Its That Time of Year Again

I wish I had something more interesting to write about, but it's January. Nothing exciting usually happens in January in the Jenson household, just about the opposite really. School has resumed after the winter holidays and its back to lessons planning and classroom management. Classes have also started up once again so my life is no longer my own. I am attempting 10 credits this semester on top of everything else. Wish me luck. I figure I can do anything for 15 weeks (please don't tell me that's a long time.... that is NOT what I want to hear.) Mike is studying (as always.) He takes the GMAT the first week of Feb then its back to the CFA right away. #CFAwidow (yep, I just used a hash tag... but it felt right.)

 I am hoping to soon be healthy once again. I have used a variety of medicines over the past few weeks along with honey and peppermint tea to help with my cough. At one point I was coughing so hard and so much that my stomach and back hurt. I think I threw a muscle out in my back from coughing. I will not take my health for granted again.

Also did I mention how cold it has been? The windchill in the mornings has been -4. I do not love that, especially since I have to stand outside in that bitter cold opening car doors and helping the kiddies into school during arrival. My Ugg boats are my new must have accessory each morning. The bitter cold is making my house an icebox. I don't want to set the heat to high because I know we will end up with a $400 electric bill so I keep it set at 68. One morning I came down and the thermostat read 55!!!!!!!!! No wonder I was freezing getting ready. So I have been walking around the house in my warmest PJ's, a hoodie, fuzzy socks and my cozy robe... and I'm still cold. I can't wait to be warm... and I will be in 48 days when we go on our cruise.

We are going on the cruise in March with my parents. We leave from San Juan and will stop in St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Croix. I never thought I would enjoy cruising as much as I do. But it's such an affordable way to see the Caribbean. I plan to go back to Europe this summer so most of our vacation funds are being saved for that trip so we couldn't afford to stay in a resort on one of the islands for a week and do Europe for a few weeks this summer. So a cruise with all your meals paid for seemed like a good in between. I have spent hours on TripAdvisor researching the islands and what they have to offer. I have booked a lot of excursions through local companies and hope I won't be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointed my favorite show Once Upon A Time is taking a three week break. I don't think I have been so put out. Don't they know that is what I look forward to all week to get me to the weekend? Things are really starting to get interesting in Storybrook too. Dang it! At least White Collar started up again this week. I don't have time to be involved in weekday TV shows so I hope I can resist the urge to stay up late and watch it and just wait till the weekend. That would be the responsible thing to do. However, I can't be expected to be responsible all the time... can I?

Belated Christmas Card

This was my first year of including a little letter in our card. We were receiving Christmas cards from our friends from college or that have moved away from CT. They were cute but a lot of them said nothing about what they were up to. I found myself wishing there was more to it than just the darling pictures. I wanted an update. So I decided maybe some of our friends and family members we don't see as often may want the same from us. It took a while to figure out what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I know from experience the long letters with multiple paragraphs usually get tossed in the trash after only being read half way. I thought I was pretty clever to come up with two sections, "Whats new" and "The Stills." I tried to be brief and stick to the most important things, with the least amount of words. I thought it turned out nice for my first letter. So if you aren't on my Christmas card mailing list, or your card go lost in the mail or returned to us here is the Jenson Family's 2012 Christmas Letter....

 

Mike and Kristin's Photo Shoot

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!!

This year I wanted to get some quality photos of Mike and I. My sister-in-law recommend her husbands cousin. He has taken their family pictures for the past few years and does excellent work. So when we went out to Utah for Thanksgiving we had him do our pictures. We lucked out with beautiful weather and a great location to take pictures. I had so much fun! I love having my picture taken ... When we go the pictures back a week later I was surprised to find that I liked almost every single picture. He did a phenomenal job!