Hello again... 2012: a year in review.

Hello, my name is Jennifer.
I have a blog.
I got a little busy and forgot about it, for 13 months.
I am back and will try to do better.

So, what have I been doing? What has been going on that has kept me away from you? Well, let's see:

My job responsibilities went through the roof when our Sports Director at the Y quit to take a full-time teaching job at a local high school. I have been chasing my tail since last summer as we try to stay at least one week ahead of the sports chaos that never ends. Fortunately, I have a great work partner who shares the load handling all of the 'on the field' responsibilities while I handle the office/paper work.

Julia joined the 4H BB team. Learn how to shoot a BB gun, all the parts of the gun and safety & compete at meets. I became a certified coach for this BB team.
This was on top of school, soccer at the Y and joining the Book Club at school which required her to read 20 books and compete in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. (Her team won the county meet and continued on to State! They didn't place, but Julia did take one round all by herself.)

My bestie moved home to Pittsburgh and left me with the title of PTO President (which I never wanted). But she brought me into her circle of friends that she has 'collected' through her travels around the country and now we all laugh and share via Facebook. These ladies are funny, smart, talented & fiercely devoted to family and friends. We share each other's burdens, slap each other out of a funk, ask parenting questions from those with kids older than our's, tell stories about neighbors or co-workers that we can't tell anyone 'local'.

I finished up my PTO responsibilities at Heard Mixon and passed on the baton to the poor suckers that decided to stay.

I turned 35.

We visited our new nephew Philip Wesley Towns III in NC.
That same weekend we saw TFK & Manafest live in concert! (we also discovered Nine Lashes at that concert, good band.)

Summer came and went with it's usual bang, but the kids were old enough this year to hang at the camp some and even work a little in the canteen. They preferred, however, to spend as much time as possible at Grandma's house and play with their cousins.

Julia spent almost as much time away from home as not this summer! Soccer Camp, Church Camp, Wildlife Camp, Camping with Grandparents, long weekend at my sister's.

Connor attended his first Boy Scout Summer Camp - 4 days, 3 nights - by himself.

We made several weekend camping trips with the kids to state parks. We tent camp and cook our own food over the fire. The kids love it! We have been to Fort McAllister, Tallulah Gorge (adult only trip), Tugaloo State Park, Lee State Park (with Leroy and Ryan for the Tough Mudder weekend).

TOUGH MUDDER!!! Russel & I completed our first TM October 27th in South Carolina. If you don't know what this is go to their website and check it out: Tough Mudder  We did a lot of training before the race building up our strength and stamina. It paid off because we did a lot better than we expected to, although I had bruises that didn't go away for about 6 weeks, and Russel had to deal with bruised ribs from falling off a 12 foot Berlin Wall.

Saw our niece Samantha get married.

Sent our nephew Zach off to college. (Julia has had a hard time with this. They are pretty close.)

Welcomed our first great-nephew Edward Clark Lang into the world.

My baby girl started middle school & joined the youth group at church. (this makes me feel old!)

DISNEY CRUISE!!!! This was our family vacation for 2012. Four night cruise aboard the Disney Dream. Amazing. Can't wait to go again!

And I read 23 books, a short story and a poem.

Super Commercial-Bowl 2011

Our favorite commercial of the night, hands down is... 

Volkswagon: The Force

I mean seriously, how cute is this little guy! He could so be one of ours! Love.

Here are our Honorable Mentions:

Mini USA: Cram it in the Boot 

(pay attention, you might miss it.) 

(and if you don't know what "the Boot" is, that's what the Brits call the trunk)

My first thought was "Oh no they didn't"

Chevrolet: Eco Misunderstanding

Reminds me of when my grandparents were living with my mom and dad!

"Who asked you?"    "Turn up the volume."    "Eco. Eco. Eco."

Chevrolet: T3

just because I love Bee

Pepsi: Love Hurts

of course he ducks....

Pepsi: First Date

as I have always said: 

men's brains are like waffles 

(one thing at a time)

women's brains are like spaghetti 

(multiple things intersecting and leading to new paths all the time)

Best Buy: Ozzy vs. Beiber

gotta love Ozzy. "What's a Bee-buh?"

and for those of you who didn't realize, the bad wig dude behind Ozzy and Sharon at the end is Justin Beiber!

