Funny story: My mom and I went to the Tri-Cities area (about 1.5 hours from my parent’s house) to shoot a bridal session. On the way back we were coming home from an unfamiliar area so we decided to try out her birthday present, a new GPS. It told us to took a road, let’s call it Road 1.5 (because I can’t remember the name) and though we were skeptical, we figured the GPS knows best. Right?
Wrong. The dang thing took us on a road to nowhere. Literally! We drove about 20 minutes up a dirt road on the Saddle Mountains that ended at a concrete block, which we assume randy teenagers use as a make-out spot. What is the intended purpose of said cement block? We shall never know.
So this picture commemorates the night I visited a Royal City make-out spot with my mother. She was thrilled I didn’t already know about said spot during my mischievous high school days.
And did I mention that all of this happened after midnight after a full day of running around taking pictures of a bride and groom? We were exhausted.
Now, on to the post I intended to write when I opened this window. 
Caitlin tagged me in a meme called 7 Links. Tripbase started this one, and the rules can be found here. In short I give you 7 links based on a prompt, nominate 5 other bloggers, and they send it on into the blogverse, rinse and repeat. I love this meme because it helped me discover a few posts from Caitlin I didn’t know about. Remember how I said once that I won’t shred? Her review of the 30 Day Shred has me rethinking that mindset.
Most beautiful post: T1′s birth story. Technically a series of 4 posts, but I don’t care if that isn’t allowed. It’s the story of how our family of 2 became a family of 3 and how I muscled my way through the hardest challenge I’ve ever faced.
Most popular post: Long time readers will remember the madness that was My Husband is Not a Jerk. Made so popular because it was picked up by a hate site that linked to me and made fun of me for being… me. It was a pretty awful time, but it helped me handle criticism better, and gave me the chance to analyze my relationship and realize that I am happy with the way things are, even if it’s strange and undesirable to some.
Most controversial post: There are lots of people who strongly dislike my Mothers Working Outside the Home post, one meant to explain my opinion of the LDS perspective on the importance of mother’s raising their children instead of putting them in daycare. This topic comes up on Formspring pretty frequently still.
Most helpful post: Postpartum recovery. This isn’t a post that necessarily has the most comments, but I think it’s a topic that isn’t discussed enough among women. How did we do such a great job demonizing labor, and somehow completely gloss over the effect that pushing a baby out has on your body?
Post whose success surprised you: My review of my Kelly Moore Bag has been viewed over 3000 times! I’ve written over 1000 posts, and it sits as one of the top 10 most popular posts based on page views. It sounds like a lot of people are curious about this big and there just aren’t many reviews out there yet. Or maybe not very many negative ones like mine. To try one more time to clarify, I set out to buy a bag that I could use for travelling, and I felt this big was a horrible choice. These past few weeks I’ve been using it to shoot with, and I’ll be honest, I hate it for that purpose as well. I think I’m going to try to sell it and buy another for our next trip to Europe.
A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved: This one was hard for me to come up with. I’m going to go with the one titled Taking Your Photos from Blah to Bam! (which I would actually like to redo now that my skills have developed more). It’s a post where I talked about things you can do, even with a point and shoot, to make your photos look better. Only the pictures labeled with my Jenna Cole watermark were taken with a dSLR, the rest were done with a point-and-shoot!
The post that you are most proud of: This choice breaks the rules twice over. It’s two posts AND I didn’t even write them. TH did. TH Tells All, Pt. I and TH Tells All, Pt. II. They are the posts that I am most proud of for several reasons. First, TH wanted to write these posts to stand up for me (see the My Husband is Not A Jerk post above). Second, he doesn’t write as quickly as I do, and it took him hours and hours to do. And he responded to all of the comments in a slightly obsessive manner afterward. I views these posts as a manifestation of his love for me.
I nominate:
Janssen of Everyday Reading
Mandy of OMGMom
That was a really fun exercise in diving back into old blog posts to see what I’ve written in the past. I hope the girls I linked to will do the same and keep the chain going!
July 22nd, 2011 on 8:38 am
oh i can’t wait to read the posts i missed! i found your blog after searching the internet for home birth stories…so i’ve only been reading since then.
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July 22nd, 2011 on 8:38 am
I think the TH Tells All, Pt. II link is wrong!
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Sunny Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:17 am
Yes I think so too! It goes to That Wife Weight Loss Plan.
