Almost A Sigh of Relief

quick note of the evening....and this time it actually will be quick. thought during and right after break that i was going to fail two classes this semester...totally stressed out about it...talked to both of my profs. one of the classes - it's gonna be ok (i have a TON of work to do in these last 2 weeks - but it CAN be done) the second class...there's a little less good news here than the last one...but all is not lost. i have a meeting with my prof thursday morning...and if i can present a little work to her there...she'll let me change topics and try to make up all the work before semester's end. all of that is to say...i'm sick and tired...but there is hope for fixing things in the crazy world of academia which makes me VERY happy. so...everything's not fixed yet...but i am going to try to be satisfied with a little hope and a yet again being extended a ton of grace....
back to work i guess....
love ya guys - thanks for putting up with my horrible attitude as of late... :)
Jenn

"Open-Mindedness"

quick frustration with class tonight...we began our class by recieving a handout. it was an example of a kind of Buddhist liturgy. now, i know it can be interesting and informative to look at the scriptures and holy texts, practices and traditions of other religions however, sometimes i question how much we "need" to engage. the handout ended up not just being for example/reading...but we were asked to quickly go through an abreviated version of a Buddhist service - a time of corporate response. our professor read the "leader's" text and the class was to respond from the sheet (it reminded me of a messed up version of a catholic mass) anyways, there was the idea presented that this is simply a time or understanding - that words are just words and we are not in the wrong by reciting their sort of mantra. i was the only one in the class that didn't recite the words and i just didn't see a good reason for it--not that i felt guilt with the thought of participating...but it didn't make sense to me why we would do it. (it was suggested that afterwards, we replace the word God or Jesus in place of Buddha or Dharma and "see that it's ok to say and think these things.") i don't know... i guess i don't go to the extreme and say that heart and motivation do not play a part in making out words meaningful or that we were commiting some sort of huge sin by reciting these words...but i guess my question is why....why do we even have to go there? why do we need to put ourselves in these positions? i guess my overall problem with this class is i feel put down all the time...i'm the closed-minded conservative. why do i have to be pushed and pushed to be open minded. why am i constantly asked to be open to "other truths?" in some ways it just seems so counter-productive. i don't know. maybe i don't care anymore if i'm seen as closed-minded. i'm not sure i can or will let myself be as "open-minded" as he's asking me to be. i remember someone saying to me - it may be ok to do...but the question is...is it wise?
food for thought for tonight i guess.....
Jenn

Highlights

ok...i've been sick and cranky all day....i don't totally know where this post is going...but i decided i should at least start with some highlights and try to ignore the lowlights for a while...here goes....

Highlights of yesterday - Sunday:
1. Driving through the country to get to church in Edgerton
2. Getting to hold premie twins Macy and Mckenna (born a little over a month early - about 5lbs-and absolutely beautiful girls)
3. Talking to Julie - a lady who started a support group for mom's of service men/women who has recently become like my second mom
4. Finishing the Christmas tree with the fam.
5. Long conversations on the phone, with James, on the ride home
6. Listening to classic tapes/speakers/memories from childhood
7. Walks in the cold - yet being warm because you're with someone special
8. Hearing random "suggestions" from James' family...let me explain below

ok..quick story - so i was trying to give James a compliment by telling him that my mom saw the movie the incredibles and said "hey, from the back, james looks a lot like mr. incredible" ok...so we had a nice laugh over that..and just about to leave when James said, "hey, my family talked about you over break too." i knew it was going to be something either crude or random...and i was kinda right. evidently, his aunts were talking to him about us joining the military and having to go to war and stuff. his aunt brenda bluntly asked him about the military and pregnancy and such. so, James' blunt statement/question ended up being. (imagin this being said really non-chalantly) "So Jenn, if we've only been married for like four months, but you end up being sent to Iraq, can i get you pregnant so you don't have to go?" HAHAHA - for real...how do you even respond to something like that. o well...it was funny....not sure how i feel about his family asking him questions about that and deciding that he needs to "get me pregnant" but...o well...guess it's a family thing. in the words of michelle lundequam....goo!

-on to something a little more serious...here's a comment about number 6. i had a blast listening to music, radio shows, and speakers that i remember as a kid. really, the 5 hours went by pretty quickly and i didn't fight being tired at all. one of the tapes was of a talk Brennan Manning gave at a confrence in Indiana. another had a collection of "classic" Christian music - with a few hymns at the end. the hymns caught my attention....and this is not the first time in recent day's i've taken time to think about them. i guess church in G'ville reminds me too. there, we sing a couple of hymns and 'praise choruses' that i remember singing as a kid in the church. growing up, my mom was a choir director and my dad ran the sound system. music was a big deal in our family and we grew up with a constant flow of music in our house. i did not really notice that i had been affected and had fond memories of these times, as a little kid, in the church. most of the time, sunday ends up being SO comforting. i go to church and hear all the familiar songs, i didn't realize i knew so many hymns and verses of songs. i've been attending for close to two months i think...and i don't think i've needed the worship folder or the hymnal yet. this is not to brag by any means, but to just share with you my awe. it amazes me how the words of the hymns can just sink into you and that, even though i didn't understand the meaning of words as a child, i still have the words themselves ....and now can see them applicable.

alright, time for class...only 3 world religion classes to go...or something like that....blah....
J

A Night of Wedding Drama...(no fun when it's not your own i guess)

well....this evening was a bust. i was done having fun about 20 minutes into the whole deal tonight. it's weird..it's never been like this before. most of the time, the girls and i sit around and talk for hours. we're usually the type that don't need to be doing a whole lot to be having fun. i don't know. i think i started to realize something kind of pathetic. seems we can only have fun hanging out together if we're drinking or gossiping (it's amazing how much information they've collected on the people from home. they like to "fill me in" on what news i've missed out on.) and since two of us have decided not to drink for the time being....our evenings together are kinda boring and drag on and on. o well... i shouldn't complain...

i guess the evening was a little rough because of other reasons too. the evening started out with two of my girl-friends and two guy-friends hanging out at aaron's house. we were going to watch a movie...but just ended up talking. we stopped the movie and all went over to our friend kelly's house because sarah had to talk to her about wedding plans. my friends kelly and josh are getting married in april and sarah is kelly's maid of honor. she needed to talk to her about showers, guest lists, and stuff. well, we ended up spending about 4 hours over there. most of the time, kelly talked/complained about wedding stuff and argued with josh over different details. i guess it started me thinking about my own wedding (not that it takes a whole lot to get me thinking about it in the first place). i guess i started to think about the fact that i'm not going to get to plan my wedding like 'normal' people. i'm going to end up having to do most of the planning over email or phone. and wedding dates are probably going to be limited to a small time frame. i guess i started to worry that i'm going to miss out on making this whole thing a 'big deal'....special. i know it's dumb and in the end the only thing that's really going to matter is that i am married in the end. but i think about stupid things like this. i also started to think about the people i'd like to invite to my wedding some day, but who i don't think would come...people i wish were more a part of my life or who i wish i didn't have a broken relationship with. overall, i'm just kinda sad. i'm sure thinks will look better, or at least different tomorrow...but for now i'm just not settled and i hate that.

o well. guess i really need to be focusing on getting back to school and trying to finish out the semester on a high note. honestly i've been making "being busy" an excuse for slacking with school work and now i may be in trouble with grades in two of my classes. ugh, i've never let myself get this behind before. dont' exactly know what i'm gonna do to fix things...but i guess i have five hours in the car to figure it out.

man....2 am already? i'm gonna be hurtin in church tomorrow...i mean today. o well...i've gotta say...i'm excited to be at my home church. there are a couple people there i have missed seeing and i should have gotten together with them while on break...but i didn't want to interrupt their family time. maybe christmas break will be a better oppertunity. ok...i have to be up in a little over 4 hours...guess i should hurry up and get to bed....

niters, jenn - - or as kelly likes to call me - - copperpot (remember the movie goonies?)

Blast From the Past....

....haven't really been up to much today. but i suppose that's not necessarily bad. last night had a little excitement. the fam and i were watching a movie in the livingroom last night, when someone knocked on our door. i guess who it was and i was right...it was someone i haven't seen in a long time. it was jason. jason richey is a guy i've known for years (good friends, kinda dated for a little bit, my parents have kinda adopted him and his brother, etc). he was in iraq for almost a year and got back around september. anyways, after he got back to the states...weird stuff started happening. there's a good possibility that things are messed up because of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and in the end, he was chaptered out of the military. they said "he wasn't able to adapt to military life." it's kinda a shady deal. he did so well in iraq...it's hard to imagin him not fitting into the military lifestyle back here...but who knows. anyways, i haven't seen him in a long while. but last night, he came by to tell us that he got a job. this is big news for him. he's about 24 or so, no job, and his parents are about to kick him out of the house. so, he got a job...it's not great work but it'll pay the bills. he also seems to be talking a bit more and a little more relaxed...which is good. his family has been really worried about him. he won't actually talk specifics about what happened to him in iraq or back at the base in kentucky when they made him leave. maybe someday we'll get the whole picture. for now, he's really on my heart. i'm worried about him...but things are starting to look up.

other than that...there's not a whole lot goin on. two days in a row the fam and i have gone to the movies. yesterday we went to see the incredibles (hilarious the second time too-had to prove it to my parents) and today we saw national treasure...that was pretty good too. got a call from "the gang." these are friends from highschool/former church that i loosely keep in contact with. we usually get together at least one time during our breaks. although, in past times, it kinda means trouble. well...they called this afternoon wanting to get together tonight. i was kinda torn as to whether or not i should go out with them. part of me agrees that there's no need to put yourself in a position where you may be tempted....but, i guess i also came to the conclusion that i can't just shut them out because i'm afraid of what i might decide to do when i'm with them. that's my choice...i need to stop putting some of the blame on them for my poor choices in the past. so, they're going to call in an hour or so. who knows where we're going...but it's gonna be alright. here goes nothin... :)

~ J

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This is technically my last "normal" Thanksgiving with the family. Next year, I'll probably be in training somewhere for the army. The years after that I might be married (haha, that's not normal... :) Anyways, I've thought about this for a couple weeks now and decided to try and enjoy 'the last.' Well, this morning I woke up incredibly sick....ugh....not exactly how I saw my Thanksgiving starting. My family ended up having dinner without me and I stayed in bed until a little after 2. I ate Thanksgiving dinner by myself, dressed in my PJ's. But, I felt a lot better in the afternoon, made a key lime pie that was AWESOME, and joined the family for leftovers at supper time. The day ended a lot better than it began...not all was lost. O, and on a good note, surprisingly there were NO fights during Thanksgiving...this this may just be a first...or second.

Well, today was also a "first" in another way. Thanksgiving usually means little more than "that day where we eat a ton and watch movies and football." I don't think I've ever taken the time on Thanksgiving to be thankful and think about how blessed I am. Part of me would really like to email or write those people that I am really thankful for or who have really blessed me lately...but I think it would end up being pretty cheezy. I don't want to look dumb so I probably won't do it. But wow, I have some great friends, teachers, mentors, etc who are really supportive and non-judgemental. Ones that are willing to confront me when I need it and show me love when I least deserve it. I am blessed by the fact that all of my immediate family members are alive today. I guess it makes me think about last year when we weren't sure that was a possibility. I am blessed to have an amazing boyfriend who puts up with me :) I don't think I show him enough that I love him and am greatful for our relationship. I'm glad I get to ride this wild rollercoast -life- with him at my side. Life has also changed so much in the past year, sometimes I hardly recognize myself (which i guess is kinda a good thing). This is definately not how I spent my last Thanksgiving break - enough said on that I think. Anyways, I am really blessed and I think I need to do a better job of letting people know that I appreciate them.

Ok, guess that's all for now. I'm not sure the fam is really ok with me being on the computer on a holiday (the WHOLE day is family time - hands off for everyone else....haha...o well)....

Love you guys,
Jenn

Me...a Leader???

two posts in one day...man...we're on a roll...watch out now....

ok, so i had to go to see my recruiter this morning. i'm supposed to be getting these weekly height/weight checks. most of the time i have to get it done in collinsville...but being home for break, i get to go and get it done by people i at least know. i was hoping that the station would be open today because otherwise i had to wait until after thanksgiving. getting weighted and measured after stuffing my face with turkey and stuff wasn't exactly the best idea in my oppinion. anyways, i found out that the people measuring down in collinsville have been WAY off. my recruiter said it looks like they've been trying to 'hook me up' - meaning they've been trying to mess with the numbers to give me a good score. unfortunately, they have actually been changing the wrong measurement and making things look worse. so, i got a nice surprise today, learning that my body fat count is down lower than i originally thought. good stuff :)

