Jenni's Winter Watch

12/18/08 2 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12/20/08 11 PM

12/21/08 4 PM--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12/22/08 10 AM

Journal Jar

What is something few people know about you?
It takes me at least five seconds to start signing my signature... I just hover there, with my pen above the paper... I'm not exactly sure why.

What is something you've never done but would like to try?
I would actually LOVE to go up to a guy, maybe someone I know... maybe just a random hottie, and kiss him. Honestly; I would like to do the She's The Man approach, recite song lyrics to this one guy... I almost did it once too... "Take my secrets and I'll keep yours, never thought I'd find you. Fall, I'll save you...Stay, I'm with you... Say, I do too..."

Tell about a time when you misjudged someone. Perhaps you made a snap judgement about someone and it turned out to be wrong. Do people misjudge you? Why?
Well, without going into detail... I think that I can misjudge people a lot. I let snap judgements happen, even though I know they are bad and I know better. I try to be a very honest, and kind, and non-judgemental person, but we all slip sometimes... I do think that maybe people misjudge me more than I do others. I have a good friend now, who when we first met, at work, thought I was a very strict rule follower and not funny and whatever else that is not me. haha, and thats because when I first meet people, and especially when I am at work, I am more professional and to the point, and at work there are certain things I don't like to talk about, and there are certain things I like to get done. So I was more focused on the tasks at hand than getting to know new co-workers and he misjudged that to mean that I was a very closed off person, very cold, etc. But then he and I started talking and he found me to be quite open, very honest, very awesome. haha ...and sometimes people misjudge my jokingness to mean that I am conceited.

Do you have a middle name? Were you named after anyone?
My middle name is Whitney... and there is some speculation that I was named after Whitney Houston... I am not sure if this is true or not!

Do you have any traditions for the 4th of July?
Haha yes... go to bed early.
Okay, okay, thats just whats become of certain holidays for me... like New Years... when you don't have anyone to kiss... whats the point in staying up? This last year for the 4th of July I had been on a date, and he took me home early. ...lame. So I was kinda down... but I just grabbed my iPod, a blanket, and a pillow and laid out on my lawn and watched for a little bit... then I went inside and went to bed. The year before I had been on a date, and my date kissed me and so I saw two different kinds of fireworks, but that ended and I have since learned that I misjudged that kid... (I thought he was a nice person... turns out otherwise.) So, my traditions are to sleep. haha

What profession do you wish your future husband will work in, why?
Well, as my friend keeps telling me, he doesn't know what his "type" is, but he knows by a process of ellimination what his "type" isn't... and that is the approach I use here. I don't want to marry a doctor. I know, crazy, right? But I want my husband to have time to be at home. I'd like for him to work in a profession where when he comes home, he has no more work to do but be a father, my companion, my love, my friend. Maybe I am misjudging the profession of a doctor, but I think that if my husband was one, he would be gone all day long, and would be too tired afterwards to play with the kids, to help me cook dinner, to give me some attention. So I would prefer my future hubby to not be a doctor, a lawyer, a garbage man, or a ninja. I just think all of those require a lot of work away from the home and leave you too exhausted afterwards to fulfill your other roles in life.

What do your parents say that drive you crazy?
Haha, whenever I come home from school and then have to leave to go back, my mom always says, Don't Go. Oh my goodness, I get a migrane just thinking about it!! For some reason that drives me crazy even more than when my sister told me our mothers new years resolution was to not buy shoes till I was engaged. bah.

What is your favorite TV program? Why?
I really enjoy How I Met Your Mother. It is a love story in reverse, the main character is telling his kids how he met their mother, how that relationship started, evolved, etc. So far, he still hasn't married her, and we don't know who she is. haha... but the reason I love it is because of the friendship and relationships between the six main characters. I've always wanted a group of friends like they have, they can all make jokes about or with one another, and it is all in good humor and they just have honest good times with one another. They celebrate holidays together, they lean on one another for support when needed, and they are just funny. And I love Barney's weird relationship rules... I use them sometimes. Like the Crazy/Hot Scale (look it up on Youtube) or the Time/Relationship Continuum, or the use of We when we are not a we, but I am a Me and you are a you, but you say We and I want to die. Haha... if you watch it you'll understand.

How much does a carton of eggs cost? A gallon of Gas? A Movie ticket? (The paper oringionally said in 1999...) A cassette tape? A CD?
Eggs are about 1.39 for a dozen of Large eggs... I think... and Gas, in Seattle is currently 1.63, and in Rexburg, 1.41. This is amazing for just a few months ago it was 3.99 !! And a movie ticket can be anywhere from 6 to 9 dollars... or more. HAHAHA Cassette tape? hahahaha I am sure you can buy them... on amazon.com or ebay.com, for a penny... a CD, usually 14 bucks I imagine...

What is your favorite musical group or singer/song today?
Musical groups: Anberlin, Mae, Copeland...
Favorite song as of today: Oh My Love by John Lennon amazing.

What is your favorite movie?
Hehe... Today I will say HeartBreakers. It is a comedy, about two woment conartists, mother and daughter... and their con story. haha... but I feel like I can relate a lot to Jennifer Love Hewitts character, Page. She is hostile towards men, always thinking she is the shiz, but really she is insecure, scared, and just wanting to be loved and accepted. Another favorite is Garden State, the story of a man learning how to feel pain and joy after years of being numbed by medication prescribed to him by his father, his psychiatrist. That, and the Emporer's New Groove. hahaha

Journal Jar



I came home from school in Rexburg aka IceBurg Idaho to get away from the cold! To be immersed in rain and the greenery... instead Rexburgian weather followed me. So, I am effectively snowed in, for I flew home, so I am car-less, and I live at the bottom of a hill which is covered in ice and snow. In this picture you can't really tell that its a very steep hill.. for I am taking a picture from the top looking down, but it is infact very steep, and very slick.


Anyway, so since I am snowed in, I decided to bust out the ol' journal jar. Filled with questions and ideas of what to write in your journal! So, I thought, why not invite everyone to be in on the fun?

What is the longest period of time you went without sleep? How did you feel? Why did you lose sleep?
Well, I was 14, and a cheerleader for my junior high. It was tradition, that for the Student vs Teacher basketball game that the cheerleaders have a sleep over, and no one sleeps... and at a ridiculous hour in the early early morning the cheerleaders go out and "kidnap" some guys, and dress them up as either, cheerleaders, or just in funny costumes. So, this is what we did. I believe we watched Bring It On, haha and we went out at 5 AM after we were all dressed up crazy, and kidnapped our guy friends. (This was a Friday, and so I had been awake for 24 hours at this point, having gotten up at 5:30 on Thursday for early morning seminary.)
I remember almost falling asleep so many times during English class, cause Friday was a reading day... and man it was tough to stay awake! Not to mention, that after the assembly there was a dance after school for which I had volunteered to sell pop at, during which I also found myself dozing off. Say the dance is over at 6, I finally get picked up, I get home, call my friends who wanted to do something later that night and I said, well sure just let me take a nap.. So this is about 7 oclock now, it had been 38 hours awake... next thing I know, it is 8 in the morning. My mom says my friends had classed back, and that she put me on the phone, that I woke up and talked to them. I have no recollection of this at all!! I asked my friends about it later, and they said I was slurring my words and was hard to understand but they just laughed.
Other than that, sometimes while at school I get little bouts of insomnia, where I will either not sleep, or sleep maybe three hours a night for possibly a whole week or more. I think that is caused from when I was 9-11 or even longer, when I would try to stay up all night, singing Gangster's Paradise and The whole Lion King soundtrack, but I'd always fall asleep around 2 am. And there was an occasion, where I actually probably stayed up even longer than 38 hours, but this time my body was energized the whole time... Well I take that back, I probably slept an hour or three in... 41 hours... I had gotten up Friday morning at 7, had work, school, a three hour dance practice, went out with some friends, watched a movie, stayed up talking/cuddling all night, Had a five hour long dance practice, did homework all day, and went to bed around midnight. And all without an energy drink!

So for Thanksgiving I drove the 12 hours to Seattle, to be with family for the holiday. I didn't call any of my friends the whole time... I just hung out with Family. And a phone call today from my mom reminded me why I do that.

Pre-story: I love my nephews. I proclaim to dislike small children, but secretly I am a softee. Its more about me not wanting to have my own children yet, that when they cry or are stinky, I would prefer to hand them off to their mothers. I am not ready to be awoke 879,435 times a night to crying. So, when I was at home, I hung out with family the whole week. And I played a lot with my nephews, Dean 2 and Owen 6mo.
Dean and I had fun with making pies and eating pudding and licking all of the spoons clean when we were done.

That was so fun! Every day after I was tired or had plans with my brother or something, I would try to leave. Dean would say, "you go hoooome take naaaaaaaaaaap?" I would always say, yes! On Thanksgiving I told him I had to go home and he said, "no! staaaaaaaay!" I tried to calm his fears and let him know I would see him the next day, and he let up. "Tired? Take naaap? Dark out." (He would cover his eyes when he says dark. so cute.)

Well, then I came back to school. I miss the babies, cause they are too cute! Anyway, so my mom calls today. And this is where we get the story.

Story:

Mom texts me and says, the boys are coming over and I say yay! Send me pictures!

A few hours later she calls.

She says, sorry, I didn't get any pictrues but I have to tell you something that will make your heart cry.

I was kind of worried at first...

She starts. (See how I am building up this story? haha)

She says, I went to put Owie down for a nap, and he was fussy. So I left him alone for awhile and went back to check on him, leaving Dean alone. (This is where I was like, oh crap what has happened? did Owie fall off my bed? what could make my heart cry?)

She then goes on to say, Owen was finally asleep, and I went to see what Dean was doing and I saw him in the living room with a picture of you in his hands says, "Come home, come home"

At this point, not only was and is my heart crying... but I am too. That is so tender and awesome! Who knew kids could be so amazing? (and I want to boast and say, take that, I am the best or most favorite aunt!)(Our first picture together.)

This year for Christmas I decided to make Nanaimo Bars for all my friends, since I don't really have any money. So I made a batch of EggNog Nanaimo bars, and then a double batch of Mint Nanaimo Bars. The next day I made another batch of each!
I gave them to lots of friends, brought them to work, to a class, gave them to my visiting teachees and ers, and I still have some...

When I was at home for Thanksgiving, my sister made a batch and she cut them huge like brownies! I make mine tiny, more like two-bite sized!

The end of the semester is quickly approaching, and I have some foods I've been trying to eat up... like come extra coconut. I thought, well I will find a coconut chicken recipe... but every recipe calls for coconut milk instead of actual coconut. Well I decided to adapt one, with the few things I have.
The recipe called for onions, garlic, white vinegar, water, sugar, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, black pepper, coconut milk, and etc.

So Here is what I did...
Browned one piece of chicken breast. (I was the only one eating...)
Mixed up some water with chicken bouillon powder, with some white pepper and 1/3c of rice vinegar.
I added that to the pan with the chicken and let it cook, and boil down to nothing. I then got a plate out, and put some coconut on it, put my piece of chicken on that, and poured more coconut atop.



It was actually quite good! (for not really using a recipe and making it all up)

Never Leave Your Heart Alone

1. If someone says "Is this okay" you say?
Stuck in America – Sugarcult

2. What would best describe your personality?
Some Trust - The Fray

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
You Don’t Know (Anything about vampires) - Jersey City Fire

4. How do you feel today?
Hurt - Christina Agulera

5. What is your life's purpose?
Business of Love –The Mask Soundtrack

6. What is your motto?
Teenage Dirtbag –Wheatus

7. What do your friends think of you?
Fools In Love -

8. What do you think about very often?
Infinity – Merrick

9. What is 2+2?
Calculus – Together

10. What do you think of your best friend?
Dirty Little Secret – All American Rejects

11. What do you think of the person you like?
Dirrty – Christina Agulera

12. What is your life story?"
Sow Into You – Roisin Murphy

13. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Latest Mistake – Mandy Moore

14. What do you think when you see the person you like?
Quando Quando Quando – Michael Buble and Nelly Frutado

15. What do your parents think of you?
Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
Spend My Lifetime Loving You – Zorro Soundtrack

17. What will they play at your funeral?
Losing Sleep – Charlotte Sometimes

18. What is your hobby/interest?
Runaway - Mae

19. What is your biggest secret?
Love Me Like That – Michelle Branch

20. What do you think of your friends?
More Than Just A Crush – 3g’s

21. What's the worst thing that could happen?
This Modern Love – Bloc Party

22. How will you die?
SexyBack – Justin Timberlake

23. What is the one thing you regret?
Carve Your Heart Out Yourself – Dashboard Confessional

24. What makes you laugh?
Siren – Majandra Delfino

25. What makes you cry?
7 Things – Miley Cyrus

26. Will you ever get married?
Never Gunna Get It – En Vouge

27. What scares you the most?
Horses In the City – Nina Gordon

28. Does anyone like you?
Pressed In A Book – The Shins

29. If you could go back in time, what would you change?
I Want You To Want Me – Letters To Cleo (10 things soundtrack)

30. What hurts right now?
Psychobabble – Frou Frou

31. What will you post this as?
Never Leave Your Heart Alone – Butterfly Boucher

So I'm into seafoam green, red, and black right now... does anyone else like it, or am I a freak? haha

I got this questionnaire from relief society...

