Holiday Shine

Happy Thanksgiving!

After a long night at work, I am finally getting the chance to get home, relax and gear up for the festivities ahead of me. 

Food, Football, and Fun with the Family

Each year the family makes a menu of what everyone is bringing for dinner and we all sign up for what we are going to bring. In the past I have always been designated the dinner rolls and drinks girl. My family didn't trust me to cook them anything! HAHA! It's pretty funny now because although I am no pro, I can actually whip up a few things, as you see here. 

I've be promoted to homemade mac and cheese this year, YUM.. 

My favorite as I explained in this post here.

This sweater is another one of my favorites for this time of year. The holidays are the perfect time to bring a little sparkle into your wardrobe. I wore this to my godson's birthday party this past weekend, comfy and cozy is a must for me right now.

 I am thankful to be able to enjoy my pregnancy at a time of year where I am around lots of family and friends! And its the perfect time to layer up and still look put together effortlessly :)

Blue Shimmer Sweater - Can't Recall ??

Black tights - Heartbreaker

Brown Boots - Len Druskin

Gold Necklace - Thrifted

Brown/Gold Bracelet - Forever 21

I am thankful for my family, and the joy they bring me when we get together. 

I am thankful for my hubs and my daughter that keeps me up at night with her kicks. -_- She will be here so soon, I am nervouse and excited at the same time!

Lately, she has been pushing up under the right side of my ribs :( They are so sore, but it will all be worth it. One day I will tell her this story about how much mommy went through to bring her into this world. Of course, she won't understand until she is pregnant with her own. But I will still tell her. That's what mommies do.

Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!

-J

The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How Of Life: A lesson in Love Part 3

Happy Sunday!

Baby Layla.

Today, we start into a new week. An exciting week for many as we are traveling to and fro and get to gather together with family and friends towards the end of the week to eat turkey! If you haven't figured it out, I am talking about Thanksgiving! :)

I love Thanksgiving, and not only because of all of the great dishes that the family whips up! I love it because its a time that all of my family can get together and just spend time being a family together. Its a time where I can truly count my blessings and this year I am going to do something I have never done on Thanksgiving. I am going to make it a point to start the day off by thanking Jesus for what He is and what He has done for me this year. 

My family.

I have so much to be thankful for, and so does each and everyone of you. Even through the good and bad times, you are still alive! You have been able to see another beautiful day in a land that God has given us authority and dominion over :) It is our choice to choose happiness, and I choose happiness and thankfulness today and everyday! No matter what life throws at you, you can declare to think positive and be happy through it all. I am thankful for that refreshed outlook on life. 

There was a time when I was depressed, 

and did not want to continue my life. I felt like if I left this earth it wouldn't matter. 

My problems and thoughts were drowning me. 

I felt anxiety, hurt, pain and self loathing. I felt that no matter if I took a step ahead, I was always taking so many steps backwards. I felt that nothing would ever change, so what was the point. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. I was so focused on myself and my problems that I did not see what Jesus had in store for me. 

He had a better life for me, a plan to take me from the lowest of lows and put me right on top. A plan to show me that he could be the 

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW in my life. 

That if I ever had a question or wanted to know the direction to go - that He could show me. 

Oh how I am thankful that He chose me. 

I now understand that I have the choice to take control of my life and situations. I do not have to dwell in negative situations or continue in darkness. 

I can do great things with Jesus. He has shown me that by showing His true and divine love to others, I can be the light in this dark world. 

By taking the focus off of me and my struggles, and lending a hand to a friend, family member, or stranger I can prosper. By allowing this life I live to not be about Jena and her plans and about Jesus and His plans - I can see everlasting life. I can show truth to others, and even when things look hard I can still continue to be a bright shining light to others. 

How many of you enjoy when someone tells you that they love you? 

Or someone does something nice and special for you, just because? 

Or in a time of need someone can have the right words to say to you, to make you feel uplifted and hopeful? 

That is what Jesus is to me. And He is showing me how to take the focus off of me and be that to others! 

