the dandelion menace

when i got back from Texas the empty lot next to our house looked like this. when i saw it i said, "wow! it's so beautiful!" to which my dad responded "those are weeds." well i still thought they were quite lovely

but as time went on and the lot changed to this i began to understand why they're called weeds.

these things have been mowed several times (in the lot next door and in our yard) but they come back faster and taller every time! dandelions take over! so how do you get rid of them? do you just have to weed them all by hand?

the jenster goes to Texas

last week was my spring break and i had the opportunity to go to texas to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and my nephews and niece! it was a blast. along with just hanging out with them, we ate several amazing meals (including the best sushi i have ever experienced & fresh oysters!), walked around UT, and saw lots of Austin. here are some snapshots (mostly of the family side) of my trip:

dyeing Easter eggs on Easter morning before church

our Easter egg hunt after church- Joel and I hid all the eggs in the backyard and it was so fun. there's nothing like watching kids hunt for candy filled goodness! and then trying to remember where you hid all the real eggs....thankfully the kids found them all!

canoeing on town lake (which is really a river that runs through Austin). we had two canoes that Joel tethered together with a life vest, creating the "Thollander Barge"- we were a force to be reckoned with on the water. see the beautiful Austin skyline in the background!

we went to a dinosaur museum and outside practiced jumping for the camera. the kids really got the hang of it! (well Ben's got a good jump here, there's a series of about 15 of these)

i of course joined in some too

it was so good to see my family!

updates from the jenster

last week felt like a very full week, here are the updates from my life-

1- i got a summer job! i'll be leading a summer day camp for kids with special needs here in town. i'm feeling both very excited and a bit overwhelmed. it will be a lot of fun, plus the timing is perfect, with it beginning right after school lets out (the day after in fact) and ending the week before ashley and alex's wedding. the stressful part is that i'll be planning camp/training while i'm still working in the school, but i think once i jump into it i'll be feeling better about it.

2- my car got hit at school this week. bummer. thankfully the lady that hit it came in and let folks know so we can get it taken care of it. it should all work out, but it's just a hassle to take care of. also when it got hit i realized that my front license plate had at some point fallen off (unrelated to getting hit). my dad was a champ and went to the dmv while i was at work and got me new plates, then spent over an hour figuring out how to attach them since the previous screws had broken off. oh car woes
3- a friend from India that I met while doing the forge was in town this week! it was great to see him and hear about what is going on over there.

4- in the midst of all that i got sick. nothing too terrible but it's just sort of wiped me out this weekend. i'm resting up and taking my vitamin c in hopes of a fresh start to the week!


(on an unrelated note i got roped into telling the "score one for the jenster" story at Bible study this past week. needless to say they're now calling me the jenster)

so long, faithful friend

it has come to pass that our dear ole friend who first came to know us in Midlands 4052 has passed onto the other side. dear Pablo died today, and although it's very sad, he had been declining in recent weeks and his passing was not a surprise. although he always was a carefree, go-with-the-flow kinda guy, recently he had been swimming even less than normal and would barely be able to swim up to the surface of the water to get his food. it was very sad.
and so in honor of him:

Pablo "Decanter" Thollander
August 2007-March 16, 2010
Hearty Fish, Beloved Friend
Here's to the golden times, and Pablo, here's to you

(fish pictured not actually Pablo as I don't have any pictures of him, but I like to think that if his essence was painted this is what it would look like)

feel free to leave tributes in the comments section below

movin movin movin

last sunday to prepare for amber moving in karen and i had to move a giant piece of furniture out of the empty room upstairs and put it downstairs. our former roommate hadn't come to get it yet and we couldn't wait any longer.

this is the piece of furniture (notice my camera case for size comparison). when we first tried to lift it we were hoping it'd be one of those looks heavy but really isn't pieces of furniture. sadly this was not the case

we carried it down these stairs-
and around this corner-
and almost died in the process. about half way down the stairs we realized we had made a horrible mistake (in even trying to move it) but it was much to late to turn back! after pausing briefly on the stairs we had to continue lest we be crushed by the sheer weight of the mammoth piece.

and in the end we succeeded! hooray! the furniture now sits in our living room (which is where it is in the first picture) waiting to be picked up.

and as an awesome bonus amber is successfully moved in! the move went smoothly and it's been so great to have her here!!

oh ice dancing

i'm currently watching the olympics and everyone's favorite event came on- ice dancing. i quickly grabbed my computer to check e-mails/play snood while it was on when i heard the announcer say "they've really been having problems with the twizzle sequence." twizzle? this event has something called a twizzle sequence? ok now they have my attention...

eh bored again. back to snood.

oh but wait the brother/sister pair coming up is...are? (which is it?) wearing country outfits. i'm tuned back in.

i haven't posted in a while...

so i thought it was time.

while scanning through past pictures i've taken i found this one. i took it many weeks ago when we had a pretty warm day but never blogged about it, so here goes...

one of my favorite things to do in the world is sit outside with a good book and a cup of coffee. something about it is just good for my soul. i enjoy reading inside as well, but it's just not the same and doesn't refresh me in the same way. isn't there something about the sun boosting your mood? or it gives you vitamin D and that does something? i could look it up but will instead test ya'lls knowledge- is the sun scientifically good for your mood? (no checking...if no one knows i will look it up)

oh and the book i'm reading in this picture is book 2 of C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy (i'm currently on book 3 and will blog on that when i finish). also notice the purple mocs and dunder mifflin coffee. you know that was a good day.