it's the little things...

here are some "little things" that have been big to me in the last coupla weeks:

-dance party with my mom to lady gaga's 'bad romance' during our california roadtrip

-my little brother taking me to his favorite place in phoenix to look at the stars and sparkling north valley from a neighborhood mountain top

-driving through phoenix with the sun roof open with my bro

-warm, loving smiles and grilled sandwhiches in a friend's backyard

-my fake grandma telling me stories of her childhood

-a conversation about marriage and love with two friends i care deeply for

-singing 'i'll fly away' at this week's large group

-being told my teeth are distractingly white

-going to a fake senior portrait shoot around flag

-a 20minute jillian michaels shred workout this morning (thought i would die at the time, but now soo glad i did it!)

-a boy reading the Bible and wanting to put God as the focus of his life; witnessing this is in my small group

-wearing my roomate's cool leather jacket

-studying the roles of mary& martha in the Bible during the sermon at my phoenix home church

...the list could go on and on, but i'll stop there :}

TODAY IS MARCH 23RD!!!

"uh-oh."
that's probably what all of you are thinking, because -after logging this date in your calendars a month ago- you know that March 23rd was set to be the 'deadline' of Adriane and I each dating the boys we hahah...fancy. And, (with me as a giant blabber-mouth who writes a blog) you figure I woulda posted if this came to fruition. You know me too well; indeed, neither of us are now coupled with the certain someones we had in mind. Disappointing? A little.

BUT! Yes, a big but, because there was a stipulation in our arrangement with funny little Morgan: for every weekend we were each gone as well as most of spring break, we got a coupla extra days added since Adriane and I would not be seeing these particular gentlemen. (This clause doesn't actually make sense since it's not like we see them everyday we're in Flag but I think Morgan just wanted the extra padding for the deadline.)I think March 30th is the date we are bumping the deadline to. So, no flowers yet but these two fellas only have about one more week...updates to come next week then :]

rewarded with 5 minutes of uninterrupted blogging.

i just finished my journal entry for Spanish class; it's not a course about the language but about the country's history. anyways, the weekly journal entries are hard for me to write so i've decided to reward myself by writing a new bloggie before 'worshing' the piles of dirty dishes in the sink...

while reading on, listen to the Eric Burton and the Animals' song San Fransiscan Nights for the full effect

it's 3ish days before spring break. obviously, i'm supah excited :) i'll be in no. cal. sunday through thursday with my mama and fake grandmother.

...just my mom and I; I haven't seen my fake g-ma in like 5 years so none of our pics together are digital :(
we'll be in San Jose at fake Grandma Enis's house enjoying her city and garden for a coupla days and in San Fransisco for a coupla days.

in San Fransisco I plan on:

-walking along fisherman's wharf, Pier 39

-visiting the wax museum (looked for pictures of when I went in high school and posed next to almost every wax figure, but realized they were taken on a disposeable and now sit in a family album in Phoenix)

-stopping in at Ghirardhelli Chocolate Factory

-touring WWII ships like the USS Jeremiah O'Brian

-maybe getting to visit Alcatraz, oo-lala

-admiring the ocean

-visiting my dad's early childhood home north of the city

-walking through China town, looking at things like ducks hanging in windows and pharmacies in which shark fins sit in proudly displayed jars (again, too bad I don't have access to the pics of my trip in high school!)

my packing list for this California trip contains things like:
-nautical themed clothing& accessories
-good walking shoes

-camera with lotsa batt'ries

-ipod to repeatedly listen to the aforementioned Animals song and my other classic Cali music like Jack's Mannequin and the Beach Boys

button, button, who's got the button?!

ever heard the worship song that goes,
"You give and take away, You give and take away.
my heart will chose to say, Lord blessed is Your name" ?
...well i've been singing it for years and years but have a new appreciation of the words.

lately, God's been been teaching me to be grateful things I already had.
examples:




*having a button on my winter coat. i have other coats, but this one i got last year is my absolute favorite.

while playing in the snow, the button fell off and it took me over a month of forgetting to sew it back on. now i appreciate being able to close my coat to better keep me warm :)




*my wallet. yep, remember when i mentioned i had lost my wallet? four days later i found it on the dashboard of my car! already having cancelled my bank cards, it was nice not to have to go get a new driver's license and to still have an old navy gift card. these were posessions i already had and yet was newly thankful for. i realized that they're still a luxury to be thankful for; i don't really need them but life is easier with bank cards, AAA, a driver's license and a coupla bucks in cash.



*my bike. i know, you're thinking "really jennifer, you're gonna talk about your bike againnn?" yes, yes i am. it's just supah exciting to have the mode of fun transportation back!
it's something i took for granted; it was free and i was like 'well everyone on campus has a bike, it's nothing to be very thankful for now that i've had it for a few months.' totally wrong.



*other things like hot water from the kitchen sink and NOT having my car blow smoke at me through the ac vents.

it really doesn't matter how these things ended up outta my life for a while. God restored them to me in a way that makes me discover how blessed i am with even the little things and that i really don't have to depend on having posessions, there not mine anyway.

*****i feel this could be preparing my heart a little for when i return home from 6weeks in China this July, shocked with gratitude for what God has already provided me with and seeing all that i can live without!