Four Years Ago Today...

...It's Been a Great Ride So Far

...And We're Never Going to Stop.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Twenty Four

Day 24- A Letter to Your Parents

This one is easy....

Dear Mom and Dad.

I love you. So Much. Thank you for everything that you have done for me. Your actions, decisions, love and kindness have made me who I am today. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for making me, well... Me.

I love you,

Melanie

Thirty Days of Us: Day Twenty Three

Day 23- Something you Crave

Lately, it's been...

Especially in tortellini soup.... mmmm. Here is my favorite tortellini soup recipe:

1 lb. Italian Sausage (MUST be Italian! I like to get it from my butcher and get 1/2lb mild and 1/2lb hot!)

1 cup Onion

2 Cloves Garlic

5 cups beef broth

1/2 cup water

1 qt stewed tomatoes

1 can sliced carrots

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

8 oz can tomato sauce

3 Tbs. Parsley

1 1/2 cup sliced Zucchini (I usually just dice two zucchinis)

8 oz tortellini (or if I'm really wanting it I get the big family size and add an extra 2 cups of water)

Brown sausage and onion. Add the next 8 ingredients and let simmer for 30 minutes. Last, add parsley, zucchini and tortellini and cook until tender. Top with Parm cheese!

SO YUMMY.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Twenty Two

I have been a slacker! Okay...

Day 22- What makes us Different

Ummm... I don't really know! I should have made Cooper write this post because he could probably come up with something crazy that makes us different...

Different from what? Different from our other friend's families? Um... we are younger, and we travel A LOT. I guess that makes us different. We always up and leaving for a quick getaway to Sun Valley, or California, Boise, or Denver. We like to just up and go. Not many people can do that and I guess that is something that makes us "different"...

Thirty Days of Us: Day Twenty One

Day 21-A Picture of Something that Makes Me Happy

I am going to speak for all of us on this one.... This makes us ALL happy...

Yes... that is a map of Disneyland, folks. It is one place that we ALWAYS go EVERY time we are in California. I LOVE Disneyland despite the high prices, the thousands of people and the trillions of germs more than any place that we can go as a family. I love seeing Marcus' face when we meets Micky Mouse for the hundredth time. I love when Cooper and I get to go on Indiana Jones together while Marcus hangs with Aunt Maddi... I love eating their churros, and having cinnamon sugar goodness all down the front of my shirt. Anyway, I love that it is a great place where we are ALL so happy.

Thirty Days of Us, Day 20

Oh noes! Cooper's back and bloggin up in here. So, today's lil' subject is..... "Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future"So, obvious answer, MEL! I mean, she's awesome, it's why I married her and Im lucky to have her. However, that's the easy way out of this. But how else to answer it? I could go the loves that where/could have been/might have been, but that'd end up with all sorts of negative responses and general no goodness, so pass I say!

For those of you who already know but need to be told again for some unknown reason, Mel and I (and Marcus) happen to be LDS, or as it is more commonly known, Mormon. Obviously by way of stereotypes that aren't based on any sort of fact within the last century this means we are also polygamists. Which means I'm failing miserably by having only 1 wife. So this blog will be a short thought trainwreck that explores my options for a second wife. Now, before I make things awkward for anyone I am limiting to people Mel and I don't personally know.

Now, one of the keys of polygamy is that both the husband and wife(ves) approve of the choice, since the new wife isn't just married to me she's also involved in Mel's life as family its important that it doesn't throw things off too much. Sadly this means I can't just throw out a list of super hot females like Scarlett Johansen, Jessica Biel, and others.... SO I guess the best place to start is going to be at what we (ok, mel's asleep and not involved in this post at all at the moment so that should be I) would need.

First things first, her personality is super important, she has to have a great sense of humor as well as being great in social events. I think we would both want her to be someone that people tend to gravitate towards and want to listen/speak with. After that you've got her background, and someone from a good family who knows what they want is key. Now, I've already got one amazing wife who happens to be white, and in todays forced politically correct world I'd hate to be seen as racist by only having white women with me so it should probably be someone of a different ethnic heritage. While Mel and I want a large family I think that would be the new woman's choice, but if she happens to have a great career that's awesome too! It's also important that she's politically knowledgeable so Mel isn't the only one to listen to me gripe. Looks? Well, Mel is gorgeous already, so I don't need yet another trophy wife.

