basically, you're generally delightful

My Aunt Inspires Me

{This is my beautiful Auntie and my cousin Jakey- don't let the facial hair fool you, i am older than him. I love them }

her hardwork helps provide for her family and spills into every aspect of her life.
...she is a midwestern mom working a factory job. her and my uncle get up at 4:30am each weekday to drive to their jobs and manage to live life after working all day rather than collapsing in exhaustion like i think i would in that circumstance.




my aunt is incredibly kind and loving to everyone.
...she uses her resources well, often gently encouraging others to act in service for one another.
example: her neighbors, a retired pastor & his wife had their 50th anniversay this summer. auntie found out they wouldn't be celebrating and asked if she could organize a party for them. she made it a potluck and invited everyone to a backyard bbq at her home in honor of the elderly couple. i cried after my mommy told me the story; for some reason this story oozes with love and compassion when i think of it.
...to me, she exemplifies the overlooked phenomenon of midwestern hospitality. she can be a bit rural rough, not afraid to invade someone's "personal space" in order to connect with them, be friendly, and show genuine love.



i'm not sure if my auntie truly loves Jesus and trusts in the righteous God; at times this makes me sob. whenever we talk about Christianity, she seems to go very broad with responses. i don't see how someone so loving, compassionate, kind, and understanding doesn't believe in the Jesus that gave us examples of this behavior.
...she has been hurt by the Church. my uncle and her have told me they would become members of a church if all the ones they've gone to didn't require/ enforce a specific tithe, with the idea that the decision should be made by the individual. still, she is supportive and proud of my walk with Jesus.





ps_ i will be on a plane to China in 48 days!

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!

a happy note :)

* this evening, my bike was returned to me! i just happened to see it leaning against the wall i left it at before it was---uh, borrowed without asking. i wonder about the person who took it and returned it; was that their intention the whole time? where did they go once they had my bike? were they too racked by guilt to keep it? what has murray (my bicycle,) been up to these last few days?
not that i really care too much, i'm just happy to be a girl with a bike again!

* in one month from yesterday i'll probably being recieving flowers from my dear friend morgan. morgan is convinced that my roommate and i will be dating two specific boys we know and ,uhhumm, like. i would not mind dating this certain someone sometime soon, but won't be shocked to find that come march 23rd i'll be handed a lovely bouquet by morgan because he hasn't asked me out.
though, if morgan was right i'll owe her some flowers, and that's money i wouldn't mind spending!

now for less girly (?) blogging, here's what i'm obsessed with right now:
_songs:
- You and I, Ingrid Michaelson
- Folding Chair, Regina Spector
{i've been listening to those 1st two back to back over &over &over again!}
- Walking the Dog, Fun
- Tune Out and On Your Porch, both by The Format
- Haven't Met You Yet, Michael Buble
_blogging maybe
_serving others by cooking and baking for them
_$5 mustard yellow cardigan from target, which my roomie adriane also owns and loves
_the R.L Stien book my friend christie told me to read
_Helen Keller's autobiography
_telling everyone my bicycle is back & riding it around

ps....

JUST A GIRL WITHOUT A BIKE...

_I just lost my wallet last night, with all important cards in it except for the replacement school id i got last week. There is also the small possibility it was stolen since our 'livingroom' door was unlocked and open when I woke up this morning. BUT one thing I earned from this is how loving and generous the women from my NorthPoint Bible study are! :)

_My bike was stolen. Yep, the one I got for free that I tied a metal shower basket to with zip ties... here's a picture of a happier time:

I should have not forgotten to lock it up over the weekend, but some mean person should also not have taken it. It was a ghetto bike, but it was MY ghetto bike!

_I got my roommate hooked on one of my fav shows, Dead Like Me. guess that's what you get when you make fun of the tv i watch ;)

_Release 2010 is going on and it's so exciting! my prayer: let God's love be known throughout this campus and reach over with abundance to Africa... In Jesus' name, Amen!

_two of the funniest pranks have been pulled on me by Andrew James, Ashley Nicole, Jessie Mae, and Sam Brown in the last month. including but not limited to: pecans in my pillow cases, drawers,& clothes. my giant stuffed animal duck drawn over the shower curtain rod. sick rob pattinson poster stuck above my bed. knick-knacks from my desk stuck upside down beneath its shelf.

_I hate knowing that I used to be so much better at writing than I am now; sorry if this bloggie is a bit lame/painful to read...

_