Summer 2014

It’s been FOREVER since I’ve blogged and I’ve missed it so much.  Seriously, you guys have no idea.  I feel like there’s something missing when I’m not writing, even though half of the time I’m not doing anything with what I am writing.  In any case, my heart has missed this place.

How have you been?  You should totally tell me in the comments below, but since you can’t answer me now I guess I’ll continue this semi one-sided relationship by sharing what I’ve been up to in the last few months.

First off, my happiness project didn’t go quite as planned.  Shocking, I know!  While I did make some great changes, I am not getting 8 hours of sleep a night and my closet is still a mess.  I have organized some areas that I had been putting off and it’s great.  If you have something you need to organize you should totally do that after you finish reading this post that I foresee being quite long.  One of these days I’ll work my way up to the closet but for now I’m happy with the little wins and I’ve had lots of those.

Mr. C and I went to Nebraska for10ish days in July and it was amazing as always.  

I got to catch up in person with one of the best friends ever.  It’s amazing how we never run out of things to talk about and even across 1,329ish miles, she’s always there for me.

We spent the 4^th of July with my family and my youngest niece, who still thinks her family is cool, sat by me at the fireworks and said the funniest things you could never think of.  One of my favorites was her explanation of why Miley Cyrus’ songs were no longer played during the fireworks display.  My previously mentioned amazing friend joined us too and was lucky enough to get in on the commentary. 

While we were there we got a rental car and drove to Lincoln to see a few friends.  I do not at all believe in those crazy rental insurance fees they try to rope you into so when we were asked if we wanted the extra insurance that would cover our co-pay if something happened, I only hesitated for a moment after saying no.  The girl said there wasn’t hail in the forecast and it was only one day so that just confirmed that I did not need their crazy insurance that was really just a way for me to pay 40% more.  The drive to Lincoln was great.   Playing some games with my friend and her daughter was great.  The rain clouds were not so great, but it was ok.  Dinner was great.  The clouds that kept getting darker were getting less and less ok.  Our mini tour of their game collection and suggestions was great, until we heard the sound of hail.  That was definitely not so great.  Mr. C ran outside to move the car but it didn’t really matter.  Lucky for us, there was no damage, however I learned a very valuable lesson about sometimes buying that dumb insurance.   The night was still great, and so much fun that I forgot to take any pics.  I guess that means we have to go back! 

We spent the night (not like that!) and next day with a couple other friends and there was more game playing and eating and fun had by all.  It was a very low-key, easy going trip and it was great.

I love how green it is.  You don’t appreciate the greenness of it all until you live somewhere that has brown dirt and rocks as front yard décor.   We left Lincoln as the sun was setting and I couldn’t help myself from trying to capture the beautiful sun hitting the fields.  The pictures just aren’t the same.

The night before we left we went for a walk and my dad talked us into crossing the street to look at this amazing family.  We stood at the fence for a bit and eventually the mom ran up to us and let us pet her.  I can’t look at these pics and not smile.

I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in years, spent some time with my sweet grandmother, played some games with two of my amazing nieces, visited my dad's huge garden, had some girl time with my mom, did lots of cooking, some project finishing, and just hanging out.  Someone told me awhile ago that eventually I won’t want to go home anymore.  I simply can’t imagine that happening.  A little part of my heart remains there and although I love the home Mr. C and I have made, Nebraska will always hold that little part of my heart. 

Back in Arizona, Mr. C and I are getting back into the swing of things.  I’ve lost my house-husband since Mr. C went back to work, and it’s sad to think that I cannot leave the kitchen full of dishes and come home the next day to a clean kitchen, but I’m hoping Coconut may start picking up the slack.

Right before we left for NE I became a Jamberry Independent Consultant!  If I’m being honest, I was hooked about 2 minutes after I heard about the product and before I even tried a sample, but I tried to contain my enthusiasm.  They’re non-toxic nail wraps that are made in the U.S.A. and last for up to 2 weeks on fingers and 6 weeks on toes.  You get 2 manis, 2 pedis, and some extras in each package and  I LOVE them!  I tried painting my nails with normal polish after I took off my 2^nd set of wraps and it was horrible!  I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to normal polish!  You can check out my site at: http://jencentner.jamberrynails.net and if you’d like a sample I’d love to send you one!  I’ve done a couple facebook parties and my first home party a few days ago and I’m having a lot of fun.  Mr. C has been super supportive even though he refuses to wear one on his nail.  He’s no fun sometimes.

This month I was planning to focus on my blog and etsy shop for the August happiness project goals with a sort of entrepreneurial/outside ventures theme and that seems perfect with my new Jamberry adventure.  I’m revising the month to work on growing my business, refocusing on this little blog I’ve missed so much, and finally listing some of my crafts on Etsy, although with things gearing up at work I may have to put off that last one a bit. 

I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer!