Photo 411

First and foremost, I just want to send out a huge THANK YOU to all my readers yesterday who left me some really kind comments on my How I Make That Money Honey post. Seriously, you all made my day! I've been having a really hard time at work lately feeling like I'm just not making that much of a difference, and to hear all of your encouraging words meant the world to me. I'm sincerely grateful for every single one of you!

And with that being said....

One of my most favorite bloggers to every walk this Blogosphere, Ms. Erin from Shades of Gray and a Pinch of Pink is hosting a fun little photo link up this week. I have to join in on this fun for three reasons:

1) I love Erin and all of the hilarity that comes out of her mouth. Or fingers, I guess.
2) I love link ups and it's perfect for my scattered brain these days. I'm already in vacation mode and I still have four days of work to get through!
AND 
3) I love pictures!

So join me and link up with Erin for the Photo 411 Link Up

 
The concept is easy. 10 photos to go with 10 different items. These items being:

1) Your Little Tyke Self

2) Your High School Self

3) Your College Self

4) Your Self Right Now

5) Your Furry Friend

6) Your Manly Friend

7) Where You Once Lived

8) Where You Live Now

9) What You Love

10) What You Miss

Got it? Okay, let's go!

{Your Little Tyke Self}

 Was I not the most adorable toddler with the biggest forehead you've ever seen?!?!?

{Your High School Self}

 Back when I thought I looked good as a brunette. This was the last day of high school. And that, my blogger friends, is my very best friend in the entire world, Jose... pronounced joe-ssss not ho-say. Her real name is Steph though, in case you were wondering...

{Your College Self}

 This is how I like to remember my college self. Crazy times in Guatemala. My college life before Guate is a time I would like to forget. For real though. Do over fo sho.

{Your Self Right Now}

 Oh, you didn't know I graduate from college with a degree in Thug Life?

{Your Furry Friend}

 Charlie Simba Mufasa Kardashian Simpson. Yeah, he has a long name. Do you have a problem with that? He's a brat. And this picture is one of the rare moments when he actually wants to be touched. But he's so fricken hilarious...for a cat that is.

{Your Manly Friend}

 My boo boo. He's a keeper. I'm trying to convert him to team iPhone currently. All in favor of J getting a iPhone, make yourself be known.

{Where You Once Lived}

 Jackhole, Michigan. Better known as Jackson. I spent my college years here. Kick me down a flight of stairs. I despise this place with all I have. I'm so negative about most of my college experience...

{Where I Live Now}

 

Chelsea, Michigan. The home of THEE Jiffy Mix and Jeff Daniels. Also where I grew up, obviously. I love this little town. And I'm pretty devastated that the house my family spent the last 13 years in just sold.

{What You Love}

 My girls. They make my heart complete. The best of friends since Middle School!

{What I Miss}

 Family vacations to The Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor, MI. I looked forward to this trip every summer. This place is heaven on earth! GORG!

Now it's your turn! Link up with Erin and let us in on your life through pictures! Happy Tuesday lovelies!

How I Make That Money Honey

   

While I'm recovering from my weekend illness and taking the day off of work, I think it's the perfect time to link up with The Bargain Blonde and share with all you lovelies how I make that money.

 

I know I talk about it a lot, so many of you may have an idea of what I do for a living, but I'll get into some details to let you know a little bit more about the working life of moi! 

 

I graduated in May 2011 with a degree in Social Work. Instead of going on to get my Masters, I decided to dive head first into the field. I was waaaayyyy over school at this point! I had spent the last semester of my senior year as an intern at Child Protective Services and had thought that was where I wanted to work. So I made my way through the intense interview process and waited....and waited....and waited. I was devastated when I found out that my classmate, whom I had interned with, was offered a position in our office and I was put on the "wait list". I was certain that CPS was where I was supposed to be, but God had different plans for me. Doesn't He always?

 

Fast forward a few months...

 

After applying to numerous agencies in my county, I finally received a phone call from my current employer. I interviewed for and was offered a position as a "Child Care Teacher" at an agency that services homeless families. I was honestly pretty shocked that they wanted to hire me as one of two lead teachers since I don't have an Early Childhood Degree, but they insisted that my Social Work background would be a great addition to the team.

So what do I do? In short, I take care of toddlers all day long. But there is so much more to it. You have to remember, most of these children come from pretty bad backgrounds. Not only are they homeless, but most of them come from single-parent homes. Most of the parents are without jobs or an education, have a history of substance abuse or mental illness, and/or have been a victim of domestic violence. It surprises me that many of our parents do not realize that their children are affected greatly by their actions. Therefore, most of my children are developmentally delayed, have severe behavioral issues, and have gone through significant trauma in their few years.

For example, one of my toddlers acts out physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis that this child has seen between his parents. It's awful to watch.

 

We also evaluate every child every three months to track their developmental and social-emotional health. Based on these results, we are able to focus on the specific needs of each child and can refer them to special services as needed. 

 

While it all seems pretty intense and really sad, it's actually an amazing job. I love spending the day with my kiddos. When they're not beating each other up (one toddler gave another toddler a black eye the other day...no joke) or swearing at each other (I have a two and a half year old that calls everyone a mother effer) they are the sweetest kids on earth. They always know how to put a smile on my face and remind me to enjoy the little things in life. I have days I leave work and cry, both from sadness and frustration, and I have my certain kids who I wish more than anything I could adopt and save them from the terribly hard life they will have to endure, but I wouldn't trade all that heartache for anything. Plus, it's pretty fun to act like a kid all day long.

So, that's what I do! Link up with The Bargain Blonde and share how you make that money!

Not the Weekend I Was Expecting...

I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend of tanning and crafting, and {not so much} that wedding I was supposed to go to, until 4 a.m. on Saturday morning. It was then that I was woken to an unwanted vistor... Mr. Flu. Oh, the flu. I really don't get super sick that often, and when I do, it's usually just a 24-hour flu virus that's more annoying that anything. But this weekend? Oh. My. I spent the entire day Saturday laying in bed, trying not to move too much to keep the nausea and aching body at bay. I left my room at 8:30 p.m. to watch the Olympics for an hour and a half and crawled right back to bed. Sunday wasn't much better. At least I was able to pull myself out of bed before 5 p.m.! I haven't been that sick in a looooong time. But on the upside, I get to take the day off of work today! Gotta look on the positive side!

But while I spent all my weekend in bed, I had to keep myself occupied with none other than some online shopping! I know you've all probably have heard of Shabby Apple before since it's super huge in the blogger world. What you may not know is that they're having a summer sale! All Shabby Apple shoppers can get 20% off everything with the code Summer20. I don't know about you, but I love a good sale!

Here are some of the amazing finds I stumbled upon while searching the site:

1 | 2 | 3

I was drooling over all their amazing accessories. I love vintage flairs in necklaces and earrings! That scarf? I want so bad! As I've mentioned many times, I'm addicted to scarves and this one has the perfect hint of nautical. In. Love! I could easily spend a whole paycheck, or three, on Shabby Apple accessories!

4 | 5

I absolutely love the Francine Pencil Skirt with the adorable bow accent above! If I had a job where I was required to dress up, I would buy this skirt in a heartbeat! But unfortunately, I don't think pencil skirts and children mesh very well. But I'm so in love with it, I might just buy it anyways! And that red and white stripped skirt? Gorgeous! I might have to add that one to my shopping cart too.

Shabby Apple also caters to girls and all you mommas-to-be! So what are you waiting for? Click the ad below and take full advantage of the 20% off Summer sale! I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Friday's Letters

 

Dear Weekend, every good Friday's Letters needs to start off with you. I am happy to see you have finally arrived, although I'm not too excited about your events. Or maybe just one event in particular. You know what I'm talking about. That certain co-worker's wedding? Listen, I'm all about weddings, but they're not exactly fun when you don't really care for the person getting married. Go ahead, weekend, tell me I'm an awful person. Just being honest! Dear Right Ear, I know I was asking for it when I shoved that earring through you, but could you kick the infection and heal already? Gracias! Dear Justin, three things: 1) Thank the good Lord above that this is your last weekend of coaching hours and hours away. I know you love baseball, but I love you more and would really like to have my boyfriend back on the weekends! 2) {No} Thank you for scaring me the other night while I was watching School Spirits. I'm surprised I didn't pee my pants. 3) Thank you for being my rock. With all this change going on in my life the past year, you've always been there to lean on. I can't thank you enough for making my heart happy when it has been filled with sadness. Dear Jenna, let's move on from the sappiness, will ya? Dear KMurf, I am so beyond happy for you! I know it's been a long and difficult year of job searching and dead ends, but you've finally landed your dream job! No one deserves this more than you! Dear Manicurist, you did a great job on my Shellac manicure, but I don't appreciate you pointing out my extra dry skin. Telling me to stop washing my hands a lot and "germs never hurt anyone" made me want to punch you in the face. Please, let me see you not wash your hands 50x a day when you're working with snot-nosed, dirty children and changing countless diapers! Dear Vacation,  you're so close! I can't wait to not work for an entire week! Dear Followers, you ladies are the bomb.com. All of your sweet comments leave a smile on my face. I'm so glad I started this little ol blog of mine just four months ago and met so many lovely ladies. Y'all know how to make a girl happy!

Have a great weekend!

I Actually Crafted

Ladies, a couple weekends ago, I actually crafted. This. Is. Big. You see, I have a weird insecurity about crafting. I always want to try all this amazing DIY projects, but I'm afraid of failing. Nothing is more depressing than spending your time trying to perfect a project and then it turns out like a pile of cow manure cover in flies. But, I put my insecurity aside and started a DIY project, a twine-wrapped letter door hanger (which I saw on Pinterest, obvi.) And, I must say, it turned out great!

What do you need? A wooden or cardboard letter found at any craft store, jute twine, scrap fabric, a hot glue gun, and ribbon. That's it, that's all!

How to start? Hot glue the twine around the top of the letter. This will keep the twine anchored as you begin to wrap the letter. From here, just wrap the twine around the letter! Be patient, it's tedious and takes some time. I had a hard time keeping the twine wrapped around the curved part of the 'J', so I just used some hot glue where needed.

This is what your letter should look like when you're finished wrapping it with twine! Easy, peasy! Now it's time to make the fabric flowers. I picked up some scrap, off-white fabric at JoAnn Fabric's for $1. Simply cut a long strip of fabric...

Fold the strip of fabric in half, long ways, and begin to roll! I like to gather the fabric strip to make the fabric flower look a tad more like a flower. When you have the fabric strip rolled to look like you would like, hot glue the end of the fabric to the back of the flower. Let the hot glue cool before gluing it onto your letter. I made three fabric flowers, you could make as many or as little as you would like.

The hard part (which isn't really even hard) is over! Now all that is left is securing the ribbon onto the back of the letter with hot glue...

...and tie the ribbon into a bow. I put a little bit of hot glue inside the bow to keep it from coming apart in the future. And voila! You have yourself a super easy, and super cute, door hanger!

You can make this yourself, or if you're like me and a little on the lazy side with DIY projects, I've set up a super professional (that's me being sarcastic) Etsy shop where you can purchase one of these lovely door hangers from Yours Truly! You can find it here. And please don't judge the bareness of my Etsy page. It's a work in progress, a.k.a. I'm too busy to make it look nice right now!

Pinterest All Day, Errr Day

Oh, how very Pinteresting indeed! Please tell me when you read that, you said it in a British accent like I intended. If not, go back and read it again. Danka.

And onto the good stuff, Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday! WAHOO! Can you tell I'm a little slap happy? This is the drunk but not really drunk Jenna. This is what happens when I write blog posts late at night (last night for all y'all reading this post this morning.) Anywho, I'm just rambling so let's get down to business. Link up with Michelle to share your weekly Pinterest finds!

{story of my life}

{yes, Justin, this will do}

{for my favorite holiday!}

  

{druzy, my love}

 

  

{love the combination of coral and navy}

 

{I would never leave this kitchen}

{and now for all the clothes that should make an appearance in my closet before fall gets here}

{thank you very much, Pinterest}

HAPPY HUMP DAY, Y'ALL!

Randomness in a Post



High/Low Top - Express // Jeans - American Eagle // Sandals - Target // Necklace - Forever 21

 Perfect day for a baggy, high/low tank top and (super) ripped jeans. I promise, I don't buy jeans with this many rips in them, my foot just tends to go threw the tiny rips every now and again, hence why my entire knee is exposed.

We took the kiddos on a field trip to the 4-H Fair today. Hysterical. These children have never seen a live farm animal in their entire life. The looks on their faces when we walked into the cow barn was priceless. A couple of them were estatic. Most of them were terrified. Oh, the days when a cow seemed as big as a dinosaur.

Today has just been one of those days. I rolled up to work almost half an hour late even though I left my house on time. Thank you construction traffic. I'm feeling a little frazzled today. Don't you hate that? No matter what you do, you just feel like you're constantly behind. I'm blessed to have understanding bosses who usually aren't on time either. But since I'm feeling so frazzled today, my brain isn't even working enough to write this blog post! Sorry I'm all over the place. I'll come back tomorrow strong with a great Pinterest inspired blog post and won't let you down!

And if that wasn't the most random blog post I've ever written, then I don't know what is!

Oh, You Think You Know Me?

I can't believe that I've gained almost 50 new followers in the past week! Those of you who say "it's not about the followers" are a bunch of liars. Girlfrandddd, please! I know your heart skips a tiny beat when you see that you've gained a few more followers. We're human, we seek acceptance, and the more followers we have, the more we feel accepted. Don't deny it. The truth will set you free. Holla!

I digress. As I was saying, since I've been getting massive amounts of love through these new followers, I feel like it's time for a "If You Really Knew Me" post. But really, this is a "If You Were Inside of My Brain" post, because a lot of people really know me, but these facts are kinda weird and random. So let's get started....

-I can't take a good picture to save my life. My eyes are always closed or squinty. Or my five-head is gleaming for all of the world to see. Or I just look like a freak of nature. Here is some proof:

 

Okay, so maybe I don't really try that hard to look good in a picture in the first place, but let's all ask ourselves a question...What is my arm doing in that last picture? And nice dance move by Justin. This is why we're a great couple. We have dance moves for DAYS!

-I love food. Like, really love food. The main reason I work out is so I can eat whatever I want. On the inside, I am 900lbs. But endless thanks to my mother for her super metabolism! I've definitely been blessed in that department.

-I once testified in court for a Termination of Parental Rights hearing. Most. Terrifying. Thing. Ever. I interned at Child Protective Services my last semester of college and often observed supervised visits between children and their parents. I got subpoenaed by the mother's lawyer to testify (not sure why since I had nothing nice to say about her or the father) and I wanted to cry. There's nothing like five attorneys throwing ridiculously hard questions at you about someone's parenting (or lack thereof in this case.)

-At my preschool graduation, I announced to the entire auditorium filled with families that I aspired to be a Taco Bell worker when I grew up. Everyone else was saying they wanted to be a doctor or singer or police officer, and there's little Jenna saying she wants to work at Taco Bell. I had high expectations for myself. I'm sure it was a proud moment for my parents.

-I have a lot of pet peeves. I'm not sure why I'm annoyed so easily, but I am. Let's make a list within a list of my pet peeves:
1) When the fitted sheet on my bed comes undone.
2) Loud mouth noises. You're not a cow. Chew with your mouth closed
3) Slow/crazy drivers. I have a severe case of road rage.
4) When people don't clean up after themselves. I'm OCD about cleanliness. This is especially challenging at work. Toddler's don't know how to clean up after themselves. And they always make the biggest mess with paint. I just have to remind myself to breathe.
5) When people (JUSTIN) drop their Oreo's (or other cookies, I'm not discriminating) into the milk to get all soggy and nasty. AND THEN drink it. Barf.
...and moving on....

-My nails need to be painted at all times. Right now, they're bare and it's driving me crazy. I know I need to let them breathe, but this will probably only last for another day or two, if that.

-I'm addicted to scarves and boots. I need two closets. One for scarves and boots and another for everything else. Also, I have my eye on a pair of Tory Burch boots and it makes me cry like a baby on the inside that I will never be able to afford them. Unless I'm being financially irresponsible...

{via}

-I wish my life was a musical. Sometimes, I think of a song that would go perfectly with the scenario I'm in and then I'll proceed to sing it and make up choreography in my head. This is why I'm not afraid to admit I love the High School Musical movies. I wanted that to be my life.

So there you have it, a little look into the random facts of my life. What random facts about your life do your readers not know about you?

Hope your Monday is off to a great start! I keep on having to tell myself I only have two more weeks until vacation! It's the only thing getting me through.

**Don't forget!! One of my sponsors, Nikki, over at makeupHER is giving away a $25 gift card to Target on the blog. Click here for your chance to win!**

Friday Favorites

I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately...but what a crazy week! This summer has been throwing all kinds of curveballs at me as far as work goes. Some pretty awful things have been happening to my toddlers and their families and it just seems to be never ending! I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to be a Social Worker, but this kind of stuff wears you down!

And on top of all that (on a selfish level) this 95+ degree weather and no A/C at work is making me a cranky girl! There's nothing I hate more than sweating. And when I'm sweating and I have seven sweating toddlers crawling all over me, I could lose it!

Needless to say, this week I have come home from work completely exhausted. Like, I don't want to cook dinner let alone try and work out, exhausted. But the good news is it's FRIDAY! Which means it's almost the weekend. And it also means it's time to link up with The Bargain Blonde for Friday Favorites!

{favorite necklace}

{via}

Blogger and jewelry maker, Morgan, Instagrammed a picture a few days ago of this gorgeous whistle necklace from her Etsy shop Adies Lovelies. I was instantly obsessed with it! So simple yet so cute! And the best part? It actually works! I told myself I wasn't going to buy it just yet, but alas, my shopaholic side got the best of me, and as of last night, I'm the {soon-to-be} new owner of the gold whistle necklace! I can't wait to wear this and blow the whistle when Justin isn't listening to me or when the kiddos at work are running wild {which will be often since they're a bunch of crazy little people these days!} Go check out Morgan's Etsy page and all of her beautiful (and, may I add, very reasonably priced) jewelry!

{favorite guilty pleasure}

Glam Grab Accessory Auction has taken over my life. What is it, you ask? Glam Grab is a Facebook page that holds designer jewelry auctions every Monday at 7:30pm CST and Wednesday at 11am CST. You simply like the Facebook page, and then once the auction begins, comment with the word 'grab' under the picture of the jewelry you would like to purchase. After the auction is over, you pay your PayPal invoice and the piece (or pieces, if you're like me) are all yours! I just received this gorgeous necklace in the mail last week and am waiting on this, this, and this. Did I mention I'm obsessed??

...and while I'm on a purchase rampage...

{favorite recent purchase}

Okay, the steal of a life time right here. This Kate Spade cosmetic pouch was originally retailed at $60. I found it hidden in a wicker laundry basket at TJ Maxx. Sorry if someone was hiding this so they could purchase it later! TJ Maxx had originally marked the priced down to $25.99, but.....BUT....... there was a little red sticker on the tag (which I knew meant great things) that said this beautiful KATE SPADE cosmetic pouch was only $9.99! You bet I snatched it up ASAP! Oh, my little bargainista heart was so so happy. I also found some cute Oscar de la Renta sunglasses for $10. TJ Maxx was crawling with designer items for super cheap yesterday! I was in heaven!

{favorite funnies}

For some reason, our consumers spill their life story to me anytime they see me. I don't entirely mind it as I take it as a compliment that they feel comfortable enough to confide in me, but there are some things I don't want to know! This week while picking up the kids on the bus, a mother just blurted out all of her personal struggles and the words "I wish people would walk a mile in my shoes" came out of her mouth. While I was trying to be sympathetic, I couldn't help but think about this ecard. SOOOOO TRUE!

Story of my life...

...Exactly! Again, story of my life...

{favorite picture}

You know that moment when you feel drunk, but you actually aren't? That was me in this picture. This is what happens when it's 105 degrees outside and I spend 8 hours without A/C....drunken exhaustion. Giggles, gangster dance moves, the works. And look at Justin's face. He's clearly thinking, "Why am I still hanging out with this freak-o-nature?" He's such a good sport when I get in my moods.

{favorite manicure}

(Don't mind the messy polish on my cuticles or my dinosaur claw of a hand...) I recently bought these adorable chevron nail decals from Made By Munchie's Mama. How cute are they? I bought these white ones, metallic silver, and grey. One sheet of decals comes with 44 chevron strips and costs $5. However, if you buy three sheets, you get $2 off! Go check out all of the cute colors she has to offer!

Don't forget!! One of my sponsors, Nikki, over at makeupHER is giving away a $25 gift card to Target on the blog. Click here for your chance to win!

Happy Friday, lovelies! Have a great weekend!