What is your favorite color?
Green. Or Purple. Or Blue… or…

What is your favorite band or song?
Favorite band: Mae (currently)

What is your favorite Candy Bar or Sweet Treat?
Wunderbar from Canada

What is your favorite Animal?
Dog!

What is your favorite temple?
The one closest to me.

Where do you want to go on your honeymoon? (Money is no option)
I want to go wherever I need to go to see the Aurora Borealis.

What has been your favorite family vacation?
I think one of my favorite family vacations was last year, when we went up to Canada to spread my grandfather’s ashes. We drove up and met my mom’s brother and his wife and we got on his boat, the ten of us, (my parents, sister, her husband and baby, my brother, and my aunt and uncle and grandmother and myself!) It was very simple, and we all remembered little things we loved about my grandfather and talked about those things during the boat ride, and then we said a few words while sprinkling the ashes into the ocean. I think it brought us all together, and made us remember that life is precious and fragile.

What is your favorite movie?
I am anticipating Twilight…

What is your favorite sport or physical activity?
Ballroom Dance

What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor?
Mint

What is your favorite author?
I really enjoyed Lemony Snickets style… but I am going with Cecelia Ahern

What is your favorite book?
Currently, Romantically Challenged. (story of my life)

Where were you born?
Tucson Arizona

How old are you?
Never ask a lady her age!

What is your Birthday?
May 19

What is your favorite game?
Hand and foot, Dice, or Nerts

Who is your favorite Actor?
Colin Hanks, Leonardo Dicaprio, Christopher Gorham

Who is your favorite Actress?
Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katherine Heigl

Any interesting family stories (famous ancestors, etc.)
One of my ancestors that crossed the plains had two wives… and they both left him!

What is your most embarrassing moment?
I try not to get embarrassed… but once I was playing laser tag in a park, and I thought this one was cute… so as we were leaving we were all hopping the fence and I was like, well I am going to and I am going to do it super cool! So I go, and I jump, and my foot some how caught… and I landed nose-first into the dirt. They rolled me over immediately, and I was wishing they would just leave me there to die.
Or there is the time when I liked this guy, and asked him to help me choreograph a dance, and as we were dancing, I went to turn the music back on… and my pants ripped. That was awkward.

What is your major?
Psychology

What is your favorite Disney Movie?
Emperors New Groove

What do you like to do for fun?
Dance, listen to music, play games, read, read blogs…

In my religion class we have to post blogs every class, and we have assigned readings and we pick out a quote or just write what we learned or liked... this was my entry for Tuesday's upcoming class.

“Be worthy of the mate you choose” President Gordon B Hinckley

“The right person is someone for whom the natural and wholesome and normal affection that should exist does exist” Elder Bruce R McConkie

I feel like the assigned reading was meant for me right now. I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want in my mate, and what I feel I deserve. I went on a date recently where I was asked the question what I feel I am entitled to in life. That threw me, what am I entitled to? I said a good life, the blessings the Lord has in store for me, and some other generic answers, as I am not a very quick thinking when it comes to questions like that. Having had more time to think about it, and reading these quotes… I feel that I am entitled to love, to a mate worthy of me and I worthy of them. I feel like I am entitled to someone who loves me as much as I love them, who will be able to care and take care of me as much as I do for them. I deserve someone who appreciates me as much as I appreciate them. I am entitled to a hopeless romantic, or at least someone who can understand that I am! There are many more, but it is not necessary for me to write them here… I haven’t dated as much as I would have liked, but from the few relationships I have had, I have seen that sometimes I force things that shouldn’t be forced as Elder McConkie states. I have always been romanced by romance, and I have been struggling lately, trying to figure out if I should be giving up that thought of being swept off my feet by someone… and I find hope in Elder McConkie’s statement that I do not need to give up that idea. I think that when it is the right person, I will be swept away, but in a natural and normal kind of way. I am the type of person to gives all I can to make people happy, to brighten their day, and make them feel special. I do that naturally, and I think that the man that is right for me, will do the same. He and I will be similar, have had similar backgrounds, but more importantly, similar desires and goals out of life. We will we worthy of each other, and we will feel natural and normal affection towards each other, and I think at the same time. I dated someone whom I felt very close to quickly, and then it was over. Talking to my sister, she said, he wasn’t right for you. I said, but you never knew him! And she said, no, but I know you. And the man that is right for you will know what he has when he has you. I think that it will be a relationship that comes easy for me and him, we will be natural and ourselves the whole time, which is how I strive to be all the time, and we will understand each other. This is not to say that it won’t be work, but as President Hinckley states, “A good marriage requires time. If requires effort. You have to work at it. You have to cultivate it. You have to forgive and forget”. And what powerful advice! I think that is the way to live life in general, with effort, and forgiving.