as i was leaving...he called me back to his desk, saying that he had something he was supposed to talk to me about. he called it a new 'oppertunity.' well, it is a great oppertunity...but also involves a tough decision. here's the deal...they are now offering officer candidate school (OCS) to college seniors in the dep program. this means that i would go to this school after basic training. i would, if i end up graduating, enter the army as a second lieutenant instead of a specialist. it's a leadership deal. enlisted soldiers follow and officers lead. it would be more responsibility, more money, better benefits, etc... unfortunately, it would mean that i would give up (possibly) choosing my job. unless you are in the top 10% of your ocs class, you don't choose your job...it is chosen for you. so, i'm not sure what to do. having a higher rank and benefits means you are treated better. however, i've never thought of myself as a loud, outgoing leader. i'm not sure if i could lead. to think about it scares me a little bit...yet it's kinda exciting too. if i decide to try for this school, i'll have to get a whole bunch of references, pictures, and go before a board in january. i talked to james and my parents about this whole deal. james said, "i think you need to follow your heart on this one. you need to do what you think will make you happy." it was weird. part of me wanted him to have a straight forward oppinion on the matter so i could blame my decision on someone. the other part of me was shocked and really glad that he was being so open and supportive. it's my decision....and it was kind of good to hear someone saying to think about yourself a bit. anyways, i talked to my parents too. i got a great compliment from my dad. they are usually few and far between and something i needed to hear whether i believe it or not. he said "i think it is a great oppertunity and i have always seen you as a leader and not a follower. i think by getting a degree you deserve the oppertunity to be offered to you." it made me smile. my dad thinks i have a shot...and that's HUGE :)

well...i'm not going to make a quick decision about this. i think i'm going to tell my recruiter that i am leaning towards a 'yes' and would like all of the info and requirements. i can always say no...but then i'll have the full picture. i think when i get back from break i'm going to take some alone time and maybe a little time fasting over this decision. it's kind of complicated and i need this to not be only my decision. so, in the end, i guess i'm a combination of excited and stressed...but for now it's ok. what a ride....

PFC Coppernoll
:) hehe...that's the first time i've signed anything like that....kinda feels good...

What a Trip

my tip home for thanksgiving break ended up being a lot more drama than i thought possible. don't get me wrong....i've come to expect a certain amount of drama in each day. but i thought my tuesday drama was just going to entail trying to make it to my dr's appointment on time and trying to stay awake on the drive home. well, ironically, i made it to my appointment on time. i was supposed to be in effingham by 3 pm and hopefully be on the road by 4. the doctor ended up being about 2 hours late and i didn't get on the road til after 6. they decided that the "smallest cast in the world" should be no more and was possibly a bad idea in the first place. the doctor said he was shocked at how much stiffness and loss of movement i had after only 2 weeks. so now he's decided to try and keep my finger from straightening. ironically that's the only thing i've been able to do "normally" with my finger for over two months now. anyways, i'm in a splint that keeps my finger bent. i'm supposed to use it for a while and they 'buddy strap' my last two fingers together when i get some more movement in it. basically it's the more expensive version of taping fingers. when i talked to the OT to get the splint made, she told me i had 3 weeks to get the finger to back to normal. i have no idea how they actually expect me to do that. i've been trying to get it to work right for months. o well. i'm not sure what happens if i go back for my appointment in two weeks with little improvement....but....o well. i finally got home around midnight and then spent 2 hours fixing up a temporary home for scooter (4 hours because of the dr. appointment and 6 more for the trip home made her a little crazy).

well, today mel and i have to get things ready for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. there's a ton to do....let's just hope we get along and don't kill each other by the end. maybe i'll take her out to lunch and stuff...that should help....guess i'm off to the recruiter to check in for the week and then i'll brave the grocery store...man...it's gonna be madness..... it's ok...i love a challenge :)

Jenn

Little Note - More to Come

well, i know that i really need to update this thing. ..i know i hate it when people don't update these things - i check them way to regularly and get disappointed when i don't have a new story to read...haha....i need a life... but i have been delinquent as of late because i've been too busy or life has gotten a little too personal to share here. (believe me...i kept you from having to hear a whole lot of unnecessary whining and pity-parties...hopefully i'm over that for now :) anyways, jame's little sister katie is here for the weekend. so, i'm not sure how much time i'll have to write today. but as always, i have stuff to say. mainly i have some thoughts on today's cor discussion (side note - who thought it was a good idea to have a class 8am on a saturday morning?!) today's topic was the decline in education, parental roles, the 'dumbing of today's children', voucher system, private vs public schooling. yeah, controversial to say the least. most of the time i sit in cor and zone out - not really caring about the discussion at all. today, however, i found myself passionately opinionated - although, as you might have already guessed, i didn't exactly speak up in the discussion...thus the reason for the next post.

