Ray term) standard.

Anyway, I've decided to started a regular post, a series, if you will of recipes that I'm developing, surprises in the kitchen, and generally all-natural, whole-foods, family friendly eating. I'll call it: "Recipe W.O.W. Re-DO". Now let me explain the strange title briefly (don't worry I'm bound to elaborate lots on this later). The acronym W.O.W. stands for "Word of Wisdom" of course, which I have dedicated a lifetime to the detailed study and adoption of, especially the DO's, which get pretty well ignored by those who profess to live this law. So lately I've been trying to overhaul classic, beloved comfort foods and family recipes to take out the ingredients that are more in the terrestrial and telestial arena. So that's where the "Re-DO" part comes in. Not all of my entries will be recipe make-overs, but here's where I'll start.

So this week my kids had their ortho appts, and of course by dinnertime that night neither of them can chew anything that grows above or below the ground in their near-natural form. After searching all 5 medicine cabinets for the Advil (we don't use it that often, I guess) and distributing it, I decided to take it easy on the raw foods and go to a comfort dish. Joshua is a HUGE tuna fan, so I decided to make tuna casserole, with all the comfort, and non of the condensed soup, bottles or powders. Here's my Re-DO:
Tuna Casserole
(Don't worry about exact amounts, I never do!)

Olive Oil

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

2-3 chopped green onions (with all the white and most of the green)

1 clove garlic, minced

2 carrots, sliced

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper (I use bottled now, you can get it at Costco or TJ's)

2 6 oz. cans tuna (now, I used some really yummy chunk packed in olive oil, which gives it all kinds of flavor, but use what you like)

3 cups dry corkscrew-style pasta (I used a multi-colored one from TJ's), or egg noodles (white noodles, you say? How can that be healthy? Cook it very firm, and use high quality pasta, and the glycemic index is almost the same as wheat pasta, without the cardboard! Then add nutrient rich ingredients to the rest of the dish.)

1/2 cup milk (I use whole raw organic, but of course that's another blog post altogether...)

1/2 cups Best Foods mayo (be generous, and add more if you want it creamier)

1/2 cup organic sour cream (same note as for the mayo)

1/2 cup grated parmesano romano cheese (please use fresh and grate it fine... it is totally worth it! Grate a lot ahead and keep it in your fridge)

1 cup homemade Italian bread cubes/crumbs (whenever we are at the end of a good crusty french or whole grain loaf, I cube the bread small, and lay it out on a cookie sheet for a few days until it's dry. Then store it in a sealed container or baggie and oila! You've got homemade bread crumbs without all the MSG and whatever else they like to throw in it. If you want fine crumbs, just throw the cubes in your food processor.)

2 tsp brown mustard? (I actually didn't put it in this time, but I think I will next time. It will give it a little bite, which would cut through the creaminess some)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Spray your 2 quart deep casserole. Bring a large pot of SALTED water to boil, and toss in noodles. Cook al dente; very firm. Drain. In a skillet, drizzle a bit of olive oil, add green onions, garlic, carrots, peas, and bell pepper. Season with s & p and cook down. Add the drained tuna and stir to combine. In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, mustard, milk, and more s& p (taste this sauce, it should be a little salty, or the noodles will absorb everything in the oven and you will have a bland dish).Combine pasta, veggies, and sauce; transfer to casserole dish. In a small bowl (or the empty skillet!) combine the grated parm and bread crumbs. Sprinkle on top. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. YUM!!

Sorry for the long post... but let me just say, that there were no left overs!

A Dinner at "Chez Jensienne" with resident chef... Olivia!

This year we wanted to help Olivia complete her last few items in her Faith In God Booklet. Of course one of them is to ... "plan and prepare a nutritious meal for your family". And so last night she did it! Olivia is one of those kids who is not intimidated by a project. She does not procrastinate one, either, which always kind of throws me off guard, as that is my usual 'mod us operond'! She got a Paula Dean First Cookbook for Kids for Christmas, so I told her to go to that for the recipes. So, when I came down to the kitchen in the morning, I had a paper marked "Shopping list" carefully placed on the counter. She had decided on vegetarian cuisine. I purchased a few ingredients, and she did the rest! Everyone loved it, even our worst critic, Kate!

