A brief attempt to catch you up on my life over the last year since my last post.

Because you should totally listen to me, I caught 1 fish in 3 hours..and that makes me a pro.... I, Jennifer Lynne Shidler, of mind, body and fisherman's soul, left Killeen a fishing novice, devoid of all aquatic knowledge, but now, I stand before you today (metaphorically speaking of course, this is the internet) a changed woman. You see my friends, last night I stood above a fish that I had drug out of the gulf, named, screamed at it, made my husband remove it from the h

Because you should totally take advice from me, the Ariel of six flags hurricane harbor, Arlington Texas. First and for most, I must say I had a blast with my girls, De-bor-ah and Liz lemon, celebrating Debbie's birthday!! The bond we share, (the side eye, awkward laugh, this is why I love you, what had happened was, no ma'am, donut getting, know what the other one is thinking or looking at without having to say it out loud kind of bond) is a friendship like no other. Sec

....because being practical and flying is soo 1903.. Ahh, the great American road trip; hours of ispy, rock, paper scissors and STOP TOUCHING ME, that childhood memories and divorces are made of.  Nothing tests the strength of your patience and marriage more than sitting side by side in a car with someone for 18hrs. 4 years ago when I married a private pilot, I thought my long distance driving days were over. I could not have been farther from the truth. So today I bring you 

Hallmark would like to tell you that the “traditional” 4th wedding anniversary gift is flowers and the “modern” 4th wedding anniversary present is an appliance of some sort (because nothing says true love like that automatic can opener or the toaster that makes crumb removal a breeze..)..well I, Jennifer Lynne Shidler, a happily married woman celebrating her 4th wedding anniversary, can tell you they could not be farther from the truth.  Let me start from the beginning.. For

Tis the Season...I stuck to my old ways, and used last years method to create this years bracket..the results remained about the same, however.

Finally, a blog post that proves that I can’t draw or write poetry. When they told us we could decorate the back room for the day The vision of you with bright orange and yellow fur came my way. A proud cat with a green top hat and clover. It was obvious your smile would win the store over. I was not prepared, however, for the creature I did create I will try not to use a word so violent or strong, such as hate . Your fur, while blotchy tells the story of a terrible disease,

Over the last 10 months, I have been keeping a running list of all my good ideas that have ultimately ended in bad ideas. Today, I share with you my wisdom through experience. Please take heed…. Good Idea: Stocking your bathroom with plenty of fresh clean towels Bad Idea: Running naked/wet to other end of the house where the linen closet is. The cats are showing signs of bad vision and the neighbors will no longer look you in the eye. Good idea: Buying your favorite ic

This is the story of one girls heroic tale of a week without Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, how she survived, and her efforts to educate those who may find themselves in similar situations… I boarded the Carnival Magic with a kick in my step and a smile on my face, excited for what the week had to offer me, and then it hit me. No Facebook. No Instagram. No twitter. I was prepared for fun, sun, formal nights and long nights, but I was not prepared for this… Day 1: Dea

(Because you should take advice from someone who has no real prior knowledge) This Sunday, I am going on my first ever cruise, and with the normal stress of working sales/retail, this trip could not come at a better time! The following are ways that I “prepared” myself for this upcoming adventure. If you are like me and are tragically allergic to the sun, decide if you would like to get a spray tan in an effort to not blind other cruisers with your pasty white skin. **revisio

It is no secret that I am a huge user of instagram. I live under the principal that it didn’t really happen and it must not have tasted good if it was not documented on instagram. With that being said, two of the biggest stars featured daily are my two cats, Rowdy and Mosby. The following is the world of Instagram through the eye’s of two precocious cats (if you want to follow their new instagram @therealhousepetsoftexas)

I’ll be the first, second and third person to admit it, critical thinking has never really been my “thing’, but I was recently challenged by a fellow blogger to answer a series of 100 questions designed to make any person dig deeper into their mind and soul. Now don’t worry my short attention span readers, I will only post 16 question and answers at a time, so breathe a sigh of relief! 1…2…3…GO! Exact quote from a customer “for someone who doesn’t pluck their eyebrows…they ar

What better way to return from a blogging hiatus (sorry guys)  than with a touching tale of a woman, her two cats, and un-wanted house guest residing in her dryer. Let me start from the beginning I was told when we first bought our home, that part of the ‘fun’ of owning your own place was being King Queen of the castle and getting to make your own decisions. For instance, If I want a hot pink wall in the laundry room, than hot pink it shall be. (I promise I do not really have

Most of you probably already know that my husband is a flight instructor. He is paid to hop in a plane everyday with people he barely knows and teaches them how to fly gracefully above the beautiful Texas land. As you can imagine, a job like this would require a fair amount of trust and patience (neither quality I strongly posses'). While I have been given the chance to fly quite regularly with Matthew over the last 5 years, I have never really taken the initiative to ‘learn’

Summer break is over, and my writing hiatus has ended! A lot has happened since my last post (hence the writing break) So I will need to catch you up in a pinch. What better way to do this than with an epic “list” post covering everything some stuff I’ve learned or experienced in the last few months. My instructions I left you in my last post about how to pick a winning NCAA bracket (read it HERE ) are apparently not accurate. If anyone lost any money on using my “sure fire”

Its March. The sun is proving to be a bit warmer and the post super bowl winter induced comas are lifting as we quickly shuffle into the next time consuming sports tournament, the NCAA college basketball tourney…AKA MARCH MADNESS!! Now, what kind of Hoosier would I be if I didn’t have at least have one post about this basket ball event? From what I’ve been told and observed the last 25 years, is that basketball is a pretty big deal in Indiana. For my Texas readers, you know h

The following is something I wrote the summer of 2009 as I worked a 12am – 7 am shift in the computer lab at Indiana State University. Matthew and I would have been dating for about 10 months and this note is looking at the years 2006-2009. I found this today as I was cleaning and packing our office. And while I vaguely remember writing this, It is a great reminder of how AWESOME our God is! “He came through for me just as I was about to doubt him , God that is. It’s funny y

I swore up and down after my college years I would never again dwell in a house that shared walls, floors and ceilings with other people and after a wonderful year and a half living in a house we had fallen in love with, we are right back to square one. An apartment. Sigh.  The next is a list of items that remind me daily of how much I miss having a house..enjoy. As I recall it Snow White was awoken to the beautiful animals of the Forrest singing in a heavenly tune. Similarly