I found this quote by Elder McConkie kind of funny… he tells us to look for partners who are seeking perfection and then says this “You will likely not find that perfect person, and if you did, there would certainly be no interest in you.” Haha!! Certainly no interest! Oh, I find it humorous… because he knows none of us are perfect! He goes on to clarify what he is saying with “These attributes are best polished together as husband and wife”. I think that is the honest truth that we will not find anyone perfect because we are not perfect. But we will find someone, whom with we will develop and grow with. And I think that is better than finding someone perfect, because it helps require us to lean upon the other, to work together. Finally, the last quote that inspired me was one by President Ezra Taft Benson, saying “…you are not required to lower your standards in order to get a mate.” So true! No matter how long we go unmarried, we are not required to lower our standards to finally get married, if we do we are no longer true to ourselves.

Today in my religion class my teacher was talking about this woman who was in a plane crash with her husband back in August... and how her sisters are taking care of their kids while they are still in the hospital recovering from their burns. I went to her blog and I am bawling the whole time because she sounds like she was such an amazing mother! One thing my teacher said, is that one of the sisters has the youngest child, and he has started calling her mommy because he is so young... and that she doesn't want him to because she wants him to know his mother, because she is so amazing... and that just breaks my heart! I absolutely love her writing style, and the love she has for her husband and children. She is so beautiful and creative, I pray that she will be alright. Something else our teacher relayed, was that one of the sisters said that they think she was given the change to choose, to return to Heaven or to stay and fight through the pain... and that she is choosing to fight. We must be like that in life, choose to fight through the pain, because this life is tough, but it is worth it.

Read her blog and be impressed. http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

One thing I love about her is that she calls her husband Mr. Nielson... whenever I get married I want to call my hubby Mr. _____ (whatever his last name is...)