Your challenge: 

I challenge each and everyone of you readers to take this challenge. 

Every time when you are feeling negative, and anxious about your problems and struggles. Every time when you find yourself getting angry or upset, or dwelling on the bad things. 

Take the focus off of you for a moment and do something nice or special for someone else. Help out that friend in need, or give of yourself or time to someone. Lend a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. 

I promise you, it will make you realize that there is more to this life than what you see in front of you. There is a bigger picture and it all starts with love. 

Hope this is inspiring you and preparing you for a great week!

Have a good day!

-Jena

WIWW: Aztec Print

Happy Wednesday!

Scarf - H&M

Aztec Sweater - Windsor

Maxi Skirt - not shown - Windsor

 Quick outfit post from this weekend. This weekend it was so cold and windy, it was hard to get a great shot - so you will have to settle for halfsies from me -_- sorry!

Me and baby girl rocked a bit of the aztec trend at church. I am in love with my little lady, but one thing's for sure - she is starting to hurt momma with her kicks. I can't believe I am 31 weeks and only have 9 more to go! That's nuts. I guess time flies when you're having fun! :)

grean coat - gift from momma

Oh and let me just tell you about this man right here. 

My poppa. 

He's a great man of God, and a great father. He always has good words of wisdom, even when I was younger and didn't listen! Now I soak it all up. And he was looking quite dapper this weekend, so I had to get a photo with him. I love this man!

Hope you have a happy hump day!

-J

Sharing with Others - Blessing Bag Giveaway!

Happy Monday!

Today, I am teaming up with Shane plus a few lovely bloggers to host a group giveaway of some lovely items! This is all for a great cause, called "blessing bags." 

What are blessing bags? 

Shane came up with a great idea to giveaway small bags full of necessities/items for the homeless and less fortunate last year. If you were around Shane's corner of the internet during the holidays last year, you may recall her Blessings Bags for the homeless giveaway and how readers helped her touch 150 lives? She has decided to make this an annual tradition!  

Now is your chance to help by giving a donation; as well as getting a chance to win some really cool prizes!

No longer will you need to ask yourself: Do I hand him money? But then what will he spend it on? Do I drive through that McDonald's and buy him some lunch instead? Are they even homeless?  It always seems to leave you feeling guilty whether you give in to their pleadings or not.

Shane's first thoughts were in asking friends to donate trial size toiletries. But, unfortunately, with all the blogging pals living across the country (& world), this would be difficult and costly to coordinate. So instead, this giveaway will help to build awareness for the cause as well as gain donations to purchase items that go in the bags this year. In addition, Shane is pledging to match every donation - dollar for dollar in what she spends on the items!

Insert these fabulous contributors for the giveaway:

Kelly / Lisa / Nicholl / Chelsea / Erica / Jena / Shirley

Miss Angie / Cody / Shane / Allison / Kim / Color by Amber

Breanna / Sarah / Chelsea /  Rachael /  Kristina / Paige / Anna 

It is great to be apart of this, and to work with each and every one of these ladies! 
Shane's contribution to the giveaway will be a fun prize pack  full of Vera Bradley, Essie Summer Collection, Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette, braided bracelets from her shop. Below are the physical items up for grabs.

In addition, there will be gift cards to all of our favorite places in the giveaway as well: Target // Starbucks // ASOS // Bath & Body Works // Etsy // Sephora // Paypal // Amazon
This entire loot will go to ONE lucky reader!
This year, to take it a step further, Shane will include notes of encouragement in each and every bag.You can gain 3 entries by leaving a comment on ideas for these, be it motivational quote, poem, or just warm thoughts.

<a href="http://www.whisperingsweetly.com/2013/11/blessings-bags-giveaway-for-cause.html"><img border="0" src="http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz180/x3shanerx3/blessings_zpsc98e5ef6.jpg" height="200" width="300"/></a> We would be honored to have you help in this venture! The more the merrier! Even if you don't feel you have the ability to donate this holiday season, We would be flattered if you helped share the cause by way of a simple tweet or sharing the button. Let's change lives together!

