20 Jul
(Sun)Day In The Life: July 10, 2011
I had a feeling you guys would vote for a Sunday for this next one! I know you’re curious to see what a typical Sunday is like, as I’ve mentioned that we try to remove ourselves from the outside world a little bit each Sabbath day. I’d say this day is a pretty typical representation of a Sunday for me, minus the trips to visit relatives since we don’t live near family.
7:30 am
Wake up with my three sleeping essentials next to me. Phone with white noise app running, Puckers the pig (yep, I still sleep with a stuffed animal every night!), and my sleep mask.
I don’t do this on morning when I’m running late, but I always love to have the bed made.
8:00 am
Shower and blow-dry hair
8:50 am
The best part about living with my parents? They get as much out of helping with the baby (spend time with him) as I do (get to focus on the things I want/need to do). I don’t see him until this point in the morning, 10 minutes before it’s time to leave for church. I’m running late!
9:00 am
My dad makes T1 an egg and we feed it to him on the way/during church. We’re late. Bad, bad, bad.
9:00am-10:10 am
We have the first hour of church in the chapel. This meeting is called sacrament meeting. This particular day was a mission farewell and I really enjoyed listening to the girl only days away from leaving on her mission. She is filled with so much hope!
10:10am-11:00 am
Nursery is where the youngest kids go, and technically T1 isn’t allowed in yet (not until 18 months) but the teachers don’t mind if he is in there as long as a parent stays with him. This week it was TH’s turn to play in the nursery with him.
Kids between the ages of 3-12 go to primary (see on the left), teenagers and adults get divided up into different classes based on ages/needs. There are classes for each age group in the teenage years, and classes for the adults based on different topics or if they are new to the church. The man sitting facing the crowd is my dad! He’s the teacher and does a really phenomenal job, I love sitting in on his classes. The week this picture was taken we were learning about the Garden of Gethsemane.
11:00am-12:00pm
During the third hour the nursery and primary children stay in the same place, the teenagers divide up into classes for boys and girls, and the adults 18+ divide up into classes for men and women. The Spanish congregation sisters (there is a congregation that meets the same time we do in the same building that speaks exclusively Spanish) meet with us women for the first few minutes of this third hour, then they leave and the lesson begins (they have their own lesson in Spanish). In Relief Society the week this picture was taken we were learning about goal setting and talking about different ways to meet our goals. I had T1 with me and usually it’s difficult to get something out of the lesson, but I had some helpers sitting in my row who were willing to entertain him.
12:15 pm
I hurry everyone home from church so we can get T1 to bed. He is exhausted. I prepare a bottle, we change his diaper, and he goes to sleep (right now he sleeps in the photography closet (which is actually a converted bathroom so he of course feels right at home)).
12:45 pm
Lunch preparation begins. My contribution is a bowl of kale chips that no one except me ends up eating.
1:15 pm
We dine on a carne asada style feast.
I laughed at TH’s color-coded precision when it came to arranging his food on the tortillas.
I never buy avocados anymore, so I loaded up on the fresh guacamole.
1:50pm
Just as we were finishing up, T1 woke up.
2:25 pm
And though I probably didn’t need a Sunday nap, I took one anyway. It’s a ritual for me.
4:50 pm
After I woke up we decided to drive out to see my grandparent’s, who live about 30 minutes away from my parents.
T1 had some fun playing with the same keyboard I danced around with when I was a little girl!
I talked with my grandma about family history. I’m going to start posting family history stories on That Wife and I’m really excited about it! She has an entire room filled with books on genealogy and pictures and letters and such. She even has a binder with my name on it that’s all about me!
6:15 pm
I decided to go pick some strawberries from grandma’s strawberry patch. Then proceeded to eat all of them.
T1 was actually able to reach in, find and pick a strawberry, and eat it all on his own. It was darling.
8:00 pm
We drove back from my grandparents and spent the last few minutes before sunset playing on the slide (same slide I played on as a kid of course).