Menu Du Jour

sweet and savory baked potatoes
steamed broccoli and cauliflower with 'magic' sharp cheddar sauce
pineapple and red grape fruit salad with plum peach puree
tossed garden greens (with a little help from today's JFM Drug Rep Lunch... a great chef always makes full use of her resources ;)
dressing selection: raspberry vinagrette or old fashioned buttermilk

(dessert was to be homemade cinnamon pretzels, but it was postponed for a future FHE -- mom had a 7pm meeting, and we can only dirty so many dishes on a school night!)

Taking a Big Blogging Leap into the Dark...

Well, I've finally bit the bullet, joined the masses, took the plunge... and started a blog! I'm actually scared to death! Already, I'm trying hard not to end everything with either 3 exclamation points or 3 periods. I find in my life that, most often, I'm either super intense (!!!) or worriedly undecided (...), and that's already coming through. I mean, coming through!!! or do I mean, coming through... ?

Anyway, for my first post, I think I need to work my way into this a bit by explaining the reason why I'm doing a blog. Mainly just to loosen up the first-time blogging jitters.
My reason might be the same as anyone's, I don't know. See, I'm not a blog reader at all, which is partly why I'm so nervous to do this... It's kind of like writing a song when you don't sing. But, maybe it's better this way. I have been talking to friends who blog, though, and aside from those who have warned me about the slightly addictive potential to it, most people say that it's a great way to stay in touch with the people they don't see very often, who like seeing pictures of their kids and hearing about the latest goings on in their lives. So, I'm starting this for that reason, certainly. I hope that this blog reaches those with whom I would love to talk on a weekly basis, but for all of those crazy life reasons, don't.
Also, I've heard about how you can publish/print your blog into a book, and keep a record of your family history that way. That sounded like pure brilliance. I told a friend today that I think the scrapbook industry should be shaking in their boots at the thought of that. Why would anyone spend $5 (and for me, about 3-5 hours) a page on a stunning one-of-a-kind scrapbook work of art when they can publish 20 pages and unlimited copies for around $30? If time were no commodity, I would certainly opt for the stunning work of art of course... So, I'm starting a blog for that reason as well.
Lastly, I've been thinking lately that I may be losing my mind. In my former life, before 4 children, a new business, a busy calling, and a new house, I would write in my journal to process the days' or weeks' events, and make sense of my life that way. I knew that my journal might be read by others someday, and so I would try not to be too depressing or morose; while at the same time reflecting real struggles. Hopefully, as time passed those struggles would become triumphs to share, and I would try to draw those connections in the hopes that someone else might benefit. But NOW, I'm not finding time to properly brush and floss, much less write in my journal. My schedule and task list is, what I like to say, "ON BEYOND!", and I'm not making sense of much of it. So, I would have to selfishly say that I'm starting a blog foremostly for that reason: Self-Guided Therapy! Of course, I hope that my dear friends and family will offer up their therapeutic comments as well along the way... so please don't be shy...
So, ultimately, if there is not a single reader on this blog but me, I will at least have a way to touch those far away, a digital family history, and a personal therapeutic outlet for my frazzled brain!!! (Have you noticed the abundance of exclamation points and periods throughout already? This is going to be a work in progress, I can see...)

A Few More 2008 Memories...Okay, A LOT more...

I think I've finally learned how to add pictures to a post! That helps!!! Boy, my learning curve is going to be interesting...(There's those ... and !!!s again!) Well, I've been trying to think of a few more events to share/document. My mind is totally blank! I guess maybe when the calendar turns over to the new year, my brain just erases the year past... maybe I can only hold one year at a time?! Oh, senility...

So, instead, I thought I would just throw in some of my most favorite pictures from my totally disorganized iphoto. Now I need to preface these with a technological newsflash. I haven't had a digital camera until this Christmas. Scott gave me one as an early present towards the beginning of December, and I've been trying to figure the whole digital camera world out. Most all of the shots you see below are from my Cannon Rebel SLR, which (in case you've forgotten), doesn't allow you to see the pictures that you take, of course, until they are developed! That was starting to get really confusing for my kids. They were always asking to see it right after I took it, like everyone else's. Anyway, after holding out a long time, I've finally gone digital. I'm still struggling with the shutter delay... by the way, I have a Nikon CoolPix P80. If anyone has that camera, or has any tips for me, I'm totally open! So, in somewhat chronological order, here they are: In April, I spoke and performed at the Inglewood Stake's Spring Enrichment Day. I was asked to speak about "Eternal Patterns", and I intertwined my message with vocal music, oboe, and slides. I have to say in a nutshell, that it was one of the most spiritually stretching and fulfilling experiences of my life. This is us at our favorite local beach in El Segundo after the performance. We miss California terribly...