I wrote this paper for my Prep for eternal marriage class... and felt like I should post it on here, feel free to give your comments and insights!
I really enjoyed reading Covenant Hearts, it was very enlightening and made me so very excited to ever get married! I had so many thoughts and took many notes. I did get sad a few times actually when I made notes, and wished I had someone to discuss it with, in a deeper relationship where it would be more acceptable. I wished that he would have been reading it with me so we could compare notes and explore our ideas together. Luckily, or not so luckily, for you, I have this paper to use for that desire!
So many things struck me in this book. Bruce C Hafen talked a lot about love and joy. A few of his thoughts and quotes on joy really struck me and led me to many thoughts. The first that just hit me and keeps my mind soaring is that “…if we don’t move out of our comfort zone, we won’t grow. If we don’t grow, we won’t find joy”(13). This reminds me that there is opposition in all things, and that if it isn’t tough it won’t be worth it. I guess it just makes me think that we really do need to move away from the things that keep us comfortable to be able to grow, to stretch and learn more about ourselves. I was dating this boy for a while and we went to a party some of his friends were throwing. I had never met them, and usually it had just been me and him and our close friends together always… so in this new setting where I only knew him, he and I both noticed that I didn’t say much at all, if anything. I was out of my comfort zone. I am normally the one who cracks jokes and likes attention, but more than that likes to know who the stories are about and help tell them. In this setting, I knew no one, I didn’t know the stories, and I didn’t know any of them well enough to tell any jokes. It took awhile, but towards the end of the night I was coming out of my shell and joking around a little bit and sharing my own stories, but we both noticed I did act differently when out of my comfort zone, but I need those experiences so that I can grow, and become more use to being in bigger groups so that that becomes comfortable. “I didn’t know I had it in me” (151). We should constantly be able to say that, at the same time that we should have faith that we will be able to. I think that in marriage, if we give up, we will not grow. We will not be able to discover what we didn’t know we didn’t know, or we won’t find what we could do if we just pushed a little further. At the end of the night, I noticed that I had had fun, I had grown and I had found joy.
Along with opposition and joy, we find on page 65 that without children we would be without misery… but we know that children equal joy. If there was no joy, there would be no misery. The story about the father who was out in a field with his son, and then saw his son and realized the ramifications of that, that he was a father; that was his son; it touched me. I do not have any children, but I believe that when I do it will take awhile for it to click that I created that life; I was entrusted with that intelligence and spirit from the Lord, that I am a mother and that is my child. While that child might cause me many sleepless nights and much misery, the joy of that child will be so much greater. When my sister was pregnant she thought about getting an epidural for her labor, but when that came it came too quickly for her to be able to. I had heard that when you have an epidural you are numb and cannot feel what is going on. My sister said that as soon as the labor was over, though her body had been through so much and exerted so much energy and had so much pain, as soon as she saw her son, it vanished. It made me think that I will want to give a natural birth, to experience that intense pain so that I can feel in the full effect, all of the joy and love that comes afterwards.
Love was talked about throughout the whole book, obviously. But there were specific things mentioned that caught my attention. Bruce C Hafen mentions how the Greeks had three different types of love, and I was instantly taken back to my social psychology class where we learned about three different types of love that a theorist, Sternburg had come up with. The Greek types were, paraphrased, as being charitable love, romantic love, and love for siblings. Sternburg’s are intimacy, commitment, and passion. There is a diagram that goes along with Sternburg’s theory, and it is a triangle. He says that all sides need to be equal to have consummate love, the complete form of love. When I think of the triangle, I think of how the church teaches us that marriage is a three way commitment to you, your spouse, and the Lord. On page 125 Hafen tells a story about a spinning saucer and the analogy he came up for that, that we should be in the center where we are stable and should pull people into the center with us. I thought that Christ is the center, we all revolve around him. Christ should be at the center of our marriages, and our hearts. Furthering this three sided triangle, centered on Christ, is an analogy to marriage as singing on page 140. He says how we start as a duet, two solos. I immediately remembered the triangle between husband, wife, and Christ and thought oh no! It is a trio! We need the Lord! Then my thoughts turned to the poem or story of the footprints in the sand, where the Lord is always with us, sometimes carrying us. It is a duet because the Lord is there with us, he is helping us to “carry” the tune, we can not do it without him.
There is a story about the girls in Australia who were able to help put the chandelier together in the Celestial room, which impressed me. The girls were so tender and gentle with those crystals, and wanted to linger in the room, looking at their creation, what great works they had performed and done together. They did not want to leave the room, for the peace it gave to them was more important that anything else. It reminded me of how little girls look at and touch babies, so gently and they recognize the importance and how precious they are. We need to remember that kind of innocence and respect for other humans, children of God, and treat them better.
The secret to a happy marriage was given on page 73, and at first when I read that we should lower our expectations I was thinking, no way, this is false!! But the more I read, the better I understood and agreed. We need to be understanding, and remember that it takes time to transition. Often times I think people forget that they have weaknesses and that others do as well and that when we get married we are not translated into perfect beings, but we are the same two people, who need to rely upon each other and the Lord to help them. One of the ways we need to lower our expectations in with communication, we expect the other to be able to read our minds. We need to lower this, they cannot! We cannot! We need to communicate better, express our feelings, and talk. We will learn more about our own weaknesses than our spouses through marriage. We marry to give, and to grow as expressed on page 76. W learn on page 124 that “…charity never reaches a higher meaning than it does in marriage”, and we need to remember that in order to serve we must use charity. I loved the story where the woman was upset no one was serving her and then realized that she was not serving anyone, and when she did she was not upset anymore, but filled with love. When we marry, we don’t just marry that person, but their past experiences and life, that was such a great thing to hear!

