Jensen House

  Moving away from home has been harder than I anticipated. One of the hardest parts is holidays. I have fought hard to be able to attend almost every holiday but obviously some sacrifices have had to be made. It might not seem like a big deal to some, but I have struggled with it.  This year, we weren't able to make it out for Mother's Day. On this day last year I was on my honeymoon and had seen my mom the day before and was going to see her again in a week, so it didn't really seem like a big deal to be away for Mother's Day.  So this year, when I realized I was going to miss out on the Mother's Day brunch, visiting with my family from out of town and spending the day with my mom. My siblings and I created a Mother's Day video with photos and videos of us saying how much we love her. I was able to FaceTime in when they showed it to her and we both bawled. It was really hitting me that this is my reality now.  So although I was away, I thought of her all day. ...

 Brody and I celebrated our one year marriage anniversary yesterday. The year flew by and we have had so much fun. Having said that, everyone who told me the first year of marriage is difficult was correct. We have gone through many struggles and adjustments. The hardest being the past two weeks. We have had to really pull together as a team to navigate finances, Brody starting a brand new university program all while being unemployed and battling mental health struggles.  Though is has been difficult to say the least, it has really reminded me why I chose Brody to be my husband. He really is the best for me. I don't want to go into too much personal depth about the tender moments we've had amidst our struggles, but he is my rock and I am so thankful for him.  Brody's birthday is at the end of April and our anniversary is May 13th. So around mid April we decided to celebrate. A lot. We took a day trip to the West Edmonton mall. I actually didn't take a single picture bu...

  I remember sitting on the front lawn of my childhood home, waiting for Dad to get home. All five kids huddled on the grass, my youngest brother only maybe two years old. Dad came home and they called a family meeting. I remember so vividly him saying the words, "For the first time in my life, I was fired." The details are a bit of a blur after that but I do recall literally hiding my head under a pillow so they didn't see that I was crying about it. I don't know why, because crying was a regular occurrence in our house. I think I was just thinking of all the worst possible outcomes, something I still do to this day. After my dad was let go from his job, with five kids under ten at home and no other income, you'd think this is cause for panic. But it turned out to be the best possible outcome for our family.  My parents run a successful business with multiple locations and employees. We have had our share of ups and downs but we thrived as a family once my dad wa...