Friday, July 25, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jody!!!!

This is my big sister, Jody. She will hate that I put this picture on here, but it was the only one I had.

Jody is an awesome sister. Since she was 11 when I was born, she had the privilege (or curse, depending on your point of view) of caring for me and is a big reason I am who I am. There is a story she tells of when I was about 9 months old: she and her friend, Deidra, were working to teach me to walk. They found that if they let me hold some shoes in my hands, I would hold my hands above my head and feel secure enough to walk on my own. When they took the shoes out of my hands, I couldn't walk. So, Jody taught me how to walk and stand on my own two feet. She was also the first one to really explain about the birds and the bees. I can still remember the feelings of unbelief and ewww that accompanied that discussion. She was always interested in the experiences I was having through my dating years and I could always count on her for a listening ear and some great advice about dealing with matters of the heart.

I have learned a lot from Jody over the years, both from the successes and trials she has had in her life. She is a great mom and I hope I can do as good of a job raising my kids as she has done with hers. I am a better person because I have her as a sister. I love you, Jody!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

My First Post

As the title suggests, this is my first blog posting. I have been toying with the idea of starting my own blog for a couple of weeks, and I had a few hours to myself tonight, so here it goes...

The name of my blog, penny-wise Jenni, highlights one of my hobbies in life. I would say passion, but it seems a little weird to be passionate about personal finance. I like learning about personal finance and feel I have some skill in managing resources. I plan on going back to school for a Master's so I can become a financial educator. I want to utilize this blog to keep a journal of sorts of the experiences our family has, but I would also like to share some of my thoughts on personal finance.

To introduce myself, I am a SAHM of three adorable kids. I have a wonderful husband who is my perfect companion (not perfect, mind you; just perfect for me). I am a better person because I am married to him. He wasn't too enthused about my starting a blog, but he helped me come up with a cute name anyway. I've said on occasion that it boggles my mind that I married him only loving him as much as I did then, knowing how much I love him now.

Our three kids provide the greatest joy in my life. I'm sure I'll blog about them a good bit, so I'll just leave it at that.

I'm not blog-savvy yet, so I don't have any bells and whistles, but I'll take some time to spruce this up so you'll enjoy your visits to penny-wise jenni!

Jenni