I guess after all this its fairly obvious who Im talking about.... I mean it comes down to either Eva Mendes or Oprah Winfrey, and as much as I love Eva for having been in 2 fabulous movies (2fast 2furious and training day) I think Oprah Winfrey wins out with her 5 billion dollars and her own personal tv network, plus I kinda think she might be a lesbian (not that there's anything wrong with that) or at the very least not into massively awesome white dudes, so I don't have to worry about any bed time awkwardness. Also, since Mel is already my perfect girl already the only role she doesn't fill for me is sugar mama, and lets face it, Oprah would be the ultimate sugar mama.... except maybe JK Rowling and her billions and more physically attractiveness (not to mention being a better story teller) But then I'd be accused of being racist again so.........

Yep, you just read all that, and I apologize, as does this small kitty.

But that's about all... I mean, what else can you expect from a 1am post?

Thirty Days of Us: Day Nineteen

Day 19- Nicknames You have and Why You Have Them (Part one)

Nicknames are the best! Here are a few of mine... I'll have to have Cooper come on today and explain all of his too!

Melanie's Nicknames:

Mel, Melly- Shortened Version of Melanie

Mel Rose- My name is "Melanie Rose" and my mum and family called me "Mel-Rose" growing up.

WaterMelanie- My mum had a friend named Lynn that called me that. She liked giving people fruit names I guess? She called my friend Ayla "Ayla Papaya".

Melicious -A nickname in Highschool that my friend Carrie called me. It sounds mean (MELicious and MALiciouis...) but it was out of love... I think.

Mel-Mel-Growing up my good friend Maeve and her family called me "Mel-Mel". It stuck and they still call me that. I actually call Maeve "Maeve-O" and probably always will. Even when we are both wrinkly and old.

Smelly Melly, Smell- My cousin Jessica and her family call me "Smelly Melly". Jessica is called "Messy Jessie". We have called each other that for as long as I remember! Since we have gotten older, it has been shorted to "Smell" and "Messy" or "Mess".

Marcus' Nicknames:

Marky- This is what some people call him... Mainly his cousins and some of our friends.

Marky Mark- His "uncle Ben" calls him that.

Bug/Buggy- One day he wanted to be called "Buggy" for the day. It stuck. I call him "Buggy" or "Bug" quite a lot.

Bubba/Bubbas- LOTS of us in his family call him either "Bubba" or "Bubbas" and we have since he was itty bitty... I think I still called him that when he was in my tummy.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Eighteen

Day 18-Plans, Dreams, and Goals That We Have

Hmm... Well, lets think...we are Planning on going to see my family in Denver this December, which we are all really looking forward to. We are also Planning on going to Sun Valley to see Cooper's family for Christmas, and celebrating with his little brother Cody on the last Christmas before his two year mission in Mexico City, Mexico for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We are Dreaming of going to Hong Kong sometime, (That is where Cooper served his LDS mission...) and we have a Goal to get there before this time next year.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Seventeen

Day Thirty: Someone You Would Want to Switch Lives With for One Day and Why

I think I'd want to switch days with Cooper. I'd like to see what goes on in his head and how busy he is at work. I mean, I KNOW that Cooper is busy at work and has lots of things on his plate. I think that switching a day with him would make me appreciate it more and help me not get upset when he wants to watch a show instead of take out the trash... Plus it would be nice for him to have to clean the house and have Marcus talk his ear off all day and worry about dinner and groceries and things!

(hmmm.... maybe I don't need to switch days with him to try harder at this anyway...?)

Thirty Days of us, day 16

Day 16. a picture of me

Personally I believe the first thing I need to do, and sadly its the first post I've made on our blog, is to apologize. Today's post is supposed to be a picture of me, and sadly (for you, the reader, at least) instead of a picture of my beautiful wife, you are stuck with me. I mean, it's not all bad. You could be stuck looking at a picture of a pimply faced grease covered teen who makes Steve Erkel seem like a dream boat hidden behind a nerdy facade (see what I did there?) Or you could be stuck looking at some dude who happens to be a snorlax in human guise.

Fortunately for you I have found a picture of me that does not actually show me, but my beautiful wife Melanie. It also happens to be one of my favorite pictures from our wedding nearly 4 years ago. 4 years! HOLY CRAP it's already been nearly 4 years, which is almost five which is half of ten which can be rounded up to twenty which is 2/3rds of 30 which means we can round up to our 50th wedding anniversary already! Anyone know what the gift is for the 50th?

