new season

Hey Friends,

Smiles and love to you!

Just realized I haven't been on xanga in a gazillion years.  So I will update you a little.  I'm not taking classes this semester... and so instead I am working in a day treatment program with adults playing bingo and uno and pool and eating lots of food and going on fun outings and so on.  It's pretty great.  I'm working with a very special population with hopes of discerning my level of interest in counseling/social work.  Interesting... and fun too!

I'm still working at the Cheesecake and still tossing my salads and using the pepper grinder at home and what-not.  And I'm in a book group, so I'm still on the study and trying to grow in the Lord.  :)

It is a nice season, and I have enjoyed the rest from the study and the classes and the homework.  In the mean time... work has been nice and it has been great to spend a lot of time with friends and family!

So, that is that.  I will need to write more later, but my minutes are becoming shorter and shorter and as I had always hoped this nice little xanga journal is gradually becoming an old season... and new things are still ahead! 

Thanks so much for reading!!

Currently Listening Furthermore: From the Studio/From the Stage By Jars of Clay see related

In the summertime... :)

Dear Friends,

Smiles and love to you!

I have taken a very long four month break from my regular xanga posts!  That is a first in about four years for me!  Wow!!  :)

What have I been up to?  :)  Lots!  Too much to probably share all in one post.  So, I will let you in on a new adventure that has been taking up a very large amount of my time this Spring. 

Check it out!  www.seminarianblog.com

I tend to post an article every other week there.  I am working with several friends from my school and it has been a huge blessing to me to go through the editing process and to support the other writers in their specific areas of interests and ministry. 

Summer is my favorite season...so naturally, that finds me spending a lot of time in my convertible soaking in the sunshine, and sometimes at little teatimes in gardens... and so on and so forth.  :)  Lots of things have occurred that I would love to write about, but I haven't quite found the words to express it in written form.  A lot of my stories have been told and re-told to my various friends and family.... perhaps to never be written down at all, but simply shared!

With that said, have a blessed summer, dear friends!  Thanks so much for reading my journal!

Jen

Currently Listening The Reel Me (CD & DVD) By Jennifer Lopez Baby, I love you (This song pours jazz/swing into hip-hop and I love it!) see related

And so she danced...

 Tonight, it was icing outside and so I made dinner, and about half way through, I just started dancing.  I couldn't help myself.  It was just me, in the house, and so I danced, and danced, and danced.  I thought about what you might see if you were able to open up my heart and take a peek (just like God can) and what would you see there?  Would you see a beautiful palmtree, or maybe a piece of scrumptious and succulent cheesecake?  Perhaps you would see a pointe shoe.  Perhaps you would see my deep love for you!  Who knows?  :) 

I re-read part of my journal tonight and found quotes from Kierkegaard and a song that I had written about Jeremiah all before I started seminary.  Sigh.  I used to have so much sweet time for reflection and writing and what-not.  I am looking back and cherishing the free time that I had prior to beginning my studies.  My studies have been amazing and I'm so grateful for the time that I spend in them, but I'm also looking back on my time off with great joy as I return to my old writing and think of old times working and running and the friends that I made there.

Sigh...I made kona coffee tonight, mmm, with really frothy vanilla soy.  Parfait. 

I look forward to lake rollerblading this Spring.  :)  In the mean time, there will be lots and lots and lots of dancing.  :)

Out! 

"One is silver and the other is gold." :) -from Make New Friends, my fave girl scout camp song.

     Okay, I do believe that someone is making the way through all of my old posts and it's inspiring me to re-visit some of my old thoughts.  This post is from January 5, 2006.  I can't believe that it has been two years ago.  I suppose at the time, I was working at a Caribbean restaurant and sub-teaching at a small Christian school, and just starting to make new friends in the Lou post-graduation about seven months.  I think I spent the first three months out of school back and forth between K-Ville and Cali, so I had only been home about four months and wrote this girlie-girl post.  One thing that I find striking about it is how I look forward to wearing my future husband's hoodies and hats.  :)  haha.  I do love running around the Lake when it is a bit chilly and wearing a hoodie.  Aww.  Sweetness.  And I love reading other people's books, so I look forward to marrying a hoodie-wearing-theology-studying kind of guy.  I sure hope so.  :)  haha.

Things that make me feel pretty... :)  hehehe...

I love being a girl.

-ballet flats... ;)  Yes!

-wearing my hair down and with a couple spiral curls at the ends...

-cream skirts and pink roses and blue cardigans

-smiling at everyone I meet

-giggling, always giggling

-eating like a bird...fresh fruit, carrot sticks, celery, mocha frappuchinos, etc.

-running in a hoodie at sunset around a lake just because it is beautiful

-singing in my car/dancing in my car

-worshipping and star-gazing at the same time

-writing notes on pink paper in the shape of hearts

-writing poetry, journal entries, songs, etc.

-harmonizing with Bebo  :)  hahah...

-being nuturing to children because it just comes so easily

-kissing baby Clayton's furry head and watching him smile at me

-hanging out with my girls and friends who inspire me, refresh me, and pump life into my very body with kind encouraging words and loving care

-dreaming about that special someone and knowing that someday I will borrow/read all of his books, and wear all of his old hoodies and hats...

-'cause reading theology and wearing hoodies makes me feel especially pretty... :)

Currently Listening Jordin Sparks with Exclusive Bonus Track One Step at a Time see related

The Philosopher's Dream: The Paradox

A paradox is the philosopher's dream.  :)  I like to think of it as snow on the island.  :)  This song is full of delightful paradoxes.  It is by Jordan Sparks, and I love it.  :)

"One Step At A Time"

Hurry up and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste
But you just can't touch

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting

[Chorus:]
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

You believe and you doubt
You're confused, you got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours
If they only knew

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting

[Chorus]

When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
It's the faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time

[Chorus x2]