Some of my final thoughts towards the end of the book came from the conclusion, “Society may be losing the plot of the great Love Story” (259). I do not think the plot is lost, but more hidden as how he mentioned the majestic mountain was behind the fog and you might not believe there was something back there if you went to see it on a foggy, cloudy day. But I think that those who believe it is there without being able to see it, those that remember our “…deepest God-given instinct is to run to the arms of those who need us and sustain us” (137) that they will seek after the great love story with more fervent efforts, and that they will make finding it a journey. That once they find their own love story, it will make the journey more meaningful, and that they will cherish it more, they will be glad they found it and will try harder to keep it and protect it. “Love awoke, and so did life” (107). I look forward to this so much, to love one another, to have my life awakened in a new sense to have someone else to care about, think about, and experience life with. That when either one of us goes through a hard time it will not “…just be his, but theirs” (121). I know that I am not alone for the Lord is always with me, but I am so excited and desirous of the companionship that comes with marriage, and I want for that, I want to be able to help my husband through his pain, to bear it with him and raise him up. I learned so much from this book and am so very excited to read it again, to learn more and to be able to share what I learn with othe

Ellen did this cute little quiz? Survey? Get to know you? thing. And I copied it from her and enjoyed it!
2 names you go by:
Jen - Old roommates Trish and Katie always call me Jenn, kinda weird but I like it too!
Jenhopper - usually just my dad!

2 things you're wearing right now:
Ballroom baseball t, I know... how conflicting!
And Ballroom sweatpants.

2 things you want very badly right now:
Twilight movie to come out
A Boyfriend/husband...

2 favorite pets you've had:
PJ my scruffy, tomboy, half cat, dog.
Jay, my fatty albindo ferret!

2 things you did last night:
Walked a mile on the track in the freezing cold
Wrote a paper on things I could improve in my life.

2 things you ate today:
Ha! I wish I only ate two things today... just kidding. I love food.
I ate a boston cream pie yogurt, and a smoothie David made for me.

2 people you talked to last:
Ellen-through messenger
David-in person
2 things you plan to do today:
Research wedding traditions in different cultures
finish reading Bridget Jones's Diary (pretty funny so far... I wasn't sure I'd like it, but after reading a book called Romantically Challenged {story of my life} I was game for any book, and since having no boyfriend, I have more time to read.)

2 longest trips you've taken in the last 5 years:
Seattle to Rexburg 12hours, once it was like 15 due to snow.
Rexburg to San Diego I think it was 17 hours, but we stopped in Vegas on the way down, but not on the way back!
Soon to be, in 180 days I will be going to Russia!

2 favorite holidays:
Halloween and Thanksgiving!

2 favorite beverages:
Mountain Dew
Lemon Berry Hawaiian punch water flavor add-in thingy

Twilight. Can't. Wait.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/twilight.html?showVideo=1

I have recently been a blog-hoppin... I know I am lame. Anyway, I found a few blogs that I LOVE and have to share with you. Works for me Wednesday,
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/it_works_for_me/index.html is a blog where every wednesday she posts a simple story of something new and easy to do... one example is this weeks post of pulling teeth, put some tooth numbing gel on the gums and pull! You have to read it for yourself. Anyway, then she allows for people to put a link to their easy and simple ideas... which is how I found this chocolate cake recipe!

Dangerous Chocolate Cake-in-a-mug!!
1 coffee mug
4 Tbsp. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. oil
Small splash of vanilla
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, optional

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork. Add egg, mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well. Add chips, if using.

Put mug in microwave, and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts. Cake will rise over top of mug–do not be alarmed! Allow to cool a little; tip onto a plate if desired. Eat! (she claims it is dangerous because you are only five minutes away from chocolate cake!)

Oh boy did I enjoy that yesterday!! I thought it was a little dry, so after I ate some I added a little bit of milk to it, after having used my fork to break it up into smaller chunks. Then I also added a little bit of powdered sugar... Yum!!

Another blog I found out about from WFMW is $5 dinners... which I have not made any yet, but I am keeping it in my favorites so I can write down the recipes. http://www.5dollardinners.com/

And last, but not least... is Cake Wrecks. It cracks me up!! http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Hope you all enjoy these links like I do!