Pepsi: Torpedo Cooler

just because we love seeing the punk get nailed in the "money-maker"

(yes, we love watching AFV and Wipeout w/ the kids for the same reason)

and the cute "bad boy" doesn't hurt either (wink. wink.)

Yes, I am a Soccer Mom

At the urging of Julia's preschool teachers, we signed her up for ballet when she was three to help her physical development catch up with her intellectual prowess. But, that didn't really stick, so the next year we signed her and her brother up for soccer at the Y. And as they say..... the rest is history.

I have officially joined the Soccer Mom club. We always have folding chairs, a big golf umbrella, and bug spray in the back of our SUV. From time to time there is a soccer ball magnet on the back of my truck, and we have just completed our second summer of soccer camp complete with international coaches. My daughter takes a book and a size 1 (little-bitty training size) soccer ball everywhere she goes. I have been watching the World Cup on ESPN, and can understand most of the penalties that are called in the games. I can even brag and say that Russel and I had the only undefeated team when we coached Connor's under-six team. (that's 4 & 5 year olds) Go Eagles!

Connor no longer plays soccer, choosing instead to play baseball. But Julia has moved up in the soccer world and is now about to start her second year in the Academy league. (Under 13 travel ball for those of you who are outside the soccer world.) She loves it, so we sacrifice two nights a week and most of our weekends in the Fall and Spring. And don't forget the hefty price increase.

And I think that is the true definition of a Soccer Mom. The parent who is willing to sacrifice time, money, sleep & the occasional sun burn to give her child the opportunity to be part of a team playing a sport she loves.

Boy vs. Water

At the beginning of the summer, my son was afraid of the water. He knew he couldn't swim. So, when we went to the pool during the first week of June, he wouldn't come out of his life vest unless his father or I had a tight grasp on him. And don't even think about the diving board.

But for the past four weeks we have spent every afternoon at the pool at the YMCA taking swim lessons. Everyday I sat there in a little patch of shade trying to avoid sunburn and sweating like an Englishman in the desert.

Every week, my little man's confidence grew along with his skills. Having some free-play time before and after his lessons really helped too. Trying to show up the other kids by doing handstands, flips and cannonballs can boost any kids confidence, you know.

But no matter how hard he tried or how fast he kicked, every time his instructor let go of him, his little bum would sink like the Titanic, and he would end up desperately treading water until he remembered he could touch the bottom.

But one day during the third week of lessons, something clicked. It was his turn to push off the wall and swim to his instructor. He sighed, whined about how far away she was, then the amazing happened. He pushed off, kicked with out bending his knees, and zoom! He was off! He reached his instructor in no time and was very surprised when he looked up and realized what he had done. After that there was no stopping my little buddy. And the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the sundae...... he passed the swim test on his final day of lessons. My little guy swam the entire length of the pool, with no help, without stopping or touching the bottom of the pool. And he proudly wore his orange wristband as he played in the shallow end of the pool with all the confidence of a kid twice his size.

Heyup me duck!

Hosting people from other countries gives you the opportunity to learn new things and experience the awkward.


The second week of the summer, our family, along with the Teasley's, hosted two soccer coaches from England who came across the pond with Challenger British Soccer Camps. Liam (short for William) is from Nottingham and has a pretty thick accent. Lisa was always asking him to repeat something he said so she could try to figure it out. Jonathan (Jono) is from Doncaster and was a lot easier to understand.
The guys taught the kids some great stuff, and we had a blast showing them all things Southern/Covington/the Camp.
Sweet tea did not go over very well. They like their tea hot (boiled) with milk. Lisa tried it and said it was actually pretty good. I haven't been brave enough, or cleaned my kitchen enough, to try it yet.
The heat was a big shock! The hottest it gets over there is about 60oF. So the first couple of days outside in the sun was pretty draining on them. And is there any polite way to say, "You know, you might want to buy a stronger deodorant while you're here in the deep South." I couldn't think of one. So we just smiled an stood up-wind!
The Camp really impressed the guys. They said they don't have anything like it in England, that they know of. The unlimited food in the Dining Hall, gianormous slip-n-slide, and high ropes course were the highlights for sure!
We learned that if you are in England and you hear someone say that you are a little "camp," then you might want to double check your sexual orientation, because they think you are gay! This got a big laugh when the staff wore their new very cool pink tie-dyed shirts that say "Life is Camp" on the front. Of course we knew "camp" meant "summer camp," but you can see the confusion......
We were trying to get a grasp on how the size of the UK compared to the size of Georgia. The guys explained to us that you can drive from one side of the island to the other in about 3 hours, and from the top to the bottom in about 9 hours. So, then we explained that to drive from here to Arizona without stopping takes almost two days!
We treated Liam and Jono to El Charros their last night with us, and since the only Mexican food they have had was Fajitas, they decided to try my favorite the chimichangas. Loved them!
The guys were kind enough to give us some parting gifts. They gave Lisa a book on how to decipher the language in Derbyshire (Liam's home-county) titled "Heyup Me Duck!" This is the common "hello" to women in that county. It also helps you figure out what they are saying by teaching you their phonics. Like, th is most often pronounced as an f . . . . so, Jonathan here, is Jonafin there. Things--Fings, and so on. Lisa, being a Spanish teacher, got a big kick out of this. She loves languages and all their little intricacies. For me they had a book about British History with lots of full color illustrations and photographs. I had told them that I was a big British Literature fan and loved all things England. Now I have a quick reference guide, and the pics help me feel like I've been there (almost).
So, we said goodbye to our "foreign exchange soccer coaches" and wished them well in the next town. But of course we were secretly hoping that their stay with us would be the best!