Don't worry if my math is a little skewampis, that tends to happen. Anyways, after this lazily written and lackadaisically designed post I feel the urge to do something productive, like play some legos with Marcus.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen: Put your iPod on Shuffle and Record the First 10 Songs that Play

...Speaking of Music.

You may be wondering why Arlo Gunthrie's "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is playing during this month of November...Well, growing up for as long as I can remember, we listened to this twenty minute song EVERY Thanksgiving at Noon. It is a tradition. It is one of the "family traditions" that I have tried to keep every Thanksgiving.

Just in case you don't want to listen, or you are enjoying this little piece of "Melanie History" on an iPhone where you simply cannot hear this song, I'll give you the summary of it from the awesome wikipedia.com...

""Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (commonly referred to simply as "Alice's Restaurant") is one of the singer-songwriter Arlo Gunthrie's most prominent works, a musical monologue based on a true story that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the same name. In an interview for All Things Considered, Gunthrie said the song points out that any American citizen who was convicted of a crime, no matter how minor, (in his case, it was littering), could avoid being conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War."

Needless to day, if you are facing being drafted, just walk into the psychiatrist's office and say, "Shrink, you can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant." And walk out.

Anyway... back to the "Thirty Days of Us".... Here are the lists...

Melanie's iPhone:

1. Black Eyed Peas, "Now Generation", The E.N.D.

2. Mairi Campbell &Dave Francis, "Auld Lang Syne", Sex and the City (Original Motion Picture)

3. Fergie, "London Bridge" , The Duchess

4. Gwen Stefani, "What You Waiting For?", Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

5. Air, "Cemetary Party", The Virgin Suicides (Soundtrack)

6. Meryl Streep, "Mamma Mia", Mamma Mia! (The Movie Soundtrack)

7. Dave Matthews, "Baby", Some Devil

8. Dave Matthews, "Dodo", Some Devil

9. Camelot, "I Loved You Once in Silence", Original Broadway Cast

10. Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow", The E.N.D.

Cooper's iPhone:

1. Gorillaz, "Tomorrow Comes Today", Gorillaz

2. Big Boi Featuring Sleepy Brown, "The Way You Move", Speakerboxxx

3. Santana, "Maria Maria", Supernatural

4. KoppZ, "Final Fantasy 6: Kefka Goes West"

5. Charles Blachly, "Mega Man 2 The Doctor Named Wily OC"

6. Black Eyed Peas, "Ring-a-Ling", The E.N.D.

7. Sephfire, "Kingodm Hearts Above The Rising Falls"

8. bLiNd, "Starfox Meteorave OC Remix"

9. Mazedude, "Slalom Slalomicide OC Remix"

10. McVaffe, "Super Mario Bros. Dancehall Ragga OC Remix"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

...you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Fourteen

Day Fourteen: A Picture of You and Your Family

This one is easy! :) This is Christmas last year for our Christmas Card... I thought it was quite festive for the upcoming Holidays...

Thirty Days of Us: Day Thirteen

WOWZERS I've been slacking! Okay... I'm snowed in for a few days, so I'll take advantage of it and blog daily! :)

Day Thirteen-A Letter to Someone Who Has Hurt You Recently

Honestly, there isn't someONE who has hurt me recently... but there is someTHING that just sucks. So here is my letter.

Dear Cancer.

Eff. You. I would rejoice in a thousand happy songs if you fell of the face of the earth and died out forever. You are horrible. You pick on undeserving people and it's not fair. YOU SUCK. Please Die.

Love,

Melanie

How was that...?

Thirty Days of Us: Day Twelve

Day 12- How You Found out About Blogging and Why You Have One

I don't remember HOW I found out about blogging, but I can tell you WHY. I think having a blog is a great way for people to see what you are up to. Many of my family members and my far-away (and not so far-away) friends read this to see what our little family is doing. It's a great way to keep in touch, and also to share pictures and memories. I have attempted to make one various times before, but I could never really stick with it. This one, especially because of jump starting it with "Thirty Days of Us" has helped me be a more regular blogger.

