Jen Russum

Spring Break {a recap}

Spring Break {a recap}

So I made some goals for spring break. I got almost none of them accomplished. I can hardly bring myself to look at the list because it's so depressing... But you want to know what's not depressing? How much fun I had last week on my spring break!!! It was a week of restful, relational, unproductive bliss and that's probably just what I needed! And now all I have to do is get through the next five weeks of school and then I have ALL summer break to work on goals and projects.  I. cannot. wait. Springtime in Phoenix...  My favorite time of day // Micah made me bacon and eggs for dinner one night I got to spend a whole day of break exploring Tucson with Heather! And we ended break with a backyard bash! So fun. *Linking up with Hello Hue and Life Rearranged!* ... Read more

San Diego

San Diego

Here are some of the pictures off the fancy cam from our trip to San Diego {finally}. Gosh, Micah and I really love San Diego. We stood on our balcony the second morning there and just stared at the beautiful harbor and talked about living there someday. It really is so beautiful. Not quite hot enough for our tastes, but having the ocean as a neighbor could probably make up for the lack of heat. Everywhere I went around town, I was just fascinated. Watching the moms jog along the beach with their strollers and wondering if that would ever be me someday. Driving through beautiful neighborhoods overlooking the ocean and wondering if we could ever live in a house like that. Thinking about how there are four amazing universities in this town where I could work in the future. Wandering along the beach, trying different coffee shops, gorging myself on Mexican food. Life is good in SD. Micah and I would love to live there someday, but only if that is God’s plan for us, of course…  And when I remember that despite all the beauty, the sunshine and the fresh ocean breezes, gas cost me $4.35 a gallon, I don’t know if that will ever be His plan for us. Nashville, anyone??? ... Read more

Chill Out Grill Out

Chill Out Grill Out

Ever since we moved into our new house in November, Micah has had a dream. Now it's not MLK Jr. caliber or anything... it was just this simple and sweet vision he's had. And it involved {in his words}... "folks from church, kiddies running around, lots of food, and games out in the yard." Well, this weekend, in honor of Micah's birthday earlier this month, Kayla and I made his dream come true. We had a huge backyard BBQ with at least thirty people in attendance on Saturday. There were burgers galore, ladder ball and croquet, kids everywhere, including two darling little girls who asked to borrow t-shirts so they could go swimming in the pool. It was great. But Kayla and I can't just have a party. No. We have to have a themed party. If people aren't dressed up in something strange, it's just not official in our book. We were originally going to schedule this "March Madness" party on the 17th but due to conflicts had to switch it to the 24th... so making everyone wear green no longer made sense. We needed a new plan. My darling sister in law came up with the title "Chill Out Grill Out" and you better believe we made everyone wear blue to keep with our "chill" theme. We have a strong belief that costumes, even if it's just everyone wearing the same color, make pictures better. And we stick by our beliefs. But speaking of pictures... here comes the sad part. Many of you know that I finally got a DSLR camera back in November. Well, I am still sometimes a dunce when it comes to using it. The settings on it have been a bit wonky for a few weeks, so when my friend Shalyn arrived to the party early on Saturday, I asked her for help me adjust my camera. She showed me what was wrong with my light meter and how to fix it. Hoorah... and then I was an idiot and forgot to check what she showed me for the rest of the day. So although I took about 30 or 40 beautiful pictures of the party, only about 10 of them turned out. And mostly the ones taken indoors. They say shooting in auto if for losers, right? Well, maybe I should just humble myself and stop trying to be cool by shooting in manual, since this is the result... This was going to be the cutest picture ever... But here are the ones I could salvage... Banana Nutella Cake. It was my best yet! Recipe coming soon! It had so much potential... Happy birthday, husband! ... Read more