Marriage Preparation Classes

Dear Familia,

The marriage prep classes have been going very well. We meet every Thursday and some saturdays with 7 other couples to talk about a range of topics to help us in our future married life. Last Thursday we were in charge of the snack. We brought a veggie tray and rice crispy treats from Smitten Kitchen. The class met this Saturday too to talk about the Meyers Briggs indicator test we took. Not surprisingly, Zane is a thinking introvert type and I am a feeling extrovert type. Hahaha.

Love,

Jem

Red and Blue in Georgetown

Dear Familia,

Reason #2 I love Georgetown: so much Red & Blue. These 4 houses were from 1 block! Seriously.

Love,

Jem

Design Mom

Dear Familia,

Up next, Design Mom. Gabrielle is one crafty lady (and mother of six...and Jordan's sister!). Like Jordan, she is living abroad right now, but always posts cute things from around the web and fun DIY projects. Here are some faves:

Several VDay Projects

Alphabet DIY

100 Dresses Project

Watercolor Calendar

(image via since I could not save from the original blog)

Love,

Jem

PS You may notice from a few of these blogs I am highlighting that there is a significant number of Mormon Mom bloggers. There are only subtle clues in their blogs and, for the most part, it really doesn't come up. Just a disclaimer in case you think I'm trying to send a message or something.

Google Reader

Dear Familia,

You may be wondering how I keep track of 50+ blogs. If I had to remember to go to each separate website everyday, I probably would not be able to be as involved as I am. However, Google (my love) has made it very simple for me to follow all my blogs. I use Google Reader which lets me "subscribe" to a blog and then have an inbox of sorts where I can read any new entry that comes out...all on one page!

Get more info here!

What, you don't have a google account?? Well then get one, duh! Haha.

Love,

Jem

Twig & Thistle

Dear Familia,

Today's blog: Twig and Thistle. Kathleen is all about pretty packaging and equally pretty DIY projects. Some of the things she posts are ridiculously gorgeous. Here are a few of my favorites:

From her "Well Sent" series, an amazing 1st birthday invitation

From her "Well Branded" series, a deliciously designed restaurant paper suite

DIY from Kathleen, 4th of July party set (you know I love her)

DIY she found for me, paper covered books

This is definitely one of my top 3 blogs.

Love,

Jem

1 week in DC

Dear Familia,

Tonight I will have officially been in DC for one week. I've been absolutely horrible about taking pictures, but here are a few random shots thus far.

Saturday we walked down by the Potomac River and yesterday we used the running path by the river to get in a short run.

We've been eating a lot! Here is a picture of a no-bake cheesecake I made. Delicious as always.

On Saturdays and Wednesdays Zane plays in a YMCA basketball league. This is him on Saturday up against a guy that is actually on the Redskins! Zane's team dominated.

On Thursdays we have our marriage prep classes. We got beautiful binders on our first class. I was in love from minute one.

During the day I've been wedding planning and house hunting for the fall. Oh and I met up with Zane a few times for lunch (really, eating takes up about 75% of our time). This week it's more wedding planning and house hunting.

Love,

Jem

Oh Happy Day!

Dear Familia,

As Zane will definitely confirm, I am obsessed with blogs. I follow at least 50 on my google reader (future post?). I am going to work on creating links to my favorites on a sidebar, but for now I am going to do some random posts on some of the best blogs out there. First up, Oh Happy Day!. This blog just got a new redesign that is very pretty, but it's been on my reader since I started with the whole blog thing in 2009ish. Jordan, the blog creator, does so many fun DIY projects and right now she and her family are living abroad for a year! Here are some links to a few great posts:

DIY Postcard Birthday Poster

Valentines Day DIY

Love her old home office

AND Jordan is doing a Paris giveaway: http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

So ya, check it out, see what you think! Hopefully I can do a few more this week.

Love,

Jem

What Teachers Make

Dear Mrs. Zeiler, Mrs. Lopercio, and Ms. Wrather,

Thank you for inspiring me to become the woman I am today. I would NOT have been able to make it here without you. This video is spot on and amazing!

Love,

Jem

Running...

Dear Familia,

Did you ever think Jem + Running would be in the same sentence? Well, it's happened. About a month ago there was a Groupon (my love for Groupon needs it's own post) for a "Running 101" through Potomac River Running. Since Zane and his family are pretty active, I thought it would be a good idea to take a "kick my butt into gear" class. It's the first week and with two classes down, here are my observations:

-It took me 11 minutes to run my first mile in 10+ years...to 8th grade sub 8 minute miler me, sorry :(

-Running + Rain = Fun

-Running + Humidity = NOT Fun

-Running = Blisters

It's an 8 week course and I'm hoping to be able to run 2 miles without stopping and in less than 20 minutes before I'm done. If I meet that goal then 3 miles in less than 30 minutes, then 4 miles in less than 45. We'll see how 2 in 20 goes first though :)

Love,

Jem

June?

Pop Castle

Dear Familia,

Can you believe it is June?? Where has the time gone? It's hot and humid here in DC...I'm pretty much drenched in my own sweat by the time I get to my final destination, even if that destination is 5 minutes away. I did Bikram yoga for a month earlier this year, but this is basically like Bikram everything. Crazy.

I got into town Sunday and we immediately drove from the airport to Whitestone, VA to spend time with Zane's mom at their house on the Rappahannock River. I'll have to do a post on this house b/c it has a very fun history. It even has it's own name, Pop Castle :) We got into DC Monday night and I've been mostly house hunting since then. I'll fill you in on some other particulars in the next few posts.

Love,

Jem