Jen Russum

A Happy Reunion

A Happy Reunion

After many days of travel and my little New Jersey adventure, I finally made it to Virginia Beach last week where I was reunited with one of my favorite families in this world. You may remember this post, where I talked about how my church shut down last summer when our pastor moved away to serve as a chaplain in the Navy. Well, this is my pastor's family and while he is serving our country out on a ship, we had a little ladies week in Virginia Beach {I guess Hudson is not a lady, but he tolerated furniture shopping like a champ!}. Lisa, Anne {not technically related to the family but kind of a big sister, mentee, friend of the family} and I have the sweetest friendship and  I am so thankful that it worked out for Anne and I to visit at the same time. We fell back into our old ways of talking and laughing and giving Anne life advice instantly. I'm a little jealous that she gets to spend another five weeks there with these precious kids, but I'll take what I can get. Our two days together were so sweet. Plus, there are way too many bugs in Virginia for my taste, so I'll let them do the cockroach killing, slug removal, and tick hunting without me! Ew. Ticks. I was not made for the East Coast.   These pretty ladies greeted me at the airport...   And then everyone else arrived! The girls had to run home from the school bus stop in the rain...   The cutest kids EVER.      Anne and I went to the top of the oldest lighthouse in America. And maybe the world? Need to research this... We hired a sitter and went out for dinner one night at the quirkiest little Mexican restaurant...       And then Lisa let the girls skip school and we all went to the beach. Hoorah! ... Read more

Father’s Day

Father’s Day

For the second year in a row, my parents, sister and I reunited in Arizona for Father's Day weekend. We had so much fun last year that we decided to make a tradition of pool lounging by day and eating at a steakhouse by night in order to celebrate our dad. *Disclaimer: I should note here that we have a brother. I have two siblings, not just my sister who regularly shows up in my photographs. Little bro happens to be 8 years younger than me and 6 years younger than my sister, so he kind of (aka totally) functions as an only child. He just graduated from college, got his first job, and is way too cool to spend his limited vacation days with his family... love that kid. Also, this was Micah's first Father's Day and it was fun to celebrate with him and my ever-growing baby  belly. Micah and I were both traveling last week, so we actually didn't see each other for eight days leading up to Sunday. But the baby didn't forget its dad during that time... As soon as Micah came home, he put his hand on my stomach, talked to the baby, and it kicked him instantly. Our baby is not super active yet, except for right when I wake up in the morning and when I go to bed, so it was cute to see it respond to dad during the day when it's usually sleeping.           ... Read more

Hello Maryland

Hello Maryland

If you read my Choose Your Own Adventure post, you will know I took a little trip to the East Coast about a week ago. My main motive was to present at an academic conference in a tiny town in Western Maryland. Since the trip was inconveniently located and very expensive {i.e. flights over $500, renting a car for the two hour drive to the university hosting the conference, sleeping in a dorm room on a horrible mattress at 26 weeks pregnant}, I decided I should rearrange my travel plans to make my flight to Maryland worth my time and money. And for me quality time with friends is what makes any trip worthwhile... I decided to skip the first few days of the conference {to eliminate paying money to sleep in a dorm} and I stayed in Baltimore with my best friend's little sister for the first night of the trip. I had never been to Maryland before, so it was fun to see a new city with Elise as my personal guide...                Hello rainy day tour of Baltimore Hello cute little row houses in the city. It's crazy how different the East Coast looks from other areas in the country. Hello little Edgar Allen Poe restaurant and the best mashed potatoes I've ever had in in my life! Hello sweet Elise! Thanks for being my Baltimore hostess and travel guide. The next morning I picked up my rental car and headed west to Frostburg State University for the conference. I was so utterly exhausted that I could barely stay awake for the 2ish hour drive. I finally had to stop at Chick-Fil-A for a chicken biscuit to perk me up. When I arrived, Frostburg was tiny and rural, just as I expected. I cannot imagine ever living there, even for college. I went to hear a keynote speaker when I arrived, met my roommate for the night, and then went out to dinner and dessert with Tracey, a classmate from ASU. I presented the next morning and then I seriously got out of that tiny backwoods town as quickly as I could. Tracey drove back to Baltimore with me, and she said pregnant women must have lead feet because I made it back in record time. I just really didn't like Frostburg and wanted to be out of Maryland and on to the next stop of my trip as quickly as possible. If I had known when I boarded my next flight in Baltimore that I would be spending the night in New Jersey, maybe I wouldn't have been quite so anxious to make it to airport...     Hello Frostburg, Maryland. You truly are in the middle of nowhere. Hello dressing the bump up for my last academic conference before the baby arrives. Hello small town ice cream stand. Hello dorm bed... not the most comfortable accommodations when six months pregnant, but I survived. I'll be back with my more of my adventure this week! The best part of the trip is yet to come... |Linking up with Lisa + Blair| ... Read more