"I think I'll go to Boston"

After all of the madness in our lives the last few weeks, we needed a little getaway. Susie had some rewards points that she needed to use (or something like that--??) and sent us a list of places we could go. We chose to go to Providence, RI and Boston. They're only like 2 hours apart. We're actually staying in Boston on August 27th (Jackson and Susie will fly together from Indy and I will join them from CO). Then on Friday we're headed to Providence, RI for a couple of days. One of the days we're going to take a ferry to Block Island, RI. It is an island that Jackson visited with his father when he was young where there are not many cars and people ride bikes to get around. Fun! :) I will get to mark off 3 states- Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. (Connecticut is really close and we're going there for dinner one night!) I intend to only eat seafood on this trip. :) The last day, Monday, we will spend in the Boston area again. We'll visit Harvard and get a t-shirt. Then when people ask me if I went to Harvard I can answer that I did! ;) We'll be sure to have a small tea party in Boston and see all of the historic sites. I'm pretty darned excited! It will be a good way to ease into the whole Jackson and I living apart for a few weeks thing.

Again, I'm REALLY excited for the trip- I LOVE to travel! :)

Roomie!

You are looking at a picture of my new roomie! What a freakin' champ she is. This is Meg (for those of you who do not know) our friend from Indy who moved out to Colorado about a year- I think?- before we did. She was our manager at American Funds and knew I was getting engaged before I did! Meg beat breast cancer this year and is pretty much just awesome all across the board. She has agreed to take me in for 2 months or so when Jackson moves back to Indianapolis. She has made me promise not to talk smack about her housekeeping skills. Little does she know that I'll just clean. Right, Susie and Deb?! :)

I'm sure by now you're thinking: why does Jenna need to move in with someone other than Jackson? Well first things first, I'm pretty certain Meg doesn't snore and won't try to grab my boobs in the morning. Those are two things that Jackson is guaranteed to do! Second, and more seriously, is that the Westfield situation spiraled out of control today. The tenants are vacating TODAY at midnight. OH! It was a bit of a shock, but they wanted to avoid being under the new lease that they had signed. Their pretty much the worst people to ever live, in my opinion, and I'm trying really hard not to wish bad things upon them continuously.

Jackson and I will be driving back to Indy on or around our previously scheduled days of August 20th. Jackson may go sooner if one of Guy's friends who needs some stuff brought to Indiana from Colorado works out. That's a long story, too. Anyway, we had booked our flight home on Southwest and they allow refunds so we will just have to take a trip in the future! (San Francisco, L.A., and South Florida are all distinct possibilities!) I will be flying back to Denver on August 23 all by myself to go and live with Meg for a couple of months while I finish my job here in Denver. My contract with them is over on October 15th. I just did not feel like I could leave the accounting firm high and dry to move home at this time. Also, my job is going to help pay our bills while Jackson focuses on fixing up the Westfield place. It is great tax preparation experience, too. I am learning a lot.

So that's the news from Denver. Sigh. There is always something going on!

I-N-D-I-A-N-A

Well folks we learned something today: do not ask God to lead you if you're not willing to follow. After going back and forth with each other about what to do about our current situation, we have seen the light. We're moving back to Indiana. Our oh-so-lovely renters let us know today that they have purchased a home in the same neighborhood and intend to vacate on September 15th. GRR! We will spare you all of the messy details of how these idiots think they're breaking their lease and just give the good news: we're coming home! The photo above is a not-so-good picture of the Westfield place, but you get the idea.

This will not be a forever move. We plan to live in the Westfield place and spruce it up quite a bit before putting it on the market. I will not know what to do with all of the space that place will bring us! It is 1,800 square feet with 2.5 baths and 3 HUGE bedrooms. I'm already basking in having a seperate guest bedroom and office again. (Jackson reminds me that we will no longer have guests when we live in Indiana. Shoot!) The master closet is divine! Anyway, we then intend to refinance our Noblesville home and figure out where our next adventure leads us. Whether that is to Seattle, Park City or Indianapolis we just do not know yet. We'll trust that God will guide us.

The details: we will move back to Indianapolis as soon as my position with Hanegan & Associates is over on October 15th. Jackson is going to start looking for jobs in Indy now so he may have to leave me behind for a little bit. I have a meeting planned with school to get all squared away on finishing my degree online. I will look for a job once we're back in Indy as I won't be able to leave work to interview across the country! MacKenzie will have a backyard and doggy friends to play with again- Madison, Macy and Gunner to name a few. She's pretty excited.

That's our big news for the day. Please keep us in your prayers that things will continue to fall into place for us.