I also keep a Recipe Blog called Faux Pas(ta). It's a collection of low-carb recipes. When Cooper and I first started eating low-carb, I found that the recipes available on many sites were not so delicious, and many were just forms of meat and cheese. I mean, c'mon people. That's gross. SO, I decided to create my own low-carb recipes by modifying the recipes that we already enjoy into some low-carb versions.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Eleven

Day 11- Another Picture of You and Your Friends

Cooper always makes fun of me for my "online friends". We have a private bulletin board that a handful of us all get on and talk about everything and anything. Now, they are not all just "online friends" because I've met a good majority of them! Here are a few pictures!

Kate and her two little girls Charlotte and Victoria, Jenna and her daughter Audrey, Melanie and Marcus, and Brittney and her daughter Maddy all at the Hogle Zoo Early in 2008.

Juls, Katie and Melanie (With Milo Soaking Up the Attention!) during Katie's Salt Lake City Visit March 2010

Melanie, Juls, Katie and Lacey at Katie's Wedding June 2010

Katie, Melanie and Kate at a Fun Sunday Lunch at Kate's House this Past Summer.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Ten

Day 10- Songs you Listen to When You are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad.

Hmmm... This one is really hard! Especially since this is a family blog and Cooper and I do not have the same music preferences! Plus, my music changes all the time! Hmmmm... I guess I'll just do mine.

Happy:

Right now I'm loving "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. It's just such a great song and you just have to smile while you are singing along. It is especially great when the Today Show reporters are singing it! I also LOVE "You Make Me Feel Like Dancin" by Leo Sayer, "Somebody to Love" by Queen, and "Walking on Sunshine".

Sad:

I love songs that Lift You Up while you are down... I LOVE "More Beautiful You" By Johnny Diaz. It always makes me feel better. So does "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real.

Bored:

Hmmm... If I'm bored, such as a long drive or something, I'll probably be singing show tunes....Camelot (gotta love C'est Moi), Chicago (We Both Reached for the Gun), Wicked (Dancing Though Life), RENT (I'll Cover You), Mamma Mia! (Does Your Mother Know), etc... all awesome.

Hyped:

Ummm....I guess all the stuff you can dance and move to..."I Gotta Feeling" and "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Party In the U.S.A." Miley Cyrus, "It's Not Just Make Believe" by Kari Kimmel.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Nine

Day Nine- Something You are Proud of From the Last Few Days

Hmmm...Let me think...

I am proud of Marcus. Recently, Cooper's office has been busy, busy, busy, filling orders from all over the world. I have come in the past few days and have been helping fill the orders by putting labels on packets and boxes. Anyway, Marcus has been such a trooper because we have been at Burn Free for the past few days. Marcus has been playing and having lots of fun and keeping out of trouble while I have been working. It's been really great!

Thirty Days of Us: Day Eight

Day Eight- Short Term Goals for this Month and Why.

Really? This is a dumb one! Um.... Considering it's November, I guess our short term goal for this month would be to NOT gain a thousand pounds on stuffing? That IS why they call it stuffing after all, because you are stuffed like a big, fat teddy bear after you eat it all up... yum!

(Okay, who are we kidding... getting stuffed on stuffing when you have not had it in a calendar year is pretty dang awesome. I can't wait!)

Thirty Days of Us: Day Seven

Day 7- A Picture of Someone/Something that has the Biggest Impact on You.

Okay, it is SO hard to choose a single person who has had the biggest impact on us... so here is a big huge group... our family...(prepare for another picture overload!) ...Now, I know that I have missed A BUNCH of pictures of people in our families who have really have supported and loved us and in doing so has touched our lives so much. (It just means we need some good pictures of you!)

We love you.

Great-Grandpa John

Grandpa John

Uncle Jimmy (and their doggie, I)

Aunt Laurel

Grandma Hazel

Aunt Terry

Aunt Lisa

Devry

Grandma Kate

Great Grandpa Don and Great Grandma Charlene

Great Grandpa Bill And Great Grandma Nancy

Grandpa M

Cody

Grandma S

Maddi

Jeremy, Jessica, Tyler, Lindsay, Aunt Traci, Uncle Doug, Johnny, Lindsay, Kristal and Chris

We love you all.

...So So So Much.

Thirty Days of Us: Day Six

Day Six: What is Your Favorite Super Hero and Why?

Well, in this house...

IronMan

We think that IronMan is pretty darn awesome. He wasn't born with any special abilities, (except his super smart brain, and lets face it, it's REALLY good to be smart!) he didn't get bitten by a radioactive spider, nor did he fall into a vat of toxic waste... He was smart enough to make his own super suit! How many superheroes can say THAT...?!

