Waiting until I finish reading and commenting on all of your blogs before I post again just isn’t going to work any longer. I’m only 3/4 of the way through the first post! I’m going to start posting again and work my way slowly through your blogs over time until I finish. I also tried to reply to the comments without blog links attached but that post is really messed up and I just had to let it go. Please know that I read through them all and I really did try to answer all of you!
I know that there are some of you out there who dislike how one-sided your relationship with me and my blog is (ditto for other bloggers with audiences about my size). I hope this little experience of mine will help you see why it is absolutely impossible for me to keep up with everyone personally who comments. I’ve been working on visiting and commenting on just one post on each blog for over two weeks now, putting in many hours over that time period, and I still have a long ways to go. One-sided is just the way it has to be.
Also I remember how much I hate those word verification things. I had to enter them in like 200 times while visiting all of your blogs, and I wouldn’t have finished my comment on most of them if I hadn’t promised I would do so in my blog.
You know what your comments on my Mission Blogcation Accomplished psots taught me? We all have SO much in common. I like to ride my bike, you like to ride your bike. I grew up on a farm and so did some of you. I think my baby is super cute and so do a lot of you. A lot of us like Weddingbee (so many of you used to read me when I was Mrs. Avocado!). And I really liked hearing so many LDS readers say hello!
Someone on Formspring asked if I would be willing to take some photos of my childhood home and I decided to make a video instead. The quality isn’t that great, it’s long, and when the song stops and I start talking there is a lot of wind, but I think for those who are interested in seeing what my parent’s house is really like it’s a nice little peek into my past. As you will see Central Washington looks NOTHING like Seattle! The weather is completely different as well. 
My Childhood Home from Jenna on Vimeo.
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July 12th, 2010 on 12:25 am
Really neat to see. I’ve never been to Washington state and I can’t wait to visit! Your pup is cute-are you a dog person, or is it just your parents? I like listening to your voice-it’s very melodic:-).
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July 12th, 2010 on 4:29 am
Welcome back - I thought we’d lost you in a sea of blogs! I have recently moved back to Blogspot and that is the ONE negative I have with it - word verification prompts are horrid, and replying to comments left on my site aren’t always easy to do. Painful, but still.. at least I’m saving some dollars as opposed to hosting - every little bit helps!
Washington State looks gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!
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July 12th, 2010 on 7:12 am
I think it’s super-swell that you’ve taken the time to comment to everyone, even if it is a huge undertaking!
Central Washington looks beautiful - I’ve only been to Seattle, and you’re right - it does look much different!
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July 12th, 2010 on 7:54 am
Hello love! Welcome back, I’ve missed you! It’s so good to see your home again! The back looks different than the last time I was ever back there!
Love you and love your thoughtfulness and dedication to your readers.
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July 12th, 2010 on 8:03 am
So gorgeous - love being out in the country! Thanks for sharing and I have to agree with Eve, it was great hearing you instead of reading you. Thanks for the video - fun!
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July 12th, 2010 on 8:32 am
It looks a lot drier than I imagined. I like the mountains in the back.
It definitely doesn’t look like a double wide, the landscaping your mom did helps to make it look nice.
It looks like your parents are keeping the “toys” just in case for grandchildren, or was it for other kids to play with?
Oh and thank you for the comment.
I did remove the word verification a while back when you mentioned it. I have to say that setting comment to be approved when they are a week old and more did the trick for me to stop spamming, except for very rare exceptions.
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Jenna Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
I think they have kept the toys because they have so much space that they don’t really have to worry about getting rid of them unless they need to. It will be great for our kids though!
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July 12th, 2010 on 8:34 am
Thanks for coming by and commenting on my blog! I told my husband and he said, “Wow, that’s big time”- haha.
You really lived in a rural setting. I grew up in KY until 7th grade and then moved to upstate NY in a larger city and I have to say, I like city living better. Do you?
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Jenna Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I certainly like the convenience better. I can see the appeal of raising your kids on a farm now that I have a baby though.
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Meg Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Yeah, I know what you mean. I like mid size cities. I could never live in NYC, that’s just too big..even if it weren’t in Manhattan.
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July 12th, 2010 on 9:45 am
I love how open it all is! And you’re right, it’s very different from the Seattle area landscape.
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July 12th, 2010 on 9:57 am
I loved this. What a beautiful area!
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July 12th, 2010 on 10:13 am
Beautiful - I love rural areas. I’ll have to watch it again later - I’m at a friend’s house, and can’t figure out how to turn the sound on.