1944

My former boss, Bill, is a die-hard Republican. It is one of the reasons that we get along so well. He sent me this as an email today and I thought it was quite true. (I'll apologize now to anyone who is offended by my political stance.)

Thinking of you

Do you ever have those times where you're thinking of someone so you send them a quick note (i.e. text, email, Facebook message, Twitter message, etc.) to let them know that they're on your mind? I did that today with 2 of my 3 siblings. (I, unfortunately, do not have my brother Brian's phone number. I did send him a Myspace message just now. God bless love the internet.) I sent my sister a message checking in on her. She's "trying" to get pregnant right now. I don't like to think of people "trying" to get pregnant because let's face it- that means they're actively having sex. I don't know about you, but I don't need to think about my sister having sex. Eww. Enough of that. Anyway, she wrote back to tell me that she, "literally just send mom a text asking for your address! crazy!" I promptly sent her my address because what if she intends to send presents in the mail?! (NO chance. NONE. But one can dream.) Now my brother crosses my mind a lot. Mainly when I meet a nice girl around his age that is single. I cannot help it. I want him to be attached to someone. Anyway, he claims that he was going to text me last night to check in. He didn't. After getting similar responses from both of my siblings I began to wonder: are they both liars who feel guilty for never checking in on their little sister? OR are we really connected by some strange sibling force and really had been thinking of each other? OR was it just an odd coincidence? I'm baffled. 

Best husband

I married the most thoughtful man in the world. (I say that today. It may change tomorrow, but let it be for now, folks.) I, as you all know by now, ride the train to work. I had class tonight (which is why you've been graced with a blog update during the week! What else would I do in class? Listen? Bah.) so I just took the train to the university and planned to walk to class. It was raining, however, and I wore a skirt and now had on flip-flops. I got off the train and my phone rang with Jackon's ringer; he was waiting to pick me up and run me to get some quick dinner! What a sweet boy! He had been golfing and had to take a rain-check for the back nine so he decided to swing by and get me. Collective aww. :) He also cooks my breakfast, packs my lunch (that he cooked the night before!) and takes me to and from the train station with MacKenzie. I love that kid! What an awesome helper!

You all also know that we've been struggling a bit lately. Jackson's unemployment seems to have gotten going now and I'll get my first paycheck soon. That's been a real blessing. Jackson is getting tired of being at home. (I'm getting tired of going to work! Kidding. Kind of.) We really need some prayers that something will break his way soon. We've also been trying to figure out what is up next for us. With all of this unemployment madness a lot of our plans have gotten off track. I read another blog written by a woman named Jade. She's an absolutely amazing woman. We're from the same county, but I do not think we ever really ran into each other. I got linked to her blog from another high school friend and I am glad that I did. She wrote this today (she's at family church camp): "In the first service here at camp, Sunday morning, Pastor Ott was reading out of Jeremiah 29 and made a point by saying, “do not seek the plan, seek the Planner.” He was talking about how we, like the Babylonians, cry out to God to fix our situation instead of trying to get to know the Lord in the midst our of situation. This hit me like a ton of bricks, and out of my mouth came, “that’s good preaching!” All this time I have been seeking the plan…not the Planner…not God. I have been trying to figure this out on my own, calling places, going to classes, searching the internet, and not talking to God near enough."

I felt very convicted by this. I am so guilty of leaning on myself or on Jackson when times get tough. I need to really lean on God. I need to talk to the Planner instead of planning. I hope it speaks to you, too. 

Have a great week!

Not ready

I do not think the words "not ready" can really sum up how I feel about being a parent. As you all read, Jackson and I had Grace ALL BY OURSELVES Saturday and Sunday from 8-5. Whew. It is not that she misbehaves. She does not. She's really very good. A little moody? Sure. But she is going to grow into a woman so she might as well perfect that art. She endears herself to everyone she meets and is a good littler helper. She even listens to me. She does not listen to Jackson, but that's ok. She loves MacKenzie which earns her a ton of points in my book. We love that little girl and had a ton of fun with her. She also told me that her life got better when I came into it. Collective aww. She's very sweet. It's not her. No. It is more the worry, concern and pressure that I do not feel ready for at all. I drive much more carefully when she is in the car because I would never forgive myself is something happened to her. When I cross the street I have to find her, hold her hand (she probably doesn't need that step, but I do) and make sure that there is enough time to walk across and not have to run for it. I had to make sure she always had on sunscreen as I'd feel guilty if she got burned. I had to try not to curse or get mad in traffic as to not be a bad influence. I had to stand guard outside of a men's bathroom for her while she went because the women's was locked and the whole time I worried that I was teaching her to break rules. Ugh. The list could go on for a long time. Anyway, I have decided that right now it is simply too much pressure to try to raise another decent person who will contribute to society. For now, I am quite pleased to have a few days of Aunt Jenna before turning her back over to Kathi. It is kind of like being a grandma when I'm young. Very cool. :)

Now if you'll excuse me, there is a thunder storm taking place in Denver (very rare) which means my bed is calling my name. Having a kid for 2 days wore this non-mother out. :)

Bald Mountain

We took Kathi and Grace to hike just outside of Boulder at Bald Mountain. This was the view from the top today. 
The gang smiling for the camera. 