Since I came back to Rexburg in August, I had a real summer in Rexburg! So, what do I do with my time? I hang out with Maria, and boys!! I met a real cute boy, named Jason. :) Anyway, what do two girls who are dating roommates do in the summer when they are bored? They make a puppet theatre!! Here are the videos we made with the boys after we had painted the theater, naming it with our last names. The boys helped to make the puppets... which was half the fun for sure!! We spoofed The emperors new groove... a favorite of all involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJH89RevM9c

or this one, with just the boys dancing the puppets around to a song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8p1Z34MxMA

As some of you know... I was scheduled to graduate in July of this year! I was talking to one of my dance instructors and he advised I not graduate until after I go on a dance tour... so I stayed around. It worked because I still needed a credit of an internship to graduate... so I came back to school early, in the summer. Then school started up, and I tried out for the tour team... and I made it! I am on Dance Alliance, and we are going on a 17 day tour of Russia in April!! A few of the cities we will hit up at Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Samara!! We will be going on various train rides, ranging from 5 hours to 13. I am stoked!! Russia, Here I come in 201 days!!

Its been awhile! Here are a few pictures from when I went to Nevada with Jason this summer. My attempt at being really artsy...

CRAISY Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/2 c margarine
1 1/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water
3 eggs
3 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2-3 c oatmeal (sometimes more)
1 Bag Craisins
Secret Ingredient: Zest of one Orange, which is to be added before the Oats.

Blend together margarine, sugars, vanilla, water and eggs. Sift flour and soda. Add orange zest, then oatmeal and craisins. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes. Can make 6 dozen.

Here are a few pictures of my trip to Vegas, Las Angeles and San Diego!

Me, Mike and Nick on a huge piano! This is when we were shimmying on the keys. On the right, is a photo of the water show at the Bellagio!











I am at the M&M Factory kissin the Chocolate!




On the left, I am at a beach somewhere in between LA and San Diego!




Me and Travis dancing Foxtrot, which we got a third place medal for!

Some Chacha!!

Lastly, Tony from Dancing with the Stars!

I got to play with my rat today! I don't have a name for him yet, so if you have any suggestions leave them for me. I am planning on training him to stand on his hind legs, shake my hand, and maybe some other things. One of the class requirements are to have him run a maze!

BYUI Latin Formation Team Black Eyed Peas Medley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssg27oQgp7k

This semester my roommates and I have decided to make meals together, and to plan them out ahead of time. One of our favorites has been inside out pot pie! It was so simple to make, just brown one or two pieces of chicken, add a can of cream of chicken and some frozen vegetables of your choice. Cook some biscuits in the oven and call it a meal! It was super tasty.

Some of our other favorites:

Chicken Salad Sandwiches: Canned Chicken, Mayo and/or Poppyseed Dressing, cut grapes and/or apples, served on croissants.

Upside down Enchiladas: Browned chicken, ripped tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheese.

I buy these potatoes at the store. I assumed they were the talk of Idaho potatoes... they seemed small, but I was okay with that.

Until....

So my roommate Ellen and I wanted to compare the sizes of our store bought potatoes, and her homegrown potato. It kind of resembles pac man....

Idaho! Idontknow.

Then we made french fries, all that from one REAL Idaho potato.

My attempt to catch the Lunar Eclipse last night....

It looks much worse in person... but this is one of the joys, and pains of dancing...

So this is just one reason why I love my camera! I took seven pictures and was able to "stitch" them together to make a panoramic picture! There is one of the view from my front porch, and one of my living room. So fun!

In just a week I will be on my way to this amazing location to compete at the UC San Diego Dance by the Shores Competition! Last year in April I competed in a similar competition, at Stanford University, that comp was called the Cardinal Classic.

So next week I will visit Las Vegas, Los Angeles, hopefully Santa Barbara where I did my internship, and San Diego! The warm weather will be a nice break from this bleak white wasteland. It has actually been nicer here, the snow has mostly melted away from the roads and sidewalks, but there is still ice lurking about.

I am hoping that while we are in San Diego we will get a chance to go to the San Diego Temple!

After a series of {un}fortunate events, my old camera went kaput... so I just had to buy a new one! I bought this beauty... I named him Dylan. He is amazing.

Lately, I have been on a huge pickle kick.

It is almost as big as my mango madness... I don't know if mangos have been replaced by pickles though.

You may not be able to read the calories or serving size... but I am befuddled by this. It says one serving is a half of a pickle... and that in that half of the pickle is Zero calories.

Enter confusion: I have always been taught that 0+0= 0... so isn't one pickle zero calories? If anyone can shed some light on this amazingly confusing situation, please let me know.