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Sunny Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:18 am
Here’s what I believe to be the correct link: https://thatwifeblog.com/2009/08/th-tells-all-pt-ii/
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July 22nd, 2011 on 9:52 am
Oh fun! I’ll do mine next week! xoxo
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July 22nd, 2011 on 10:27 am
Squeee! I’m so excited to be nominated! Thank you
There are some of your posts here I haven’t read yet that I’m excited to read now… I just got excited about being nominated first, hehe. Ok, off to read about the drama with your husband!
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Sarah for Real Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 am
I know that post about how your husband is not a jerk is super old and you’ve moved past the drama and all but I have to put in my two cents, as usual.
Yesterday, I heard Dave Ramsey say in reference to people who disapprove of living frugally (saying it’s an added stress to an already stressed-out life) “drunks don’t want to hang out with a bunch of sober people.”
Basically, those who over-spend or are over-weight would definitely react negatively to how you and your husband choose to live your life. Drunks (or over-consumers in this case) don’t want to hang out with sober people. They think it’s lame. They don’t get it, they never will until they sober up.
And that’s my two cents!
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Sarah for Real Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:55 am
Oops! I guess I should have referred more specifically to the “over-weight” people… I mean those who are unhealthy and don’t want to change for the sake of their health and longevity. Not everyone!
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July 22nd, 2011 on 11:13 am
With your knee issues, you might want to reconsider doing the 30 day shred…it is very hard on knees and ankles.
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July 22nd, 2011 on 12:50 pm
This was fun! Thanks for relinking that photography post especially — I have fallen down on the job of doing monthly pictures with T now that she is past the year mark but the other day I started up again and this post really does make a difference in how my pictures turn out.
And I remember that My Husband is not a Jerk post… whew! I didn’t get much done that day at work and ended up actually explaining the whole thing to my husband over supper that night, for a good twenty minutes. I think some people just don’t get that there are ALL SORTS of healthy relationship dynamics, not just one (ie the one they had or saw in their parents/mentors). My college roommate and her husband can have screaming matches with each other and that is okay with them — they have a healthy relationship, never abusive, etc. That would never work for my marriage, but that’s okay. And I think that’s what the haters just don’t want to get about you and TH, is that you have a beautiful HONESTY with each other. Some people’s relationships just don’t work like that, but whatever!
/ramblemodeOFF
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July 22nd, 2011 on 1:12 pm
How fun!
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July 22nd, 2011 on 1:30 pm
I sat down during my lunch break to read my blog roll and have been reading the whole “My Husband is Not a Jerk” and TH’s response posts saga for about two hours now. I just found you this year, so I missed all that drama. I’m shocked at how rude some people can be. Who do they think they are to pass judgment on your life and obviously happy marriage that is still going strong almost two years later!! Didn’t their momma ever tell them “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all”? I think some people could take note from you and TH in the art of compromise and communication. I found it so interesting how people took you saying TH was supportive and encourage to mean he’s forcing you. Oh, I have a million other comments for the meanies out there, but I’ll leave it be. I just want to say I love your blog, and you’re an inspiration to me with the way you changed yourself for the better and how it’s benefited both you and your marriage. Haters are just jealous. Rock on, Jenna!
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Jenna Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 11:57 am
Thanks so much Emma!
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July 22nd, 2011 on 2:31 pm
“…the importance of mother’s raising their children instead of putting them in daycare”
Mothers (and fathers! Dads are in on this decision too!) who use daycare still raise their children. I understand you feel it’s important to stay at home, but many people either don’t have this option, or choose a different path for their families. It does not mean that they don’t “raise” their kids.
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Felicia Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Yes to everything Katie said. I think it’s incredibly rude and judgmental for you to make the statement (whether you meant to or not) that mothers and fathers who use daycare are not actually raising their kids.
I know I shouldn’t be, and I know you don’t care, but I am offended.
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July 22nd, 2011 on 6:42 pm
This was fun for me to read. I’ve been reading your blog for a long time now (and love it) but had forgotten about some of those posts!
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July 22nd, 2011 on 10:00 pm
I love this post! I have been a reader for sometime, but even some of these I haven’t gotten a chance to read. Also LOVE that you picked Mandy - adore her and her blog (and her sweet little girl!).
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July 23rd, 2011 on 8:37 am
I love this post! I have been a reader for about a year but i have missed a lot! Thanks for this!
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July 24th, 2011 on 5:34 pm
[...] was nominated for this little internet party by Jenna from That Wife. If you haven’t yet seen other 7 Links posts, check the official rules for [...]
July 26th, 2011 on 12:56 pm
I LOVED the post on Taking your Photos from Blah to BAM! In fact I refer to it a lot as I try to take better pictures. I have it saved in my favourites.
So, please know, it was appreciated by me!
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