My Little Padawan

How many 8 year old girls do you know that want to dress up like a Jedi for Halloween?

Well, my Julia did. It's amazing how quickly they go from everything princess and girly....to not. She still loves pink, don't get me wrong. But, these days she is addicted to Star Wars, and she can tell you more about the Jedi council and lightsabers than many teenage boys in the chess club! I don't complain at all because she doesn't like Hannah Montana or any other show that's popular with elementary school girls. However, I must confess that she is a creature of our own making. My husband and I are sci-fi, super-hero junkies, and whether you argue nature or nurture, she didn't have much chance of not liking the genre.

Her favorite character is Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader). If you ask her, she'll say she doesn't know why. Part of me thinks it's the character's journey she is drawn too. He is the classic tragic hero, like Odysseus and Hamlet. You love him; then you hate him; then you feel sorry for him; and in the end you still love him despite all of his flaws simply because he has seen his true self in the mirror and tried his best to overcome. Another part of me says, "No, he is really cute and funny. That's what she likes." But the mom in me says "She's too young!" So I stick with the tragic hero idea and just keep encouraging her interests. I don't care if she is a little different than the other girls her age. I would rather she stay "odd" and not get caught up in the silliness, drama, and rapid maturing that is fed by the modern day kids shows that are not really for kids.

Sweet Dreams Nick

Thursday morning we woke up and found one of Connor's tadpole/frogs had died.

We ordered two tadpoles off the internet and were enjoying watching the little guys grow bigger and swim around playing hide-and-seek with us. We figured out Nick was the older of the two when he sprouted legs before Sam, and he seemed to be doing great. His front legs had sprouted the day before, and his tail was disappearing fast. But whether the water inadvertently got contaminated, he got too cold, or too hot, or simply couldn't figure out how to get himself out of the water (there was a lilly pad to get on and crawl out)...... we'll never know.

So now we are going to have a funeral in our yard for Nick the frog, and we will do everything we can to keep Sam going strong, so hopefully my buddy will have his froggy friend for several years to come.

Why I Love & Need My Husband....

In response to my previous post, my husband (who is definately the stable one in the relationship) sent me this email. I share it here because
1. I want to brag to the world that I have the best man out there
2. they are wise words for anyone who is struggling with the question "Who am I and where am I going?"

So now, a word from R:

Just in case you needed to be reminded:

You are Jennifer Hampton Towns.

You are a child of God. Your life has great importance to Him, so much that He gave everything to adopt you as His own. He has seen your next steps, and if you remain in Him, He will take you there. You are a dangerous person when you read the Word of God on a regular basis.

You are the wife of Russel Towns. You are a steady hand in a marriage that stands apart. You support and encourage him at every turn, and he will do the same for you. Two things are rock solid – God is your salvation, and Russel is your husband.

You are the mother of Julia and Connor – two very smart and well behaved children. They will grow up knowing that their mother loved them and cared for them unconditionally. The nurturing and the tough love are creating a balance in them. They are created from you, as seen in their beauty, and their lives will be forever intertwined with yours.

You are the daughter of Joe and Diane Hampton. They taught you wonderful things about life and parenting. Judging by how you turned out, they did a pretty good job!