Grace is not so sure about having her photo taken. 
Kathi and Grace smiling for the camera. 
We made it to the top!
It was a gorgeous day- not windy on the top at all, for once. 



After the hike, we went to the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder to do a little shopping and dining. Grace loved their playgrounds in middle of the mall. 
Grace taking a break to smile for the camera.

We took it pretty easy today. We took Grace to church with us then went for Chinese food. The three of us went swimming here at our apartment complex before cleaning up to go meet Kathi to hike and dine in Boulder. The ladies loved Boulder as it is so pretty nestled against the mountains. Kathi had a convertible for a rental car so I rode home with her with the wind whipping through my hair. Ah. I loved it! 

Rafting

After the hike and a little stroll through Idaho Springs, we took Grace whitewater rafting. It was a really good time! We went in a group of 42 people and 7 instructors in 7 boats. Out of the 49 people, only 2 actually went "swimming." Yep, Jackson and Jenna Petefish went for a little dip against their will. We hit a big rapid and out we both went. Jackson's rescue was a bit hampered by the fact that no one left on the raft weighed over 150 pounds. I was in the water at the same time that he was and I was struggling. I got pretty battered by some rocks before the guide, Alberto, pulled me back into the boat. Alberto, by the way, was from Costa Rico and spoke a solid language called Spanglish. He could not pronounce my name to save his life. My name came out as "Yanet." So I'm in the river slamming into the rocks and all I can hear it "Yanet! Yanet! grab me hand." Ugh. I got back in and so did Jackson and we enjoyed the rest of the trip. We want to go again sometime soon. Grace loved it and wanted to go again right after we finished our trip. She's so funny.

We came home tonight and cooked steaks on the grill. It was a delicious meal. The soccer team here in Denver had an issue with their fireworks on July 4th so they set off their fireworks tonight. Luckily, we could see them from our balcony so we had about 30 minutes of free entertainment. It was a great day! 

To Grammy

Susie,

   Grace and Jackson made you a video.

Love,

The Petefish Post

St. Mary's Alice

Jackson and Grace smiling at the START of the hike. "It is a really big hill with a lot of rocks!"-Grace
Gracie stopped Jackson for a drink.
"I'm exhausted."
WE MADE IT!!!!!! This is a little stream at the top. So pretty.
The lake at the bottom of the Alice.

The Alice.
We met this dog in the parking lot and saw him again on the Alice. He loves the snow and could not wait to play. He was so funny running up the hill and sliding down. People hike all the way to the Alice to ski, snowboard and sled in the non-skiing months.

The views from on top of the mountain are just gorgeous.


This is my very favorite view. Wonderful.



Jackson decided to play on the Alice this time. It was pretty cold once we got to the top!
Oh, Grace is about to get hit with a snowball in July!She had no idea what was coming... :)
Jackson and Grace talking to Susie on the way down.
At the bottom. Worn out and ready to go whitewater rafting. More on that later.

Kathi and Grace in CO

While Kathi and Grace went up on the Cog Railway, we went to Cracker Barrel and hiked around The Garden of the Gods. MacKenzie is part Mountain Goat and loves to climb. 
Jackson took her down off of the rock. Classic. :)






And she's tired.
"I'll be right here if you need me."
After we picked up the girls, we headed to Seven Falls. It is a waterfall in Colorado Springs that has stairs all along it. We climbed 184 stairs first. Then we climbed 224. Whew. I had an allergy attack and got physically ill on the top. Boo. Grace had been sick on the top of Pike's Peak so poor Kathi was surrounded by weenies today! 
Susie- I took this photo for you. (How CUTE is Jackson?! UGH! I just want to squeeze those cheeks!)






We took the girls back to Garden of the Gods so that they could climb on the rocks, too. 



I'm sorry, but do I not have the cutest little family? MacKenzie is soo regal. And Grace and Jackson aren't bad, either. ;)

Grace loves MacKenzie! :)

We had a great time today and we're looking forward to tomorrow's white water rafting and glacier hiking. :)