anyways, i've got to hurry up and shower, get directions, eat with the roomie (trying to be loving...blah...haha...i need to change my attitude) and get ready to do a little "entertaining." don't get me wrong...i love it that jame's sister is hanging out for the weekend - she's great! but i just feel really drained. i need a break. o well - i think we're heading to stl for a while - maybe hit up the city museum (never been there but heard it's quality) and union station. that's the plan...but james and i hardly ever stick to the plan - so, we'll see.

more to come - i know i know - you're all anxious and highly anticipating these great 'revelations' from cor...but hold on... ;)

love, jenn

well...three Law & Orders, a bag of popcorn, and a DQ sundae later....

so...there's no real reason to post right now. actually, i'm no closer to getting my presentation ready than i was when i decided it was time to get going on it (about 3 hours ago). so...not academically productive...just probably about 5 pounds heavier. my roomie was having an equally difficult time in the homework department and suggested we go to DQ. so...yeah...this work that i'm supposed to be doing is for REL451 - Foundations of Christian Doctrine. We have to take turns doing a chapter presentation and tomorrow is my day. ugh...i never really understand the reading...it goes right over my head. the rest of the class is usually discussing these deep theological ideas while i'm busy trying to look up 'big' words in the text. so...needless to say...i just don't want to look stupid so at some level i'd rather just look lazy. o well...guess i'm eventually just gonna have to do it and risk looking stupid. ok..here i go...well...i have to call mi madre first - hahaha - so i'm sure that will provoke a post in the near future...
J - aka - heavy slacker (pun intended :)

Whew...Monday's Almost Over....

I'm exhausted..but I think I'm kinda getting addicted to this thing. Well...maybe we'll try to make this a quick one...but no promises...

Today was incredibly busy. All I did was run from one place to another; showing up less than prepared in most cases. I made it through the crazy schedule..but I'm not sure I accomplished much. I did have a meeting today that went a lot better than I had even hoped for...so that was good. More and more I'm reminded that God's timing is excellent and am starting to see that maybe he IS going to use a little person like me...anyways, this is only becoming rambling isn't really going to go anywhere so I'm just gonna lay out a few random thoughts....kinda things I have realized that frustrate me right now.....

-There are oppertunities or things I want to be involved in but I am afraid to ask about them and don't know if it's even my place to get involved

-There are people I want to get to know better but don't know how to approach them because to me they seem way cooler than I am

-I don't know how to balance school and life at this point. I don't want to miss out on important things with some of my relationships...but at the same time I need to graduate...but those two don't seem to want to work together at the moment. I feel less like my purpose of being at GC right now is academics and more like it has to do with 'relationships.'----Cop-out????

-There are certain areas where I really want to learn more and people I want to learn more from....but I don't know how to ask to be taught.

Athoughts??? - - - o man...final thought of the night....maybe if I'm gonna ask for comments I should actually give out the link to this blog....hmmmm......wow....I need sleep

Niters ! - love, Jenn

Pew Bible pg. 655

Church today was kind of a butt-kicker. But, evidently, that's what I needed. So, here are some things that hit me today....

First of all, the passage the pastor used was Matthew 10:24-42. The first section of verses talks about how we will be persecuted as followers of Christ. We see how some thought horrible things about Jesus and how he was persecuted...obviously if we are going to follow Him and spread his teachings, we're going to run into some trouble sometimes. So, this is not exactly the greatest news...not really a motivator for evangelism. However, we have to read on. The good news comes in verses 26-31. They're saying hey, life's not going to be easy and by becoming a disciple of Christ you are setting up yourself for a possible rough road...but....IT'S OK. Here's the sort of 'duh' statement of the day...verse 28 says - "28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. " The pastor simplified it to say, "Don't be concerned about what man might do, but what God will do." Seriously, I get real caught up in what people think of me and what the 'price' may be for my open devotion to Christ. But it really IS a backwards way of thinking isn't it?! Why do I worry about man who is so limited in his power, but take little time to worry about what God thinks - God; the one with ALL the power. So, that was the first butt-kicker.