8:20 pm
After a full day of running around, T1 is exhausted and we put him to bed. Bed time routine consists of changing his diaper and giving him a bottle. Sometimes we don’t even change his clothes.
8:30 pm
I finish the night out with some time on my ipad. Reading my scriptures, checking the news, pouring over my favorite blog, and turn out the lights at about 10:30 pm when That Husband lets me know it’s time for us to go to bed so we can get a jump start on Monday.
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I nominated you! http://www.healthytippingpoint.com/2011/07/5-miles-7-links.html
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1Beautiful pictures! Caitlin linked to you today so that’s how I got here. Your Sunday looks awfully similar to mine
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2that’s a busy sunday but looked like fun….i enjoy the nap portion of sunday
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3Jenna, your makeup looks so pretty!! And you look awesome.
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Jenna Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Thanks friend
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I love the idea of removing yourself from the outside world on Sundays. These are great pictures!
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5Okay I have a question for you about Sundays. So from what I gather from other posts, because you are a SAHM, you do all the cooking/cleaning up. And Sundays are days to not work, but to rest. But it seems like men would get more of a chance to rest since they aren’t the ones who do the cooking cleaning, but since your job is 24/7, you don’t really get a “day off” on Sundays. Am I interpreting that right? Do men chip in on Sundays? Does it ever bother you that you still have to work on Sundays? (I understand that obviously you still need to eat and clean up…so I realize that somebody has to do this stuff and that it’s not breaking the Sabbath to do so. I was just wondering if it ever seemed to you that men get more of a day of rest than women).
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Katy Reply:
July 20th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
I’ll chip in my ideas - - I can definately see what you are asking: if a homemaker’s job is all the duties involving running a home, how does she get the day off? Well, of course as you said, somebody has to do it. Now, if my husband or any husband didn’t pitch in at all, then I’d plan to forceably make Sundays a little easier by making those dinners easier and quicker, having the other meals a little simpler as well, and not worrying about major cleaning. My husband, and I hope and suppose other men, pitch in just because they know that they are home and it’s nice to give mom a little relief on the weekends!
However, I haven’t even touched on those men in the church that have certain callings that generally require lots of meetings and attending to church business on Sundays (like the Bishop for one). Depending on your calling, Sundays can be just as busy of days with church business as any other day with regular business! Those men (and certain women’s callings) would joke that Sunday is not a day of rest for them either!
I think it’s all about purposefully not putting too much on your plate those days. Taking it easy and directing your attention to family and spiritual things - if that means letting the house not be “perfect” that day - so be it!
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Tiffany Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 4:39 pm
This is what we do so it feels like I get a day off on Sunday’s We get everything clean and all errands run either during the week or saturday evening. My husband is really a better house keeper/cleaner then me so he pitches in a TON to get everything cleaned. so then on Sunday the only thing we HAVE to do is go to church and eat. and The hubs and I usually cook together on Sunday’s and then both help clean up. So it really does feel like a day of rest because we usually just make one meal that really requires some effort anyway. Breakfast is cereal and lunch is usually sandwiches or leftovers and then we eat the bigger meal about 5:00. But we don’t do laundry or any of the other household chores that usually get done any other day.
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Jenna Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Others have touched on this below, but I actually enjoy being in the kitchen (most of the time) and so it doesn’t feel like drudgery. And Katy touched on something very important, which is that a lot of men have callings that have them leaving the house at 6 am and not getting back again until 4, 5, 6 in the afternoon. Sometimes with more meetings that night! So though they may not be going into the office, there is still a lot of work to be done for both genders.
The attitude toward the balance between what men do and what women do can be really frustrating in LDS culture. I’ve seen men completely ignore their wife’s plea for help because “it’s women’s work”. I hate that, and TH knows that is NOT an acceptable attitude in our household. I don’t want him thinking that, and I don’t want our kids thinking that either.