Thirty Days of Us: Day Five

Day 5- A Picture of Somewhere You've Been to

Maui, Hawaii

Cooper and I have been to Hawaii Twice. Cooper and I went in 2006 for the 2007 New Year with his family, And Marcus went to Hawaii once when he was itty bitty in 2007 (almost three months old). These are pictures of both of our trips. (Prepare for a picture overload...)

Thirty Days of Us: Day Four

Bad habits. We all have them....

Day Four: A Habit That You Wish You Didn't Have

Okay, this isn't really an "us" post... It's more of a me post, because I cannot comment on what Cooper or Marcus' bad habits that they think they might have... so here is my list, I'm sure it is just a portion, because I have plenty of them....

...I don't update my blog(s) as often as I should...I say "like". Like, a lot...I pick at my acne...I don't read my scriptures nearly enough as I should...I play with my tongue against my teeth quite often...I always am checking my phone like I'm waiting for an important phone call. All. The. Time...I sometimes forget to take my medicine and my vitamins on a daily basis...I say, "Sorry" too much, even for things that I shouldn't really care about...I'm really bad at putting my clothes away after I wash them...I almost always forget to floss, and forget about using mouthwash...I talk during movies...I'm really bad at taking pictures of important things...

Now, this isn't a part of the "30 Days of Me Challenge", but... I'm adding it anyway. Because I prefer not to end on a bad note, so here are some really good habits that I have...

...I always tell my family that I love them all the time. No matter what...I always say "bless you" when I hear people sneeze (even if I don't know them)...I hold doors open for people...I say "please" and "thank you"...I write thank you notes...Our family prays together...I sing in the car...

Thirty Days of Us: Day Three

Day Three: A Picture of You and Your Friends

We don't have many pictures of "us" and our friends...so, here are some pictures of some of our good friends (in now particular order) that we see on a regular basis...

Travis and Kat (or, KaTravis, like we like to call them!)

Brook and Kim:

Paul, Annie, and Baby Connor:

Ben and Susan:

Thirty Days of Us: Day Two

Okay, back again! Yeah! Two days in a row. I swear this is a record in my family blogging history!

Day Two: The Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

Well, our blog name is pretty simple:

Jenson:

Our last name. Cooper Jenson, Melanie Jenson, and Marcus Jenson.

Jaunts:

According to Merriam-Webster online, "Jaunt" is "to make a usually short journey for pleasure." (Also, the origin is unknown, but the first known use was in 1575! Amazing what you can learn online!) We take quite a few trips, some for the weekend, some for a week, some for an hour. We love our outings and take them frequently together. Also, life is short people! Enjoy it all the time. We are sure taking pleasure in our short time here.

You should too...

Thirty Days of Us: Day One

Enjoy the Thirty Days of Us! Come back every day to see more!

Day One: Add a Recent Picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

1. Even though we live in Utah, we have annual passes to Disneyland and go at least twice every visit to California.

2. Cooper and Melanie have been married for almost four years.

3. Marcus just turned three.

4. We love watching the detective type shows... NCIS, NCIS: LA, CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami....Pretty much all of those letters shows!

5. Cooper got Melanie watching (and addicted to) Top Gear a super funny British Car-type show. Look it up it's awesome.

6. Spiders give all three of us the heebie-jeebies.

7. Melanie is allergic to Aloe Vera.

8. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (Yep. The Mormons.)

9. Both Cooper and Melanie's parents live in different states than we do, Melanie's are in Colorado and North California and Cooper's live in South California.

10. Cooper's favorite color is Red, Melanie's is White, and Marcus' is Blue.

11. Melanie and Cooper are four years apart. Melanie is also the same age (well, two months younger) than Cooper's little sister.

12. Cooper served an LDS mission in Hong Kong, and speaks Cantonese.

13. We are a texting family. We text all day long to each other.

14. We are hoping to be leaving Utah in the near future... Hopefully to Orange County, California.

15. Cooper works for a company called Burn Free that specializes in a great burn care gel. It's the best for sunburns and we even used it on Marcus' diaper rash when he was a baby!

We are up and running!

As many of you may know, I am a family blog slacker. My Recipe blog is okay, I update it pretty regularly, but my family blog... um. No. Not so much. I have come to make amends my dear readers. And to kick start this right, I am going to post a "Thirty Days of Us". Come back every day for a new post!

See you soon!