You are the anchor of a home – keeping the house in order by handling the daily operations such as groceries, homework, schedules, shopping, and bills. Your home is your first ministry, and God blesses those who are faithful in ministry.

You are a great asset to the YMCA. It is a job, and it is a means by which God has chosen to provide the finances you need without being stressed at every bill. What a blessing it is that you have a job during this time, and one that allows the schedule that you need.

Where you have been is merely preparation for now. Your college degree, your business, and the difficult church situations we have been through – these are not wasted moments. They are stepping stones on a path of your life; they are not rungs of a broken ladder. You have a wonderful future, and you are probably right, it is likely filled with things you didn't know you wanted. We don't search for one thing in our future that will define us, but we live through many experiences that grow us and direct us. Life is a collage of experiences that we need to sew together with a common thread – that we were doing our best to follow Christ during them.

I have a Blog. Now what?

Ok, so I have my very own blog. Now what?

I guess this endeavor is my way of trying to find out who I am and where I want to go. After years in the Mommy Trenches doing the Diaper Dash and Carpool Shuffle, I now have two grade schoolers and a part-time job. Too much time on my hands to be classified as "workaholic" and not enough time to be considered "stay-at-home." So, I am somewhere in the modern day woman's purgatory trying to carve out my own identity, while juggling so many hats I could get a job in the circus.

When trying to figure out where you want to go and who you want to become, it is always good to look back and see where you have been, like it or not, and try to learn something from your past experiences or at least come to terms with them. So here is a little about me and my adult years to date.

I love stories, whether in the form of book or movie or weekly TV show. My degree is proof of that. I have a bachelors from UGA in English Education. I can churn out a paper on almost any given topic with ease. I devour books like my husband does chocolate. And my new best friend, the DVR, works harder than an ant in a rain storm. It is the latter half of that degree where my aspirations were misguided. Running head-first into the education system with blinders on because I really wanted to coach cheerleading, I figured High School English was the best subject area for me to enter. College Chemistry 101 weeded me after the first test, and the only reason I passed high school Calculus was the constant tutoring by one of my best friends, Amy. My sister got the art gene. I always fell asleep in history class. There is no way I could stomach the B.O. to teach P.E., and masses of small children made me run away screaming.

It only took one year of teaching, however, to realize that I should have thought a little longer and harder when my mother asked me, "Are you sure you want to be in the classroom?" She has worked in high school offices as a secretary since I was in elementary school. But I was thinking, "Of course I know what I want to do. I'm all grown up and out on my own. What could you possibly know about being in a classroom that I don't?" .........aaaahhhhhh, the ignorant bliss of youth.

The very convenient excuse of getting pregnant and wanting to stay at home to raise the baby (traditional roles were making a big comeback at the time) gave me an easy out without having to admit that I hated the choice I made and felt that I really couldn't hack it anyway. Although, in my own defense, I think some of the blame for my lack of confidence in the classroom lies with the school, which I will be nice and not name, and my 'oh, was I supposed to be talking to you?' mentor.

My next chapter can be titled "The Baby Years." I stayed home with my beautiful little girl and got to make a little money in the process by keeping a friend's baby only five weeks younger than my baby. They are now almost inseparable after eight years. I got a break when they went to preschool, but then little brother was born, and the best friend's little sister six months later. This led to numerous play dates, field trips, and did I mention that I started a business?

I think it was too much HGTV that led to the idea of starting a Professional Organizing business. But it was a lot of prayer and encouragement from my husband that solidified the decision to go for it. So, Order Restored was born, and I was a small business owner. I put up a website & networked like crazy. Got a few clients, made a little money, had a blast, and then as a precursor to the economy tanking, all my prospective clients disappeared. I got a few nibbles, but nobody could afford to splurge on a beautifully organized closet, much less a room. After some prayer and a few tears, I realized that it really is ok to put this chapter on the shelf for now.

So, here I am. In a part-time job at the local YMCA that pays well enough and has some good perks. After working my way up from answering the phone, taking registrations, and selling memberships, I am now in the background as the Office Manager, doing bank deposits, revenue reports, coding bills to send downtown, and assisting the director with anything and everything. Not much to do with literature is there? But I do get to run a cheerleading program, albeit with cute little giggly girls, not high school athletes. At least I don't have to grade 200 research papers in a week!

Where to from here? Not a clue. But if you are willing to go for a little walk with me, we can have a good time and maybe learn something along the way. Who knows? I might just end up where I never knew I wanted to be.