If I ever felt like we weren’t striking a balance in our relationship, we would talk things over.
And like Tiffany touched on, Sunday is a day where no bathrooms get cleaned, no windows are cleaned, etc. WE do the necessities, but everything else can wait.
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I think these are the best photos you’ve had in a “day in the life.” They are so fun and beautiful.
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7This was my favorite day in the life so far. I loved the pictures of you with your family and T1 looks so big!
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8LOVED it! The family pictures are priceless!
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9I really loved this day in the life. The pictures were beautiful, as always.
It’s nice to see I’m not the only one who likes to get a nap in on Sunday afternoons. I once had someone scold me because that was not a fitting way to honor Heavenly Father. Oh well. I do it anyway because I’m just so tired after three hours in church and an hour driving.
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10You look amazing!! You and your journey to a healthy body have been such an inspiration to me. You’ve also challenged and even changed some of my views on becoming a parent! Thanks for sharing your life with all of us!
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11Found you from HTP as we were both nominated. Love your blog!!
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Jenna Reply:
July 20th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Thanks! Good luck with your surgery recovery!
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Question: Why don’t you buy avocados? Price? Can’t find them locally? They definitely fit in to your eating plan, though, right?
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Jenna Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Definitely something I’m okay with eating on a nutritional level. They just aren’t available locally and are very expensive
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MrsW Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Heh, I’m just thinking about your formspring answer about never wanting to live in Florida… at least we have avocados!!
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Jenna, I love these day in the life posts. And btw, you are looking AH-MAZ-ING!! xx
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14I love seeing how other’s spend their Sundays.
My husband is Haitian and his family is Seven Day Adventist and so when we spend Saturdays with them it’s a nice change.
They go to church (ALWAYS LATE! I HATE it..So embarrassing). But when we come home from church there is no cooking. All cooking is done before the Sabbath (which officially starts at sun down on Friday) and all we do on Saturday is re-heat the food, eat, with no music or television. Just family.
I always find it to be so relaxing.
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15Umm, I want to stick my face in that bowl of guac.
Also, cute pictures! : ) Love your cameo in the mirror on that one!
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16Great post! DId your Mom take some of the pictures? - the one of you napping is lovely.
A few questions - I thought only young men went on missions? It’s great that girsl can go if they want to as well. Are they ‘required’ to go the same way young men are? I would assume not quite as much but am curious.
I’m also curious why you said you never buy avocadoes anymore - is it because you can’t get them locally? If so maybe you can institute very infrequent treats - I remember reading beautiful paragraphs in the ‘Little House’ books about the amazement of getting a rare orange at Christmas time. So even back then, produce was sometimes brought from afar, but it was appreciated as a rare treat.
Avocadoes are way to yummy for me to give up!
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Tiffany Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 4:43 pm
girls are not requried to serve missions. but if they choose to they are more then welcome to. The don’t go until the are 21 though and then only serve for 18 months. where boys go when they are 19 and usually serve for 24 months.
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Jenna Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 5:27 pm
I actually took both of the pictures of me in bed. The one that opens up the post, and the one of me napping. I was quite proud of my self-portrait skills there.
Tiffany answered your questions about missions. They aren’t required for girls though, just a possibility.
I’ll count this avocado instance as one of my infrequent treats. I know exactly what you are talking about in regards to the Little House books! I definitely feel that way about things like dessert, non-local foods, and meats. It feels more special because I don’t have it all the time.
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Thanks for sharing, Jenna - your photos are so good, they make your every day life look so beautiful! Not that it’s not, of course : )
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18I am in LOVE with the photos of T1 picking & eating the strawberry! So sweet. These are really really great “day in the life” photos - bravo, Jenna! I think these posts will be so special as T1 grows up!
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19I’m so curious, did anyone at church see you taking pictures and think you were crazy?
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Jenna Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Haha, it was the ward I grew up in, so they already know I am crazy.
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