Thanks for sharing!
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July 12th, 2010 on 10:33 am
I love this. Central Washington looks gorgeous. I grew up in two very different places — the middle-of-nowhere countryside and then one of the biggest cities in the world. I feel much more like a city girl these days but I still love the country. Thanks for sharing.
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July 12th, 2010 on 10:54 am
Aw, I’m from a small little town in Central CA and grew up in the country. I miss it so much! Isn’t growing up in places like that just wonerful?
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July 12th, 2010 on 11:22 am
Hooray for the Inland Northwest! I grew up in Reno, but went to College in Northern Idaho (90 miles from Spokane) and I’ve been Idaho since, I totally consider the northwest home now!
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July 12th, 2010 on 12:07 pm
Hahaha, as a resident of Eastern Washington myself, I have to agree with you! Nothing like Seattle, in about a gazillion ways. It’s so much more than just geography, haha.
I also agree about the word verification stuff. I’ve mostly experienced that on blogspot and it’s made me SO happy I started with wordpress
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July 12th, 2010 on 12:45 pm
Ah… your video made me pine for the country. Even though I’ve lived in the city for 10 years, I’m much happier in wide open spaces. At least Chicago has a lake so one doesn’t feel too claustrophobic.
I’ve been in plenty of double-wides that were nicer than the “real” house I grew up in. Your parents’ home looks like just such a nice place. Thanks for the tour!
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July 12th, 2010 on 1:20 pm
I had thought about commenting on the other “Getting to know you” posts, but I knew there would be sooo many others and I figured we know each other well enough. Haha. I love the video! Oh gosh. That song took me back to high school when we used to sing that all the time. Isn’t it funny how people from other states just assume that all of WA looks just like Seattle? To me that’s like saying all of the cities in California are by the beach. Also, one random thing, my in-laws trampoline just broke too! My brother-in-law was jumping on it with his little boy and all of a sudden it broke straight through. Amazingly his little boy wasn’t hurt, but has a pretty good injury from it. Thankfully, they replaced the actual trampoline piece since our reunion is coming up. The grandkids would be devastated. Haha.
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Jenna Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Apparently it broke while someone was jumping on it! No one was hurt though. Thankfully.
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Kelli Nicole Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
This happened to mine too. I remember watching my brother and his friend jumping on the tramp from inside my house and once they just didn’t come back up!
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July 12th, 2010 on 1:44 pm
Cool video. I’m from WA and where I’m from looks nothing like that either (I’m from Vancouver). That’s why WA is the best state ever…variety! Do you want to have a farm or do you consider yourself a city girl now?
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Jenna Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I would love to have a garden, not necessarily a farm. If I had the space I would probably get some pigs for T1 to take to the fair though
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July 12th, 2010 on 2:24 pm
thanks for sharing, jenna. I had no idea eastern WA was so dry.
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July 12th, 2010 on 5:16 pm
Love the video! If I ever make it back to where I grew up I so want to take a video if the house is still there. Also, I think it’s time for another T1 video now
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July 12th, 2010 on 6:52 pm
What an interesting place! So different from most people’s experience!
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July 12th, 2010 on 9:56 pm
Word verification is really annoying. But even though my blog is pretty small, before I enabled it, I was getting TONS of spam comments. I was looking through old posts one day and saw that a lot of the old ones had 4 or 5 spam comments on each post. I don’t think it’s fair that so many bloggers get paid for people to advertise on their sites, and people were using my comment section for free advertising. So I had to add word verification. It hasn’t been a problem since.
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July 13th, 2010 on 11:17 am
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the full tour before, so that was fun to see. Warren was fascinated by the farm equipment and greatly approved of the “Peaches” song- one of his favorites, and mine too.
Maddie just kept screeching “doggy!” over and over while watching Roxy.
Glad you had a great trip home!
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July 13th, 2010 on 4:25 pm
Beautiful! Thank you so much for taking the time on my blog! I know you literally gets hundreds of comments, and I am sure it is not easy to keep track of everyone!
Love your blog!
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July 15th, 2010 on 2:28 pm
I’m late to comment on this, but I loved watching this video. Sometimes here in NYC I get so nostalgic when I hear NW accents and cadence. Love it. Also I think we talk the same based on how I sound in my wedding video, so that was weird to learn, except I’m squeakier and have acquired some NY-ish habits like occasional speedy talking and a few words that lean east coast. I’m guessing you’ve picked up some texas twang that comes out occasionally too.
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