I do hope some of you will follow suit and set up a similar gig in your own community. Trust me, the faces of these people you restore hope in are simply priceless. You haven't truly lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you, and are perfectly content with that.

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 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I have started to feel the busy of the season at work. 

While most of my day is stuck analyzing the company website and coming up with ways to effectively market and merchandise our wide assortment of retail products, I often find myself tip-toeing away to outside competitors' sites to see what strategies they are using or what seems to draw me in as a customer on their sites. 

And just like Pinterest, I get lost in the sea of photos and pretty stylized images of holiday decor and warm and cozy homes. I transform myself into that model, sitting on living room couch, enjoying a cup of hot apple cider and imagine my career as a full-time blogger - dedicating my life to telling life through my eyes and enjoying my  beautiful catalog-esque surroundings.

source

As my day dream fades, I begin to think about my life and how thankful I am for what I do have. I am thankful for Jesus. I am thankful for each and everyday that I am given life. I am thankful for my hubs, my healthy baby girl, and my family. 

This morning we had a mini scare with baby girl and everything turned out perfect and we both are doing great!

I am thankful for a great job. I am thankful for peace, serenity and salvation. I am thankful for the ability to share my thoughts freely on my blog and feel no shame (there was a point I was afraid to blog because of what people might think of me). I am thankful for all of you, my lovely followers. 

And on top of that I am thankful for God's mercy and grace. 

 I studied the definitions of those two words and it really just made me think of how blessed I am to have a loving father who gives us a measure of grace and has mercy that endures forever. 

He shows compassion when justice demands punishment, not because of what we did or who we are, but because of His divine love for us. He shows us favor. It's all pretty amazing to me, and when I hear those words now I feel like there is even more life and meaning behind each of them. 

So, What do you think? 

What are you thankful for?

The Cheese Stands Alone.

Happy Monday!

This weekend was so cold out! So me and A decided to do a few errands, and cozied up in the house. Again another weekend where Redbox won as the the activity of the night - Iron Man 3, and I cooked up some good food. 

In fact, I decided to make some homemade baked macaroni and cheese. Any one that knows me, knows that is my absolute favorite thing to eat. I LOVE cheese. LOVE it. I'm the type that goes to the fridge for a snack and grabs a stick of cheese. 

Yum, so good. 

So when my mom would make mac & cheese as a side to go with dinner growing up, I would help her make it just so I could eat bits of cheese that didn't make it in the pan :) Haha! And I was so spoiled with baked macaroni and cheese, I didn't even know you could make mac & cheese from a box until middle school. I lived off easy mac containers in college, the first year away from home; but alas I have returned to the real stuff. The homemade, 4+ cheeses and oven baked, gooey goodness. 

The good stuff. 

For those of you who do not share in my love for mac&cheese, I apologize. 

Actually, I do NOT apologize. How can you not love cheese? Who are you?

Anywho,

hope this brought a smile to your face to start the week out right! 

P.S. What's your favorite type of cheese!?

-J

November Wish List + Lesson in Love Part 3

H a p p y   W e d n e s d a y !

Totally hit up H&M the other day and fell in love with quite a few goodies. Decided to put a little wishlist together. This is something the hubby can access just in case he wants to grab me a just because present! ;) Ha!

uno. leather gloves. Must have a pair of these, perfect for driving during cold winter months in MN.
dos. Over-the-knee socks. Love these with a cute skirt. I think I could pull these off with a baby bump, if not I'll still try :)
tres. Cardi. A preggo girl's best friend this time of year. Cardigans are great because you don't have to close them, and let's face it I have a hard time closing it if I wanted to. Buy them in any print or color, throw them over long tank and skinnies or tights with booties and go.
quatro. Nightgown with slippers of course. Need to stock up on these as they are the best comfort I can find when lounging at the house. I've been opting to use A's large t-shirts as a stand in until I up my collection.
cinco. Knit bon bon hat. Just makes me feel all warm in side when I shop for hats and gloves.
seis. Bought this tube scarf, so far in love and will be going back to get more colors. When I like something, I buy in every color.