The second thing that caught my attention was verses 37-38. I'll write them out here and then give a little background.... "37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. " Background (short version :) )- James and I are in constant conversation and kind of argument about when the 'right' time to get engaged is. Sometimes it is hard for me to clearly articulate my reasoning for thinking we need to wait a little longer. This is where these two verses hit home. I inserted the phrase their boyfriend/girlfriend into verse 37 in place of "his father or mother." It then read....anyone who loves their boyfriend/girlfriend more than me is not worthy of me. For some reason that statement hit me kind of hard. I need to make sure that God comes before James and James needs to make sure that God comes before me. I'm not sure either of us is fully at that point right now. I guess it makes me think that this is why we need to make sure our love for each other doesn't make our decisions for us. Overall, I want to be worthy of Him and putting my love for James over my love for God is not worth losing that. I guess to go a little further than that, the pastor went on to quote a man who was talking about how we don't necessarily have to have these rigid boundaries between love of God, family, and others. But, here's the idea to consider, "If you love God right, you'll never love another person wrong." I want to learn how to love God right...and through that, ultimately, I do not want to love James wrongly (is wrongly a word?- o well).

So...there ya have it. Church was good today but it gave me a ton to think about and I'm really tired. I should probably go and try to be 'productive.' Yeah, I know that usually when I make a statement like that I'm never actually going to get around to getting work done..but it's an optimistic statement for the moment.....
- - Jennifer
....whoa...I called myself Jennifer...that seems unnecessarily formal...o well...I'll leave it...today I guess I like it...

Scooter - most likely planning a jail-break

Scooter :)

Well, soccer ended this past week. That meant that this weekend was my first official chance to do some much needed relaxing. I didn't really get to do a whole lot of 'nothing,' but it was nice to not be crazy busy at the same time. This morning I had to get up and find a recruiting station. My recruiter had called me last week and said that I needed to start getting a weekly height and weight test. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be growing any time soon, so I don't understand having to check my height weekly. Still, I was not exactly excited about having to be reminded of my weight on a weekly basis. But, I'd been putting off doing the test for a little over a week and my recruiter was getting frustrated. So, today was the day I guess. I found there was a recruitment station in Collinsville and took James with me (nothing like being alone when you have to be measured by total strangers...blah). Anyways, good news...well...you probably don't care but it was good news for me. I've lost 10 pounds and 1.8% body fat since the beginning of soccer. Guess all that running that I thought might kill me actually paid off :)

Anyways, after all of the run-around and 'official' stuff was done, James and I went to Fairview. I have wanted to get a turtle for years now, but have never had the time or money to do it. Well, today I had the time...and I THOUGHT I had the money to do it. Well, should clarify. Turtles, themselves, are not expensive at all. But all the extra stuff you have to buy to house them IS. Well, once I met my little turtle I couldn't put her back. So, I finally have a turtle of my own. I know it seems stupid...but I'm really excited. It's a little girl turtle named Scooter. She'll little but thinks she's big and invincible (yeah..haha...I'm proud). We actually named her scooter before we found out that she actually is pretty fast. If you set her down and take your eyes off of her for just a second she'll be gone. She never sits still. Yeah, just our luck, we have an ADD turtle. O well...so far...she's great. There was only one bit of drama in the whole deal. This involved letting her swim in the bathtub (which I didn't know..but one of my roommates had just scrubbed the tub this morning) and my roomie came home...needing to shower before going out for the night. She was REAL mad...OOPS! But, things settled down and as soon as I learn how to be a good turtle mom...everything will be set. (I should be ready for kids in no time...right? ;) ---ok, quickly moving on....

The rest of the afternoon and tonight was spend setting up the tank, dinner, and making cookies. Yeah, don't let him fool you, James loves eating cookies almost as much as he likes BAKING them. Hehehe...good stuff (too bad now we have a TON of cookies and I shouldn't eat them-afterall, I was just commenting about how excited I was to lose weight).

Well, guess that's all for tonight. James is gone now. He went with Matt to WildCountry - he's trying to get a job as a bouncer....yeah....not sure how I feel about that. Guess it's not really my business though. Ok...enough...I'm going to bed. Man, when you get writting sometimes it's hard to stop. O well...I'm sure I'll have more tomorrow....Niters! Jenn

Round one...*ding*

Well, everyone I knew seemed to be jumping on the whole internet journal thing. I really like being able to click and update myself on the lives of the friends I don't get to see very often. However, now that I think about it, I think this whole thing is way too easy. I think I am starting to use it as a cop-out. There are times you would just rather know what's new with someone without having to ask them or take time out of the craziness of life and spend good old qt with people. I hate it that I even consider this to be a possiblity...but it's true...lately I've become lazy. Well, I was really just intending on writing a quick posting so the system would let me start editing this page...so I guess I'm going to stop for now. Things will pick up....I promise...but this thing seems a little hard to get rolling on. Later.... J