May 2008: My little sister, Sara, was married! His name is John, and he treats her like a queen. Sara works at our office fulltime (and does a fabulous job), and John works there part time and goes to school. They live out here in Queen Creek. We love you, Sara and John!
My cousin, Susie Green came from Vegas to live with us for the summer! She graduated from high school and moved in with us a few days later. She was such a fun breath of fresh air for us stick-in-the-muds. We love and miss her! Over the summer we visited my sister Janet and her three children in Lindon, UT, and...Great-Grandma Dorothy in South Jordan. We had a lovely lunch with her at her facility and a personal tour. At 90-something, she's still amazing, and Fun!One of our favorite things was a beautiful hike through the woods to a freezing cold pond that the kids could wade in. Izzy was so proud!Then it was straight south to Pinetop for the Jensen Family Reunion. We are really growing! Grandma and Grandpa (Milt and Diane) worked so hard and put on an awesome event for us all to enjoy being together. We had Izzy's birthday up there, and then came back for Kate and Joshua's...And then the summer was over! School comes upon you fast here! Joshua's baptism was followed shortly by another quick turn-around trip to Utah for my niece, Julia's baptism. She is a strong, valiant girl. She bore her testimony on the Sunday after, and said to me when she sat down, "Now it's MY turn to say that I have a testimony! I want to tell everyone what I know." We love you, Julia!One memory that sticks out in my mind is the day that we had a dog. Yes, it was a "Dog for a Day!" as you might call it. A trial with a darling Dachsundt puppy. After one day of piddles, piddles, and wondering if there are more piddles coming at any moment, we decided as a family (after many tears) that our time to have a dog will come AFTER we are done potty training baby humans! So look for some future dog blog posts... Sometime in the Fall, we took a short getaway to Sedona for some much needed r&r: Olivia has discovered last summer that she loves golf, and she enjoyed that while we were there. Joshua was our hiker... and I think Izzy and Kate loved the playground at the condos where we stayed the most. Mom loved most having a kitchen to cook in so we didn't have to eat out every meal!!
Thanksgiving was spent with the Jensen side, and Steve and Lindsay hosted a beautiful meal at their house with a hike in the San Tans afterwards. I actually preferred that to the usual nap and game thing. The weather was magnificent, and Kate had a ball on Grandpa's shoulders and playing "1,2,3... SWING!" with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen on each side.

Throughout the year , of course, there was lots of ...Eating... Tumbling... Bouncing... Performing (Always in Full Costume)... Climbing... and overall constant motion! Here's the part where the dose of reality comes. This is me at my best... battling the TOY MOUNTAIN as we so lovingly called it, for about 3 months. Sorting, sorting, tossing, stressing, ignoring... trying... until we finally conquered it just a few days ago! We'll see how long it lasts...The other reality check of the year, or more aptly, the source of all my old age and amnesia, is Jensen Family Medicine. We survived our first year of business in July, and we are still plugging along, trying to improve things and stay afloat. I'm the office manager... but most of the time I feel like that's just a title to give me a constant guilt trip that I'm not getting what I need to done. Maybe this year we'll conquer that mountain!Finally, the end of the year holiday concerts and recitals. We were busy watching our sweet kids perform! They all did fabulously. Our Christmas season was... well... we really tried so hard to simplify it, but to be honest, I think it was still a 'Merry Mess'! I really don't think I have the knack for simplifying, that's for sure. But I won't give up working at it. I hope that I learn to do it right someday...
Now that I've wrapped up 2008, I'm ready to look to the New Year! Oh, of course my late Christmas cards are still sitting partially completed on the table, and there's only about 12 loads of laundry in a massive pile (I was almost going to use the word mountain again!) upstairs, and Kate just drew all over the craft room in purple marker today, and oh, dear, look at the time... well, so much for my fresh, clean slate! Love to all!