A Lesson in Love 

Part 3

A couple weeks ago my dad taught a sermon about knowing who we are in Jesus. It was a great sermon because it discussed knowing that we have favor, having the right attitude regardless of the situation, and understanding that if we love and live for Jesus, He can withhold no good thing from us. 

Romans 8:28-29

"28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, for them that are the called according to His purpose. 29 - For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be firstborn among many brethren."

It is so important to understand that our love for Jesus brings us great benefits. No matter what the situation or what things look like, this scripture confirms that ALL things (good/bad/ugly) work together for our good because we follow and love the lord. This means don't look at the situation! When bad things happen, we are so often so overwhelmed and enthralled in the negativity of it all that we change our focus, lose our positive attitude, and start trying to put our hands on things that Jesus ultimately has the control over. Take your hands off of the situation! Do you love Jesus? Do you trust Him? Do you serve and follow Him? 

Then let Him handle it. 

This was one of the most difficult habits for me to break, because I had always been a control freak. I basically felt that if I didn't somewhat help to influence the outcome of things in my life they would not work out. It gave me comfort to worry about things, even though it was never stress free or comfortable. I don't really know how that worked for me, but I was convinced every good thing happened because I influenced it. With Jesus I have learned that good things don't happen to me because I am perfect, or wear the right clothes, or go to church on Sundays. Good things happen for me because I serve a mighty God who loves me and its because of His goodness that all things work out for my good. To Him, I am His daughter and just like my parents do for me, He does for me because of His divine love for me.

That's pretty amazing! :)

Well, that's it for now!

Don't forget to enter the November giveaway below...

Grace - A Southern Drawl / Meredith - Create That Outfit / Aynsley - Aynsley Ovard / Jody - Jody Beth

Barbie - The Parlor Girl / Angela - Selfless Ambition / Ainslee - A Beautiful Heart / Tori Camille- Thirty Seven Four

Nikki - Fashion On The Fly / Jena - I'm Perfectly Human / Sierra - Life As A Waterlef / Jewel - Style Optimist 

Amelia - The Desert Muse / Nicole - A Dash of Gold

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a good day! 

***Giveaway Winners Have Been Chosen!**

Thank you to everyone who entered! Our winners are:

Olivia K.

Melaney A.

Alise C.

-J

A Month in Bumps + November Giveaway!

Happy November!

I don't know about you, but it seems like October just flew by. Honestly, it feels like my weeks just fly by now that I started this new position at work. Which is great, except when my weekends fly by and they always do!

In the spirit of being one month closer to my due date, I figured I would do a review of the 

month in bumps!

As you can see, I'm still not as big as many think I should be but I am getting there! :) I get to see my little peanut at the next ultrasound in 2 1/2 weeks and cannot wait. I just want to meet her already. 

ALSO, to ring in the new month, I have some goodies for you this week! 

Today, I am teaming up with 13 other bloggers to give everyone a chance to win some goodies to start off the month of November right!

EASY ENTRY FOR MY FOLLOWERS! If you already follow me on GFC, Facebook or Bloglovin just find the links below for I'm Perfectly Human and say you do! :)

Visit these lovely ladies below and enter for your chance to win $25 to MAC, $50 to Express, & $50 to Urban Outfitters!

Grace - A Southern Drawl / Meredith - Create That Outfit / Aynsley - Aynsley Ovard / Jody - Jody Beth

Barbie - The Parlor Girl / Angela - Selfless Ambition / Ainslee - A Beautiful Heart / Tori Camille- Thirty Seven Four

Nikki - Fashion On The Fly / Jena - I'm Perfectly Human / Sierra - Life As A Waterlef / Jewel - Style Optimist 

Amelia - The Desert Muse / Nicole - A Dash of Gold

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Giveaway Winners have been chosen***

Thank you to everyone who entered! Our winners are:

Olivia K.

Melaney A.

Alise C.

-Jena